As the sun rises over the plains, Banith wakes the party, one by one, before tending to the horses. Grigori snorts and jerks his head away from the elf, while Susan playfully nudges the back of his knees with his nose. Perlivash sneezes, a small cloud of fuchsia dust flying from his nostrils, and kicks Djedefre in the shoulder as he wakes, unfurling, cat-like, from his stupor. Tyg-Titter-Tut yawns and stretches, hopping down from her perch on Quill's head.
Camp is broken, breakfast is eaten, and the group is faced with the decision of where to go next.
Gogeth stretches tall as he shakes of the weariness of last night's sleep. He looks about to find Elena.
Good Morn Elena, would you join me in my morning prayers, then perhaps we can tend to the horses after?
Gogeth cocks his head towards banith Perhaps the elf could find us some breakfast?
should be a nice enough day Gogeth says to no one in particular
Standing next to Susan and looking through her pack, Mira pulls out the Map.
So East and North East need exploring. We know a little about the area directly East but nothing North East, Hmmmm.
So we can head East or North East today. East we have some idea of what is there, Giant frogs and mud ponds. North East we have no idea about though. I don't care which way we go as we'll be going to the other right after that. So vote? This being put to the entire party
Into the unknown then! i say
Djedefre and Elena agree with Gogeth, and the party heads northeast - or, "into the unknown" as the paladin puts it.
The wind sways the tall grasses of the plains, and Perlivash occasionally swoops from his perch on Djedefre's shoulder to fly across the tops, allowing the strands to tickle his belly. There is no sound spare the gentle rustle of grass, the giggles from the fey, the movement of the horses, and Elena's humming.
Riding ahead, eyes fized on the horizon, Banith suddenly halts his horse, holding up one hand for the others to follow suit. He draws his bow silently, as if expecting something, and his prudence is rewarded as a tatzlwyrm leaps from the grass, serpentine tail forcing it forward as it lunges at the elf.
Tatzlwyrm: 9 pts
As the Tatzlwyrm lunges at him, Banith fires an arrow, catching the creature in the shoulder and drawing a screech from it. It retaliates by biting at his shoulder, but the elf proves too nimble for it, and the creature lands on the ground next to his horse.
Susan, SUSAN I have to calm him before we deal with the Tatzlwyrm
While calming the agitated Susan using coos and patting his neck, Mira yells to the party as she starts to move Susan away from the danger "We need it's head, be careful and may Lady Luck favor us".
Lim Rears are gogeth spurs him forward into a charge towards the fowl beast, both rider and horse eyes burn and nostrils flare as battle is met.
Mira spends some time calming Susan and drawing him away from the tatzlwyrm. Djedefre takes a jab at the creature, but fails to land a blow amongst its sinuous twining. Pulling alongside, Elena doesn't fare much better, her rapier glancing off the dragon's hide.
Banith takes aim again, and manages to pierce the hide, but it appears to be little more than a flesh wound. The tatzlwyrm takes advantage of the opening the archer's shot provides it, but gets no more than a mouthful of boot for its trouble. Gathering itself, it takes another bite, this time piercing the flesh of his horse's flank.
Gogeth spurs Lim into action, charging at the beast, lance pointed at its heart. The dragon barely has time to turn its yellow eyes to the paladin, before the shaft pierces its ribs, snuffing out its life in one blow.
With Morningstar drawn Mira charges running towards the party, seeing the calm reactions of the group she slows but still on guard
What did I miss?
Gogeth lifts the lifeless corpse of the tatzlwyrm up on the end of his lance and nods towards Mira
Nothing much just a over sized carpet python Gogeth's grin streches from ear to ear
now who is going to carry the head
Gogeth jumps down from his mount and draws his Dwarven Battle Axe and in a single chop, removes the creatures head from its body.
You then.
Bah! fine! but im going to tie it up so it stares at you while we ride Gogeth says with a grin
Shall we continue then?
I'm good with that.
Gogeth easily cleaves the dragon's head from its thin shoulders, and ties the grisly trophy to the back of Lim's saddle. It stays there, eyes lolling, but probably won't remain fresh for very long.
As the group continues their exploration, with Mira mapping out the area as best she can from horseback, the long grass gives way to short, and rocks speckle the plain. Swooping ahead, Perlivash announces that one looks like a prairie dog. Tyg makes an offhanded comment about him needing to not drink so much of the Biggenses' drinks, to which the small dragon blows a raspberry.
As the group progresses, however, it becomes more and more apparent that the rocks are strange. Here, one shaped like a wild pig. Another, shaped as a butterfly. A third, bearing a remarkable resemblance to a large snake - this one with deep gouges in it.
Nevertheless, there is a safe place to camp... If the party decides to do so in such an eerie place.
Gogeth dismounts and inspects the rocks shaped like animals, being a dwarf he has an affinity with stone and he inspects stone animals for signs that they were carved into this shape.
While having some racial affinity with stone, you aren't entirely certain about these rocks. You can't see any telltale tool marks, but with the environmental weathering, it's hard to say for sure.
there are no tell tale signs of tool marks, but being out in the open like this can some times weather away tool marks
Gogeth spends several minutes concentrating trying to detect any signs of evil in a 60ft radius of the group.
You detect no evil within 60 feet of the party, in any direction.
Mira rides over to Djedefre remind me to preserve the head tomorrow, okay.
"I dont detect any evil near by" gogeth said as he studies his surronds.
"im interested to see what may be causing this, lets set up camp tonight and see if anything shows up"
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It's certainly interesting. I think that we should play it safe though and be prepared.
The night passes quietly - eerily so, as if the local fauna is avoiding the place. The group is woken in the morning by Perlivash loudly complaining about the taste of the group's trail rations.
Mira moves throughout the camp looking carefully to see if anything odd has occurred.
You notice nothing out of the ordinary.
Okay then, this whole thing is odd, but, still, nothing pops out so....
I can't spot anything weird, anybody else? Mira calls out to the party camp.
Gogeth takes a quick scan of the camp and immediate area
Bah! looks fine! lets get out of this place and finish exploring this area, these stones are giving me the willies!
Mira takes note on the Map before continuing on to regular morning activities. Everything is packed right after she finishes her prayers and she is ready to go.
While traveling and seeing new sights is wonderful and I thank Desna for the opportunity to do that, if I don't come across something like this again unawares I really won't mind. Makes me wonder though.... hey maybe we could get some books in or even send a request for research on this. It's too odd to ignore. Chats Mira as she gets Susan ready.
As Mira prays, Banith and Elena busy themselves breaking camp, saddling the horses last, getting to this task just as the cleric finishes. Elena gently reminds Mira that she'd mentioned doing something to preserve the tatzlwyrm's head.
Eerie as the place is, no wild beasts or aberrant monstrosities attack the party, so on they go.
Mira moves over to the head after her prayers, digging through her pouch she finds what she needs.
Desna I call for your aid in preserving this beasts head, Odd but a showpiece of travels taken, May your light help in this task
Mira utters as she casts Gentle Repose on the head.
Okay that should last for 2 days, I can keep doing it as needed if we wish to keep exploring. So either to the frogs we were warned about or we take this back to Oleg's and rest for a minute and come back. If we go beck to Oleg's first we can ask about the statues and check it out. Honestly it's half a dozen one, six the other. So where do we go?