Liam freezes for a moment as the wyrm makes its entrance. In a moment his fingernails lengthen and harden, becoming as sharp as any raptor's talons. Then all at once he explodes into motion, dashing between two of the thugs to reach the wyrm.
Boggel moves forward holding his symbol of Ketephys aloft, crying aloud "Bless those that hunt in your name!"
"I am getting to old for this" He says as he pulls a dagger and throws it at the Tazlewrym.
Tock stumbles aside, clearing the way as the other warriors attack the tatzlwyrm.
Liam's claws rip into the wyrm's scaly hide and Naomi's arrow lodges just beneath the creature's throat as Boggel's magic washes over the group.
One of the thugs rushes in beside Liam, but his sword swing is half-hearted and does not even scrape against the wyrm's scales.
The other two shuffle around a large rock beneath the trees, perhaps trying to flank the wyrm or simply to delay having to get close.
Helgrim charges forth, barreling through the bushes, and his waraxe slices along the wyrm's flank.
The wyrm drops its prey and snaps its jaws at Liam, but the wanderer hunches down and evades the sharp teeth.
Wulf's dagger whistles through the air but skids off the wyrm's blood-soaked scales.
Boggel draws a sharp bead on the wyrm and fires his bow.
Though his arrow is not very large, it finds its target in the creature's think hide.
Striking with all his strength, Liam tries to claw the creature with both hands. The wyrm's writhing causes one hand to miss, but the other sinks into the wyrm's scaly flesh.
| 2 people marked this as a favorite. |
”Get that injured man away!”
Helgrim tries to determine if the thugs are going to turn on them or if they are holding back.
Switching tactics he drops his axe and goes with his heavy flail, throwing all his anger and muscle into it. Seeking to spray the contents of the beast’s brain pan across the thugs faces with the spiked iron ball at the end of the pitted chain.
”I am Helgrim Ironstar! Look upon me and know I am death! The only reason you still draw breath is due to this woman with us.”
He lets the gore drip off of his weapon before the men’s faces.
”She stays my hand, but I don’t suffer being hunted twice. Listen to what she and Wulf offer you, but I warn you . . . If I find that any of you have done anything to hurt the women, children or the weak . . . You’ll wind up like this thing here. “
He hooks a thumb at the dead creature.
”I didn’t have anything against it personally though. It will be much messier for you.”
The dwarf’s eyes bore into the mercs’. Watching for an opportunity to bring his wrath down upon their very souls!
Boggel's shot and Liam's claws leave the beast on the verge of death, but Helgrim's strike pulverizes the wyrm's skull, leaving its serpentine corpse at the foot of the darkwood trees, fertilizing the roots with its primeval blood.
The Consortium men - Tock included - drop their weapons again and back away from the frightful dwarf, possessed of terrifying might.
However, they show neither the defiance nor the daring to flee, much less turn against the party, especially if it means risking Helgrim's wrath.
The two drunken men, who previously tottered on their feet, now appear stone sober as their eyes, almost unblinkingly, dart between the dead wyrm and the gore-splattered flail. The other man, wounded during the initial ambush, stumbles back and leans against the trunk of a darkwood tree for support.
Ben and his fellow loggers have been avenged upon the tatzlwyrm, and the Consortium men are at your mercy.
Boggel moves swiftly to the wounded man. "Relax. I will not harm you," he says. Energy flows through him as he prays for the blessing of his deity.
The man's wounds begin to seal up, the bleeding staunched.
|
He briefly considers going to Kreed with information about Tock, but what would that accomplish? Sure, it was his job, but if anything, it would just get Tock in hot water while doing nothing for Timothy himself- reporting Tock's betrayal wouldn't outweigh the fact Timothy had yet to get the troublemakers to fall. Maybe he could push for Tock to lose his bar, which would incite a lot of anger towards Kreed, but did that outweigh Tock's value as an information gatherer? Timothy wasn't certain. Besides, there was no guarantee Kreed would go for it, and Timothy wasn't about to suggest such a course of action unless he knew it's success.
Instead, he unconsciously begins heading towards the Roots and Remedies, plans formulating in his head endless debates, pro- and counter- arguments, until he arrives there, outside the window where he had first climbed in. He stops, ponders this for a minute, then remembers that she had stood up to Pay Day- best make certain no repercussions have come against her. He walks around and knocks on the door.
"Miss Gebre? It's Timothy. May I come in?"
Wulf goes over to claim his dagger and then looks at the Wyrm."We should carry this thing back to the town and give them proof"
”I’ll chop down some boughs to make a liter. Boggel, can you climb like a tree frog? Maybe you can see if this thing had a nest up in the tree, might be some treasure.”
The dwarf pats Tock on his shoulder.
”See! Heh heh, told you you picked the right side.”
Helgrim looks for some likely tree limbs.
Boggel can indeed climb like a tree frog and searches out the lair of the creature to see if it had anything left behind.
Liam stands facing the men, arms spread and claws dripping gore. His eyes have changed; they now have a reptilian aspect, with slit-like pupils. His skin seems somehow rougher. "You don't want to stay around here. Leave with your lives, while you still have them."
The Consortium men abandon their weapons and eagerly flee back to town. The one whom Boggel heals is too frightened to pause and offer thanks before he joins his fellows in flight.
After watching them go, Tock turns to Naomi as she questions him. He rubs sweat from his scalp as he considers his answers.
"I guess I'll tell Kreed that the men were overeager, got too close, and the wyrm jumped them. If those boys weren't properly spooked and they actually talk to someone, I may need to come up with another story. That other man...I can't tell you his name, but I think he is on your side. He asked me to get the hired men drunk before leading them out here. He wanted them sabotaged."
Wulf looks over the weapons and takes the best Longsword and ties it to his belt. he then bundles up the others and sets them on the litter when done.
"We can keep these weapons or we can sell them?"
Boggel looks around to see if he can find any of the medicinal plants Laurel mentioned.
He also picks up any darkwood that might be on the ground. Waste not, want not.
Wulf gathers the weapons and places them on the litter and looks at Helgrim."We'll keep them for now."
While scouring the wyrm's lair, Boggel comes across a number of interesting finds.
First off, he collects a number of fallen darkwood branches, some dislodged by the wyrm's initial pounce, that could serve as perhaps the finest litter the Vale has ever seen.
Additionally, he finds thick patches of Olvenwort growing beneath the darkwood trees. This uncommon herb is useful for treating inflammation and headaches, which Laurel would be sure to find useful.
The partially eaten remains of four or five loggers, not to mention innumerable animals, also lie among the roots and trunks of the trees. Their boots, hatchets, and thin pouches holding coppers and a couple silver remain near the bodies.
However, Boggel finds an errant gold coin, stamped with an unfamiliar design.
Following these coins like a trail, you discover a very old set of bones. Although most of this hapless soul's possessions have long since rotted away, two items of note remain: a silver ring still sits upon a finger bone, and a finely made sword with swirling designs etched upon its blade hides within a tangle of roots and brush.
Also, in the process of locating these remains, a total of 50 gold coins are found.
Boggel examines the coin curiously. He's not even sure if it's real gold. Perhaps one of the others will know. Honestly, he's just happy he has so many plants for Laurel.
He DOES however notice a small trail of these coins. Following them he locates an old corpse with a curious ring and fine sword. He picks those up, along with the coins, to take back to his colleagues.
"Friends, I have found some things in the creature's lair." Perhaps one of them can identify the finds.
Wulf goes to Boggel and pokes about the remains with a stick. Seeing the ring and the sword he rips a corner of his cloak off and pulls them from the corpse.
"Let's see I bet the ring or sword might actually tell us who this person is?"
Although the sword is of exceptional quality, it is devoid of magic.
The ring, however, glows blue in Naomi's sight, radiating an aura of abjurative magic.
Based upon the clues, it seems likely that this was once an elven explorer who fell prey to the wyrm's forebears while plumbing the depths of the old forest when it was even wilder than today.
Although it may be redundant, you are certain that Tock is beyond nervous - seemingly afraid for his very life.
"Let me put it this way," Tock whispers to Naomi. "For me, Kreed is an executioner's axe hung on the wall. That man, though, is a knife already held to my throat. I think he wanted to help you, but I don't want to cross him, nonetheless.
"I'll tell you what I told him: I just want to keep running the Duck. I like my business. I like my customers. It's a better life than just twisting arms for the Gavel. That other man...he'll probably seek you out, I think. He seems awfully interested in you lot."
Liam searches the area for more plants that Laurel would find useful.
Wulf takes the sword and places it on his belt. He pockets the ring and then looks at the body.
"Should we leave him here, or should we try and bury him. I mean I feel kinda sorry for the guy laying out here dead, no one to properly mourn his passing. I care not for who he was but to just die out here alone with no one to send you off is wrong."[b] Wulf says as he walks over to the weapons he gathered and grabs another sword, one of the less desirable ones and takes off his cloak. He wraps the bones in his cloak and then trusts the blade at the head.
[b]"lets get some sticks and stuff to put around him.Enough to mark that here an unfortunate soul died." he says before he turns back to Tock.
"Tock can return, He can give us some information from time to time about Kreed and his movements. I mean that is if he wants to remain the owner of the Duck that is" He says with a smile as he stretches his fingers out over the pommel.
"Those blades should be kept and given to the Sheriff. He can use them to help his deputies or we could keep them if others wish to join our crusade." Wulf says with a deep rumble.The tone bordering on hope and dread.
"Heh, glad to see you are armed with a propper piece of steel other than your handy stick there Wulf. Meh, even if it is elven steel, I have to give the weaponsmith credit, nice work."
"As far as the rest of the weapons, if they aren't easily recognized, go ahead and give them to the Sheriff."
"I say we burry the bodies out here. The news of there being a darkwood grove out here will just finance Kreed. We may have done ourselves and the town a disservice, now he has valuable wood to simply hire more mercs."
"As far as going down the dwarf road, I'd love to do that, but I am not sure you want to spend the night out here. Why don't we have a quick look then head back to town."
"That guy Tim introduced himself at the Healer's place. He knows Dwarven and basically said:"
"He was heading back to town, he was regrettably, unable to join us on this venture, because he has a reputation to keep. Then he said, "Don't worry; I know where you are, and Miss Naomi can contact me, if she'd like. I am rooting for you, should you ask."
"I think we leave Tock in place. I leave it up to Noami to talk with the guy. If that doesn't work we can sort him out."
"Now that we have some coin we can afford to say and live around town. We'd better keep it on the down low though."
the dwarf thumbs his beard.
"In another idea . . . we could take these dead bodies back to town and say its Kreed's men. We are assuming that the Mercs will actually run off though. You think they will? Assumptions are usually the mother of all screw ups."
"What are you talking about a staff is a decent weapon, It is readily available and few will confiscate it if you have to go into a secure area." he says with a wry smile.
The weapons dropped by the Consortium men are rather mundane: four short, stout iron swords and a pair of thick cudgels.
As Helgrim mentions "that guy Tim," Tock's face lifts and twists curiously.
"Tim? So you've already met him?" he says, then turns back to Naomi. "His name is Timothy Lawrence. He's been one of Kreed's 'secret enforcers,' like me and Jalene, reporting on troublesome types in town. Only, I'm not sure he's loyal to Kreed no more. Seemed like he wanted to keep this whole business away from the Gavel's ears."
Additionally, while the conversation unfolds, Liam makes another discovery on the northern side of the grove.
He comes across a thicket of berries hemming in the far side of the grove. To a casual observer, they would appear to be only raspberries. However, Liam's more experienced woodland eyes recognize them as something far rarer: fangberries.
These very hard to find berries are highly sought, both by vitners to make wine and by herbalists and potionmakers to enhance their concoctions.
Of course, such berry thickets tend to be protected by swathes of very sharp thorns, and Liam observes that these are no different.
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
”Well shoot, there are a lot of healin and position makin plants around here, eh? . . . What if we just tell the town there is a whole nest of the damn Tettle-worm thingys, whole place crawling with em. We’ll keep the loggers out of here and we can get valuable berries, moss, mud and such, but still be able to come back and visit.”
”If the loggers get in here, the lake will be a sawdust choked up mud pit and it will be a field of stumps and erosion.”
”These trees look old growth, right Liam?”
Making his way back toward the group, Liam nods. ”Definitely. Also, I found a stand of fangberries just over there.” he says, pointing. ”They look pretty much like rasberries, but they’re pretty rare, very sought-after by herbalists. Also hard to handle, lots of sharp thorns. We ought to be able to harvest them, though.”
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
Boggle is excited to see some of the fangberries that Liam found. "Quite rare indeed. I wonder if they make a good syrup," he muses.
"Can they be cultivated?"He asks looking at them."I can try to put it on my farm and grow them s Laurel can have them and well sell the rest? Been looking into the local blue and raspberries they seem to be doing well. If they continue I tend to expand some more land to grow. After I give some proper offering to the local fey." He says as he smiles knowing that too many incursions on the Fey land would bring you troubles you couldn't believe. His father taught him that, taught him to respect nature and its guardians.
”Yeah, just part of being Dwarven I guess. You got to think long term. We are going to need to strengthen ourselves. Plus I’d be lying if I didn’t reveal I didn’t want a bunch of Kreed’s goons and the ilk tromping around destroying and snatching up any Dwarven goods before we get a crack at em.”
Helgrim looks around.
”Your gonna need a base of operations. You could pick an uglier place than this to start, but it’ll work.”
Helgrim smirks.
”What are you doin with that elf’s ring Wulf? Did you have Naomi check it? A guy with a sword like that might have an enchanted one. Meh, even if it’s just Elven make.”
"Well The ring I hope might have a clue as to who the elf was. The sword could too. Also, I do have a woman I fancy in town whose hand might look better with such a ring about it." He says as he kinda blushes at the last part before he looks at the sword."Well I thought a blade like this could go to someone wanting to use it for good, and can use it."
looking at Naomi he cocks a brow."Well if it can be cultivated, it would do well to help the townsfolk. I mean I don't mind a bit more money coming into my farm but with all honesty, I would rather aid the town."
"We could use my farm as a base of operations too. Its not much but its home." He says a bit unsure to have Noami read the objects. He was always a bit uneasy around spellcasters, but he hoped to get past it as he would need all of there help to free Falcons' hollow form Kreed and the COnsortium
Liam and Boggel know that fangberries are notoriously difficult, though not impossible, to domesticate. Very few people know the secret to cultivating them: druids of the Greenfire Circle raise them for potion making, while the elves of Kyonin and the fey raise them for their finest wines.
Boggel's dexterous little hands are able to collect a whole fangberry plant, and a few berries to boot. "Here you are, friend Wulf," he says, carefully handing the plant to the farmer. "You may do better at cultivating this than I. I'm afraid I lack a ...green thumb." Boggel croaks loudly several times, his body shaking with each croak. Apparently, that's his laugh. Or he's choking to death. "Good joke," he says, wiping a tear from his right eye.
Naomi recoils in pain after a tiny, almost unseen thorn pricks her thumb.
She presses the sharp cut to her lips to staunch the droplets of blood, and she enviously watches the grippli's small webbed hands quickly, almost effortlessly gather the red berries.
" Thanks Boggel, I shall try and get these home and planted. Feel free to come by if you wish to help me out." He says with a smile noting the fact that so far things in Falcons' Hallow might be on the positive side for once.
"Farm, the sooner I can get the plant back into the ground the more likely they will survive. Besides we can all bunk at the Farm, save you all some money and it's not far from the woods." He says delicately using one of the dead men's belt pouches as a sack for his freshly cultivated plant.