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Marc ponders the question for a moment,"I'm not sure how big? but if you find any other camps of the mean biggins, would let us know?"
"remind me to have Oleg get some beer for us next time we are at his trading post. I want to show our friends or appreciation." The last bit he says to the group quietly, but loud enough so his new small friends can hear him.
"Sure!" Tyg-Titter-Tut agrees with enthusiasm.
and LLV Scent
LLV
Heading southeast, the Huntsmen bid farewell to the spritely fey and plunge deeper into the Narlmarches. Two days pass as you map game trails of varying size, streams and creeks in abundance, and a diverse foliage in the surrounding area. One the first day, Taranis manages to spot a pair of nests high in the tree-tops, which he suspects are the roosts for a small faerie dragon and a grig. On the second day, the most eventful encounter is that of a half-dozen elk that stumble into your path, but they flee with some rapidity and none come to any harm.
I would say to head towards the bear.
agleed
The Huntsmen continue towards the rumored temple and its rumored guardian, heading still deeper into the rugged forest. After several hours of searching through the thick treescape, through shaded glens and boulder fields overgrown with bramble thickets, you stumble into a large clearing the woods. The clearing's border is partially defined by ruined stone pillars, and the western face of the clearing is dominated by a looming, upthrust ridge of rock, nearly 300 feet across and rising to a moss-topped height of 100 feet at the center. The side of this towering boulder facing the clearing has been carved in the likeness of an immense elk, its antlers drooping down from its weathered face to frame a 50-footwide cave entrance. A 50-foot-long oval pool sits in the middle of the clearing, its waters thick with algae. A flight of broken, crumbled stone steps leads up to the cave entrance. The site's weathered age is readily evident, and dense layers of moss cover nearly every stone surface.
Unrak pulls out his bow in one hand, and his potion of Shield of Faith in the other. He starts looking for sign of A Giant Bear.
Let's spread out just a little. If I can engage it in melee, the rest of you can either shoot it, or flank it, as you can. At least until it guts me...
"Hold...."
Zed raises a hand and implores the group to wait a moment while he studies the layout of the area before him. "I recall seeing a similar configuration of flora and landscaping somewhere, although I can't put my finger on it... was it in some dusty tome? Have I seen this before in the distant past? Allow me to plumb the depths of my brain, to try to recall the circumstances, and if it is indeed unfamiliar then we shall proceed."
Unrak is delighted to find an abundance of bear tracks, all of the same size and print. Zed studiously announces what Augrym and Marc already felt in their bones: that this place is, or was, sacred to the God of the Hunt.
ROARRRRRRR!!! A huge, shaggy bear bursts from the columns atop the broken steps and issues a terrible challenge!
Round I
1. Zed, Taranis
2. Guardian of the Elk
3. Marc, Augrym, Unrak
BOTTING FOR TARANIS
The druid puts a hand out to Toth, in a silent command to hold position. He calls upon his connection with the Wild, and evokes a spell to allow him to speak with animals.
Ho, great one! We come to help you...something rankles your soul like a thorn in your paw. Please, what is it?
The bear turns its attention to Taranis and stands on its hind legs, using its forepaws in an almost human manner to cover its ears and growl, then lands on all fours again and roars, louder this time.
Round I
1. Zed, Taranis
2. Guardian of the Elk
3. Marc, Augrym, Unrak
I'm not certain which knowledge this would be. All Zed's knowledge skills are +9, except Arcana which is +10.
Is it possible this is a doo-dad or something stuck in wildshape?
When it comes to Augrym’s turn... he readies himself for the battle ahead.
All knowledge skills for creatures are the same score:
Studied target
Cast Shield of Faith
A third furious roar fills the clearing and the bear bounds at top speed directly for Taranis. Marc casts detect magic and points his eye at the bear, and feels nothing. Augrym girds himself for a fight.
Round I
1. Zed, Taranis
2. Guardian of the Elk
3. Marc, Augrym, Unrak
Round II
1. Zed, Taranis
2. Guardian of the Elk
3. Marc, Augrym, Unrak
ROUND 1
Unrak quaffs the potion in his hand and drops his bow. He rushes to get to his brother, ripping his sword from its sheath on the way. He roars out .
- Round the Second
- Current HPs: 12/12
Zed begins to summon a monster to flank with the melee party members!
Summon Monster I
Unrak, too, readies himself for bloodshed, while the wizard intones a lengthy incantation.
Round II
1. Zed, Taranis
2. Guardian of the Elk
3. Marc, Augrym, Unrak
"The beast is insane, this is now euthanasia."
He looks at Toth and shouts, "Defend me my friend!" as he does, the druid weaves a spell of elemental power. The cat's fangs begin to drip with caustic acid.
Toth roars, green acid sizzling on the ground where spittle flies. The cat moves in to protect his master.
The bear barrels down on the snarling cat and his master behind. The heavy smash of its paws thunder through the clearing as the two beasts seem fated to meet. At the last snarl, however, the bear's eyes catch Augrym's priestly robes and flash in unimaginable rage. The cantering carnivore veers toward the half-orc, teeth bared!
HIT
The wound is deep and bloody, and the bear rears for a full assault!
Round II
1. Zed, Taranis
2. Guardian of the Elk (charged)
3. Marc, Augrym (9 dmg), Unrak
Round III
1. Zed, Taranis
2. Guardian of the Elk
3. Marc, Augrym, Unrak
Unrak closes, positioning so Toth can flank. He allows the Rage to overcome him as he swings
<—THREAT YO!!
dammit
Current AC 18
Am I going to go more than 1 fight in a row without dying? Lol
”We have waited some time to meet you beast. The pleasure will be all ours!”
crit threat
"Toth! Flank!"
Taranis then steps back to begin a summoning spell!
With a roar the cat moves in and unleashes on the bear:
A pair of heavy blades plunge into enraged flash, nearly bringing the bear low. Though it really is not a fair fight, Toth tries to put one up on the scoreboard in The Age Old Question, and tears out the bear's throat with a well-timed leap. The Guardian of the Elk shudders, releases an almost human sigh, and slumps into death.
As his bloodrage subsides, Unrak's jubilation turns almost immediately to horror. Before his very eyes, the bear shrinks and sheds its hair, and transforms into the bloody, shriveled corpse of a impossibly ancient man. The man's eyes, open, look surprisingly peaceful. Moments later, the corpse decays to a mere skeleton, and thence to dust. A wind takes the clearing, and then there is no more.
"This is strange indeed brother Augrym. I wonder if the building here can give us some context." Taranis and Toth will begin looking around...
Unrak blinks at the turn of events. He seems...disgruntled. He can be heard grumbling
used up a perfectly good potion for that...wanted a damned bear skin!!
Indeed, Augrym's query is soon answered. Taranis observes that the clearing around them, which had a first appeared drab and dusty, if a forest may be so, and now seems to grow more colorful and cheerful. Marc notices that the pool in the center, which had been foul and stagnant, is now clear as crystal -- inviting to any to drink and have their battle-thirst slaked.
Marc and Augrym are confident that this is the shrine Jhod spoke of, a site holy to Old Deadeye abandoned long ago.
Unrak growls and stomps off to inspect the cave, and Zed follows. They find only dust, dirt, and a prodigious quantity of bear scat.
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Well... we are in the woods.
Zed ponders what magical, mystical, supernatural, or creepy forces might have been at work here.
What’s up wit dat?
"Seeing the Green return, I think, answers your question brother Augrym. It must be as it should be if bloom and bubble are reborn. Come now, let us slake our thirst and map this area."
Taranis rummages around his pack. "We have the supplies to perhaps explore a little more, though I admit to eagerly returning with this news to Jhod. Let's travel south east from here, map the area, and then return."
"The project of mapping the geographic features of this region pale in comparison to the importance, nay the imperative nature of my drive to understand the mystical energies surrounding this eventuality, my druidic friend." Zed entreated.
"Stay here yet another few moments and allow me to gauge the importance and effects of the magical, arcane, and potentially important forces at work good sir..."
Zed drifts off into mutterings and half-intelligible hypothesizing as he casts about in his mind for some analogue to this particular situation.
Zed wracks his mind. The thinking feels slow, to him at least, as though his faculties are caged within the confines of a small room with no doors and only a grimy windowpane into the expanse he once knew.
He conjures no explanation. The divine remains beyond his understanding. After a few long moments, he offers only a low growl of frustration.
Taranis drinks of the pool and finds that the myriad scratches and scrapes on his person, inevitable in the course of travel through the dense woods, have spontaneously healed.
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Yes
The Huntsmen set up camp here, at the Temple of the Elk, and use the holy site as a staging ground for exploration of the surrounding area. By 30th Pharast, you feel you are venturing far enough from the Temple to reach new ground to warrant moving.
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Marc spends what spare time he has this evening cleaning out the dead fall and vines around the temple. Once it is clean to his satisfaction he joins the party around the campfire. "This is a sign my friends. There can be no other explanation. Old Deadeye is pleased with our work. Thank you, friends"
Before leaving the next morning, Marc collects a few seeds from the local area: a two blackberry berries, 5 acorns, a crab apple, and 3 black walnut seeds and places them in a small sack. He carefully places them at the center of the alter. He says a quiet prayer for the safety of The Huntsmen and the folks at the trading post and to anyone who needs Erastil's guidance this day.
He collects his things and smiles at the group and says,"This is going to be a good day."
Only if we MAKE it so, warpriest! So, lets!!
Is there repair work that could be done here to the temple?
Zed drinks of the spring as well, and as an experiment fills his waterskiing with this water that apparently has curative properties.
Once Zed and Marc have completed their tasks, Taranis looks over the food stores, "We've got just shy of two week's food. I suggest we tackle southeast, then turn back for Oleg's. Jhod will be pleased, and we've got gear coming."
Zed nods his concurrence
Zed drinks of the spring as well, and as an experiment fills his waterskiing with this water that apparently has curative properties.
The Huntsmen continue southeast, into a part of the Narlmarches where the trees thin slightly. In the early afternoon, the Huntsmen come upon a particularly mammoth pine tree that fell to the forest floor some years ago. In a hollow sheltered by the huge boughs, an angry snuffling can be heard, followed by the stamp and scrape of a hoof.
Round I
1. Unrak, Zed, Augrym, Taranis, Marc
2. ???
Unrak draws, and takes a step forward, ready to strike at anything that attacks!
You know what will suck? If this readied crit doesn’t trigger...
Taranis casts a spell of acid maw, and instructs Toth to "Flank with Unrak!"
Zed is pretty sure Unrak's lunch is making its escape via Gaseous Form and snickers quietly at his inner wizardly humor.
Unrak hefts his sword, ready for anything. Taranis makes his own preparations. Zed is engrossed in his own thoughts.
Round I
1. Unrak, Zed, Augrym, Taranis, Marc
2. ???