Zeldana, seeing that while the imitate threat was taken care of they where not out of the woods just yet.
Running to join the others, mainly Sazzat, taking the rope that he had gotten and tied it off to a tree.
Seeing the rope come down, Yeda grabs onto it. Speaking very sluggishly, for obvious reasons, she calls out generally to the group in whatever directions they may reside.
Who... has healing. I'm not doing so hot here... expiring in a moment...
”Get your butt up here and we’ll get you back in to fighting shape.”
Loxley called down to the warrior as she crouched at the top of the cliff beside Sazzat.
She was relieved some, Yeda was still aware enough to act and speak, but it seemed to take her some effort to do either. Even as they watched and waited for her to cliff up Loxley gathered her power and shaped the magic, holding it ready.
Yeda struggles, climbing the rock face, her breath becoming hard, haggard. Her eyesight starts to narrow, blurring, hard to focus.
The rope falls next to her, brushing against her shoulder. Focusing hard, she frees a hand and manages to grab the rope. She hears someone up above, screaming at her to grab the rope, to hold tight.
Who... has healing. I'm not doing so hot here... expiring in a moment...
Her eyes roll to the back of her head, and she looses her grip on both the rope and cliff face. She falls backwards, away from the face, her body limp.
She falls backwards, and like a rock impacts the watery surface, causing a large splash.
Time seemed to slow down for a moment as he watched the stalwart woman begin to wobble then his heart seemed to stop as he saw her start to fall backwards towards the water. He started to swim and yell before he even registered his actions.
He reached into his soaked beltpounch and gripped the piece of holly he kept there and concentrated taking a breath and casting a spell that would heal wounds as he moved. He grabbed the woman trying to transfer the healing to her even as he tried to pull her above the water.
Tamm tries to keep track of what the goblins are up to.
under the waves, the touch of Corrin's benediction for life falls upon yeda's still form. A warmth radiates from his hand, and penetrates her body. Small wounds on her fingertips, slices and cuts from the cliff face, bind themselves back together, while the greatest action is held further down upon her thigh. The source of her bleeding, a large, garish gash where muscle and skin hang loosely, attached by strands of muscle fiber and thin skin, begins to knit together. The chunk of flesh seems to reattach itself, like a macabre surgeon sewing the flesh upon the larger limb. The blood that flowed easily from the wound stops, and instantly scabs over. Yeda's body gives a subtle spasm, twitching as the healing energy flows through her, and finally she grows still as her head breaches the surface. Her body coughs and gasps, her eyes flicker open, wide, staring, only to suddenly close again as her body grows limp.
"Theres... theres a little cave down here!"
He called up to the others as he tried to make it to the cliff face.
He did his best to tie Yeda to the rope so they could pull her up, once she was secure he moved to try and jam what was poking out of the Bunyip to the cliff well enough he could come back for the bunyip...once the goblins were taken care of. He was going to wait to make sure miss Yeda was secure before he attempterd to climb up after her.
Tamm reaches down and scoops up Bandit, placing him on his shoulder.
Understanding that the raccoon is panicked by something, he moves back to the bridge and readies his bow in case the goblins find their bravery.
Loxley watched in horror as Yeda hesitated in her climbing, then fell and vanished beneath the waters. She could only watch as Corrin dove under. When the elf reappeared, dragging Yeda's head up into the air, she collapsed to her knees and releasing the breath she hadn't realized she was holding.
She was vaguely aware of Sazzat moving as she watched the scene below. She watched Corrin secure the rope around Yeda and nodded as he called up to them about a cave below. They would have to check it later.
Loxley looked up at Zeldana, then over at Sazzat.
"Tamm, you're stronger then I am and my arm is injured. Help Zeldana pull Yeda up. I'll watch your backs, okay?"
She stands up and moves to stand by the bridge. Her arm still felt shaky, but she still had he magic. Drawing her sword she held her injured arm close to her and raised her good hand at the ready to cast.
[ooc] an average knot at best [\ooc]
"Alright ... keep an eye out, something has Bandit spooked!"
He tries to lift the rope.
With Sazzat pulling first, Zeldana followed suit and pulled the rope a bit further along.
[dice=survival dc 15] 1d20+8
Zeldana grasps onto the line with Sazzat, and helps him pull their friend up, lifting the unconscious Yeda up from the water and into the air. Bandit squaks and squeaks at the top of his little voice, turning and moving about, the hair on his back raised.
Loxley, from her position at the head of the bridge. From her vantage point, she sees the doors to the pallisade open, a goblin head stick itself out, look at her, and then hide back behind the door. And with an audible thud, the door slams shut.
The chanting and hollering continue for a moment, until it cuts off. The sudden absence of sound from the island fort hangs louder in the air than the actual chanting and hollering. Beyond that...there is no other signs of movement, no signs of activity.
"Whats going on up there?"
He called out to the others waiting for them to get Yeda safely up top. He had a few berries he could feed her, but he didnt want to climb up without her safe
"Not, exactly, use to, this." Zeldana called back down as she pulled the rope once more.
Zeldana heaves on her line, her muscles, already straining from the heavy load that is Yeda, stretch out to their maximum as she pulls. Blood veins pop out on her arms, her neck, even upon her temple, trying to pull her companion up.
The worry that Bandit conveys through to Sazzat hits him deep, a kernal of fear a lightning bolt from mind through his body. His heart pumping hard from the effort of lifting the barbarian sea princess, hammers hard in his chest. For a moment, everything grows still, the echo of the heartbeat filling his mind. His heart beats again, and then his mind, his thoughts, his body, goes into overdrive! heart, before a hammer, now becomes a rock slide, crushing with every contraction! His muscles surge with energy; his hands, slick with sweat, clamp down like a metal workers vise, securing his hold upon the rope. His legs contract, bending at the knee; his hips flex, his abs and back stiffen, his jaw clenches hard and his eyes open wide. he bellows out, his feet pushing hard into rock and dirt, the thief twists on the spot and steps forward. First one step, slow and purposeful, then the second, and the third, every step he moves further away from the cliff edge. Zeldana, surprised at the order, lets go and steps back from the thief in shock! With every step, the thief pulls, harder and harder, an even consistent pull. 20 feet. 25 feet. 30 feet. more, and more he pulls. 40 feet! 50 feet!
Zeldana rushes to the cliff edge and kneels down, spotting Yeda dangling. Close, so close.
Sorry Yeda The witch mutters, reaching down and gripping a fist full of hair and lifting as Sazzat continues his extraordinary feat of strength. 56 feet! 58! Zeldana drops her other hand and grasps a clump of shirt and armor strap and heaves as well, shifting from hair to the armor strap.
with a last grunt of effort, zeldana and sazzat pull the woman up over the edge and back onto the rocky surface of the island.
Sazzat drops to a knee as he feels the line slacken. Sucking in great lungsful of air, he looks back and sees Yeda laying upon her back. Taking two great more deep rib cracking breaths, Sazzat stands up and staggers back to the two.
We have to move! there's still more goblins. Get my rope! Loxley, watch our back. he growls in urgency.
reaching down, Sazzat pulls the limp yeda up, and then shoots between her legs. her weight falls over his body, and he stands up quickly. Yeda, draped over his shoulders, her head rolls about. Sazzat grasps her arm and holds onto it and her leg and starts to hurry to the rope bridge.
Loxley could hear the struggle off to the left as Sazzat and Zeldana struggled. She kept her gaze fixed on the doors ahead, tensed and readied to react if needed. When Sazzat have a great cry of exertion it took a act of will not to look away.
The rogue heaved and struggled like a man possessed and Loxley caught her eyes flickering over for a bare moment and had to admire his effort. But she snapped her eyes back forward, a few moments later she heard the two helping the wounded warrior on to the ground and Sazzat collapse in heaving breaths.
We have to move! there's still more goblins. Get my rope! Loxley, watch our back. he growls in urgency.
Loxley gave a sharp nod at Sazzaat's declaration.
"What of Corrin?" She asks Zeldana as she keeps watch.
"The uh.. rope guys?"
He called from below looking up the face of the cliff.
"Just a moment! We're getting Yeda untied and making it a little easier for you." Zeldana called back down as she untied their unconscious friend before taking a moment to tie knots in the rope and tossing it back over to Corrin.
"Go ahead and take Yeda back Sazzat, Loxley will you accompany them? For their defence. Corrin and I shall follow as soon as he is up." Zeldana said as she grabbed the rope and was ready to pull while Corrin climbed. "And yes, I won't forget the rope."
Tie the rope off on to a tree on the mainland side. We'll cut the rope for the bridge. secure our backside. Sazzat grunts as he starts over the bridge.
Sazzat carries Yeda over the rope bridge, and drops her gently to the ground. He stands up and groans loudly, his breath heavy and harsh, sucking air in. Am out of shape for that....whew.
He wasnt entirely sure what that thing was but he was sure it wasnt good. With a series of very ungentlemanly elven curse words he moved and started to climb.
When Zeldana felt the weigh on the rope she began to pull.
"Next time the barbarian can stay level headed and be the one that lifts and carries...." Tamm says as he staggers under Yeda's weight.
Loxley’s attention darts between the door ahead and the others. She met Zeldana’s eye for a moment, then nodded. ”Okay.”
She started to back up slowly at first, but once Sazzat was across and calling to her she turned and hurried over the rope bridge to join the two.
Corrin climbs the rope, reaching the top of the cliffs on the mainland side with relative ease.
Yeda lays upon the ground unconscious, breathing easy. She no longer bleeds, and some of her deeper gashes and tears upon her body have been somewhat healed. Even with magical healing, she will have scars upon her body that will remain with her throughout the rest of her life.
”Yeda? Can you hear me?” Loxley asks fruitlessly as she kneels over the warrior woman. Reaching inside she grabs a handful of the magical threads that run through her. Holding tight to them, she reaches again deep into the her core, to that common place inside all living creatures share that connects them to the positive plane. Channeling that boundless life energy along the threads she reshapes them in her mind, into healing words she whispers as she lays her hands upon the injured Yeda.
Spear out and watching across the bridge he knelt low to keep a smaller profile.
"I've three of those healing berries in my pouch, they wont heal much but they will heal a little bit"
"So do we rest here, and take things on in the morning? I can hold the bridge for a bit if we want to explore this side. I can't imagine they will be brave enough to try and swim with all the predators down there...."
"Actually, first we get across the bridge." Zeldana said as she pointed Corrin to where Sazzat, Loxley and Yeda were before starting to collect the rope. "Then we'll likely head back... Yeda is in fairly bad shape."
Blinking awake, Yeda starts as if she'd just finished a dream where she was falling and wakes up just before hitting the "bottom." She rubs her fingers together to see if she's still wet, and then holds up her head to look around.
What... what happened?
Seeing the end of the rope bridge, she gets up on one arm to look over the edge, down to where she'd jumped.
Why... did I do that?
Taken by a sudden feeling of shame she neglects to say anything else just then.
"We're in pretty rough shape to attack the fort right now." Tamm says.
"We should probably withdraw and recover before we try forcing our way in. They'll probably expect us to come back, but we can hopefully sneak in and surprise them."
"There were those caves, Im pretty sure we could sneak away and visit them at night, crawl up first thing in the morning, Odds are the goblins would be combing the woods for us, not down there."
He mentioned tilting his head to the side. He wasnt sure why he ran either, he was just glad that he ran away not across the bridge.
"We could cut their bridge." Tamm suggests.
"We won't be getting any answers from them if we do, but they'll be trapped over there with that sea monster swimming about."
Loxley sighed in relief when Yeda finally blinked and woke up. When the warrior propped herself up the arcanist threw her arms around Yeda’s wet shoulders and hugged her.
”We thought we had lost you for a moment.”
Her voice shook a little bit, but Loxley gathers herself and stands up. She offers the other woman a hand.
”I grabbed your sword. It’s over there.”
She gestured to where she had dropped Yeda’s sword along with Zeldana’s and Corrin’s weapons, though the Druid had already retrieved his spear.
Loxley took a moment to look around at the others and frowned.
”I have a couple more healings in me. I should heal Yeda again, but we’re all injured and we don’t know how many remain within their stronghold.”
She shakes her head in disagreement.
”Cutting the bridge might trap them, or they could have passages like the caves Corrin mentioned. Besides, then we’d have to figure out how to get across ourselves later.”
The warrior smiles at Loxley's embrace. Yeah, I was a little scared too there, but it's going to take a lot more than that!
She then turns to where Loxley is pointing at her sword and stands up to retrieve it.
Wiping it off, she replies, Yeah, I could take more healing.
Steeling herself and returning to a more steady "business" tone, she jumps into the at-hand topic.
Well, if we don't cut the bridge we need a good hiding place to lie low. Any ideas about where, Corrin?
"Back to town?" Zeldana asked, after all the town was well guarded. "Though it is a further walk but wouldn't anything out here pose a risk no matter what?"
Loxley was conflicted wether setting camp nearby or going back to town was the better option. For the moment she set her mind to the important thing. Reaching inside she once again reshaped her magic and put her hand on Yeda’s arm as the others talked.
Corrin squats down, looking over the edge, observing several sharks now consuming the dead bodies of the goblins, the goblin dogs, and the large creature that he killed with his leap. His gaze focuses momentarily upon the severed head of his latest creature, and a small pang of annoyance at not being able to keep it flits across his thoughts.
At sea level, this side of the bridge, there is a cave. i am not sure what is in there, how big it is, or what to expect. he stands up and looks to the south, his gaze far off. 6 miles to the south of us is Sandpoint. With Yeda conscious, we can all make the trek back to town, and spend a night at the Inn. Perhaps even a visit to Father Zantus could be beneficial for Yeda.
"I'm fine with back to town. I'd rather spend the night in a soft bed instead of sleeping out here in the woods."
A night in town sounds good, but we cannot linger long. First, though they be goblins they will re-organize quickly. Second, we can't bring their wrath down on the town.
It's only 6 miles back to Sandpoint, and yet it seemed that it dragged on all day. Each step, while purposeful, still held a lethargy that wasnt present at the start of the day. The howl, that twang of fear within the mind, and the following actions, the dissolution of unit cohesion, gnawed at everyone. both those that were directly affected by the bellow, and those that resisted. The day showed to everyone, not just to Yeda, that mortality constantly haunts everyone, and one misstep, one wrong decision, a lack of conviction when bravery is demanded, could spell death and destruction for not only self, but others as well.
The sun was it's diameter above the western horizon as the party walked through the northern gate of Sandpoint. The group walked through the town, waving indifferently at those citizens that recognized them, and exchanged half-hearted pleasantries to those that actually approached them to talk.
Entering the Rusty Dragon Inn, Ameiko takes one look at everyone and nods once. Ah. I know that look. Come, to the back room. she leads everyone to the rear room, usually reserved for select patrons, and her friends. She ensures that everyone is seated comfortably and pours a small bowl of water and offers rags to everyone. to refresh yourself a bit. The companions all make requests, for food, for drink, for Father Zantus. I shall see to it. Please, relax. drink will be brought now, food in a little bit, and father zantus shall be fetched. True to her word, a minute later, several jugs of ale, a bottle of wine, and a couple more pitchers of warm water are all brought into the comfortable room.
15 minutes later food arrives. several racks of pork ribs, roasted apples, a potato soup, and some leafy greens in bowls, all are laid out onto a side table, and a stack of plates and forks are set next to it. Ameiko, seeing that her work, for now, is done, closes the door.
about 2 hours later, Father Zantus arrives, and provides ministrations to everyone within the room. A blessing here, a benediction there. Most of his efforts though are centered upon yeda, whom he leads to an unused room at the inn and properly ministers to Yeda's body. Inspecting her from head to toe, he lays his old yet gentle hands upon her shoulders, and whispers prayers to Desna for healing and grace to be bequethed upon this warrior Queen. He kneels down and looks at the nasty scar upon her thigh, his gentle fingers pushing and tracing, inspecting for any hint of infection. Pity i wasnt there to have been able to help heal you when you got this. I could have ensured that the scar was minimal. Be that as it may, you will have this scar upon your thigh for the rest of your life. bunyip bite scar
He paced like a caged tiger the entire time in the Rusty Dragon. He felt like he had failed both Ameiko and well his crush. Sure they had eliminated some goblins, and they had pushed them back to the island. He would make sure they were ready next time though. They would redeem themselves, the town deserved it.
"Sister Ameiko, I dont suppose Miss Shalelu stopped by did she?"
He asked her when he went to see if she had any berries for his spell. Tommorrow he hoped he could everyone at least two berries, incase some strange magics split them up again.
[b]”Has anyone seen Shayliss stop by while we were out fighting giant bats and goblins in the woods?”[\b]
Loxley had dropped into one of the offered chair as they were led into the backroom of the Rusty Dragon. She accepted the rag and water with a tired smile and ‘thank you’. When the food and ale were served she had recovered a little more of her energy and dug in to the delicious meal.
”Oh my gods, this is delicious.”
Loxley gave an unlady-like noise of enjoyment as she savored the first few bites of it. She watched Corrin pace nervously as he asked after Shalelu.
”Corrin, sit and eat. You need your strength and you’ll help no one circling like a nervous puppy.”
She tried to sound reassuring as wiped her mouth.
When Father Zantus arrives to tend their injuries she watches nervously herself as he cares for Yeda’s leg.
”I’m sorry Yeda. Are you going to be okay with that?”
She looks upset.
”I’m sorry I couldn’t help you better.”