Visssila charges the human, trying to protect Djat!
I quit trying to write a sentence without sounding stupid :P
Initiative
Yochtanl 20 (KO'd & stable, adjacent to Yochtanl and Djatrix)
Djatrix 15 (just miraculously saved Vess'Sothek)
Rsss'tak/Visssila 11 (Rsss'tak is unconscious & stable, a dozen or so yards east)
Palag 10 (adjacent to Yochtanl, KO'd & stable too)
Vess'Sothek 10b (unconscious and stable on the ground)
Creature 9 (mauling Visssila)
Visssila rushes to attack the savage beast-man, but misses in the chaos of his gesticulations.
His death-rage is now set on Visssila, and he swings his new morningstar with all his might in a series of arcs with both hands.
Atk 1: ; damage: , Atk 2: ; damage:
The first hit shatters Visssila's shoulder with a spray of blood and torn scales, and the second lands under the chin with more blood, and broken teeth, and Visssila falls to the ground amid the unconscious vesh.
The man snarls in rage at Djatrix, "You had youlr channnnce!"
This makes the Initiative:
Initiative
Yochtanl 20 (KO'd & stable, adjacent to Yochtanl and Djatrix)
Djatrix 15a (just miraculously saved Vess'Sothek)
Vess'Sothek 15b (prone, conscious, same square as Djatrix)
Rsss'tak/Visssila 11 (Rsss'tak is unconscious & stable, a dozen or so yards east)
Palag 10 (adjacent to Yochtanl, KO'd & stable too)
Creature 9 (mauling Visssila)
As Djatrix realizes Vess is awake, he heals himself.
Vess'Sothek?
Vess'Sothek, assessing the situation quickly, staggers to Palag, and grabs him under his arm, and then moves over to Yochtanl, "We have to retreat, Djatrix..."
He looks back again, a bit disoriented after nearly dying, "Thank you."
The wild man tosses the morningstar aside and howls at Vess'Sothek and Djatrix, "Foolish mmolrtals! You nevelr think, only act... too late. Too late!"
His body warps and spasms disconcertingly, as he grows in size, his body twists into a bestial form, and hair grows all over his body. His claws tear into the earth, and the creature you first encountered is back, jaws full of saliva. It growls at you.
Vess doesn't need to say twice. Djatrix grabs Palag's arm and starts dragging him as far away from the monster as possible.
Djatrix takes Palag from Vess'Sothek and drags him back toward Rsss'tak, nearly to his fallen kin. Vess'Sothek picks up Yochtanl and does the same.
Vess'Sothek and Djatrix both have the little vesh in their arms, and Quetzalcoatl hisses in desperation.
Yochtanl 20 (KO'd, carried by Vess'Sothek)
Djatrix 15a (carrying Palag)
Vess'Sothek 15b (carrying Yochtanl)
Rsss'tak/Visssila 11 (Rsss'tak is unconscious & stable, twenty feet from party, Visssila lies at the creature's feet.)
Palag 10 (KO'd, carried by Djatrix)
Creature 9 (mauling Visssila)
The creature rips out Visssila's throat with a sickening squelch and then advances toward the party with grim determination. Blood streaming from its maw, a low growl in its throat. The calmness that is approaches you with unsettles you to your core.
Djatrix keeps dragging Palag away as far as possible.
Vess'Sothek keeps dragging the little vesh backwards, pausing for a moment at Rsss'tak's side. He carries Yochtanl to Djatrix and says, "Brother, see if you can carry them both so I may get Rsss'tak."
From the trees behind the creature a loud cracking and creaking issues forth, as if a great beast or object were pushing trees aside in their wake. All the ravens start to swarm in the sky above, cawing madly, and the treetops sway with the path of something large approaching.
From the treeline, the ground seems to ripple forth in a wave, vegetation roiling up and crashing into the creature and the corpse of Visssila. The ground brush, bushes, and grasses all come alive and entangle the creature, while roots tear out of the ground and do the same. Those plants not grabbing the creature search the air wildly for victims. The writhing plants stop about ten feet short from Rsss'tak, but seem to go on forever into the treeline.
Suddenly, a miniature arrow flies out of the woods to the north and hits the creature in the chest, near its left shoulder. The creature howls in fury as it tries to break free of the plants, and only making a few dozen feed of headway toward you all.
yep, just waiting on the others to finish our fate...
Okay, if Djatrix doesn't show up in a day or two, I'll DMPC as necessary. I just hate having to be be so responsible for PC actions/fate. Thank you all for being patient. Hopefully everything is okay in his home life.
Djatrix stares at Rsss as if his request was pure insanite. Then he sights and tries to do as asked, grabbing each Vesh with one hand and dragging them towards the woods and away from the monster.
As the vines writhe and grasp at the fell balverine, it struggles to slaughter you all, inching forward. The voice of the male fey can be heard from the woods, and the swarm of ravens descends upon the beast, pecking and clawing at it.
A massive, ancient, gnarled tree, looking like a combination of oak and fig, shambles forward from the woods. Its bark is blue-black, and its leaves are withered and azure. In the center, the trunk seems as if an old woman has been shaped into it, but it may be a trick of the light, as the chaos is distracting. The creature is too distracted to make much headway toward you all, and you all manage to creep to safety, dragging your wounded.
Being as stealthy as possible, despite your bloodtrails, you make it back to the farmlands, and a number of the farmhands you met before come to your aid. You spend the next day recovering a bit in the home of a local kobold farmer named Malgopi, and his seventeen children are very helpful.
Visssila is dead, some of your gear lost to the dire fey woods, and you barely escaped.
What do you all do.
Yochtanl solemnly offers to Rsss'tak at a moment he feels is most appropriate that they could hold a ceremony to send Vissila spirit off. He seems rather gloomy all day long, though he is relieved that he still has Quetzalcoatl. He doesn't enjoy imagining what it'd be like to lose him, so he knows how hard it must be for the lizardman.
Assumes he is healed to consciousness.
We should go back to the human town. I have no weapons and I have lost my Vorta...I have failed myself...
He says little for the time being. Being defeated and loosing Visssila is just too much for him at the moment. He refuses any offers at riding and states it is part of his dishonor that he must walk for 1 full cycle of the moon before he can ride again...
Palag is very weak when he wakes up and tries his best to not exert himself too much. He's rather quiet, obviously still shook after the events at the fountain. He also has sympathy for Rsss'tak, even though he doesn't quite understand how deep the bond between the lizardman and drake was. He tries to get over the unfortunate occurrence by playing carefully with the kobold children.
He doesn't have an opinion on whether they should return to Riftview. He lost his preferred weapon too, but he can't buy a new one – in fact, he already has the only thing he can afford and use somewhat effectively.
Yochtanl agrees with heading to the human town, as the group is battered both physically and mentally, and needs to recuperate.
Malgopi's children are ahppy to play with Palag, and any of the others, though their father often chases them off or sends them to fetch soup, compresses, linens, and the like.
Malgopi is interested in what happened to you, but tries not to bother you too much. It's apparent that he fears for his family's safety, but also feels that helping you all is the right thing to do.
Yochtanl talks curteously with Malgopi, thanking him several times for his hospitality. As a way of paying back, at least a little, he helps the children do their chores, and after the group's stay gives Malgopi 2 sp.
Palag assures to Malgopi and everyone who asks that it would be wise to stay away from the ruins in the north. He doesn't want to explain exactly what drove them away just barely alive since he doesn't think adding to the general worrying or even panic would be good. He does say that the danger won't be spreading so there is no need to worry about that.
After resting a bit more, Palag also trains Blacksock a little.
He's also very grateful to Malgopi and follows Yochtanl's example, giving them 2 sp.
Malgopi kindly refuses the monetary offerings of the party, saying that it is his belief that aiding those in need is its own reward. After you rest with him and his family for a couple of days, you bid them farewell, and the koboldlings all give you hugs.
Heading back to town is a quiet, solemn affair, with a light rain and only the occasional greeting or fearful murmur from those you pass.
When you get to town, you stop back in to the Wicker Warrior, and Shaygen and co. welcome you back. After telling them what happened, Shaygen offers you room and board in return for aiding him about the tavern, and fighting in the Wicker War from time to time. The season is approaching the second merchant's gathering, and more business is coming in.
Yochtanl spends most of the month making various doodads to peddle to the people in an effort to keep himself from running dry on cash. He also spends some time at the Wicker Warrior, working to pay for the rooms, listening to the rumors, or regaling the townsfolk of their adventure. He'll keep a keen eye out for prospective recruits among those interested in his tales, though he doesn't try recruiting new people as of yet.
At some point in the month, he talks to the other members of the group, saying, "So, what do we do now? I think that ruin we were headed to is still a good place to go."
Rsss'tak disappears into the swamps...returning only once per week for supplies and to share the company of the remaining group members he is quite solemn.
He says little of his time in the swamp other than to face his shame. After some time, he appears...astride a new Marsh Drake.
This one is young, with Red Frills along its neck. They don't seem as easy together, but the drake still seems to respond to his commands.
You find out that his new mount is named Essirin, meaning "Red Flame".
While at the Wicker Warrior, you find that the giant wicker troll out front now sports an enormous relic of a sword. Seems a band of explorers found it along with other treasure to the north, and Shaygen bought it off them for his tavern.
Any inquiries about the explorers let you know they were a motley crew of vesh, humans, and traull, and they headed north west. They haven't been heard from in over two weeks.
Palag is content to stay in the Wicker Warrior for the duration of their stay in the town. He'll help with the tavern, though he mostly fixes clothes and does other crafty jobs. He doesn't want to fight for obvious reasons.
Otherwise Palag will also do work for the townsfolk by making them clothes and jewelry. He'll keep in touch with Lolfi, get to know other vesh in the town and make some friends if he can. He keeps an eye out for potential recruits, mostly toward the end of the month. He isn't too trusting about humans and traulls though.
He also finishes Blacksock's training.
He spends one week trying to teach it another trick.
When Rsss'tak brings his new marsh drake to town, Palag is happy for him and plays around with Essirin if it fancies playing.
When the group holds their discussion, he replies to Yochtanl: "I'm good to go there, better get it done later than not at all! Well, as long as no one else has managed to clean out those ruins, so to say."