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Paul turns from the trail to look at Ayreth.
"Reckon so..." he says softly to the dark-haired beauty near him.
As he walks he keeps his musket above the water; his eyes roaming through the mist-covered trees, but he keeps close to his companions.
As they walk, he turns to glance back at Ayreth's beast.
"How's your horse doing?" he asks softly knowing that in such climate it was possible that the horse might feel a touch skittish.
Of course, he was not entirely sure, but generally he believed that it never hurt to ask...
Ayreth nods to the Doctor in gratitude for his observation and confirmation.
She pats the horse on the neck affectionately. "She seems to be doing well, thank you. I think that as long as we have a trail...," she brushes at another insect close to Diamond's face, "...and she does not end up stuck in mud, she will do well."
Ayreth glances at Paul's gear. "Do you spend a lot of time outdoors?"
"She seems to be doing well, thank you. I think that as long as we have a trail...," she brushes at another insect close to Diamond's face, "...and she does not end up stuck in mud, she will do well."
He nods, looking at the path.
"I've been in some swamp's that're so deep with water that you'd be up to your hips in the scum... All the 'path' that you'd see is marks on trees, or maybe you'd see a few well-placed rocks that poked through the water... If it was like that we might even have needed a raft..."
"Course, other swamps are a bunch of muddy ground with some criss-crossed streams oozing through the muck and the path's easy to find - just heaped mud and dirt on the ooze that you could trek on..."
He looks at the terrain around him - "I guess I don't have to tell you what type of swamp this one is, though," he says with dry smile.
He says nothing for a while, his pace still fast, but he lingers a bit to walk near her.
"Do you spend a lot of time outdoors?"
He glances up at the sky for a moment.
"Yeah, I reckon..." he says slowly.
"I did some work out Varisia for a while - cut my teeth doing bounty work for the lads in Korvossa. I met some strange customers - the lad from Minkai - he served on a ship called The Seahawk..."
"They had a pretty tight crew, that bunch... Let's see; there was a Shoanti reaver, a gnomish tinker - she was pretty feisty; there was a halfling shaman... Oh! The captain was a gunfighter from Andoran and his First Mate was a half-elf who married another half-elf... Anyhow, they were a good crew, but most of my work was on land..."
"I did a lot of work tracking with some Shoanti lads; the shaman who ran with them taught me a lot about the nature spirits... We pushed south and east all the way through Nidal and down toward the northern borders of Cheliax..."
"Once I got to Cheliax I joined up with some halfling rebels; I did little knife-work with them against some of the Cheliax slavers... Then, two years ago me and some of that crew found a dwarven warband that was hitting a bunch of Imperial armories... I know a little about firearms, so I lent a hand and we did a little gun-running for a year together..."
"I kept pushing east, though, until I reached Dustpawn..." he says, scratching his chin thoughtfully.
"Anyhow... Yeah," he says with a small grin "I reckon I've spent time outdoors," he says, his gaze turning to rest on her lithe frame for a moment, then his eyes flicked quickly away to the surrounding terrain, as if he was a bit uncomfortable with staring too long...
Blue Heron quietly listens to Paul's story. She gives a small smile at the flirtation between him and Ayreth. She was after all a beautiful woman.
Gii stays vigilant while the others talk. 'I can only hope those goblins really did decide not to follow us,' he thinks to himself, his grip on his quarterstaff a little tighter than strictly necessary.
As the company keeps moving their way through the swamp, Paul glances at the terrain for a little while, then he turns his eyes to the sky, staring at the leafy overhead.
”Well, it took us near an hour to find those goblins – then another hour to find this trail, and I reckon another hour to get this far… And we left town a little after eight this morning…” he says thoughtfully.
”Reckon it’s nearing noon…”
”This place don’t seem like a good one to halt for a snack – ya’ll good to eat on the trail?” he asks them as they continue to move through the swamp.
"We shall break bread where Heaven allows."
Despite the effort required, Blue Heron does take the time to brew some green tea for their lunch.
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"They had a pretty tight crew, that bunch... Let's see; there was a Shoanti reaver, a gnomish tinker - she was pretty feisty; there was a halfling shaman... Oh! The captain was a gunfighter from Andoran and his First Mate was a half-elf who married another half-elf... Anyhow, they were a good crew, but most of my work was on land..."
"I did a lot of work tracking with some Shoanti lads; the shaman who ran with them taught me a lot about the nature spirits... We pushed south and east all the way through Nidal and down toward the northern borders of Cheliax..."
"Once I got to Cheliax I joined up with some halfling rebels; I did little knife-work with them against some of the Cheliax slavers... Then, two years ago me and some of that crew found a dwarven warband that was hitting a bunch of Imperial armories... I know a little about firearms, so I lent a hand and we did a little gun-running for a year together..."
"I kept pushing east, though, until I reached Dustpawn..." he says, scratching his chin thoughtfully.
"Anyhow... Yeah," he says with a small grin "I reckon I've spent time outdoors," he says, his gaze turning to rest on her lithe frame for a moment, then his eyes flicked quickly away to the surrounding terrain, as if he was a bit uncomfortable with staring too long...
Ayreth is either unaware of, or chooses not to react to, the glance. "I have met a few characters myself. Before coming to Dustpawn, I worked for a couple of traveling carnivals. Good folk, generally, but odd. In fact, this swamp reminds me of a woman I knew some time back, Aieloe. She could make plants grow at her whim." Ayreth laughs at the memory. "Her problem was she could not stop them from growing. She looked like a shambling mound if she was not trimmed from time to time." A tear from her laughter escapes and Ayreth wipes it away. "We called her husband the Gardener! And he was a vegetarian!" She can't stop the peals of musical laughter anymore.
She decides to make herself known
"Ive met a lot of people too!" she chimes in. Grinning from ear to ear
"Hmmmm. Lets see. First up. An old guy with a beard, some officer in an army..." her face turns into a rough sketch of her description before it reverts back to her normal human face
"theeen, there was this charming bakery i worked at, for this young girl who just started own business..." once again she looked like her description. She described a few more, every time she shifted to them.
Then at end
"oh. I nearly forgot, you havent seen me yet!" then her skin begins to grow fur, her ears pop out, so does her bushy tail and he muzzle. Soon she was her kitsune self. Bright green eyes and snow white fur
"Taaada!" she exclaims smiling
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Gii blinks twice, before shrugging slightly and returning to rifling through his satchel for some rations.
"We shall break bread where Heaven allows."
David glances toward the swordswoman.
”Well, I ain’t too worried about where we break – I was more eager to push forward so we don’t lag more than we need to – you know; eat on the trail and all…” he adds as he takes out some jerky and hands it around for anyone who is hungry; eager to press on if possible.
As he hands the jerky to the others, Ayreth nods and recalls some of her own tales...
"I have met a few characters myself. Before coming to Dustpawn, I worked for a couple of traveling carnivals. Good folk, generally, but odd. In fact, this swamp reminds me of a woman I knew some time back, Aieloe. She could make plants grow at her whim." Ayreth laughs at the memory. "Her problem was she could not stop them from growing. She looked like a shambling mound if she was not trimmed from time to time." A tear from her laughter escapes and Ayreth wipes it away. "We called her husband the Gardener! And he was a vegetarian!" She can't stop the peals of musical laughter anymore...
Paul turns and looks at her, startled a little at the style of her humor, his eyes widening a bit at the comment as he chuckles a little.
"You're alright, kid," he says, clapping her on her shoulder as he laughs along with her.
"oh. I nearly forgot, you havent seen me yet!" then her skin begins to grow fur, her ears pop out, so does her bushy tail and he muzzle. Soon she was her kitsune self. Bright green eyes and snow white fur
"Taaada!" she exclaims smiling
Paul glances at her, not very surprised, but he rubs his chin thoughtfully, looking her up and down.
"You a Lycan?" he says eventually as he studies her.
"Never saw one before; but I heard rumors about folk like that out of Ustalav - They say that they could only shift on the full moon, though, but that you could ward them off with garlic and mistletoe..." he mutters thoughtfully.
"Eh, but what the hell do I know," he adds with a shrug.
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Paul turns and looks at her, startled a little at the style of her humor, his eyes widening a bit at the comment as he chuckles a little.
"You're alright, kid," he says, clapping her on her shoulder as he laughs along with her.
Ayreth mood stays light and she continues smiling, but she raises an eyebrow at being addressed as 'kid'.
She decides to make herself known
"Ive met a lot of people too!" she chimes in. Grinning from ear to ear"Hmmmm. Lets see. First up. An old guy with a beard, some officer in an army..." her face turns into a rough sketch of her description before it reverts back to her normal human face
"theeen, there was this charming bakery i worked at, for this young girl who just started own business..." once again she looked like her description. She described a few more, every time she shifted to them.
Then at end
"oh. I nearly forgot, you havent seen me yet!" then her skin begins to grow fur, her ears pop out, so does her bushy tail and he muzzle. Soon she was her kitsune self. Bright green eyes and snow white fur
"Taaada!" she exclaims smiling
Ayreth watches the display in rapt fascination and quietly says, "I finally understand the expression 'crazy like a fox'..." Shomu had nothing on that. If she joined the carnival... Ayreth shakes her head slightly, as if dismissing the thought.
Blue Heron shrugs, "She is a daughter of Daikitsu."
Blue Heron shrugs, "She is a daughter of Daikitsu."
"You say that as if it is an explanation."
Paul glances at the women thoughtfully as he continues to munch on the jerky.
His eyes lift to study the foliage and he continues to watch the terrain as they keep on the march.
He glances at Blue Heron.
”Who’s Daikitsu?” he asks her, his eyes flicking to Ayreth for a moment, then back to Blue Heron.
Gii finally finds his rations buried at the bottom of his bag. He takes one out and begins to eat, obviously not relishing the taste of the cured foodstuffs. "Never heard of him," the cleric replies to Paul's question.
"A civilized goddess. Her gift is rice. She taught the people how to farm and craft. She is the mother of the fox people, lover of the goddess of fertility. Her children are shape changers, some more skilled than others. They have a reputation for being tricksome; though, in my experience, they are no more false than any other people."
"Never heard of him," the cleric replies to Paul's question.
Paul turns and glances at Gii.
"Reckon so," he says to the man as they walk on.
He glances at the swamp thoughtfully, then turns back to the priest.
"So what's your story, doc?" he asks, curious to learn a little more about the priest.
"A civilized goddess. Her gift is rice. She taught the people how to farm and craft. She is the mother of the fox people, lover of the goddess of fertility. Her children are shape changers, some more skilled than others. They have a reputation for being tricksome; though, in my experience, they are no more false than any other people."
Paul glances at her.
"I reckon that's fair..." he says slowly.
"It's bad news to judge a person by the actions of their people," he says.
"Still - I reckon that if a lad - or lass - acts a certain way that you can judge them on the way that you see them act..." he adds.
Gii gives Paul a short look, his teeth locked in mortal combat with the stubborn ration. Pulling free and beginning to chew, the Nethian shrugs. "I am a simple missionary. I was born in Absalom. My parents were priests, like myself. I studied magic for many years, until they decided to have me try to spread the faith. Until sir Crenn sent me his request, I was a simple congregation leader in Logas, on the other side of this country," he says, before tearing off another bite. "I am not a very interesting fellow. I merely preach the word of the All-Seeing Eye."
After you have finished whatever food and drink you brought with you, and after walking for a bit longer, you find that the path you are on narrows. The path itself is densely packed with stones, sticks, dirt and reeds, but to either side the swamp is more nebulous. It is difficult to say for certain the depth, or ease at which one can move, as the surface is muddy and covered in high grasses and moss. At this point the path is hardly wider than 15 feet, and ahead, just 50-60 feet past a C-like bend, you can see the Grackle River and the mountains just behind.
As you reach closer to the bend in the path, nearly the entire area becomes eerily silent...
Gii gives Paul a short look, his teeth locked in mortal combat with the stubborn ration. Pulling free and beginning to chew, the Nethian shrugs. "I am a simple missionary. I was born in Absalom. My parents were priests, like myself. I studied magic for many years, until they decided to have me try to spread the faith. Until sir Crenn sent me his request, I was a simple congregation leader in Logas, on the other side of this country," he says, before tearing off another bite. "I am not a very interesting fellow. I merely preach the word of the All-Seeing Eye."
Paul nods.
"Nothing wrong with that..." he muses.
"Once you get this hash sorted out back at Dustpawn, you got any plans for the future other than being a missionary?"
She was grinning ear to ear, easy in her natural shape, at the exchange. And her blue haired friend was right about her race. Atleast they tried to make people smile. Too bad it took some time to figure out different people's sense of humor
"So you from the dragon lands then miss blue?" she asks curiously
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Gii gives Paul a short look, his teeth locked in mortal combat with the stubborn ration. Pulling free and beginning to chew, the Nethian shrugs. "I am a simple missionary. I was born in Absalom. My parents were priests, like myself. I studied magic for many years, until they decided to have me try to spread the faith. Until sir Crenn sent me his request, I was a simple congregation leader in Logas, on the other side of this country," he says, before tearing off another bite. "I am not a very interesting fellow. I merely preach the word of the All-Seeing Eye."Paul nods.
"Nothing wrong with that..." he muses.
"Once you get this hash sorted out back at Dustpawn, you got any plans for the future other than being a missionary?"
As long as I can study magic," Gii says calmly, "I will be content. I cannot say there is nothing else I would like to do, but I have not come upon any such thing, yet." The Nethian finishes his ration, then dusts himself off.
===
"I am from Quain, one of the civilized kingdoms beyond the crown of the world."
"I am from Quain, one of the civilized kingdoms beyond the crown of the world."
Paul glances at Yuki and Blue Heron.
He shakes his head and holds up his fist, then points to his eyes with two fingers and then points his fingers forward; all using his right hand. His left hand still grips the stock of the musket.
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"That is peculiar. Where did the frogs go?"
Paul thinks for a moment.
Let's just hope that the presence of six people a horse and a blue lion have maybe scared them into shutting the hell up for a while...
Still - there's other things that maybe do that, too...
He glances aft toward Bart.
"Oye - does your lion smell anything?" he says softly.
As Paul waits for the others to act, he continues to study the terrain intently...
Just as Paul silently calls back, immense frogs, about the size of horses, surface from the swamp, catching the group by 2 of them appear to have come out near the Grackle river, but another 2 are closer to the path on which the group stands!
The one on the right of the path, closest to Gii move through the water and mud at a rapid pace, biting at the cleric, its mouth just scraping off his armor!
The one on the left's tongue e flicks out an amazing distance and strikes Bart, sticking to him!
Frogs win Initiative!
The Frog with its tongue attached to Bart pull him 5 feet towards the muck!
while the one facing Gii continues to try to bite him,but once again, just barely scrapes off his armor!
The other two move closer to attack, hopping and swimming through the mire, one of them hopping up on to the trail an moving right up to the group...
The golden light of the sun and the silver light of the moon spill forth from Blue Heron in waves of gentle radiance.
4/6 LoH, AC 24
Paul looks at the creatures with a flat expression – emotions void from his eyes.
He takes a 5 Foot step back to 17:c and lifts his musket and fires it into the giant frog at 15:a/b.
However, when he sees Blue Heron's actions, his disgusted expression seems to be somewhat uplifted...
Friendship! That's the only thing out here that's worth it, I reckon...
"Xie xie, lass!" he says, calling out to her.
He then slings his musket over his shoulder.
As paul hits with his shot, the immense frog snaps at him, nearly at the exact same time, crunching down hard on him
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Ayreth drops Diamond's lead at the sight of the frogs, hoping the horse does not run too far. She reaches up towards the sky with both hands. At her fingertips, tiny lights start to shine like stars in the night sky. They are difficult to see in direct sunlight, but in the shadows, one can see the effect expanding to cover her.
Ayreth then moves into a support position near Yuki and Bart.
As paul hits with his shot, the immense frog snaps at him, nearly at the exact same time, crunching down hard on him
** spoiler omitted **
Paul just looks at the creature.
However, he doesn't say anything.
Gii winces as the frogs attack him, but does not falter. He hefts his quarterstaff and begins chanting. Light begins to gather in his left hand, before he reaches for the heavens, engulfing himself and his companions in soothing white light. "עין יודעת הכול נותנת לנו חוזק!" he shouts, as magic flows from his hands.
Spells Prepared:
1 - divine favor (1/1), obscuring mist (1/1), shield [D] (1/1), summon monster I (1/1)
2 - barkskin [D] (1/1, remove paralysis (1/1), summon monster II (1/1)
3 - dispel magic [D] (1/1), prayer (0/1)
Gii casts Prayer as a standard action (+1 to hit, damage, saves and skills for 5 rounds for allies; -1 to hit, damage, saves and skills for 5 rounds for enemies). He then uses Divine Vessel (+2 on next attack roll, skill roll or ability score roll before the end of the next turn) as a swift action.
Yuki sees the situation that Bart is in, slowly being dragged towards the swamp by the large amphibian, and decides to step forward and strike at its tongue, hoping it will release him.
Bart lets out a loud yelp when the tongue wraps around his waist. Caught off guard, and not too strong besides, the young lad has little chance of breaking himself free. The fact that Yuki so readily came to his defense inspired him but he knew there was more coming. Alar, enraged at seeing his young ward in danger, leaps from the bushes and the shadows. His twisting, dark form moves across the land with a deadly grace and he assaults not the creatures tongue but the creature himself, eager to tear through something willing to harm Bart. "This isn't what I meant by finding a frog!" The young man yells out with both fear and anger lacing his voice.
Alar (Glowy Blue Heron- +1 AC, +1 Attack, +1 Damage)(Prayer- +1 to hit, +1 Damage, +1 Saves, +1 Skills 5 rounds)