A flurry of steel and death comes down around the almiraj as its eyes go wide with the realization that it is not going to win this.
The critter goes down in a frenzy of teeth and blood, its stubborn, wild defiance crushed beneath the might of civilization.
As Dmitri's bloodrage subsided it becomes clear that he had wasted his time and effort on a strange creature. He felt a pang of embarassment as he met the ever watchful eye of his comrade, Tyanos. He offered a smirk and cast his eyes downward acknowledging that his action betrayed any sense of respect he may have garnered. In step, reached for several leaves and began cleaning his weapon of fur and blood.
Silence befell the party and the woodsman offered a small joke to rouse their spirits. "Why did the rabbit like the adventure?"
Tyanos puts away his crossbow and looks to see if his wayward bolt was still useful. None the less he offers a remark while doing so.
"Let's agree to never speak of this and move on shortly shall we."
After healing Eshie's wound(1 CLW) and breaking the creature's neck, Kareta sets about skinning and cleaning the carcass.
Well, that was a little eventful.
Thomas ties off his horse, and then looks around.
Unfortunately, after a thorough search of the almiraj's nesting grounds, you find little more of value than what you already had on the statue... or dead man.
Aside from those things (a shortsword, a belt pouch with a dozen gold coins in it, a copper stag-headed amulet, and a satchel full of silvery powder that is stuck in the statue's stone death-grip), you only manage to find a single gemstone lodged way at the back of the almiraj's nest. The uncut onyx glistens in the sunlight.
Kareta makes quick work of the almiraj's carcass, quickly separating the good meat from the leftovers. You could also saw off the almiraj's horn--even after its death, it still seems to glitter with a radiant magic. It would probably be worth money to someone.
After cutting off the horn, Kareta tosses an empty belt pouch to Dmitri.
Dmitri gestured a thankyou and checked its contents. A total of 12 gold pieces. He then tossed it to Thomas so that he could account for the party's gold. Afterwards, Dmitri motioned towards the short sword.
"Hey Tyanos, is the shortsword worth anything?" he said while hefting the small blade towards the merchant.
Tyanos takes the blade while murmuring to himself, he looks it over carefully.
Thomas drops the gold coins, along with everything else into a saddlebag.
Will separate them back at Olegs
The shortsword is not magical, nor is it anything particularly special. Out of the corner of his eye, though, Tyanos notes that the pouch of silver powder (still stuck in the hand of the stone man) radiates a faint aura of magic. The copper amulet does not seem valuable, but looks like the type you've seen the various bandits wearing about the Greenbelt.
Brycen holsters his weapon, embarrassed by his pathetic display of trying to kill a rabbit.
"So um, *br-ahem*... Back ta Oleg's?" he says to the party nonchalantly to cover up his embarrassment.
"So soon?" Kareta says, pulling an empty pouch from her belt. She fits the empty pouch over the one in the statue's hand, then carefully cuts it away so it falls into her bag. "We've just gotten started!"
"Errr, well." Brycen chuckles from embarrassment. "I may haven' been sleepin' when we be returnin' to Oleg's ta gather o' bearings, saw iffinya be so kind asta remin' meh what we be doin' now?"
"We're after Tuskgutter." said Dmitri as he saw Brycen spring to action. "Hopefully we can get this little piggy and make some coin off him."
Thomas finishes securing everything into the saddlebag.
Yes, we are after a big pig, and hoping to get a bit of cash out of the deal for us.
I guess a boar called "Tuskgutter" isn't the "little piggy" you expect it to be.
says Hadin in good humor
We manage to rid these land of one threat today, it's a good thing for future settlers. But we have much more to do, many miles to explore before we can call the lands safe. Let's get back on horses!
"One thing first." Kareta said, standing up while Eshie chewed on the last remains of the Almiraj. "Now that we know these aren't just statues, maybe we should give them a proper burial before we go?"
"Now thats a sound plan, Kareta" said Dmitri as he nodded his head in agreement. "I know I might be reachin' the farmer's hand here but if Jhod's got some of that Erastite magic, perhaps these good folk could be cured?" It was a longshot but who knew what powers clerics were truly capable of. Magic users seemed to possess worlds of strange and cosmic abilities that he struggled to understand.
"I told you, anything the Almiraj kills turns to stone. They died first then became stone. Your asking to bring back the dead. If Jhod could do that he would not be here in the wild but in a temple with a few dozen acolytes at least.
"Welp, dey ain't gettin' deader, dat's fer sure.
"I ain't assummin' we be givin' deese guys proper restin' place? I say meat turned ta stone would cause-a-too-much-o'hassle fer us. Might bein' too heavy ta lower ta da ground without us breakin' anythin'"
That's a wise remark, Brycen. Maybe we could cover them with earth instead of trying to lower them deep in the ground?
"Sure thing, Hadin. We can move on once we're done."
Boar are a dangerous game. Let's be careful.
Digging a small book from her pack, Kareta lends a hand.
"I be sure ta gut em first!" Brycen says proudly as he rides with the others.
After a good half hour spent pushing the dead man over and burying him under a pile of dirt, the group is ready to continue onward in its dual efforts at mapping and finding the great boar Tuskgutter.
The rest of the day's mapping goes relatively uneventfully. Though the group is extra wary to keep an extra eye out for boar tracks, you find nothing of the sort.
Night falls, watches are assumed, and, in time, dawn breaks over the Greenbelt once more.
"So soon?" Kareta says, pulling an empty pouch from her belt. She fits the empty pouch over the one in the statue's hand, then carefully cuts it away so it falls into her bag. "We've just gotten started!"
He then spends some time working on his kilt before bed.
Brycen packs up his camping equipment and rides off with the party into the sunrise.
Thomas has little trouble identifying the strange silver powder as a substance he once read about, created from the ground shavings of a petrified creature and pure silver dust... ironmorph dust.
This bag of powder has a sharp metallic odor. Ironmorph dust can be applied to a willing adjacent creature as a standard action, or thrown as a ranged touch attack with a range increment of 10 feet. On contact, it causes the target’s clothing to stiffen and harden (Reflex DC 15 negates). If the target is wearing light or no armor, his clothing is treated as chainmail for all purposes—including armor bonus, arcane spell failure chance, and armor check penalty—except weight. Exceptionally light clothing (such as a nightshirt or silks) is instead treated as a chain shirt. Exceptionally heavy clothing (such as a cold-weather outfit or elaborate ceremonial garb) is instead treated as full plate. If the target is already wearing medium or heavy armor, he instead gains DR 5/adamantine, but the maximum Dexterity bonus of his armor decreases by 3 (to a minimum of +0), and its armor check penalty increases by 3.
After 5 rounds, affected clothing returns to normal. Ironmorph dust has no effect on creatures not wearing clothing or armor.
Armor or clothing affected by ironmorph dust is effectively metal, and counts as such for abilities or classes that are restricted to certain types of armor (such as druids); however, any abilities that are suppressed or lost due to the ironmorph dust’s effects are restored at the end of the dust’s duration, instead of after their normal time limit.
"I guess we go south, farther into the march."
As the next day's mapping gets underway, it looks to be another long and uneventful day of wandering across the rolling grasslands. Around noon, however, a pair of figures appear on the horizon.
Though you look at each other with caution, tension quickly subsides as Thomas, Tyanos, and Hadin recognize the Learys. Mikred leads his son northward, waving you down as you pass near him. A string of rabbits are hung over their shoulders... though none of these have horns.
"Been a while, folks," murmurs the old man, looking up at you on your horses. "Some new faces among ya, eh? Name's Mikred."
Vadren doesn't hesitate to introduce himself this time, shifting the bow on his shoulder as he steps forward to offer his hand to the new people in your company. "If you're heading south, keep'n eye out fer them folks at Happston," he warns.
"Bah, lad, don't be troubling our friends with that soon's we meet em again! Where's yer sense?" He slaps a hand against the back of Vadren's head. "But he's right, don't be trustin' those basterds. Wearin' the head'a the stag!"
Tyanos keeps his face neutral but was interested in this information.
"What do you mean? When we met them last they seemed to be trying to build a village and their leader wanted nothing to do with the stag lord. Has something changed?"
Happs was a bit of a bully and stubborn, but these were not rare out here or a indication downright evil. But if the stag lord had gotten to him or Happs fell back into the fold, that was a different matter.
Kareta smiled and shook Vadren's hand. "Thanks for the warning. But what's happening at Happston? We're on a boar hunt right now, but a warning of possible trouble is appreciated."
Mikred spits at the continued mention of Happston, as though that could somehow get the taste of the settlement out of his mouth. "Few months back, maybe. But now they've done built a wall 'round themselves and are lookin' to hate on anyone who happens by. I reckon that fella got the taste of blood back in 'em. I knew he wore that pendant for a reason."
"That ain't it, Pa. It's his lady been gone that's upset the man."
"Bah, your mother's been dead for a dozen and a half years and I ain't never been that ornery 'bout it. I think he done killed her 'imself, tired'a listening to her. And 'sides, were that the case why're the rest of 'em wearin' that damned head now?"
Vadren shrugs, unsure how to respond to that one. "Point is, they're not letting no one in the gate no more. We was gonna trade a few furs for some other supplies, but now we've got to hike it over towards Oleg's instead."
Thomas quietly says to the others after the trappers leave.
Sounds like this stag lord might be using her to force him to do his bidding
Tyanos thinks for a moment.
"Why would he bother if Happs deserted once before. Only gives him more of a reason to turn on him sooner or later. Odd for a bandit, we should go take a look ourselves before we start thinking one way or another."
Bandits did not hold prisoners to control people, that required a lot of time, effort, and resources. More so out in the wild, it would have been easier to kill Happs. Then place a few bandits to keep control of the people in the settlement, adding them to the fold or extorting them as they did with Oleg. Considering how bandits were falling prey to them and the wilds, their numbers could use the boast in people or resources. Creating another enemy in Happs and by extension his people by taking his woman was foolish, as well as an opportunity for a silver tongued merchant if that was the case.
Strange of Happs.I'd hate to see him revert to his old, bad ways.
"That man was always rotten, I'd say," grumbles Mikred Leary. "Didn't trust him from the day I saws him."
Vadren shuffles a bit, then slowly speaks--as though afraid of his father's response. "Pa, I think that was 'cuz you called him a lily-livered ladystealer..."
"Ah, shut yer trap, boy." He makes another motion like he's going to discipline his son, but doesn't follow through with it. "Ain't my fault I call 'em like I see 'em. That woman'a his ain't had no place in that lot, so I'm thinking he went and stole her but now she's gotten the sense 'bout her to run fer it."
The man nods to your company, then heaves the string of rabbits back up onto his shoulder. "In any case, folks, I guess we'll be off. Got a long way to hike it ta where we're keeping camp fer the night, and twice's far ta where we're getting rid'a these things now."
With a smile and a nod, Vadren bids his goodbyes and follows his rather curmudgeonly father off in a northeasterly direction.
Thomas works a bit on his kilt that evening before turning in prior to his shift.
We will share watch, Kareta. I'll be happy to know you a little more.
The night passes uneventfully, and once more dawn breaks--a beautiful day in the Greenbelt, and a grand day for travel.
Happston is only a short distance to the south, though it was not on your already decided route for mapping, nor a likely place for Tuskgutter to be nesting. But perhaps, given the Learys' concerns, there is good cause for a detour?