Having staved off the effects of the bright lights, Grayson deftly nocks another cold iron arrow onto his bow, and looses it at the Fey that cast at him.
Drazheek attacks the same fey again.
Drazheek shakes off the effects of the color spray.
"હું તમને વિચાર કરવા જાઉં છું!"
Not at all phased by the bright colours he is seeing Indras raises his bow at the next conscious fey.
"Zzzzz"
Stigr nocks another cold iron arrow to his bow and fires it at the nearest fey.
The party manages to down the two fey brave enough to jump in front of them and cast spells, but the fey further down the road, seeing his allies defeated, quickly flees from the battle.
After about a minute, the cleric rises and grabs his equipment. Pointing to the small bodies :
"I was out a while. Did you search them?"
"Yes," Stigr says, having done so during Gaandik's unconsciousness. I feel refreshed, having been returned to do more of Old Deadeye's work. Thank you, Erastil, for providing us with community between ourselves, the better to protect one another and ensure your work be done.
"Anyone see anymore of those things?" Drazheek asks.
"The last one fled. I suppose if there were more, they would have attacked as well."
Indras searches the corpses of the tiny fey, to see if they might carry a coin or two with them, then looks to the trees and in the direction the last fey fled.
Nasty creatures these are, no respect for the animals they kill so it seems. I wonder if they are the cause of this cold?
Charlotte let the others search the fey while she went to retrieve her dragon-creature's head. On the way back, she noticed Drazheek peering between the trees and approached him quietly.
"May I speak with you for a moment?" Without waiting for him to answer, she rapidly delivered a follow-up. "It's this thing." She lifted the head slightly. "I hope it doesn't bother you that I've kept it."
The two fey each have a diminutive shortsword and shortbow with 19 diminutive arrows each. Additionally, between the two of them you find 28 gold pieces.
Further down the road, you notice that the Fey flew in the same direction as the trail, this may not be the last you have seen of this one.
"It is not a true dragon. Dragons are powerful. And big! You keep it as trophy. Drazheek's feelings not hurt."
Charlotte smiles brightly at Drazheek, and moves back towards the front of the pack to continue along.
"Well," Stigr says, standing from the corpses and handing the gold to others, "we'd best be off, eh?"
Gaandik nods: "Let's find the lady."
Gaandik admonishes his dogs:
"You should have seen these creatures, even if they were magic."
Nevertheless he feeds them a few scraps of meat and adjusts his snowshoes.
Further down the bandit's trail, narrow game trail winds its way through the trees and undergrowth. Hoofprints mark the underlying snow, leading in both directions.
"Hello there." Cries out a voice to the party, though you do not see where the voice originates at first. Then a stag-like creature comes into view, and approaches you without fear. "Rather strange day to be wandering the woods, no?" The voice seems to be originating from the Stag, which looks at you curiously.
Stigr cannot help but view the speaking stag as a messenger from Erastil... and cannot help but think others may know that as well. He quickly reflects on his knowledge of Erastil's common servants, trying to recall if any such beings take the form of talking Stags.
Indras keeps his bow down, though there is an arrow nocked on it.
"Why yes, it is not every day you meet a stag that talks back to you. Certainly the first time I've seen that in these woods. Who and what are you?"
The tone in his voice sounds distrustful. Indras tests and tightens his bowstring, but still doesn't raise it.
He waits impatiently for an answer while trying to discern anything odd in his answer or his tone that could give away its intentions.
Stigr seems to recall that Erastil himself is known to appear to lost hunters in the form of a stag, however he knows no way to reveal if the stag is Erastil.
"Well, it's every day that I meet one." Jokes the stag, adding in, "Perhaps you have not been visiting the right parts of the woods. There are a few of us here." It truly seems like the stag is speaking, and quite well at that.
Seeing that the Stag is indeed, really speaking, Charlotte bows to it, impressed. "Sir Stag, we are searching for a woman who was captured when her caravan was attacked. Perhaps you or your brethren may have seen something? We would be much obliged for any help."
"A woman you say? I know nothing about a caravan, but I did see a woman, I am not sure however if she is the one you seek, you humans all look the same to me." The stag responds to Charlotte looking the woman up and down.
"Lord Stag," Stigr says, stepping forward and raising the wooden nocked bow of Erastil from his chest, "I take you for a servant or manifestation of Old Deadeye. Please guide us in preserving community by helping us to find this woman."
Gaandik approaches the stag:
"We would greatly appreciate your aid, noble stag."
"The woman I saw was taken in by bandits, there were also strange little creatures with them, whose hearts were colder then the coldest winter. I take it this is the woman you are looking for?" The stag responds, calmly.
"Yes, yes it is!" Charlotte exclaims. "Might you tell us where they went?"
The stag pauses for a moment, as if thinking where exactly he saw the woman go. "I believe she's in The High Sentinel Lodge, it's still a little while to the Lodge, and it would do you best to stay on the trail."
"Well it might be best to follow the talking stags instructions no?" Indras says with sarcasm in his voice.
He rolls with his eyes.
"I must've seen everything now." He shakes his head. "But now in all seriousness, I don't think our stagness here is kidding about following the trail. The trail is more easily accesible for most of us, and less deep snow so we move and fight easier."
"Hmm, talking animals. Oh well. Shall we continue?"
Drazheek says nonchalantly.
The locals seem unfazed by talking stags.
"Welllll OK I guess-- let's go"'
Charlotte smiles brightly at the Stag, pleased by its help. "Pay no attention to them," she says apologetically, gesturing to Indras and Drazheek, "They don't see the world's beauty and mystery."
Bidding you farewell, the stag wanders off into the woods as you continue on the trail. Further along the trail, A human-sized snowman stands in the middle of the trail before a frozen stream. A crude wooden sign leans against it and bears the words "Trespassers Turn Back."
"Now what kind of evil creature would start frolicking around with the snow to make a snowman?"
Indras steps up warily, taking a closer look at the snowman.
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"Be careful." Drazheek says as Indras moves closer to the snowbody.
As Indras moves closer to the snowman, it starts moving, pointing to Indras and saying, "Can’t you read? The sign says turn back! Now get lost!"
Indras backs off a little and gathers thoughts in his mind as to what kind of creature this is actually.
He figures it is such a day that every thing he meets can talk and move, first stags and now snowmen. Nothing unordinary about that.
Stigr bows gratefully to the stag before moving off with the group, though he caught the slight surprise it displayed after his address.
Reinvigorated by his magical recovery, Stigr plows through the cold until the group reaches the snow-being.
"What manner of being are you, guardian?" Stigr attempts to nonchalantly draw his axe and set it on the ground, leaning on it as though it's needed to support his weight.
The snowman, seemingly unaware of anything else simply repeats it's message. "Can't you read? The sign says turn back! Now get lost!"
"It seems as though that's the only thing it can say. Let me try something..."
Grayson moves to the front of the group and questions the snowman, "It is customary in these parts to welcome travelers and provide them with shelter. Where is your master, good fellow?"
The snowman points at Grayson now, "Can't you read? The sign says turn back! Now get lost!" it seems that talking to the snowman isn't doing much good.
"Yes, quite." Charlotte mutters, looking annoyed at the snowman. She continues walking past it.
Gaandik follows in line and speaks:
"You are doing a great job. Carry on after we move past. We are on important business."
Stigr walks in back of the line, his axe at the ready in case any trouble starts. Though, what good is an axe blade going to do against snow?
Suddenly as Charlotte walks up past the snowman, it yells, "I SAID GET LOST!" it cries in frustration.
The snowman's cries of frustration send Charlotte to the ground, grasping her ears just before she loses consciousness, Gaandik finds himself grasping his ears and unable to move, while Grayson feels a little discomfort in his ears.
And then suddenly, apparently alerted by the snowman's scream, two small creatures of ice and snow emerge on the frozen stream.
"Are these things Fey?" Indras cries out to Grayson and Stigr.
Indras fires an arrow, depending on what Grayson and Stigr report, a normal one or cold-iron one. He looks at the two small ice beings, shrugs and fires at the first he saw.
Stigr quickly moves over to Charlotte, standing over her body. "Dunno, but they sure don't look friendly." He grips his axe, pulls out his shield, and readies himself.
Grayson, bow always at the ready looses an arrow at the nearest creature.