Indras will keep a close eye on Roknar, he doesn't trust him. All the while on their journey home he will try and remain vigilant.
So Gaandik, what is that fella's story? He seemed to be their leader and a caster. Did he explain those skeletons?"
Indras walks up to Roknar and says to him: "So you are a necromancer? And trying to redeem yourself? That is admirable."
With that he falls back behind him after some small talk, acts like he takes the rear guard and draws his greatsword.
"Perhaps I can help you with your redemption." He proclaims as he cuts the man across his back with the mighty blade.
When anyone asks why he did that, he just shrugs. "I can't believe two holy men would trust a necromancer, such filth are better dead than left alive."
Stigr frowns and grips his axe. "I do not take kindly to those who waste my time and play with the path of the gods." He then slams Roknar in the gut and grabs the back of his neck . "Mock my offers and they will be reversed."
Gaandik nods at Indras.
"I guess the good necromancer experiment is over. I was.....skeptical."
Indras' sword slashes right through the man, and as his body splits in 2, a holy symbol drops out of his clothes, this man was no necromancer.
The bandits scream in surprise, both at the sudden departure of the man whom they called their leader, and the revelation that he was in fact something other then what he had lead them to believe.
"He was a cleric?" One of the bandits asks surprised, "Of Norgorber no less." None of the bandits raise a blade all of them simply in awe that they had been following such a man.
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"Cough cough, spirits guide my hand, cough cough."
"Well I don't think Norgorber is very nice. But then evil is evil. Let's not make this mistake again!"
Stigr frowns again as Indras cuts through the man, though he makes no move to stop him, and steps over. He glances down at the symbol and then kicks it aside. "Norgorber. A blight upon the gods." He looks up at Indras and nods, still grim-faced. "You have done well today, friend. Your perception of his lies may have saved us all, including the people of Heldren." It seems that he's a bit uncomfortable with speaking to you after the earlier confrontations, but he seems genuine. "Thanks."
Indras's sword slicing through the man catches Charlotte off guard, and she jumps straight backwards. His lack of hesitation made a large impact on her, and she looks at him with more than a little fear in her eyes.
The shining object dropping from Roknar catches her eye, and she looks at it in curiosity. As she hears the Bandits and then Gaandik repeat the name of Roknar's apparent god, Charlotte frowns, having never been one to study religion. "Who, or what, is Norgorber?" She asks.
Indras wipes away the blood from his sword with a cloth from his belt pouch.
"No thanks is needed Prophet, I did what had to be done, I like necromancers as much as you do, perhaps even less."
He looks a moment to Charlotte as he noticed her jumping back and gives her a stoic look, but no hatred or harshness is in his eyes, perhaps a hint of practicality.
He calmly sheaths his sword again and takes out his bow, nocking an arrow on it. He takes point again and keeps a wary eye when the group travels further on, back to Heldren.
On Roknar's body, you are able to find, a scroll, 3 flasks of some sort of oil, mwk studded leather, a dagger, a light crossbow with 10 bolts, a mwk short sword, a cloak, mwk thieves’ tools, a spellbook (contains alarm, chill touch, expeditious retreat, feather fall, identify, locate object, and ray of enfeeblement),and 15 gp.
Aside from the hassles of the weather, there are no issues with your return trip to Heldren, and for the sake of moving on, you are all able to reach Heldren safely, and recover well enough there to recover from any nonlethal damage you may take on the way there.
Should anyone need to buy or sell anything in Heldren, feel free to do so now, Yuln thanks you for rescuing Lady Argentea, and you hand over the bandits to the local authorities, letting them know that they are more diseased bandits at the Sentinel Lodge in the forest. To show her gratitude, Lady Argentea also rewards you with 500 gold.
Charlotte notices the lockpicking set and takes it with some interest, grumbling at how much more useful the tools would have been hours ago.
When the group is resting from their adventure at the inn, Indras will take a look at Roknar's belongings in particular the scroll, the cloak and the flasks of oil. He takes them under careful consideration as he tries to determine if there is anything magical about them.
Gaandik mounts a recovery action for the ice encased man.
And the breastplate!
When the group is resting from their adventure at the inn, Indras will take a look at Roknar's belongings in particular the scroll, the cloak and the flasks of oil. He takes them under careful consideration as he tries to determine if there is anything magical about them.
The Scroll and Cloak detect as magic, the flasks do not.
The Scroll appears to be divine, but you are not sure of the spell.The Cloak is a Cloak of the Yeti.
He also had a shortsword that detected as magic, it is a plain +1 Shortsword (in addition to the masterwork one I mentioned earlier)
SLOT shoulders CL 3rd WEIGHT 5 lbs.
AURA faint abjuration
This heavy cloak is crafted from shaggy white yeti fur. When the cloak’s hood is pulled up over the wearer’s head, it takes on a semblance of its arctic namesake’s fearsome visage. Northern warriors value its ability to ward against the chill of winter, as well as the protection it provides in combat. The cloak of the yeti provides a constant endure elements effect in cold weather (it has no effect in hot weather). In battle, the cloak wraps around the wearer, granting a +1 natural armor bonus. In addition, with the hood drawn over the wearer’s head, the cloak grants a +2 competence bonus on Intimidate skill checks.
And it seems I left out the loot on the half orc.
Shortsword, Masterwork Hand Crossbow, elixir (unknown), potion (unknown) x3, tanglefoot bag, leather armor, dagger, 12 bolts, climber’s kit, crowbar, grappling hook, key to chest in area H12, mwk thieves’ tools, silk rope (50 ft.), 28 gp
Gaandik tries on the cloak.
"This will make enemies shake even more."
On the way back Indras is reminded by a stopping Gaandik that he wants to save the man encased in ice, though Indras has his thoughts about the purely selfish reasons to bury the poor man. He thinks the cleric isn't just concerned about the man.
Though it takes a few minutes, Indras helps the cleric get the encased body out of the block of ice.
"Stand back Cleric or you might get burned." Indras says as he slings his bow over his shoulder and removes his gloves.
For once Indras has removed a piece of clothing and showed some of his own features during this trip, having never removed his hood, this is a first time they can see his brown-yellowish tough skin.
"I call upon the fiery forges of the deep earth, channel your heat through my hands."
Small fire jets flow out through Indras's glowing hands and melts the ice away until the man falls down to the ground out of the icy prison.
After the spell, Indras puts his gloves back on, ignoring any looks and stares from the bystanders as he walks away.
Back at the Silver Stoat Indras will also try to determine if the half-orcs possessions are magical.
As Indras burns the frozen man, his body falls to the ground lifeless, his armor and clothing are still cold and wet, but the armor can now be removed.
---
Indras is able to figure out the nature of the potions and elixir.
elixir of hiding, potion of invisibility, potion of pass without trace, potion of spider climb. potion of lesser restoration.
Gaandik puts the surviving bandits in the custody of the town. He reunites the lady with her bodyguard.
"The cold iron really helped against these fey creatures--your lady is back safely thanks to your information."
"Thank you for the flaming hands, Indras. I am confident this new armor will protect me much better."
He speaks to all:
"Shall we rest and be ready to continue in the morning?"
Stigr makes sure to also visit Yuln with the lady and Gaandik. "Your duty is fulfilled, brother," he intones to the Ulfen in Skald. "Old Deadeye smiles on you for your service to the community of the world."
Once back in town, Charlotte takes the busted chest to a local blacksmith to see about getting it opened. She shows him the broken off bit of tool, and mutters, not without embarrassment, "I was practising."
The blacksmith eyes the chest and then looks at Charlotte, "Hmm, you sure did quite a number on this one, didn't you? Well, I hope that practice paid off." He moves to take a closer look at it and adds, "It'll cost you twenty-five gold for me to get this chest open, and I can have it done within the day."
Gaandik smiled as they made preparations to open one of the chests.
He spoke to Indras: "Your instincts about the necromancer were dead on. You would make a good disciple of Iomedae. Thought of following the Inheritor?"
He mentions to the blacksmith: "How about this suit of scale mail in trade?"
Gaandik hands the blacksmith a serviceable suit of armor. Most of the stains have been recently cleaned.
"Usually clergy and I don't get along that well Gaandik. There is a reason I live alone in the woods and cloak myself in these clothes. I guess my instincts come with the profession."
The blacksmith looks over the scale mail before responding, "Aye, that'll do, come back in a few hours and I'll have this thing opened up."
After a few hours you return and the chest is indeed opened, and it contains:
A gold ingot engraved with the Taldan royal seal, a spyglass, a silver lady’s ring, three shards of tiger’s eye gemstones, a fine pair of leather riding boots of elven make, a silver dagger, and a leather portfolio containing several pieces of parchment.
Drazheek will look at the potions and any item that needs to be identified.
"Hmm, I don't know what these are. Elusive process it is."
Indras sips from a stronger liquor at the Silver Stoat as the rest of the group takes care of their business, he deosn''t care too much for the shopping in a small town like Heldren.
He orders also a meal with a little bit of extra meat at the inn, letting Argen eat his fill from the cooked meat. A small flash of white as he bounces along the top of the bar.
If we can get the money for CLW wand, we'll buy one.
I think Charlotte can use it. I will usually have channel and spells.
Stigr parts from Yuln and the Lady leaving his shield with the Ulfen, a sign of respect. He then joins the others at the inn and eats a small meal before the group moves on (whether to sleep or to head back out).
If we can get the money for CLW wand, we'll buy one.
I think Charlotte can use it. I will usually have channel and spells.
If we can get the money for CLW wand, we'll buy one.
I think Charlotte can use it. I will usually have channel and spells.
"Well, we are recovered. Let us leave at first light."
Gaandik is ready to go--eager to get back to the hunt for the evil one behind the cold.
"Breakfast is the most important meal of the day!"
Gaandik says as he munches on a roll of bread stuffed with extra thick slices of bacon.
Indras is sitting at a table in the back of the inn, when Gaandik arrives downstairs to eat breakfast. For what it is worth, Indras lets him keep his dignity of early bird.
I'm always up pretty early, I wonder how others can sleep so late as the early hunter gets his prey.
Stigr spent the night on the ground floor, nursing a mug of ale and staring into the fire. As the others come down, he nods to them, then returns to his staring, mulling over the recent events.
"Where are we off to, then? Back into the woods?" he asks.
After a quick breakfast in the morning, and some well deserved sleep the night before, the party makes their way back to the Fort.
The trip back is fairly uneventful, though seemingly the forest is getting colder, colder then before and colder yet as they get deeper in.
The party finds themselves back at the lodge, and Indras notices that the creature that had been watching the bridge earlier is no longer present, in fact the only people at the lodge are the sick bandits you left behind.
"Something is different this time" Indras mutters under his breath when they come back.
His eyes immediately glide towards the bridge and the creature he saw earlier.
"So you're missing this time? Can't wait to see what you really are."
Indras keeps Argen close in the fur hood of his winter gear. Though Argen is used to the cold, Indras tries to shelter him from overexposure.
It is the only sort of caring the others truly see of him.
Argen's paws sometimes claw in Indras's neck as he peeks out from under the hood to smell the air and see what's what.
When they get closer Indras aims to inspect the bridge for any obvious dangers or signs of danger at the other side.
Charlotte looks around the area, her eyes narrowed. Noticing Indras stiffen, she turns slightly towards him. "What is it?" she asks.
Stigr keeps his eyes and ears open as the group travels, also noticing Indras's tension. "You see something... or see nothing?"
Indras shakes his head.
"It's not that I see something, it's that I miss something from last time we were here. A creature that stared at us from the direction of that bridge."
"Well we have time. Might be a good time to scout around."
Indras approaches the bridge slowly, looking specifically for any signs of the creature he saw earlier.
If all seems clear he waves the others over with a simple gesture.
There seems to be no sign of the creature that Indras saw earlier, and he waves everyone across the bridge.
A bridge made of rope and wooden planks spans a narrow ravine. It’s already covered in ice and snow, and it sways alarmingly in the icy winds blowing through the gorge. The turbulent waters of a fast-moving creek surge through a couple of waterfalls far below.
There are tracks on the other side of the bridge, leading deeper into the forest...
The forest stands deathly quiet here. Even the wind has grown still as snow softly falls through the stark branches overhead. Tracks, human in size but oddly misshapen, mar an otherwise unblemished trail through the trees.
"Hmm... Bridge seems quite rickety, better fasten ourselves in case one might fall. We have to move fast over that bridge if we mean to cross it."
Indras says as he looks on ahead, focusing on the tracks further up ahead.