Frjya gave a small sigh, happy this was over. "I cannot do anything with a weapon such as that." She explained as she moved closer to Aramant. "I have something to help, hold still." She requested before she held up her hand, runes twisting around her fingers before she pressed the palm of her hand to Aramant's shoulder.
"How do you feel?" She asked as the runes flowed onto Aramant. While he felt cold for a moment it was soon gone with some of his wounds.
Game Time: Day 1 - 3:00pm[u] Stat Tracker [/u]
Global Condition: NONE |Freyr HP: 13/13 - AC: 16/14/12 Status:
Aramant HP: 8/12 - AC: 19/16/14 Status:
Tayanalla HP: 8/8 - AC: 17/13/14 Status:
Kleora HP: 7/7 - AC: 12/10/12 Status:
Fryga HP: 7/7 - AC: 16/14/12 Status:
Maja HP: 9/9 - AC: 17/13/15 Status:
________________________________
"Let's leave these other baubles behind for now. I can't see any reason to burden ourselves down with jewelry that belongs to the person we're trying to rescue." Taya says in reference to the box of jewelry we found in the coach.
Maja glances at the sword. "Much too big for me," she observes. "Perhaps we should return it to the Lady when we rescue her."
She slides her sword back into its cane-sheath and approaches the frozen man. She clucks her tongue quietly, observing the man's heraldry and wounds. She looks for any additional information about their quarry before they must dive headlong into the cold.
Maja works out that the dead man, now impromptu statue, was a Taldan captain who was likely tasekd with escorting Lady Argentea. His death was most likely caused from being coated in ice, most likely from a cone of cold type effect. The origin of that is impossible to tell though you can safely bet it was not a dragon. [ooc] Like that needed to be said. Unlike the other bodies this one is not pierced with tiny needles of ice and wood.
The disconnected chunks of flesh and the arm appear to have been done after the fact as the ice only coats the parts that were not connected.
The trail is easy to follow as you expected and the group sets off.
What are you doing now?
"We need to follow the trail, but we need to watch for ambushes. A trail that obvious makes me think they want pursuers to follow them."
Maja follows Tayanalla, trudging through the snow. "It would be difficult to hide your trail in this snow, but I agree. We should keep an eye out. Something out here has access to powerful ice magic." She looks at the surrounding tundra that's sprung up in the height of summer.
"As if that weren't obvious," she adds.
"Likely a cold fey of some power then. Be cautious sister. We didn't flee simply to die at the hands of one of Nazhena's fey halfway across the continent, Freyr projects to his sibling in silence. "They seem confident enough not to bother trying to hide it at all," Freyr says aloud. "I'm fairly capable of taking the lead as well, if you wish."
"They wouldn't dare." Frjya commented back, though he could tell that it was more of a statement for herself than him. "My brother does well in weather such as this, I suggest you follow his lead." She told the group with a small nod.
Kleora listened to what everyone had to say intently while they all examined the frozen man. The fact he wasn't pin cushioned was surprising but the fact he was frozen solid was not. She couldn't help but agree that it was likely the winter fey, she just hoped she could get them to listen when they eventually ran into them for she had no doubt that they would run into them.
As talk turned to a marching order Kleora nodded along in agreement with the decisions so far. She decided she should claim her own place quickly and said, "I'll stay near the middle towards the back"
"I believe your idea for our order is a good idea Tayanalla." Frjya said as she moved to take her place. "I am more that willing to keep in my place as we go. Just trust in Freyr." She told them.
"You're faith in me is truly touching," the large man says. "I'll do my best." He glances at his sister. "I don't like having people we don't know between the two of us. Or at your back."
XP: 100xp each for dispatching of zombies.
The trail is easy to follow, clearly no effort to hide the tracks, at least to this point, had been taken. The forest beyond being unnaturally cold also seems over quiet and the noise of each step rings in your ear as the snow crunches under foot.
B. TRAILSIDE TRAP
As it enters the full expanse of the Border Wood, the trail passes through a small clearing among the taller trees before continuing uphill and out of sight. A large chest lies half-buried in the snow, apparently dropped or discarded by those who hastily passed this way. You are a good chunk of distance from the chest.
What do you do?
Game Time: Day 1 - 3:00pm[u] Stat Tracker [/u]
Global Condition: NONE |Freyr HP: 13/13 - AC: 16/14/12 Status:
Aramant HP: 8/12 - AC: 19/16/14 Status:
Tayanalla HP: 8/8 - AC: 17/13/14 Status:
Kleora HP: 7/7 - AC: 12/10/12 Status:
Fryga HP: 7/7 - AC: 16/14/12 Status:
Maja HP: 9/9 - AC: 17/13/15 Status:
________________________________
"Seems odd that they would drag this chest here and leave it." Taya says.
She looks around for an ambush
"Brother please, this is for the best. You are the best here to move through the snow. Even if I walked behind you I would still have them at my back. There is nothing more we can do. At least this way if we are attacked from behind I am not the first target."
"Well, maybe it didn't have anything they wanted?" Fryja asked as she cocked her head slightly while looking at the chest. "I mean, bandits steal a lot but not everything right?"
"I agree, but I still don't like it." Freyr keeps his eyes on the others almost as much as he does on the trail. Not that it takes much effort to follow the wide path through the forest. "I don't think they would have carried it this far if they were just going to abandon it."
"Perhaps it was too heavy and they chose to leave it behind?" Maja postulates.
Maja approaches the chest cautiously.
From what you can see the chest appears to be just a chest. To lend some credibility to Maja's assessment you can see that the chest was clearly dragged to this point and footprints continue away from where it was left.
A chest in the woods, what could be wrong?
What are you doing now?
Well, if it was too heavy for them wouldn't it be too heavy for us? Although there could be more of us than them... but do we really want to carry the chest around?" Frjya asked with a small shrug.
We should at least inspect it. It might have something useful in it. - he says, looking around with curiosity - Although, to be sincere, if there's something useful in it... Why wouldn't they open and retrieve it?
Just befoe anyone else can approach Aramant spots something. The chest is on top of something. The packed snow under the chest hides a rope they strung through the undergrowth to a spiked log suspended high in the trees. It would appear the log will sweep down smashing those below if not disabled.
Game Time: Day 1 - 3:00pm[u] Stat Tracker [/u]
Global Condition: NONE |Freyr HP: 13/13 - AC: 16/14/12 Status:
Aramant HP: 8/12 - AC: 19/16/14 Status:
Tayanalla HP: 8/8 - AC: 17/13/14 Status:
Kleora HP: 7/7 - AC: 12/10/12 Status:
Fryga HP: 7/7 - AC: 16/14/12 Status:
Maja HP: 9/9 - AC: 17/13/15 Status:
________________________________
When they found the chest left in the open like this Kleora was more than a bit nervous. She agreed that it didn't make any sense but didn't bother to mention it since they came to the right conclusion on their own. Of even greater relief was that they spotted the trap and were working on disabling it. "I still don't like this, we found that trap but who's to say there aren't more, or someone watching us right now ready to attack when our attention wavers." She kept a sharp eye out for trouble while the others dealt with the trunk.
After Aramant points out the spiked log, Taya asks: "Do any of you know how to set off that trap safely, so no one gets hurt?"
"If we leave it the next person that comes along might not notice until it is too late." she finishes, trying not to think of what would have happened to her if she had just walked up to the chest without noticing.
"I've no experience with this kind of thing." Frjya said honestly as she shook her head. "Honestly I think this is the first time I've ever seen anything like that." She went on to comment. "Could we many make a wall from the snow around it without setting off the trap? So no one would be able to see it?" She asked.
I am not the best to disable this kind of device, unfortunately. - says Aramant, getting out of the way. He opened his arms as if trying to gesture for his companions to be careful - If anyone is... Then please go ahead. I guess there's some rope to be cut, or some lever to be stuck, something we can do to get rid of it. On other news, though, it seems that the people who were dragging it were ready for anyone following them!
"Don't look at me. If worse comes to worse, maybe we can throw some rocks at it or poke it with a long stick and see if we can make it trigger without being in the range to be hit."
Kleora considered the problem of how to disarm this trap and finally thought she had an idea. She looked back at the others from where she was keeping watch and said, "Couldn't we just get back and trigger the trap from a safe distance?"
"Hang on," Maja interjects. "I have something for this." She walks over to the trapped chest, pulls out her thieves' tools and glances back to the party. "You might want to get out of the way, in case this goes poorly."
She leans down and sets to work, biting her lip in concentration.
Taya crosses her fingers for luck.
Maja sets to work on the trap and as she does so can see that there are other items piled under the chest. Not part of the trap, just stored there form the look of things. She manages to loosen one then two of the cords but can also hear small shifting in the mechanics.
One more move and she should have..... oh crap. The is a snapping sounds as a branch covered in spikes swings out down and across the area the chest is in. Maja is nimble and manages to not take as much damage as she could have.
The half-buried chest is empty, but the bandits buried their spoils beneath it. If the chest is dug up, the loot is plainly visible. The cache contains the majority of the weapons and armor stripped from Lady Argentea’s guards, including five sets of leather armor, three sets of studded leather armor, a masterwork chain shirt, two light wooden shields, seven longswords, two spears, a masterwork dagger, and three light crossbows with a total of 25 bolts.
The path continues on, not quite as visible but still easy to follow.
What are you doing now?
Game Time: Day 1 - 3:00pm[u] Stat Tracker [/u]
Global Condition: NONE |Freyr HP: 13/13 - AC: 16/14/12 Status:
Aramant HP: 8/12 - AC: 19/16/14 Status:
Tayanalla HP: 8/8 - AC: 17/13/14 Status:
Kleora HP: 7/7 - AC: 12/10/12 Status:
Fryga HP: 7/7 - AC: 16/14/12 Status:
Maja HP: 7/9 - AC: 17/13/15 Status:
________________________________
Taya checks to see if Maja is alright.
"Are you ok? That log looked nasty!"
She looks over the contents of the equipment cache to see if there is anything of use.
She casts Detect Magic to check if the bandits left anything important behind.
Looking over the Masterwork Chain Shirt she asks the others: "Hey, this armor is better than mine. Anyone mind if I trade out and use this?"
Frjya stood there with an astonished look upon her face. "That was unlike anything I've ever seen! Tell me, did you mean to do that?" Frjya asked Maja with almost a innocent curiosity about her.
When Taya held up the chain shirt, the princess shook her head. "I cannot make use of such an item. I've no qualm with you taking it."
"Frjya, if you have healing available, Maja might appreciate it."
"Who I I do have the ability to heal, I can only heal a person once a day. So if I heal Maja now, I won't be able to later." Frjya explained.
Detect magic only shows that the items here are mundane in nature.
"It seems to be of the same sort as I'm wearing," Freyr says as they look over the collection in the chest. "Good quality, but you likely have greater need of it than me. The rest of this seems to be just the weapons and armor they didn't feel like carrying with them."
Aramant just shakes his head in agreement with Freyr and the others.
I'm sorry you got hurt, Maja. Glad it wasn't anything too severe. - he started - Please, guys, feel free to use whatever you can. The weapons are not much on my skill set either, and I prefer heavier, non metallic armor.
The shifter got ready to help carrying around the gear - maybe for an opportunity of selling later. The only item he put with him, for now, was the masterwork dagger, recognizing the good crafting and imagining it could be more valuable for the group.
If we can carry some of it, the coins we could get for it would help us on our quest. Even if we can't, though, maybe we could dig a hole in the woods and hide it to pick up later.
Maja inhales sharply from the blow, checking her arm for damage. Luckily, it was more painful than dangerous. She would have to be more careful next time.
She offers Tayanalla a pained smile. "I'm okay, yeah." She blinks in disbelief at Fryja's remark, choosing not to reply. She holds up her hand to keep the witch from healing her. "No need. I'm fine."
"If you are sure." Frjya said with a nod. "But no not hesitate to ask when you need it. Also I shall heal you when I see that you are badly injured." She went on to say.
"Should we continue uphill and see if we can find the bandits?" Taya asks the others.
"They only get further away if we keep waiting around here."
"Then let's get after them!" Taya encourages the others to continue the pursuit, following the trail up the hill.
The snow becomes increasingly deep in this part of the forest, where a windswept gully carves a path through a tree-covered ridge. A soft cascade of snow falls from an overhead branch, hissing softly as it strikes the ground.
The bank of snow suddenly explodes as a large reptile leaps out, as white as a blizzard and at least six feet in length. It has a dragon’s head filled with sharp teeth, and two arms ending in grasping claws. A cloud of greenish vapor wafts from its gaping maw.
None of you managed to see the creature before it burst forth catching the party by surprise.
Miss
The reptile bursts from the snow and attempts to first bite Freyr.
Bold may act
[u] Round 1 [/u]
Reptile
Aramant, Felora, Maja, Fryga, Freyr
Game Time: Day 1 - 3:00pm[u] Stat Tracker [/u]
Global Condition: NONE |Freyr HP: 13/13 - AC: 16/14/12 Status:
Aramant HP: 8/12 - AC: 19/16/14 Status:
Tayanalla HP: 8/8 - AC: 17/13/14 Status:
Kleora HP: 7/7 - AC: 12/10/12 Status:
Fryga HP: 7/7 - AC: 16/14/12 Status:
Maja HP: 7/9 - AC: 17/13/15 Status:
________________________________Reptile AC: 15