Reidog strides forward to challenge this strange-looking woodsman and lands a well-aimed blow-- but the thing just laughs, a hollow noise. "Your weak steel can't hurt me now. Lord Cymflynder has made me more than a man!"
Rogar hurries in to help, but provokes a swing from the axe-man in turn.
The axe clangs harmlessly off Rogar's armor, however. If only his own powerful blow had connected! Geera hurries in to be ready with some healing, and Calder rushes to bolster the grippli's defenses with the power of the Water Lord!
Taking the opportunity his colleagues have purchased him, Barred hefts the limp body over one of his powerful shoulders and runs out the burning hut-- Geera healing him in passing with a quick tap of the wand!
The axe-man grins at Geera's statement, his mouth showing silver flame past his handful of worn-down teeth. "You have heard of, but you don't understand, little frog-thing. Maybe I'll cut out that tongue before it catches more flies-- or before you heal your friends anymore!"
Geera's own armor and Calder's blessing work well together; the axe finds no purchase on her. The unseelie man hisses, his eyes thin silver slits of hatred.
Outside, the atomie hesitates at Kaya's words, making agitated circles in the air as she watches Barred running out of the hut. "Oh, that was nice of him, but I think it's too late, too late, too late-- Mister Cym cut him like a fish!" There's a nervous giggle from mid-air. "Mister Cym is very fast, very fast, he twinkles and smiles and then you're all dead! And the wolf too, he killed the poor wolf, that wasn't nice, and Thraven helped! Oh it's all been pretty terrible, this isn't what I signed on for, no. I'm really sorry!"
The fire is starting to spread along the wall and licking over the wood of the furniture....
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Calder laughs boastfully
"HAHAHA! More than a man you say? Please! You. Are. Nothing!!!! Stonebrother, finish him!!!"
Calder unleashes a blue-white light blasting towards Reidog, similar to the one he had released upon Geera a moment before, but instead this dragon snakes around Reidog's waraxe, coating it in a layer of ice! The ice is cold but not unbearable, although it certainly feels strange surrounded by so many open flames.
Calder then says a little quieter to Geera "Geera! If you can, grab that scroll over there before it burns, it may be important! I can heal you should you be hurt!"
Calder uses a standard action to use a water blessing on Reidog's waraxe. The waraxe will deal an additional 1d4 points of cold damage. No movement this turn.
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"If it's not what you signed on for, why don't you get out? Just tell us what's going on - why did this Master Cym do this?" Kaya urged. "We'll try and put things to rights!" Trying to soothe Gire, she softened her voice and added, "We won't hurt you, Gire, and we'll do our best to help keep you safe. I know you didn't want this to happen."
Reidog and Rogar take advantage of their positioning to both swing, but the servant of Abadar has better fortune than his dwarven companion. Rogar's oversized blade lands with a solid 'thunk' into the unseelie man's flesh. It's a powerful blow, but the creature still stands, and takes a chop at Geera as she tries to get by.
Fortunately his attack is as clumsy as her attempt at tumbling! Geera snatches up the scroll deftly despite the smoldering edges, retrieving it from the further depradations of the fire.
The unseelie looks around and recognizes he is surrounded, but shows no sign of giving up the fight despite his grievous injury. With a sadistic smirk he steps closer to Geera-- blocking off her path out of the fire-- and then swings his axe at the man who hit him.
But the spiteful positioning seems to be all he can do; his attack misses.
Outside, the atomie looks somewhat encouraged at Kaya's words. "Well.... Mister Cym wanted a thingie and the old man wouldn't give it so... you know... he took it."
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He took that solid hit from Rogar and he's still up! Time for me to get out of this hut, but hopefully I can still help!
"You're time is at hand! Surrender now if you wish to live, fool!
Calder throws down the longsword in the grass outside the hut, takes a step back, and reaches for the whip curled at his belt. He snaps it once with a loud crack and then tries to disarm the man of his axe!
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With little he can do outside and thinking it foolish to rush back in Barred simply olds this trun waiting to grab anyone sho succumbs to the smoke and get them out of there.
"Time to clear the building folks."
If our attacker falls Barred will rush in to grab him and get him out as well so they can search him.
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"Took a thing...?" Kaya felt dread sweeping over her. "Was that thing a lorestone?" The kitsune ask, already sensing the answer in her stomach.
She continued along the path, towards the mess of smoke to get closer to the atomie - while she might normally have climbed up the sides of the steep surface, she didn't feel quite so up to it just then.
Her attention wasn't split, though - she did keep an eye (and ear out) in case her allies needed any help as she approached Gire.
Calder proclaims the judgment of the Serpent King on the creature, and lashes out with his whip, but fails to wrench away the axe! Reidog's swing comes very close to connecting, but alas, the axe-man is reasonably fast. The dwarf works to set up an attack for his colleagues, however.
Cornered by the flames, Geera pulls a mace, while outside Kaya hurries closer. Barred prepares to grab an allies who fall to the flames or the smoke!
The atomie spins in little circles above Kaya's head, her bat joining her. "Oh. Yes. I think that's what he called it!"
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Rogar will 5ft over and swing again
With a powerful swing rogar brings his sword down on the enemy shoulder.
"Begone you law breaker. I will send you to the pits of hell"
-Posted with Wayfinder
As Geera slides the scroll away to keep it safe from the flames, the axeman snarls and swings...
...and finally connects despite Geera's temporarily-scaled skin. However, a second later Rogar's powerful attack cuts the unseelie man down; he falls to the floor with a heavy crash. Around you, the flames continue to roar, setting into the house in earnest now.
Stumbling out from the building as the wooden walls start to catch fire in earnest, the Pathfinders cough and suck down draughts of the cooler, cleaner outside air. Unfortunately, now that there are a few seconds to actually consider the body that Barred had pulled out, it becomes quickly apparent he is beyond any healing. The old man's body lies limp, pierced through by a dozen small, precise punctures that don't seem likely to have been caused by the axe of the unseelie creature.
The atomie, Gire, stares at the fire with wide eyes, tiny hands on either side of her minute face. "Ooooohhhhhh. Burn and turn and yearn and churn...!"
When Geera pulls out the singed scroll to examine it, she discovers she only recognize maybe half of the words inside as the Common tongue. The others are a strange script comprised seemingly of scratches and bird claw marks.
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Reidog will drag the Unseelie out and strip him of any valuables, making sure to check his pocket and any pack or pouch for documents.
"I doubt we're going to get anything useful out of this insane murderer here. Unless someone thinks otherwise, I say we make sure he won't murder again."
"As for the druid, looks like the work of some tiny little blades. Any idea who might wield tiny little blades around here?"
Reidog stares hard at the atomie and fingers his axe.
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Geera, still holding her wand, taps herself.
"This scroll better be worth all that trouble." She peers at the apparently literal chicken scratch writing for a few moments. "I think I need a little alchemical help to understand this."
Geera pulls out a small vial and gulps it down. "Now let's see what this scroll has to say."
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A bit surprised by the atomie's reaction, Kaya ventures, "Do you like fire, then?" After another moment, she added, "Now that things have calmed down - a little bit at least - will you tell us all of what happened and how you came to be here?"
And well. She cringed at Hemzel's body. So. They'd been too late. Well, then - to other matters. Like his killer.
To the dwarf, she said,"I don't think we should put him down when he can't even speak to defend himself." With a shrug, she added, "What say we try and at least hear him out? He might have something useful to tell us, whether he wants to or not. And besides..." she turned her attention to Gire again. "Is he your friend?"
Geera came well prepared! After drinking her extract, she feels the script on the page resolving into something comprehensible...
The scroll appears to be a journal of Hemzel's, discussing his recent acquisition of the lorestone and his discoveries through his own research. Geera can glean the following information as she reads through the singed scroll:
-The lorestone is tied to the stars and was created by the powers of druidic circles-- one of which lies several hours’ travel north from the hut on a lake island
-a band of fey had recently been harassing Hemzel and threatening to destroy the lorestone
-Hemzel assiduously avoided exposing the lorestone to sunlight
-the sun’s rays striking the lorestone inside of a druidic circle will disintegrate it...
It isn't hard for Barred to find some tools propped around the hut's exterior that could be used to dig a grave. While he sets to work, Reidog pragmatically strips their sadistic enemy of his possessions-- the axe is well made , and his woodsman clothes are revealed to have a steel breastplate beneath . There's a potion in a crude pouch at his belt, and he also has a well-made leather pack slung over a shoulder stamped with a symbol that Geera can currently recognize as Hemzel's personal owner's mark. The stolen pack contains two potions and two scrolls.
The atomie looks wide-eyed at Reidog's accusation. "Me?! Oh no no no no my sword is too small for THAT! No that was Mister Cym's work. Snicker-snack! So quick! You won't even see him. Just HURRK and you're dead, dee ee ayy dee dead! You seem like nice people. You should just go come back where you came from and not die like the old human."
She executes a nervous little spin in the air, then flies to Kaya's shoulder and uses her hair to hide in from Reidog's angry glare. "He looks mean," the atomie stage-whispers.
"...what we were doing? Oh... Oh! Yes! Right! Well Mister Cym has been telling everyone lately that he should be the boss because he'll get rid of all the humans coming into our woods and cutting down our favorite trees! And the dwarves too! All the bigfolk! He said he'll send you all back where you came from and make it so the woods were like they were in the before-times, before bigfolk ever came stomping through and crushing flowers and cutting down trees. Mister Cym said we could all be heroes! Throwing out you bigfolk and taking back our homes! And Mister Cym said we'd start with Hemzel which was a little strange because he was always a pretty nice human, he always asked before he cut a tree or gathered herbs but Mister Cym said we had to send a message and he had the stone that was the humans cheating anyway and we needed to take it and destroy it and..." the atomie runs out of breath, and sits down on Kaya's shoulder with a little flop. She's quiet a few seconds, then says peevishly: "But he didn't say there'd be so much BLOOD or SCREAMING or HURTING and I don't really like it. Anyway when you showed up Mister Cym told me and Thraven to take care of you all and I was GOING to but you seemed nice and now Mister Cym will probably smile and smile at me and I'll be DEE EE AY DEE dead. Mister Cym went away sneakity with the stone! I think."
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"This is good armor and an excellent battleaxe, if anyone has use of it. Me own gear is sufficient for my needs."
Watching everyone tasting the potions, he shakes his head. "Taking yer lives in yer hands there. Let the potion maker tell ye what the potions are, I say."
After finishing with the gear, Reidog will help Barred by collecting stones to pile on top of the grave.
"If anyone's going to question that other one, do it quickly before one o' these big rocks slips outta me hands."
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Geera pores over the scroll for the duration of the extract, and relays the contents to the party. She then turns her attention to the potions.
"This one is bear's endurance! Not sure about the first one."
"Good news, Kaya! There are two scrolls of lesser restoration. I can't use scrolls myself, but Calder could try to cast these."
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Calder nods at the Dwarf.
"He's right. Geera, do you have any idea what these are? I don't know, but allow me to assist some and let Ragadahn guide your recollection."
Calder makes a waving motion in the air with his hand and mutters a divine incantation.
Calder then wordlessly makes his way over to where Barred is digging a hole and does his best to help, using any other tools that might have been lying around.
After the hole is finished Calder will go over to Hemzel's body. He spreads his arms wide and holds his left palm upwards, using his right to make some somatic gestures. Some water appears in his cupped hand, which he sprinkles onto Hemzel's body and forehead. He begins to chant something in a barely-intelligible language that sounds like a low, grumbling, as if two stones were being rubbed together.
It sounds like he's performing some sort of simple funeral rites.
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After he's done performing the funeral rites, he will go back over to Geera and take the scrolls from her.
"Hmmm, I suppose I could try, as I do have the requisite magics, but I've never cast anything from a scroll before. I hope nothing goes wrong, perhaps everyone should stand back? Kaya, stand still if you'd please. Ragadahn's wisdom guide me now!"
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After passing off the scrolls to Calder, Geera turns her attention to Gire. "Don't worry, we'll stop him. We are very well-trained! Now, did you see if Mister Cym read this scroll? Does he know about the druidic circle on the island north of here? What is he planning to do?"
To the party, "We may not have much time to waste, if he's determined to destroy the lorestone. I'll drink to the old man, too," pulling out a flask, "but then we should get a move on."
One of the scrolls is sufficient to entirely cleanse Kaya of the poison's debilitating effects! It may be Calder's first time using a scroll but it's a very successful one; the Water Lord has smiled on him.
Though the Pathfinders dig a shallow grave out of time considerations, by the time they are finished, the twilight of their arrival has become full night, and the flames that still greedily consume the wooden structure provide the largest source of light. So much for a nice bed for the night...
But as the Pathfinders are considering the intelligence they've uncovered, more lights are seen: a quartet of bobbing greenish glows, drifting out of the woods into the clearing, and starting to float up the hill towards the wrecked hut and the agents.
Gire shrugs at Geera's questions. "I'm sure Mister Cym knows all about all the circles and the woods and the lakes! He's very smart. I don't know if he read the scroll. Can I go now? I'll be good!"
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Kaya smiled at Gire's antics. Reidog was being overly aggressive - and, well. She could agree with Gire on more than one point there. "Sounds like Mister Cym's got a bit more going on than he necessarily felt comfortable sharing with you," Kaya noted. There was a pause and she couldn't help but note, "Especially if he snuck away with the stone instead of openly taking it." There was definitely more going on here than was visible from the surface.
She considered her situation - would she even be helpful to the party as she currently was? - when her companions uncovered a scroll to help her with the weakness in her limbs. The kitsune did as was bid and breathed a sigh of relief at the renewed strength that passed into her body.
"Many thanks," she said, her voice very, very earnest. Thank god her party was competent - she had to strive to be better at this stuff! Geera and Calder both had done her a great service - she could lift her things without feeling as though she was going to keel over!
When Geera pointed out that they ought to seek out the Mister Cym in question, she mentally agreed immediately - there was no telling how much time he had or, frankly, what else he might be doing with the lorestone.
Still, when Gire spoke, her words were straightforward. She wasn't sure if Gire was lying, but she examined the little creature all the same.
"Do you know where Mister Cym went, Gire?" Kaya asked. "And I don't think I have any other questions for you...?" She looked to her companions in case they had something else to add. "You can go if you'd like, but if you're worried for your safety, we'll try and keep you safe."
It was unfortunate she couldn't help with the scroll, but, well. Maybe there was something else useful around?
When they saw the lights, Kaya started. They looked familiar... Hadn't she seen someone use something like that before?
Still, if people were headed their way - and, really, they didn't know if they were going to be aggressive or not - she wanted to be prepared. Kaya palmed a cold iron dagger from her kit, not wanting to be too obvious in case whoever it was could see them
Then, after a quick look around at her party members, she took a few steps backwards and, well. Tried to disappear a bit.
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Calder will nod gravely at Reidog after he is pat on the back.
After he casts the scroll he simply breathes a sigh of relief and says "You are very welcome, Kaya."
Once everyone starts questioning Gire a bit more, he will stay silent, shifting from leg to leg awkwardly a little further from the group.
I hope they figure out the information they need from that pixie, but I don't wish to make the situation worse. I did threaten it, after all.
Hearing Geera mention a caster possibly coming this way, Calder will ready his shield and draw his whip, taking a defensive stance with the rest of the group.
Gire quickly wings off with her bat in tow-- though she hands Kaya a little gray bag that expands size slightly once it's in Kaya's hands. "Here! You were nice! And your hair smells good! Goodbye!"
The atomie is quickly lost to the night, as the Pathfinder prepare for whatever new threat the dancing lights may presage.
It reveals itself in relatively short order as a voice from the treeline-- an angry voice.
"Arsonists and murderers, is it? Come down here to answer for it if you dare!"
Those of you with darkvision can just make out four figures, each about three to four feet high, hanging in the treeline defensively.
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Geera uses a second charge from her wand of identify on the bag.
"Kaya, this is a gray bag of tricks! If you reach inside, you can pull a critter out!"
As the creatures emerge from the treeline, Geera follows her companions' lead. "We're just trying to help! We wouldn't do any of this. But the one who did is going to cause a lot more trouble if we don't stop him!"
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Kaya, startled by the quick departure, accepted the bag, having only enough time to wave as the atomie disappeared.
"Oh," she nodded her thanks to Geera. She reached inside the bag, as Geera had told her she could curious and unsure of what she would find. It felt like her hand closed around a small, fuzzy ball. It was... a disconcerting feeling. She couldn't sense any life there, but if there was, it was undoubtedly curious about what in the blazes she was doing. She released the ball, withdrawing her hand, having satisfied her immediate curiosity.
Although Kaya wasn't sure how useful it would be, she did appreciate Gire's kind gesture. It was sweet of her to leave this behind.
She returned her attention to the voices and the others. Although she'd originally stepped back to let the darkness envelop her, she wondered if they might achieve a peaceful solution after all. She added her own voice to the protests against murder.
"Truly, it was not us," she spoke up. "We'd only just arrived to scare off his murderer." Although... Didn't they still have Thraven? What was he doing? She scanned the seen, unsure of where she'd last seen his unconscious form.