Karst IronBrow |
Karst sets his hammer head down on the ground, and lays his hands across the pommel. "There's powerful magic in the old priest's bones, I'd wager, but is it the kind the goblins can use?" He strokes his beard with a gauntleted hand.
"Did the gobbos do this, or was their attack a distraction?"
He kneels to peer down at the coffin lid "Are these goblin tool marks, or are they from something larger and craftier?"
Perception: 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (4) + 4 = 8
"I can't tell. Sesi?" He offers her a larger slab of wood to examine.
Sesi |
Perception (Favored Enemy) on the coffin: 1d20 + 6 + 2 ⇒ (9) + 6 + 2 = 17
Knowledge (Nature) (Favored Enemy) Could a goblin have done all of this? Is it likely they did this?: 1d20 + 4 + 2 ⇒ (17) + 4 + 2 = 23
GM, what can Sesi tell by looking around and studying the marks that may have been left?
Lia Vantas |
Lia's face is pale as she looks upon the desecrated hallowed grounds, her hands trembling as she puts away her club.
"...despicable." Is all she can say as she moves to the tattered robe that was left behind and examines it with a basic magic-sensing spell.
Detect Magic on the tattered robes.
DM Gee-Em |
"No, all else is well, if such a phrase can be uttered here. Let us leave..." Zantus turns to leave, his face downcast.
Hemlock follows, shaking his head and mutters, "Crazy town."
Once outside, the clouds have thickened, and a drizzle starts to fall.
Sesi |
"Agreed," Sesi mutters as she follows the others out. The drizzle is enough for her to forget the festivities after the goblin raid. Once Hemlock makes it clear they aren't needed, she heads back to the Rusty Dragon.
"I've never liked rain," she says to no one in particular as they make their way back, "Too cold, too damp, and it seeps into your bones so slowly you don't even realize it until you start shivering."
Lia Vantas |
Lia holds the tattered robes up. "Guys, this thing's a robe of bones--a necromancer's piece of clothing. Normally, it has patches depicting various undead creatures on it that you can tear off and use to summon zombies & skeletons."
"So a necromancer of some sort must have been involved..."
Karst IronBrow |
"Well, that's a small mercy. Whoever put them here isn't powerful enough to raise the dead by their own power." Karst chuckles, turning to walk the path up to the cathedral. "Let's just hope he doesn't have any more robes!"
DM Gee-Em |
Are you all heading to the Dragon or the Church? I saw Sesi heading towards the tavern but Karst was going to the church I thought.
Both directions may be taken, I just need to know who's where. Also, work is an abyssal pain in my rear, sorry for the delay.
DM Gee-Em |
"I'll wrap this up here." Hemlock gives you all a look as you part ways. "This act of heroics doesn't reach the gossip mongers, got it?" He then shuffles Zantus back into the church.
The Dragon is a hive of warmth and cheer, a stark opposite to what had just occured. Ameiko sees you and waves. "How did it g--" She stops as she sees you all enter.
She comes over to you, offering an open table by the hearth. "Don't ask, don't tell, old adventurer saying. Just let me know if you need something."
Karst IronBrow |
The dwarf seems lost in thought. He starts slightly when he realizes that he had been asked a question.
"Just some hard cheese and cold sausage. Maybe a hunk of bread and something to wash it down with. Thank you."
The then walks over to your table, places his hammer head on the floor between his feet and rests his chin on the pommel, pensive once more.
DM Gee-Em |
Ameiko nods and then departs, hollering orders to the kitchen staff. Around you the other patrons whisper excitedly as they notice you among them. You catch snippets of "heroes" and "goblin-slayers" from their awed glances in your direction.
---
As breakfast progressed, your thoughts and worries are interrupted by an expansive voice. "Ah, there are my fine heroes!"
Looking up you see Aldern Foxglove, wearing noble huntsman garb - managing to look quite ridiculous - approaching. He draws up a chair and joins you at your table. "Quite the fine morning, if I may say so. Why so glum, friends? Don't tell me you have forgotten our hunt today?"
DM Gee-Em |
"Don't mind if I do!" He slides a chair noisily over to your table to sit beside Lia. As Ameiko brings you all your orders, Aldern places enough coin to buy your order. "If you please, my dear, I'll cover my friends' tab today."
Ameiko shrugs and then hands each of you your food.
Satisfied he was being chivalrous, Aldern then returned his attention to you. "Eat up friends, and then ready yourselves. A grand adventure would surely lift your spirits today. I will of course supply mounts for you all and my pages will handle the lances till the time comes. What do you say?"
Karst IronBrow |
Karst cuts a chunk of sausage and another of cheese, saying nothing. He pushes them into his mouth and chews contemplatively. Out of the corner of his eye, he regards Lia, waiting to see how she wants to play the situation.
Is this rascal after something more, or is he just clueless?
sense motive: 1d20 + 8 ⇒ (14) + 8 = 22
DM Gee-Em |
"Do not worry, my lady, I'm sure you'll be a natural!" Aldern bows his head to Lia, giving her one of his best smiles in hopes of encouraging her. "And what do your friends say? You game for some game?" He laughs then, as if he thought his wordplay was so clever.
Karst IronBrow |
Karst clears his throat, drawing foxglove's attention.
"We've got a bit of a full day ahead of us, Mr. Foxglove. Why not let us finish breaking our fast and give us a moment to, er, take stock of the day."
Sesi |
Sesi finishes off her breakfast, feeling a little better with a hot meal and some mead in her belly.
"My, Mr. Foxglove, you have quite a pheasant sense of humor. I hope you don't find my companions or me boaring, or fowl. I'm not so shrew our day is foal, but I'll defer to Karst on this, lest he think me some vulture barbarian," Sesi says with a grin.
I regret nothing!
Lia Vantas |
Lia fights the urge to take her dagger and slice off her ears so she doesn't have to listen to any more puns.
"...aaaaaaghhhhh..." She settles for lowering her face to the table with a mouthful of bacon.
"...yes, I'd love to go..." She whispers after she finishes swallowing.
Sesi |
"Oh, it's not so bat as all that," Sesi says to Lia, unable to help herself, or keep the grin on her face from growing, "though I must admit I did cave rather swiftly to this urge to parrot the foxy gentleman coming into the bloom of manhood in his punnery. Hat I gnome ewe didn't enjoy this sort of wordplay, I wood have found some other tack to chew on."
By the end of it, the Varki ranger is grinning ear to ear, and her eyes are twinkling with delight.
DM Gee-Em |
"My apologies, my fair Lia, I did not realize this was in ill humor. However, I am heartened that we may proceed with the hunt. Let us ready ourselves and then depart! I'll await you by the stables."
You may gather anything your char's may need before the hunt.
In the stables there are three horses and a pony for you all, attended to by two youths wearing the blue and yellow of the Foxglove family. They present each of you a steed and a boar spear before aiding Aldern onto his horse.
"Onward!" Foxglove announces, and leads the "charge" out of the stables. The townsfolk watch and cheer as the party rides through the town.
---
The ride towards the Tickwood is not a lengthy one, an hour tops.
Lord Foxglove passes the time exchanging puns with Sesi and Karst, chatting upon occasion with Pendrix, but focuses his attentions on Lia, flattering her on such things as how the sun which had pierced the earlier rain as you were leaving Sandpoint caught in her hair and other such cliche flirts. He seems completely full of himself to you all, and you catch his pages rolling their eyes at his more annoying dialogues.
"But you all must tell me," he then asks, "Where and when did you all learn to be such grand heroes? I must know the secret."
Pendrix Ragnack |
"I accidently swallowed the soul of a dying child." Pendrix mumbles.
He's totally lying to mess with Lord Foxglove. So here is a Bluff check!
Bluff Check: 1d20 ⇒ 20
O.o
I...uh...might have just convinced the party too...
Lia Vantas |
Sense Motive: 1d20 ⇒ 2
Already bewildered by Aldern's compliments, a flustered Lia turns pale when Pendrix speaks.
"Uhhh..." She clears her throat. "...anyway, I was just in the right place with the right gear at the right time." She turns back to Aldern. "I wasn't expecting to have to deal with goblins on my day off."
Sesi |
Sesi makes no apologies beyond shrugging while wearing a fools grin at Lia.
===
Sense Motive: 1d20 + 2 ⇒ (13) + 2 = 15
He's got to be lying... maybe. Sesi decides to make it a point to talk to Pendrix later about it.
Bluff (To keep a straight face): 1d20 + 1 ⇒ (8) + 1 = 9
"Tell me, Lord Foxglove, what do you know of the Winds that Walk," she asks in a dark, somber voice.
I don't want to step on any toes, so I'll see what the GM says before continuing on, and having Sesi crack up half-way through.
DM Gee-Em |
"Goodness," Foxglove gasps at Pendrix's claim. "I always knew the way of the hero would start with tragedy, but this ... that poor child! At least her sacrifice might save more lives in the process."
He turns then to Lia, and smiles. "The gods must favor you greatly, to have you be right where you would be needed most." Again, his words are meant to flatter.
"And no, I have not heard of these walking winds ... are they some kind of joke?" He adds the last part as he notices Sesi trying desperately not to chuckle.
Sesi |
"No, no, sorry. I was just... I was just trying not to laugh at the absurdity of the tale I had in mind," Sesi says, chuckling as they move along the road.
"No," she repeats, sobering considerably as her eyes see things from years ago, "they are not a joke. They are real. The Winds that Walk are terrifying spirits that eat the flesh of men, elves, dwarves, or any other race that can think and talk. They float in the air and walk on legs that end in charred stumps that never touch the ground. Their heads are like that of elk or deer, but with maws lined with sharp crooked teeth and dripping with blood."
The varki ranger blinks, coming back to the present, her eyes boring into Foxglove's.
"Pray you never meet one, Lord Foxglove, for only the gods can keep you form madness then," she says, clutching at the pendant that hangs from her neck.