The brothers Jerry and Simeon lead you all up the path at breakneck speed and through the dense foliage of the forest. The greenery is particulary awe-inspiring to many of you, and there is a feeling of serenity during the trek.
On one particular moment, Simeon stops you guys and motions for you all to creep up to the edge of the clearing where he is situated. He points out into the center where there's a herd of deer of some kind eating the long grasses that are prevelant. Beautiful... he mutters.
The silence is broken by the sound of someone trying to eat something, and the entire herd starts to get up and bound away. You all turn around to see Jerry with his mouth full of pastry. Whad? He says, trying to swallow it. I thought we were taking a break.
"It's moments like that that make life worth living, huh Simeon? Part of the beauty is how fleeting it all is. Hope you soaked it all in in time."
"Our provisions will certainly be fleeting," Crow added in bemusement, "If the appetites of all present are as I remember. Jerry's certainly is." The huge man squinted. "That was not a...cherry pastry, was it?" he asked in an accusing tone.
Persephone and Phillip have no trouble keeping up with the speed, and despite not having spent long in the cabin, Persephone finds herself more at ease walking back into the wilds. She smiles at the deer and nods in agreement when Simeon calls them beautiful. "I've seen a lot of scenes like this since I've been gone." She says quietly. "They don't get any less special."
"I don't see them too often either, but the pay was good so I-" Turiel stifles a snort of laughter as Simeon emerges from the cabin.
He nods, "Aye, sounds good I'll have to drop some of this off poor Kipina. Don't wait for me though, unless you've suddenly started running fasted then a drunken snail." He grins and winks at Simeon, and hurriedly finishes his unpacking.
"Sorry for being a bit of a slowpoke, though from what I remember we can run the lot of em into the dirt. Care to give your legs a bit of a proper stretch?" Turiel takes off after the others, a sudden gust of wind rippling the bushes along the forest path alongside him.
Catching up to the others, Turiel is still breathing lightly despite the brisk pace he'd set to catch up to his friends. Seeing Simeon motioning, he immediately slows and creeps up to the forest edge. H e smiles, nodding his agreement Persephone, "Aye, it never does. Glad to be back here with the lot of you so we can see some of this like we used to."
"Nice. I am to used to be around you guys that know so much about the natural world. In my travel alone I have noticed that I don't know much about it. "
Illyan has a wishful tone. You know that he getting more knowledge is one of his vices.
"Abbicka, an you Phersepone, how smart are your companions? Nero is my familiar and he has human intelligence."
Nero follow the group studying the different people. They are his friend friends and their companions and it is the first time he see most of them. He has been with Illyan for less than two years.
Smiling, Jerry nods yes to Crow, tossing one to him before cinching the bag closed and putting it on.
Simeon shakes his head, annoyed but doesn't say anything as he rises to his feet and starts making his way down the trail.
The ground now turns especially rocky and begins to slope upward. Simeon wipes some perspiration from his brow. Breathing heavily now, he intones some encouragement as he points to the crest of the hill. We're almost to the to-, the sound of an explosion rips through the stillness of the night and a burst of light ordaines the sky in a flurry of green and orange.
Hurry! Jerry yells out as he charges up the rest, jumping over boulders and at one point even climbing over a particularly large one rather than changing course around it.
Once atop the hill you all notice that it is covered with strange white stuff. Jerry has knelt down in it and takes a lick. It's toothpaste!
You have reached the crest.
Looking over the land you can see Hescoy Hamlet, some of the forest, and most importantly the firework show that has just begun. Vibrant colors splash across the sky in varying shapes and sizes. There's even one that looks like a dragon.
Both your NPC friends have taken seats among the boulders that dot the hill. Simeon has some sort of notebook that he's making quick sketches on as he watches.
"Almost makes me wish I were a pyromancer instead."
Spooky plops himself down in front of the others, but doesn't remain there long. He's up and jumping with delight, like a child almost, making dramatic gestures with his arms when the better ones fire.
"Oooohhh! That one was HUGE."
"Lashy and Snowy are clever for animals, but they're still just animals."
Abby chooses a shallow cubby formed by two boulders, leaning with her left shoulder against one and tucking her legs against the other. To an outward observer, it looks uncomfortable, but she doesn't seem to mind. "Lashtail, Snowfeather," she addresses the two raptors, "you can hunt if you'd like. Just don't stray far." When the two don't immediately leave, she reiterates, "Hunt."
roll + ability + rank + class skill
Push Snowfeather to perform Hunt trick (DC 21)
roll + ability + rank + class skill
Snowy is the first to react, darting off into the woods.
roll + ability
Snowy spots a squirrel, but is downwind of it, and it scampers up a tree before he can grab it.
Lashy is quick to follow after Snowy into the forest.
roll + ability
Lashy follows a creek to a small pond. Spotting her prey, Lashy dashes through the undergrowth unhindered, slamming into a small doe that was drinking from the pond. Her right talon latches onto the deer's neck while the other finds purchase in the deer's side, and as the deer tumbles to the ground, Lashy bites down on the deer's throat, seeking to end its struggle quickly. It's over in a moment, and Lashy begins to feed.
Snowy, hearing the commotion, quickly finds Lashy. Once Lashy has eaten her fill, Snowy moves in to feed on the fresh kill.
"Fireworks ... I would have liked to add to that. Another day, another year."
Illyan look around and select a good spot to watch the fireworks. Nero curl near him.
Crow devoured the cherry pastry as all cherries deserved - with haste, before someone else could steal it. The Half-Ogre was greatly fond of cherries. It was entirely possible for him to eat a tree's worth by himself, given a few hours and half a chance.
Following the others to the site of the fireworks, Crow sat down with a clang!, choosing the ground over any of the rocks. It put him on a more even footing, so to speak. Watching the fireworks for a moment, he asked, "Did the village pay for these?" It was an impressive ivestment if so.
I nigh haven't heard much, but I was talkin' to a buddy of mine, who works at the mine an' he said that the output of the mine has been taxed as of late. Jerry says, exasperated. It's just ridiculous... I went to talk to Mr. Drovely to see if the rumors had any merit, and they wouldn't even let me in to see him. Said, 'I'd stink up the house' or something. Times have really changed.
As the show continues throughout the night, you are all awed by the brilliant colors. The lights seem to evoke an almost peaceful aura as they pop through the quiet of the night. Suddenly, a huge one erupts into a dazzling banner saying 'HAPPY HESCOY HAMLET DAYS!' After which the sound of the popping ends and the lights slowly fade from the sky.
Simeon lightly snaps his sketchbook shut and stands. He yawns and arching his back as he stretches. Well It looks like they're done shooting them off. What do you say w- Simeon says, but is then cut off by Jerry's excited shouts.
No, I can see one more! It looks like it's coming from a different angle though. Sure enough, following Jerry's pointed finger you can see a faint streak of light that is speeding through the sky. The trajectory looks wrong though, and as the seconds pass, it looks as though it is coming toward you guys. Seconds more pass and the streak in the sky has grown to the size of a cow, and it continues to hurtle towards you. Slamming into and through a swath of heavy trees, the object continues onward and buries itself into the side of the hill - and none too softly either. The bigger rocks around you shift only a little, but the smaller ones almost jump into the air and back to the ground again.
After the dust settles again you hear Simeon call out to you, Is everyone alright?
When the fireworks come their first ending Spooky thinks, Boy am I hungry. We got here so late we never had time to visit the stalls. By that point the rumblings of his tummy have been in a serious competition with the percussive fireworks.
But when the meteorite hits all that is forgotten. The blow doesn't seem to affect the little dwarf, who appears as if rooted to the earth.
"Now THAT was a sight. Last one to the meteorite is a slug!"
With that Spooky is off like a shot. A 20' movement rate shot though. The opportunity to be the first person to examine a hunk of alien metal is just too much for him to act rationally and pause.
roll + DEX + base
The boulders Abby has nestled between shift awkwardly from the concussion. "Ahh!" Abby let's out a short cry of pain. "Ah...mmm..." She grits her teeth, pulling her leg free of the boulder. She stands shakily, inspecting the exposed flesh for bruising and scraping. She turns to the others, and hastily adds, "It's not broken, at least." She pauses, looking over her shoulder in the direction the object landed. "Oh, but Lashy and Snowy were that way!" She begins to hobble in that direction.
roll + DEX + base
Lashy is peppered by wooden shrapnel as a nearby tree suddenly explodes, then knocked prone as the ground itself heaves under the force of the object landing nearby. Mildly wounded, the raptor makes its way back towards its master.
roll + DEX + base
Snowfeather avoids the worst of it, being sheltered by an outcropping of stone. Curious, he moves to investigate the source of the sudden upheaval.
The concussion make Illyan fall, but he is unarmed. He get up and:
"Someone need healing? I have a bit of equipment with me."
Moving surprisingly quickly, Crow almost made it away from the impact. But almost counted for nothing. The blast caught the huge Berserker's bulk, causing him to grunt in annoyance at the wound. Raising his hand, he watched for a moment as blood oozed between the plates in his armour, but all the fingers moved when he made a fist.
Good enough.
"I will live. What was that?" Heading towards the direction Spooky had gone, he began to scan.
Turiel oohs and aahs with the others, enjoying the spectacle of the light show. Cracking his back, he stands and listens to Jerry's tale, "That seems like a lot of nonsense. If the mayor and the rest of the council are going to act for the town, then the lot of windbags should at least answer for what they decide."
Irritated, Turiel is running over the news in his mind and misses the warning until its too late. Yelping, he tries to leap into the cover of a boulder but catches his foot and has a branch blown into his arm for his trouble as he tumbles to the ground. Saying a few choice curse words in Elvish, he stands and winces as he probes his arm. The previously still night air sets the nearby trees to rustling as a brisk breeze seems to spring from nowhere. "I'll be fine, have had worse and lived to tell the tale." Running over a quick mental checklist, he asks, "Jerry, you doing alright? Persephone?"
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"Abbicka, an you Phersepone, how smart are your companions? Nero is my familiar and he has human intelligence."
Persephone cocks her head to look at Phillip, standing to the side and staring at them. "I... I'm not sure." She shakes her head, looking back at Illyan, "He seems terribly clever at times. But he cannot speak or anything like that."
As the group is watching the last firework go up, Black Phillip bites down and begins to tug at Persephone's clothes, trying to drag her off. "Come now," She scolds. "Don't be afraid, it's just fireworks."
When the object gets larger and larger, Persephone begins to panic, looking for Phillip, and finding that he gave up and moved without her. "He knew." She mutters to herself. She tries to run after him as the meteor crashes through the trees. And then everything goes black.
Persephone opens her eyes to Black Phillip staring at her and Turiel calling after her. "Ugh." She groans. "Yeah, I'm alright." She forces herself to sit up, rubbing her head. "What in the world was that?"
Calls of 'Are you ok?' ring out all around as the dust settles, and when Spooky jumps up to go investigate the crash, he's joined by by Simeon. That looked like a meteor! I've heard of some of them falling before, but I've never seen one.
Jerry looks to be grunting under the effort of something. Once the dust settles, you see him unsuccessfully trying to move a boulder. Ehn, durned rock fell on my pack.
Looking out over the side, you can see a swathe of trees that have toppled over one another and onto the mountain path that you came up.
Note: He has these wild talents:
But I think, due to his strength, that still only ends up at a +4 so he will pause there at the lip and try to get a look from that angle, unless the Earth Walk gives him additional bonuses.
Yes, I get that +8, but I start with a -4, so I end up with a +4. Not going to risk falling 50' into a hot meteor when there is about 50/50 chance of missing by 5 and falling.
"Be careful, from what I have read meteorites can be extremely hot. It can start a forest fire."
Illian approach the location of the impact slowly, and cast light on a fallen piece of wood to create an impromptu torch.
"As usual. I am the only one that don't see well at night."
Nero is unfazed by the commotion. He has often seen Illyan experiment with his bombs.
After checking on his human he move toward the meteorite, swishing his tail.
The titanic Crow looked down the passage the falling chunk of stone had made and grunted. "Rough ground."
She pauses, looking over her shoulder in the direction the object landed.
Despite his armour, Crow was pretty good at moving in such situations. Still, there was something to be said for being careful. He pulled a length of rope from his pack and looked around for a secure place to tie it to.
"I knew someone would bring some rope! Finally we can go down and explore!"
Turiel, still wincing, offers a hand to help Persephone to her feet. "Can't say I'm too eager to see another, Simeon. At least not quite so close." He makes his way to where Jerry is trying to recover his pack. "Let's see if we can shift it together, though we might need Crow to shift it. I'm sure he'll shift his priorities as soon as he remembers the rest of the cherry pastries are in that pack." Turiel steps up to the boulder and heaves at it for a moment alongside Jerry.
The boulder remains stubbornly stuck and Turiel steps back, jaw tight. "Right, let me give that another go." Stepping up again, his sky-blue eyes begin to flash white at the edges and the breeze already swirling around him picks up, his white hair beginning to be caught up by the wind. A faint white light can be seen emanating from the exquisitely filigreed scabbard hanging at his waist.
Abby assists Crow in finding a place to tie off the rope. she turns to Lashy. "Stay up here, Lashtail. I'm going down to look for Snowfeather. Stay."
roll + CHA + rank + class skill
With that said, she begins to climb down the rope.
Accelerated climb down a rope with a wall to brace against (DC 10)
roll + STR + rank + class skill + ACP
roll + STR + rank + class skill + ACP
roll + STR + rank + class skill + ACP
roll + STR + rank + class skill + ACP
roll + STR + rank + class skill + ACP
roll + STR + rank + class skill + ACP
roll + STR + rank + class skill + ACP
roll + STR + rank + class skill + ACP
Taking about half a minute (4 rounds), Abby quickly (for her size) climbs down the rope, nearly losing her grip towards the end. As she gets towards the bottom, she drops the remaining few feet. "Snowfeather!" she calls out. "Are you out here?"
Illyan reach the border of the crater:
"Abby, are you ok?"
He plant his makeshift torch in the ground so that it lighten up the area and and approach the rope.
"Spooky, you want to go first or it is my turn to go down?"
Hear Abby's Call (DC 4)
roll + WIS + rank + class skill + racial
He stares curiously, and before deciding to move on, he hears Abby behind him (at the mouth of the crater).
"I'd like to go now."
Matching his actions to his words he starts down. With his bonus he will auto succeed at a quarter speed.
"Did you find anything yet, Abbicka?"
After Spooky has reached the bottom of the ravine, Illyan follow him.
Thanks! Jerry says once the boulder is rolled off of his pack. He crouched down to see what he can salvage of it, and it looks as though it's mostly intact. We could use a man like you down at the mill. How long do you think you'll be staying in town?
As Turiel helps Jerry get the Boulder off his pack, Crow and the others secure a line to several of the more sturdy boulders that didn't move during the impact. After which, they go down the slope to the top of the crater.
Jumping down about 10 feet to the other lip, you can see the same dark spherical object that Snowy did.
Either through dastardly luck, or insane skill, Simeon seems to decent the hill almost as though the blood of mountain goats runs through his veins. once at the base he calls back up to the rest of you, What's taking so long?! before jumping down to where Snowy is.
Those who are close enough to see the object suddenly feel cold.
as the moments pass while you're near the object, you feel very uneasy. The very air is almost oppressive, and your stomach churns
The sphere seems openly inviting. It looks to be cooled down by now, and it might be fun to touch it.
Spooky reaches out an arm towards the meteorite, withdraws it, and reaches out again.
"Now there's an odd thing. Most meteorites are hot after they've fallen - this one gives off an aura of cold! Would someone detect magic or poison on it. Cold can burn as badly as heat so I advise caution."
"Uh...Snowy was down here in the crater!" she calls up as Spooky drops into the crater proper. "He's doesn't seem hurt." She turns to consider the strange object. "And there's...s-something else?" her voice pitching from statement to question at the last moment.
roll + WIS + rank + class skill + racial (keen senses) + untyped (shared vigilance)
Know stuff about meteorites
roll + INT + rank + class skill
Abby seems very uncomfortable, her face locked in a sort of cringe.
Abby seems to start at the sound of Spooky's voice. "O-oh...uh, I can," she volunteers. She wiggles her fingers a bit and whispers a few unintelligible words.
"It's... too cold," she adds, once the spell is cast. "Like, meteorites are usually cold after they land, but this is... it should only be cold to the touch. And it's shape is..." She pauses, looking upwards as if the word she needs is right there on her forehead. "It's too... uniform," she finally decides, "and far too large."
Seeing that Abby is casting Detect Magic, Illyan approach the sphere casting Detect poison with one hand, while, at the same time, he rummage in his bandoleer for something with the other.
"Yes, yes, let's analyze it! A lot of starmetals have strange effects. Some are even poisonous."
Assuming the sphere don't detect as poisonous, Illyan will get within 5' of it and get his right hand within a pair of inches from it to feel if it really radiate cold.
If it don't seem unbearably cold he will touch it, trying to gauge its actual temperature.
Nero get on the rim of the crater, look the rope with disdain and descend carefully.
He approach the sphere and sniff it with interest.
"Big toy!"
Nero swat the sphere with a claw to see how it will react.
"Like, meteorites are usually cold after they land"
"Cold? I've always heard they were hot, at least when they first hit. Where did you hear that meteorites were cold? Perhaps you're right. This one sure is cold. And I know nothing about the normal shape. This is quite a learning experience."
Spooky is startled when Nero approaches the object, with no sensible caution, and takes a swipe.
Oh dear, I hope I didn't overstep my bounds there. Maybe he was told to do that by Illyan.
Crow approached, intrigued. Unusual iron from meteorites and such was often used for blessed weapons and armour in Gorum's name. Although his own armour was unusual, as it healed like a creature of blood and flesh, his sword merely contained enchantments of sharpness and accuracy. A good, solid weapon, but having one of star iron...
He listened to Abbicka's words with a tilted head. "Intriguing. Are they usually so cold they radiate it like this?" Perhaps it would make the best base for cold enchantments...or perhaps it was already cold iron.
Crow winced as the animal approached. It was a good way to loose some skin off a paw.