Dutifully under OjosLocos orders the lad scans the body of the piper and the top of the rock carefully to make sure nothing is missed.
Then the lad has great fun taking a big running leap off the edge of the huge rock and gently floating to the ground.
Tomahawk out ready to throw, the lad approaches the tree house and scans from the outside.
Perception
If all seems well and safe, he will climb up to it.
Climb
Vojtek sits down and while he releases his innate fury, he's exceptionally pissed at climbing ALL THE WAY UP this STUPID MAGIC ROCK only to miss his chance to actually DO ANYTHING!
But he's far too spent to verbally vent his anger, so he fumes silently while gasping for air.
Ali sees Vojtek fuming, so she walks over and puts a sympathetic hand on his shoulder. Sorry you didn't get to do anything, but don't worry--we're used to it. She smiles sweetly, expecting him to give some reply that is both oblivious and insulting, as usual.
Davosh looks at Vojtek, "It's okay lad. It's just a metaphor for your life. Happens to the best of us."
He then waits for a report from Kappi.
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Ed listens to the verbal banter. He is about to switch his life link away from the panting Vojtek, but when the northman anger is just a mere flicker he smiles and says. I see what you did there One who speaks with the Ancestors. You're saying I'm the best of you and I have the best life
Edward shakes his head, and does his healing while the rest examine the area and loot.
If we wait 6 min everyone will be healed to full
The skinny rogue slips back to his comrades to report.
Kappi asks Edward if he thinks he can get close enough to "read them" and see if they have evil in their blood.
Davosh nods. He senses that what is to come will be a trying time for his friends.
Edward scans the house and gets no sense of evil. However, the healer is not as quiet as the Varisian and he shortly sees two young children peek out the window, then duck back down. Kappi hears hurried whispers but can't quite make out the words.
Kappi glances over at Davosh and whispers, Do you think those are devil children?
The rogue casually spins his tomahawk in hand, just in case "diplomacy fails".
"Aren't they all?" Unfortunately, Davosh wears an inscrutable expression.
He then motions to simply knock to enter.
-Posted with Wayfinder
Ali stows her weapons and stands next to Edward, assuming he'll go to the door. She can't match his sliver tongue, but so far her presence has been at least neutral, if not a positive, for group negotiations, for some reason.
maybe it's my pretty pretty hair...
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Children what are you doing in the house up there? Come on down here, and we will see about getting you out of the dangerous woods safely.
[Dice=Diplomacy]1d20+14
Edward's soothing tone is enough to get the two children, a boy and a girl, to return to the window. Both appear to be around seven, and are similar in features. They look out, look at each other, then look back out again. Finally, the girl speaks. Uh...hi. You don't look like the soldiers who've been by before...can you help us? Our Da is up here and he's hurt — his leg is bent all funny like it shouldn't be.
The boy tries to clamber up the window for a better look as the girl finishes, and the house lists dangerously. The girl grabs him and shoves him back down while trying to steady herself. Da can't climb with his leg all busted, and every time we try the house does that!
Davosh eyes the situation with his Normal Eye. How precarious is this beast?
"In my pockets, I'm not only happy to see Ali, but I've got a 10' pole, a ladder, and a bunch of rope. Think we can safely get them out? Also, if they come to the window and they're wee, I could fly them out..."
Suddenly Kappi looks surprised as if he just remembered something. He looks over at Davosh and nods his head. Yes, Yes! What about my magic ring? Maybe you can give it to the dad and he can just float down like a leaf...
The lad starts pulling off his ring.
Oh, you strange, dirty man!
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Rescueing innocent bystanders. Its a comic book super hero staple.
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With an incredulous look at what Davosh has in his robes, Edward takes a breath and pauses for a moment.
Just stay still children, let us come up with a plan to get you all down. Edward calls up to the children.
In a quiet voice so those only on the ground can hear him. We need to save this family. So you really have all that stuff in your robes? Nevermind I believe you Davosh. So do you think we can use the ladder to get high enough to use the pole to brace off against the tree? I need to get up there to heal his leg, or Kappi could climb up and jump down carrying the dad, and use his ring. What do you all suggest?
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Vojtek looks to Kappi questioningly and gestures to his axe, the tilts his head toward the tree.
Kappi shakes his head.
Vojtek tilts his head back and shades his eyes from the sunlight filtering through the canopy. With squinting eyes crinkling his tanned and leathery face, he wonders at the housing practices of lowlanders. Any fool could see that this is a silly place to build a house.
"Little brother, could you climb this tree to reach the house?"
He suggests another idea as well.
"Maybe tie some string to a small rock, throw the rock to the children, then have them pull the string up with the ring of feather fall. All that's left then is to convince a small child to put the ring on and leap from the house."
Vojtek wonders if that might mess up the balance though, causing the house and the other one to plummet to the ground.
Vojtek supposes they should pick whichever one would be more useful in carrying the camp supplies as the party adventures. He considers this silently, then turns to Ali, "Which one of them looks stronger do you think?"
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It sounds like he has a broken leg. I need to get up there so I can fix it. We need to make it stable so I can climb up and not drop it all down on us. Let me know when it's ready so I can start the climb.
With that, Edward starts to take off his armor, and helps / waits till the house in the trees is more stable.
Kappi can easily climb up to the tree.
Climb
And he does so. The lad uses his body weight to help in counter balancing and stabilizing the house.
OjosLocos uses his MadWitch/Ancestor powers to fly up to the house. He never has to put his weight on the house. He gives Kappi's magic ring (in turn) to each kid. They can then step off and float gently to the ground.
Lastly, Davosh will have to "fly into the super structure" to give the magic ring to the injured man and help him to the edge to fall safely to the ground.
Execute!
Davosh flies up (Take 10 for a 17 allowing hover) and very carefully delivers the ring to the pour soul.
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Davosh descends with the wounded father first, with his arms crossed and chin jutting to the horizon. His robes billow gently in the breeze, and he cuts a very supernatural figure against the backdrop of the trees, sky, and suspended house. His toe extends to the ground, and The Wanderer alights on the crunchy snow with grace and balance.
Vojtek makes ready to catch the magically slow-falling father, with arms wide. As he lowers him to the ground, he removes the ring and gives it back to Davosh. Ali and Edward take charge of the patient for care and healing.
Davosh repeats the process, rejoining Kappi up in the tree. He gives the little girl the ring and between him and Kappi, they manage to coax her off the edge and into the air. Davosh again tries to effect his pose as Master of the Winds; the little girl, however has none of it. She grips his hand fiercely, with the terror of her flight plain on her wretchedly dirty little face.
While Vojtek removes the ring and hands the little imp off, he hears Kappi up in the tree sharply remind the young boy that without the ring he'll plummet to the ground below. Vojtek snaps his gaze upward and sees the lad struggling against Kappi's grip on the scruff of his neck.
When Davosh once again reaches the house in the tree, the young boy eagerly grabs the ring, jams it onto his finger and lets out a whoop as he floats to the ground below. Davosh and Kappi share a look, complete with the Big Eye rolling, which is a rarity.
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Heh, I was gonna make Davosh roll a couple of Diplo checks to convince the kids, but you know what, it's all good. Kappi's presence should make that work fine, and the image is hella cool.
EVENTS TRANSPIRE JUST LIKE THIS. :-)
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Kappi starts to climb down then stops, he seems to be having trouble.
Vojtek stares up at him and gestures for him to keep climbing down.
The lad looks sort of nervous and sort of embarassed. But he finally manages to find a grip and slowly continue his descent.
He reaches the ground and faces a confused look from the barbarian.
The lad turns a little red andlooks down. ahh... Well you see uhm. Ive had that magic ring for a while now and I havent had to climb DOWN anything since. I almost, sorta... forgot how.
Kappi looks away clearly flustered about it.
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The children look amazed, and the father still wincing in pain as Edward is working on his leg.
My companions are quite amazing aren't they little ones? . The children nod still somewhat wide eyed. Edward places his hand on Kappi's shoulder. This is Kappi, he's a very very nice lad. I need to talk with your dad a for a little while. Why don't you two go with him just over there a bit and I be he can make a coin disappear and pull it from your ear.
The father nods and the children leave to be distracted by Kappi while Edward, Ali, and Davosh work on their father.
Edward cuts the trouser leg exposing the wound. The man groans when Edward moves the leg, and prods it with his fingers. Ali is busy finding a nice strong stick cutting the bark off of it for a bite block.
My name is Edward Wynn Fell, Paladin of Apsu. I'm going to heal you, but you need to bite down on this, it is going to hurt a bit. But with the blessing of Apsu (cast guidance0, I will get this bone to set straight
. [ooc]Dunno if Ali, or Davosh can assist with this or not.[/oo]
Edward then concentrates and life links with the gentleman to heal his wounds. Edward waits till the pain subsides, and the mans breathing slows down. He then introduces his amazing companions.
Now let me introduce you to my friends. The gentleman with the intense measuring gaze is one who speaks with the ancients, Davosh. The snarl toothed northern barbarian is Vojtek, the one playing with your children is Kappi, and last but not least is our beautiful fair maiden Ali.. While he was speaking, Edward offered the man a drink from his water skin.
<--nope!
<--first aid aid!
With Davosh's assistance, Edward is able to align the leg properly and administer some healing energy. The man, who identifies himself as Karend and the children as Trevis and Crina, slowly rises to stand, and the wide-eyed children rush to embrace him when they see him again on his feet.
We owe you an eternal debt, he says with tears in his eyes. We have little, but I can offer you this — I once gave it to my late wife to keep her safe; you have saved her children today and I know she would want you to have it. He hands Edward a necklace, a fine silver chain with a single red gem dangling from it.
Kappi being Kappi blurts out Sooo, how did your house end up in a tree?
And Kap does of course do his best to entertain the kiddies
Sleight of Hand/juggling
The lad juggles a pair of tomahawks sending them spinning high. Then he manages a huge overblown prat fall and has both tomahawks land disturbingly close to his crotch.
The lad hops up and takes a bow!
It seems they awoke in the night four days ago and the trees had erupted beneath the house. Karend was tossed from his bed and fractured his leg. The children called out the Winter Guard as they passed by, but were ignored. Circumstances were getting dire as the house was nearly out of food.
As is common, Kappi's antics are a hit with the children, and they laugh and applaud at the rogue's physical comedy.
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Vojtek inspects the treasure with a critical eye, though he doesn't reach for it. It seems it is being offered to Edward, so the Paladin has the first say of what ought to be done.
The Northman's throat thickens at the poignancy of the moment. He wonders what he would give to have some small momento of his mother.
He thinks Edward should accept the necklace only to immediately fasten it around the girl's neck. These children will have a hard enough path, taking this small treasure seems wrong.
Vojtek holds his tongue, but hopes for some small measure of humanity in this situation.
His eyes narrow in an instant however, as suddenly the sun catches the gold chain and gem. The shine is intoxicating, and in his breast Vojtek feels a covetous pressure. He twitches slightly, and his fingers drum nervously against his thigh. With steadily building intensity, Vojtek feels a deep-seeded need to posses the bauble. To own it, sit upon it, to hoard it...
A sweat breaks out upon his brow, his body physically leans forward as though trying to draw closer to the treasure. He glances at Edward with a flicker of annoyance and can almost feel an icy willingness to murder flow into his mind for a moment.
The sun filters down through the apparently brand new forest, dappling the crunchy granules of snow and ice on the ground with golden light. Vojtek thinks again of his mother, and nods with satisfaction at the idea of the necklace hanging around the tiny girl's delicate neck. But of course it is Edward's to decide.
Davosh keeps his normal eye on the children, ever weary of them being devils. He flashes his BIG eye on the necklace, searching it for magical auras
Through the exchange he says nothing, aware of his ability to make people uneasy.
Kappi asks if they know anything about the swirling vortex of doom? Perhaps they could see something from their "treehouse"?
Do they have somewhere safe to retreat to? Friends/family?
The party should press on if there is nothing else.
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Listening to the family's story pulls on Edward's heart strings. He misses his mother and father very much, and wonders how she is doing since he left with his mentor. He is tempted to immediately return the necklace to him, but just before he does, he remembers that it isn't his decision alone to make.
Karend, thank you so much for this gift. I'm deeply honored that you would offer a family heirloom to us. Now where as I couldn't possibly accept this from you, I have to ask my friends who did most of the work rescuing you if any of them would like to keep it.
Edward turns to his friends, pulls them aside and whispers quietly. Karend has offered us a precious gift of an amulet that he purchased for his wife in recognition of rescuing him and his children. Would any of you like to take this momento of his lost wife, or mother from them?
Please say no, please say no, please say no. Is Ed's internal chant.
Kappi's inquiries are met with a sad shake of the head. Never had much. Heck, since we lost Gertrude a few months back, what little we did have was taken away by the Winter Guard when they moved in. Losing the house like this was the final blow.
Ali nudges Edward and quietly asks about sending them to the Heralds of Summer's Return.
Davosh can see that the necklace is not magical.
Kappi appraises the value to be around 150 gp.
Ali nudges Edward and quietly asks about sending them to the Heralds of Summer's Return.
Kappi completely butts into their small side conversation. He whispers, They have nothing, I dont think we can take this from them...
"Agreed. Not this day. Go in peace."
are you kidding?? It would break my heart to take this from you
Vojtek reaches for the necklace, mute.
He takes it from the father and holds it up to the light, examining it critically...
With a quick shake of his head, he seems to banish a thought from his mind before kneeling and fastening the delicate clasp behind the young girl's neck. He refrains from smiling at her since he knows the effect that usually has on children.
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Edward beams a bright smile at his friends. Well we have an answer. Young lady, I want you to grow up and be a strong woman like Ali here. Same with you lad take care and protect your sister and you both be mindful of your father. Karend, we have some friends in the city who would like to help you. Do you think you can make it out of here safe, or would you like an escort to the edge of the woods?
Crina is overwhelmed by Vojtek's gift, and Karend is visibly shaken by the kindness shown to him by the party. He shakes Edward's hand firmly as he tries to graciously accept the coins, assuring him that he will make for the Heralds as soon as possible. We can never repay what you have given us, he says as he carries Trevis in one arm and holds Crina's hand with the other.
After sending the family on their way, Kappi takes to his customary role as scout, discovering a clearing ahead. Scattered about the clearing are the remains, some days or even weeks old, of perhaps a half-dozen of mangled humanoids in various states of decay, much of the flesh removed from the bones.
"No beast born of Nature on Gozreh's ground did that. IT is the work of something more sinister..."
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Vojtek looks around, keenly taking in details in the distance. He starts facing east, turns to his right and peers southward, then continues turning to gaze to the west. Then he spins quickly past north to see if he might have missed something over to the east.
Satisfied, Vojtek nods sagely.