Etune just misses the green hunter, but Elendril is able to connect with the blue, giving him a nasty cut.
Wilhelm backs up and puts an arrow in his opponent, missing with the second attempt. Meanwhile, even though grappling, neither Merisiel nor Elenderil is able to connect an attack.
Blue release Meredith, and then attacks with his short sword.
Green steps up to continue to full attack Wilhelm, who deftly dodges the attacks.
Etune blasts the green man with her freezing ray, knocking him unconscious. Meredith shows great resolve in fighting through the pain, but the blue foe manages to just dodge her swing.
The man ignores Elendril's comments, only to be slice practically in two by Merisiel. Then Wilhelm shoots and arrow clean through the man's skull, killing him instantly.
|
"There is an unconscious gnome up there, that I believe is Falbin. Does anybody here has some healing power? Maybe a potion or something like this?"
"Don't bother with the potion, I got this." Meredith pulls out a wand.
Meredith heals herself.
And Elendril.
And also the unconscious Gnome.
"Anyone I missed?"
The gnome opens his eyes, still laying on the ground, and says "Thank you! Thank you!"
He sits up and looks around. "Did you save my harvest?"
|
|
"Most of your crops are fine. Etune is quick on her feet." She nods at the halfling. "Like the elf said, let's get inside." ...I'd rather be outside, honestly. Meredith scratches at her hair and plucks out another flower.
---
Once inside, Meredith sits on the floor and attempts smalltalk. "Nice place you've got here."
"We heard you found out about a ritual in Briar Henge that uses an artifact for some kind of ritual." She lazily flashes her wayfinder to signal she's a Pathfinder. "Anything you can tell us about it?"
“Rumors of lycanthrope activity often bring ruthless bounty hunters to the region, anxious to kill for coin. The rumors of animal-men south of Wispil have brought several such groups to the region. These men robbed me of my belladonna supply just before you arrived and started burning down my gardens! I can’t thank you enough for saving my life and my livelihood.”
He gets up, and goes over to one of the men, and takes a small sack from him.
"Come inside, and we can talk more."
|
Once inside Falbin's house...
"You're welcome, Falbin, don't worry about thankful for the help, it's our job."
Merisiel is direct in her words: "we have a few questions, I'm sure that you will help us with them".
She sits in any empty chair in the room and starts to ask:
"First: what do you know about the artifact called the Atavistic Splinter? Can you provide us any information about the Verduran Forest? What exactly you know about the lycanthrope activity in south of Wispil? And what you discovered about the sinister cabal of druids in Briar Henge? Can you tell us the directions to go there?"
You sit around his table as he presents you with a rare litheria blossom from his garden. "This is in thanks for saving me!"
The litheria blossom is a rare but naturally occurring flower with large, pink petals. The pollen of the litheria blossom bridges the gap between life and death, functioning like an elixir, though inhaled rather than imbibed. A creature that inhales the pollen gains the benefit of the death ward and deathwatch spells. Both effects last for 10 minutes. If plucked, the flower remains vibrant and alive until the pollen within the flower is inhaled, at which point the flower wilts and dies. The pollen remains potent only so long as it held within the flower or immediately thereafter. One round after the pollen is removed from the flower, both the pollen and the flower become nonmagical.
Then he starts to answer your questions.
“I initially thought there were lycanthropes, but I was wrong. Just like these hunters are wrong. The rumors spring from animal-men sighted in the forest near Briar Henge, where the druids’ ongoing ritual has had the strongest prolonged effect. The animal-men are bestial and dangerous, but they aren’t true lycanthropes, as they can’t change form and don’t have any particular vulnerability to silver—or to belladonna.” As he says belladona, he holds up his sack.
“The animal-men are the result of the Briar Henge druids’ ritual with the Atavistic Splinter. That was all in my report to the Society. They used to be humanoids, but they’ve been changed by the druid’s ritual. They are incredibly tough, with animal-like faces and claws. They also lose most of their wits, becoming animalistic in mind as well as body. Longer exposure and closer proximity to Briar Henge appear to enhance the effects; I had to evade a trapper who lived only a few miles east of Briar Henge, and she was little more than a raving beast. Be careful.”
“The druids intend to transform everyone in the surrounding area into feral animal-men as a perverted way of returning them to ‘nature.’ The ritual is slow but powerful. The druids have been performing the ritual for weeks, and it seems to affect the area for miles around Briar Henge. Exactly how far out, I couldn’t say. I’ve done a lot of research, though, and I’ve learned two important points. First, the effects of the ritual are reversed only if the Atavistic Splinter is removed from Briar Henge before the entire ritual is complete—then all the affected animal-men would return to normal. Second, the ritual will end at sundown the day after tomorrow. That is, the ritual will only last two more days. ”
“I only Briar Henge from afar. It looks like a palisade wall in a ring, about twelve feet high and made of dense thorns. There was only one break in the wall that I saw, but it didn’t appear to be guarded.”
“Briar Henge is two days south of here, so you’d best hurry if you want to catch the druids before the ritual ends. The trail is fairly good for the first day, and there’s a small logging camp you could rest at. The loggers there are no friends of the druids, so you’re likely to receive a warm welcome if you mention you’re working against Briar Henge. Briar Henge is another day further southeast along some narrow but passable trails.”
|
|
Meredith inspects the flower Falbin. "Beautiful...thank you for this gift."
Meredith cracks her knuckles as the halfling describes the situation.
"While I do think there are some aspects of civilization that are too complicated, turning us all into beast men is certainly not the way. My hair keeps springing up flowers whenever I sleep, and I'll tell you- it's not fun." Meredith sighs.
"A maze of dense thorns, eh? I wouldn't mind seeing that. In my earlier days I had to tend to a large hedge maze. You got used to it after a while. Thank your for the heads up, though. It sounds like we should get a move on."
To Kyra, he says, "The Splinter is a piece of charred bark, about the size of a dagger, perhaps?
To Wilhelm, he says, [b]“No, I don’t think so. Only people that have been in the area for a prolonged period of time seem affected. If you go to Briar Henge quickly, you shouldn’t have anything to worry about.”
Elendril searches his recollection, but doesn't really come up with much of use. Likely, these sorts of people will become physically more powerful, but intelligence would drop. They might even acquire specific aspects of a beast, such as claws or fangs.
|
Okay. That doesn't sound like anything I want a part of researching. Let's get this mission done and out of here. Dragons are smart and cool and grandma said we Snowfoots are kin to some, but... to become just an animal? Why would the Society even WANT something like that?
Etune glances up as the discussion continues towards its apparent conclusion.
"Any equipment you can think of besides standard stuff we should grab on our way out?"
|
|
"The Splinter is a piece of charred bark, about the size of a dagger, perhaps?
"Or splinter could be a metaphorical term for another kind of thing, I don't have ways to know this, and perhaps you don't have too."
Merisiel is just waiting for the answer of Falbin to Etune, after this, she will be prepared to to go to Briar Henge.
Falbin looks at Etune. "I cannot think of any equipment you might need. These gentlemen had silvered weapons, but as these creatures are not lycanthropes, I think they would not be necessary."
You head to the logging camp, and it takes most of a day to get there.
The path runs through a small collection of buildings deep in the forest. This place appears to be a successful lumber camp — nearly a small village—but seems abandoned. A few open doors bang softly in the wind, hanging askew on their hinges.
Thanks to your careful approach and Etune's intuition, you discover 3 beast-men who were trying to ambush you.
|
|
"You're welcome?"
Picking up on the approaching targets and the very daunting concept of possibly having to tussle with the attackers, the halfling does the sensible thing and makes some incantations and a shimmering frosty outline appears around her briefly before fading from sight. During the casting, a small mace ended up in her hands.
Wilhelm fires two arrows at blue (medium range), striking the wolf-man with both, severely injuring him.
Meredith moves to the center of the camp, and takes a defensive stance.
Etune casts a spell, and will be better protected in this battle.