Jorgan gets a thoughtful look on his face at the dwoman's comments and moves in to sniff at Wren as well. "Bloody hell, he does smell a bit like Giant, don't he? Wren pal, we've got soap aboard, eh?" Jorgan ribs the elf with a painful lack of self-awareness at the amount of yak dung ingrained into his clothes and fingernails.
"So where was this resting place supposed to be? Can we help you find it? Did you brother get taken or are you just separated? Maybe we'll find him there."
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Mindspan Mountains..
The dwarf woman turns somber.
... knocked unconscious.
... looking for in the forest?
Her head jerks as she looks about frantically. She claps a strong dirty hand over Jorgan's mouth. Shhhhh. She whispers in his face. Her breath smells like troll hide and it nearly knocks him on his toes.
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...a Giant! The female dwarf says as she leaps back away from Wren with wide eyes.
Wren tolerates being sniffed, but only barely.
He considers offering the she-beard the goblin skull bomb and then walking away, but realizes he can't in his entangled condition.
Give her the bomb and things just might sort themselves out.
Wren rolls his beautiful elven eyes, hoping the rest of the dwarvesclan can fix this.
Torgan listens closely at her insistence, shushing his kin. After spending a few seconds trying to listen, Torgan will whisper to her."Segíteni fogjuk, hogy ki tud segíteni, vagy sem. Nem hagyhatjuk egy kislány az erdőben nélkül bátyja. Én soha nem hagyja Torgan mögött. Ha tudja, hol találunk egy emberke, akkor mi lenne örökre hálás."
The dwarf will then draw Agrimmosh and Brinya's Love as he searches the trees for the origin of the sound.
Spooked by the crazy female, Kraygan looks around with wide eyes.
Vanderhoff struggles against the grasping vines as his eyes narrow and he begins peering around into the swamp. "What did you hear?" He whispers.
-Posted with Wayfinder
"I'd never leave Torgan behind."
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The dwarf woman lowers the vines from grappling them.
Should we take them Umlo?
...back!
The dwarf woman turns around and darts into the tent. You hear a few items crash about within the tent.
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The dwarf emerges from the tent carrying a pack.
She nods to the group as she begins to march a trail that only she can seem to follow leading northeast.
She leads you a few hours and the swamp begins to get darker and darker. Off in the distance you can make out faint lights floating in the distance that disappear as quickly as you look at them. After a few moments you begin to hear wispy voices floating in the trees.
Will not go unpunished.....
Back to us...
Just as soon as the voices began they end abruptly as soon as you enter a clearing.
The dwarf woman turns around in the clearing.
Isn't that right Umlo?
Vanderhoff shakes his head at the strange behavior of the dwarf, but follows her nonetheless. Whenever possible, he tries to exchange worried glances with his party, nodding at the she-dwarf and shaking his head.
As the party descends deeper into the fens, Van spots the glowing lights and points. "Wisps!" He whispers hoarsely. Peering around in all directions, he asks no one in particular. "Any of yous get the feelin' we be watched?"
"Wisps!" Van nearly screeches at the elf. "You know. Them things we're lookin' fer!?"
Damn fool elf. Do those oversized ears need cleared out or has the senility finally got 'im...
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"Wisps!"
"Well...damnit! Speak up, you bearded piddlespotter! Half the time you're way too loud and when you have something good to say, you whisper it like Jorgan whispers into the ear of his yak," Wren says, shooting a glance toward Jorgan.
I think I've seen him do that.
Wren orients to find the wasps wisps. "Oh yeah, right...do you suppose that's what watching you? You know, the things you can see watching you?"
Wren deliberates for a moment, then draws out the ghost lantern. He holds it in hand.
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The swamp grows deathly silent as Wren pulls the ghostlight lantern from his pack.
WHERE DID YOU GET THAT! yells a disembodied voice right in front of Wren as the dark clearing suddenly erupts in a blinding light.
Giving your eyes a moment to adjust you realize that the blinding light is from the sheer number of Will o' Wisps surrounding the area. There is one directly in front of Wren, to which the voice emitted from. The outlying trees and water seem to be scattered with what can only be described as the night sky as the stars shine. The will o' wisps blink in and out making it hard to discern how many are truly there. It could be anywhere from tens to hundreds.
the faintly glowing ball of light bobs gently in the air in front of the group. The female dwarf begins to cower back slight as she visibly shakes.
"My Dwarvish is a little rusty!" he defensively says to Kraygan while the female dwarf is in the tent.
---
As they are following her, Torgan hangs back and signals to his brother to do the same. "Seems like she has trouble deciding if Umlo is missing or if she is with him... You see anyone else? Also, speak in Common as it seems like she isn't as well-versed in it." he whispers to Jorgan.
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"We were given it to fulfill a task to save our lands from an orc invasion!" Torgan yells out to the mysterious voice. "We are not aware of its true powers, but we were told that wisps would help us find what we were looking for with this lantern!" he stoically says, omitting the part about a wisp corpse to not further agitate the possible wisp king.
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After jumping at the booming voice, Wren recollects what he knows of the wisps, of the lantern, & of the Druids.
I thought they would 'wisp-er' when speaking!
Faced with sure defeat at the hands of the conquering orcs, the druids of the Council of Thorns made a final stand in the swamp, sacrificing themselves in a bloody ritual. As the druids’ dying bodies slumped into the muck, vengeful willo’-wisps rose from the marsh and drove the orc army out of the swamp. These cruel and capricious aberrations have guarded Ghostlight Marsh from intrusion ever since.
The will-o’-wisps of Ghostlight Marsh are actually the reincarnated druids of the Council of Thorns, who still remember their former lives.
After collecting his thoughts, Wren adds to Torgan's words.
"Silvermane, the great mute, gave us this so we might enter the Vault of Thorns," Wren speaks clearly as he can. "We were told we would find weapons to slay many orcs within. If you are the remnants of the Council of Thorns, then aid us if you can."
Kraygan shields his eyes from the sudden appearance of all the wisps. He listens to Torgan and Wren's words, but only has a little to add in support.
"The elf speaks true. The lantern was given to us find weapons that'll put the fear of the gods inta the orcs. But we were told that a dead... Er.. " Kraygan stops short of asking if their is such a thing as a wisp graveyard.
Van stays quiet, his hand edging toward his weapon as Wren speaks grumblelf to the floating balls of light.
Surrounded by so many wisps and fearing that they are as dangerous as he has heard, Jorgan makes a point of keeping his hands away from his weapons. "Aren't you enemies of the orcs? They ravage your land, right? We're here to fight 'em but we need your help."
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The wisps continue to blink in and out of the dark trees as the one in front of Wren begins to dim as the voice returns to a wispy etherealness.
As the light surrounding the will o' wisp dims the center of the floating orb reveals what looks to be a ghostly image of a venerable human face with a bushy beard in the orb's glow. The ghostly image seems to smile at the mention of Silvermane and attacking the fort of orcs.
I am Mossmoon, Silvermane was a near and dear friend of mine.
The surrounding area begins to calm once again.
You seek the Vault of Thorns. It is hidden deep in the heart of the marsh but the lantern will show you the way.
The orb begins to bob in the air and drift away from the clearing towards the trees.
Follow me.....
After several more moments of walking Mossmoon leads you to another clearing in the marsh that looks to contain a strange collection of pale, spongy spheres 1 foot in diameter.
This is the resting place of the fallen members of the reincarnated Council of Thorns. Mossmoon's voice eerily echoes.
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Wren follows, grasping the lantern tightly with his bow around his shoulders.
"C'mon you dwarves," Wren says, trying to keep calm. And to think I could have stayed in Trunau, amid my books and papers instead of trudging through the swamp following overgrown fireflies.
"What are those? Bones? Those don't look like bones."
Wren looks to Kraygan, aka 'the smart one', for help.
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Vanderhoff snorts in derision as Wren asks about the spheres. "Bones!? I'd think any nature folk like an elf could recognize those. They're puffball mushrooms, obviously. Me ma used to gets, slice 'em up, and cook 'em butter when I was a lad. Delicious!" He says, reflexively patting his stomach.
Jorgan elbows Wren and Van hard. "Be 'spectful. Those are dead will o' wisps. Wouldn't like them talking so about your friends bodies, would ya?"
Jorgan addresses Mossmoon, "Sorry to hear about yer losses. But if I'm understanding this magic lamp right, we need a wisp to go inside. Are you saying we can use one of these? We'll be really careful and bring it back to put to rest and all."
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Yes, gently place one of the spheres into the Ghostlight Lantern and it will show you the way. Once you are near the portal. Wash the light over the central menhir. Be wary as the central menhir is also trapped to stop intruders from entering Mossmoon says as the disembodied visage floats in the milky light.
Van's face screws up on confusion, then turns scarlet. "Er...I...uh...see. My mistake. Sorry."
Look just like puffballs or I'm a long-eared elf..
"So there actually is a wisp graveyard..." He mutters upon learning the truth of the ball field. To Mossmoon, he says, "We was told the lantern could do other things besides find the Vault. Maybe even help us directly against the orcs. I'm not one who likes the thought o' disrespectin the dead, but seein as they ain't in any special restin place, could we bring more'n one to power the lantern against our common foe? I mean, if my dead arse could crush one more dirty orc after I'm gone, I'd be grinnin wide in the afterlife."
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Jorgan elbows Wren and Van hard.
Jolted by the unexpected blow to his kidney, Wren drops the lantern. With a hurried oath he picks it up and dusts it off, offering an embarrassed smile to the wisps and a look of grump back at Jorgan.
"It's fine! It still works..." Wren looks at the glass to make sure it's not broken. When satisfied that it's not broken, Wren offers another grumbling look at Jorgan.
"Since I still feel like the ass end of an ass, I'd like to rest up tonight, and start in on the Vault tomorrow. Maybe we get rid of loop-de-dwarf," Wren head bobs at the she-dwarf, "Before tomorrow, huh? We got enough crazy without adding that."
Wren looks at the husks. "Should we activate the lantern now? Or wait til the morrow? The effect of it should last a full week or so."
* * *
* * *
"Thank you for your offerings, Council. They responsibility is not lost on us." he says to the remaining members. He bows and takes an offered wisp. He wraps it in some loose cloth and stows it in his pack.
Jorgan never responded to him, so he must not have heard her crazy. Torgan moves over to Wren. "A word?" he asks of the elf as he moves a few feet from the group and especially from the woman.
Once returning to the group, Trogan supports resting before heading on to the Council. "Let us refresh ourselves before we breach this unknown sanctum." he advises.
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Wren follows.
"As for what you should say to the others..." Wren looks at all the dwarves, each crazed in their own right. "She ain't that bad comparatively...she fits in just fine."
Jorgan moves about the camp, seemingly speaking to himself but upon closer inspection actually speaking to some of the plants, moss, and lichen in the area. "We should be hidden now," he explains.
Kraygan grabs two wisp husks and puts them in his saddle-bags. "I'm surrounded by mushroom-eaters..." He says to himself after Jorgan holds a conversation with the shrubbery. "Pfah.. Are we the only sane folk here?" He asks Haggis. "Uh.. I think ye jus' ate one of Jorgan's new friends."
Though he's uncomfortable with all the magic and mystical weirdness, Kraygan actually feels safe for the first time in what seems like weeks. So safe in fact that he actually removes his heavy armor, which is dirty and ripe enough to nearly stand on it's own, and sleep on a soft bed cloak over a bed of moss.
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Wren glumly spends the night studying his dilettante's book, calmly wondering how Jorgan gains new magics without rest or contemplation.
That sort of magic evades me. I can barely understand the magics I have here, let alone that weird seraphic crap.
Wren seems in much better spirits in the morning, however, as his sickness finally passes.
"Are we ready to stuff wispdust into the lantern yet? Or do we have other things to accomplish first, Torgan?" Wren asks over breakfast. Wren eats more than usual, his queasy stomach of yesterday blunting much of his hunger. He stuff a bit of shortbread into a pad of am and chomps merrily.
"We should move out. I imagine our friend will let us know when she needs our help." Torgan reasons.
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Wren places one of the Will o' Wisp husks into the lantern. The lantern begins to emit a eery beam of light that seems to point to the west like a compass. No matter which way Wren turns the light seems to stick to one location.
Following the light leads to a circle of monolithic standing stones surrounding a central menhir covered in a layer of thick, thorny vegetation. In all, eight formations surround the central stone: five intact trilithons and another three that have crumbled and partially sunk into the swamp’s soggy floor. A large pool gently bubbles to the northwest
of the standing stones.
Looking at the standing stones, Kraygan recalls a little late something the wisps said about the vault. "Uh.. so the wisps said to shine the light on the center stone, right? Didn't they also mention something 'bout a trap?"
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Wren stuffs the wisp wisp into the lantern, hoping that the entire thing wasn't a big joke (which he sometimes feels like this entire mission has been). Wren offers the lantern for others to hold if they so wish (so that he has two hands free for shooting).
"...did they mention something about a trap?"
Wren frowns, unable to recollect anything about that. "Did they, dwarf? I don't recall...of course, I was still thinking this was a bad idea at the time and wasn't really listening."
Wren looks at Jorgan, Torgan, and the silent Vanderhoff.
"You guys recall anything of a trap? And we should prepare for danger when we enter. No telling what might be inside waiting for us."
Taking his own advice, he casts Mage Armor on himself.
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As Kraygan and Wren are discussing the lantern and traps Kraygan begins to feel a little off as he sees cold black eyes staring back at him from a fish-like face of a hideous green-skinned, web-fingered and obese giant that seemed to almost blend right in with the marsh around it..
Torgan
Jorgan
Kraygan
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Giant
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Wren
Vanderhoff
Jorgan nearly leaps out of his skin at the sight of the hidden giant. "Sweet hells! I thought we would be gettin' away from the giants here!"
The stableboy casts lead blades and moves up to the front of the group with Hops.
"I feel... Terrible." Kraygan says, going pale.
As Jorgan advances easily through the vines Kraygan follows, calling to the group in dwarven.
Though his body feels hungover and clumsy, he grits his teeth and focuses on keeping a firm grip on his lance.