Esteriande's call is met by silence, you push on and the tangled swamp gives way to a relatively large clearing, a calm pool of unnaturally still water ringed by twisted, decayed willow trees. Wind blows, but the trees do not sway. It is as if the very land has died.
Yap quails at the edge of the clearing. “We’re here… my lady waits for you within. I dare not go any closer…” he says before stepping back to
cower behind a gnarled tree.
Muchorak
Drawing a deep breath, Esteriande calls out her message again, and waits.
"I will not put you through this brother," The ranger says placing a caring hand on Ursus, "Stay with our new friend here and keep him safe." He moves in closer to the large bears face, the duo resting their foreheads against one another, "And if my presence fades find your freedom again."
Standing up, with a sigh, the ranger stiffens replacing all outward appearances with that of courage and bravery. "The spirit world is strong here we must be cautious." He reassures his grip on his blades, nods to his companions, and cautiously moves forward...
Inikai moves forward, a step behind the others and off to the side so that he will not catch his friends in the path of any attacks he might make against enemies.
Naria heads in next to the others.
Several times as they progress through the forest the party hears heartbreaking cries of despair from the small grey hawk circling above them.
Keeping track of her packmates from the air, Alihawk flies down and joins her friends just before they ready themselves to head into the worst part of the forest. Smoothly flowing to Gnome form the companions can immediately discern the level of her emotional distress from the pain in her big eyes and the tears streaming down her face. "So much bad bad bad all around! The Land is so sad!! It cries out in pain and is dying dying almost dead!" she wails.
Sobs then take her over and weeps heart wrenchingly, her emotional and sensitive soul devastated and her heart breaking from the death and decay all around her. As her companions comfort her eventually her sobs cease. Thanking them all with hugs and signs of affection none of those who know her are surprised to see the instant transformation which comes over the mercurial druid.
A fury washing over her as she thinks on whatever or whoever has caused all this destruction and death she growls fiercely "This be wrong wrong wrong! Ali will find who has hurt the Land and she will make sure they can never do this again! Never!"
Turning to Lunas she touches him on his big head saying "Brother, you stay here too with Little Bear and keep Yap safe. Ali will be back for you, but if she no come back, you go home and be good good." giving him one last big hug, she then turns to the others, her eyes blazing with righteous fury "Now, we HUNT!" and with a growl she flows to Wolf form and begins to lope ahead, her nose to the ground searching for any sign of their prey.
You enter the glade..the unnatural stillness broken only by the sniffing of Ali Wolf.
Ali
Ali gives a low warning growl just as the surface of the pool begins to move in an agitated fashion. Suddenly the waters burst apart and she is there..
Once soul-shakingly beautiful, the nymph princess Myriana is now a haggard, ghostly horror.
Her disembodied arms float at her sides, exposed bone and sinew stretching toward her torso but ever too far out of reach. Her lower torso fades away to smoke, But her most terrifying feature is her eyes: wells of hellish horror, crying out silently in an agony beyond anything a mortal creature could ever know. They reduce those who try to hold her gaze to gibbering children. She is beauty undone, and torment incarnate.
Ali
Esteriande
Inakai
Romon
Muchorak
Marak
Naria
Muchorak..
"Ah, Myriana, what 'av you become?" Esteriande mourns as beholds what the nymph has become.
"Tell me 'oo 'as done zis evil thing! Name to me ze 'eart of your loss and I shall bring ze wrath of Shelyn down upon zem! We came from Magnimar to find what 'ad 'appened to ze Black Arrows, and I see now zat driving zem from ze fort was not enough."
Romon stares horrified at the nymph. "Randi, put her to rest. she's not the girl you take home to mother now."
An involuntary whisper betrays Inikai's thoughts. "I can't do anything to a ghost."
{ooc]I'm going to let everyone respond to this before I continue[/ooc]
Reaffirming his grip on his blades, smelling the air, and the sounds of the conversations assures him his not asleep...just, "I can't see." Is all the ranger says.
"Now Romon lets not threaten the lady while she is stand...errr floating right in front of us......Maybe she'll be friendly?" Naria not sounding all that sure herself.
Reaffirming his grip on his blades, smelling the air, and the sounds of the conversations assures him his not asleep...just, "I can't see." Is all the ranger says.
"What?" Inikai replies, the edge in his voice showing.
"Now Romon lets not threaten the lady while she is stand...errr floating right in front of us......Maybe she'll be friendly?" Naria not sounding all that sure herself.
"Nobody's friendly after their arms are ripped off but most of them have the courtesy to die. Those that don't are usually really pissed. Remember Lady Foxglove?"
"Yeah seem to recall she was more angry at mr Foxglove than at us maybe it will be the same this time?"
The ghastly apparition wails above your whispered comments
"Where is HE..Have you found him..My Lamatar my love..or have you failed him like all the others...woe woe upon you that will not help me in my hour of need.."
The Ghost stays hovering over the pools center and makes no aggressive moves..the anguish in her voice is heartrending and at the same time chilling for you can all feel a creeping despair seeping from the undead nymph
"I cannot help without my eyesight spirit." The ranger says bluntly.
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Marak says softly to Esteriande, "If her lover has left this world, their love can only be saved if she allows herself to accept this fact, and passes on to be reunited with him. We must produce evidence of his fate, or a convincing accounting of it to her, one way or the other."
He places a hand on Muchorak's shoulder, as he speaks, so that the warrior at least knows his location, and, with gentle pressure, keeps him oriented towards the nymph, in case he unconsciously changes position and gets turned around in his sightless state.
AliWolf's growl turns into a long howl of mourning, outrage and fear as she sees what has become of the once beautiful wood nymph. Unable to fully express herself in wolf form though she then flows to Gnome, with tears once again streaming down her cheeks.
Her voice is firm however as she steps protectively in front of the suddenly blind Big Bear and speaks to what was once Myriana "You no blame us for where your mate be! Ali be very, very sad for you Myriana that you be so dead, dead, dead now. She can see how pretty, pretty you once was."
"Ali and her friends do come here to help. But Ali is here mostly to help the Land! Like you was supposed to do! That be your job, your duty yes yes! So you tell Ali right now! Is you who hurt the Land so bad, bad, bad, or is someone else? You tell her now and she will stop whoever is hurting the Land from hurting it more! Tell her NOW!"
She also tries to focus to make sure that what she is seeing is really there, but in her emotional tumult this is difficult.
Esteriande listens, her face bleak. "You are right my friend," she murmurs to Marak. "Calmn your 'eart, mon petite loup-garou; she 'as given 'er all in love, and lost. Her 'eart is broken, and worse maybe. You see the ruin 'ere, but she sees nothing but darkness."
Then she addresses the spirit:
"Myriana, we have found no sign of Lamatar, leader of ze Black Arrows in Fort Rannick. Ze few survivors we found 'ad not seen 'im and were absent when ze attack by ze ogres took place. I feel your pain, Myriana, tell us what became of you and 'ow we may aid you."
"THEN FIND HIM" the ghost screams her voice echoing in the stillness then her tone turns to a softer pleading one....."Ogres it was Ogres they came upon us he fought I came to his aid but there were too many to strong they..tore me like this..took him took Lamater. Please..find my love restore him to me or if he is dead bring some token of him a lock of hair a part off him any part so that I can restore him to the light" then her hard tone returns "Or I will blight this world in such a way as you can have no hope, no peace, no rest"
I'm pretty sure I'll be able to rest. I don't need this mucky swamp. She might piss off Ali though.
Figuring Randi will be a sucker for this sob story and Ali will see things differently, Romon drifts toward his little friend and prepares to grab her if she does anything violent.
Esteriande gazes at the spectre for a long moment.
"We will find him. I swear upon ze sword of my fathers that I will pursue ze ogres to zeir lair, and if 'is body is zeir zen in Shellyn's name I will return a part to you, Myriana. Be at peace, your suffering is nearly at an end, and zis place can return to be ze beauty it once was."
She pauses.
"I would be grateful, zough, if you could remove ze blindness from our friend Muchorak - 'ee is an expert at fighting ogres, and ze best tracker among us; we ill need 'is aid."
Inikai simply purses his lips and waits expectantly for Myriana's reply.
I thought we killed or drove off the ogres. Will we have to engage them again, this time on their own home ground? I cannot imagine how disgusting a spectacle that will be.
Couldn't we track the two hot chicks to their lair instead? At least they're pretty sometimes. And don't as smell bad.
Couldn't we track the two hot chicks to their lair instead? At least they're pretty sometimes. And don't as smell bad.
"Find Lamatar..find him" the ghost gives a last wailing cry and vanishes into the pond not deigning to respond to Esteriande's request
"Well, we were going to 'ave to deal with ze ogres at some point anyway," Esteriande sighs. "Zere seems to be no end to the evils zey 'ave perpetrated."
She takes Muchorak's arm.
"My friend, I can heal your sight, but not until I have ze chance to make my prayer's to my Mistress. Until then, I shall guide you aright, if you permit me."
"So now we must find the remains of this Lamatar?" The ranger states more than asks as he slowly places his blades in their respective scabbards. He places a hand on the feminine hand on his arm, "It would seem I have no choice. It is one thing to lose something in battle but like this..."
"Well, we were going to 'ave to deal with ze ogres at some point anyway," Esteriande sighs. "Zere seems to be no end to the evils zey 'ave perpetrated."
She takes Muchorak's arm.
"My friend, I can heal your sight, but not until I have ze chance to make my prayer's to my Mistress. Until then, I shall guide you aright, if you permit me."
"So now we must find the remains of this Lamatar?" The ranger states more than asks as he slowly places his blades in their respective scabbards. He places a hand on the feminine hand on his arm, "It would seem I have no choice. It is one thing to lose something in battle but like this..."
Romon frowns at this exchange. He's used the sympathy ploy on more than one girl. Engender a little tenderness and POW! Jealous that Randi is so quick to help Muchorak, he's torn between pouting beautifully or actively trying to break up the pair.
He decides that he's most angry with the ex-nymph. If she hadn't blinded the savage, Randi wouldn't be empathizing with him. It would also help if she'dcome across with an address for the ogres.
Best end this as soon as possible before Macho boy can twist things to his advantage...
"Yap. Have you any idea where these ogres hail from or does your mistress open her arms to any errant giant?"
****
Yap glares at Romon "My Mistress was..is not like that...The Ogres live on Hook Mountain." he points towards the Mountain range and it's highest peak.."You will find them there..I must stay here..I must try and keep what little life there is in this place safe."
"Do these ogres serve a master? Have they ever shown a mind for organization before this most recent attack?"[b]
[b]"And what else lives on the mountain with them?"
Yap gives a shrug.."I'm a gardener..how would I know what lives up there...why are you asking me this GO GO... find Lamatar... save my Mistress"
Ali growls deeply and menacingly in her throat when Myriana threatens the Land once again, yet with Roman in front of her and her awareness that an attack at this point would do little to help anything, she does nothing more.
When the pack is ready to move on towards the mountain she once again flows to hawk form and scouts the path ahead from the sky.
"Let's go," Esteriande sighs, leading the way back toward the boat.
"Ze ogres attack Fort Rannick, using intelligence gleaned about ze Fort. Zey attack ze dam, of all things, to weaken it. Zese are not strategies ogres alone normally use. So yes, Inikai, I zink zat zey do 'ave a master, or at least zat someone is controlling zem, using zem, in some way. But to what ends? Zat is why I say we would 'ave to go to 'Ook Mountain, sooner or later. Per'aps better to strike before zey recuperate from zeir losses."
Making your way back to the boat and thence to Bitter Hollow presents no real challenge. The mountain lies ten miles north from the camp and can be accessed either by traveling over the lake or by taking a slightly shorter route through the Kreegwood.
The mountain itself is shrouded in grey cloud and the Trappers warn you that it is most likely to be snowing on the upper reaches where the Ogres make their abode
Your mistress is beyond saving Inikai thinks in reply to Yap's entreaty. When the group leaves Inikai watches Esteriende lead the blinded Muchorak by the arm. At the first opportunity he draws close to Marak and taps him on the shoulder. With a gesture, he ask the cleric to wait until Esteriende and Muchorak are out of hearing range.
"Can she restore his sight? If not, can you?"
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"Tomorrow I can pray for the relevant blessing from the Lord of Magic, I was perhaps... short sighted in not having it already prepared, or on a scroll or potion, for sudden need." Marak replies, "As for Esteriande, if such a merciful blessing was within her immediate reach, I'm sure she would have already administered it." he adds, slightly louder, on the off chance Esteriande has such magic and has merely been too distracted by the nymph's plight to provide it to the sightless warrior.
Esteriande suggests that the party return to Fort Rannick to heal Muchorak, then proceed from there to Hook Mountain after preparing the proper equipment for a mountain expedition.
You manage to return to the fort by nightfall and it is merely the matter of Marak praying for the spell in the Morning.
Esteriande makes her own prayers for her spells, and readies herself for their expedition. She enquires if any of the surviving Black Arrows wish to accompany the expedition, and if they know the trail to Hook Mountain.
And if they don't want to go Romon will taunt them.