Witnessing the tremendous force of the blows landed on Bein and Finnabar, Xarafine moves away from the beast and immediately behind whichever wounded warrior she is closest.
She touches him, intoning a prayer in Canari:
As he pulled his sword free of the creatures side he gasped again as his chest screamed in protest, he wouldn't be able to retaliate not like this. As he mastered the fear that gripped him he chose the greater path of valor. He would not run but he could help his allies by sacrificing himself if needed. "Focus on striking weak points, between its ribs, up underneath his chin now that it is reared up! Go for arteries and put a blade in this creatures heart!"
So, fight like I always do. Although...
Under the ribcage, good idea, on something this big. It would be nice if it stood still and let me do that!
Xerafine steps backward and reaches forward to touch Finnabar, a haze of light masking her hands for a moment and stopping the flow of blood.
()
Finnabar and Jack still to act.
As the savage blow turns Finnabar shield and rends his armor, he turns with it to absorb as much as he can and free his axe.
There is no finery in his chops and the axe slashes down as hard as he can.
, damage
It is a shame, Jack thinks to himself. It is just defending its home. We are the interlopers. But I should have thought of that earlier.
He waves the sunrod, trying to attract or frighten the beast, though he knows that seems unlikely.
And resolves himself and follows up with another jab with his sword, hopefully reaching into one of the weak spots Bein pointed out.
The mighty beast blinks as the sunrod seems to absorb its attention, letting out a loud roar it rears upwards and strikes out at Jack and Finnabar...
Jack: To Hit:, Damage:
Finnabar: To Hit:, Damage:
... Its paws smash into the two attckers. Jack slumps to the ground, dazed and badly hurt, but still breathing. Finnabar staggers backwards, somehow keeping his feet as he is once again pummeled by the beast.
Well, Coltello, did your rashness get you into too much trouble again? This beast isn't going to give me a stay of execution.
I'm trying to fight this thing not dance with it! But it packs too big a punch when we can't get enough of our own in!
Perhaps a strategic withdrawal is in order? This isn't the villain we're looking for, and we have a pretty good idea what's here now!
Bein doesn't see Jack fall but when he sees Lord Finnabar get smashed by the bear's counterattack he drops his longsword and quickly draws out his greatsword to give the beast a taste of its own medicine. It happens quickly, by the time his Longsword steel gives off a metallic *ring* from the impact of striking the earth, he has already drawn his greatsword and slashed across the beasts exposed belly.
"Fall back if you need to, I will try and hold it off if I can!" He knew that his words were meaningless, another blow from the creature would lay him down, if it landed both strikes...
Bein's sword slashes across the creature's foreleg, slicing very deeply into its thick, oily fur. The beast throws back its head and roars, clearly badly wounded, but still standing...
10+11+17=38
Finnabar
Xerafine
Volpe
Jack
Creature
Bein
Xarafine touches her cousin again, invoking the power of the Goddess of Life.
In Canari:
To the rest, she says,
She looks towards as Jack falls to the beast's massive paw. Hand on the precious waterskin, she prepares to move to his side.
Torn and torn again by the beasts claws, Finnabar tries to strike the beast through curtains of blood.
, damage
I can't tell valor from madness anymore! I'm sure we'll stick together, though!
Hopefully I can connect one of these times. I just want to piss it off enough to face me for a moment. I don't relish getting clobbered by that thing, but I'm healthier than the others. I hope can take it.
Good Job, Coltello. This is the most dangerous foe you've ever faced, and now you've made it angry. Well, at least I've achieved one of my goals. My turn to dance.
Finnabar slashes out with his last ounce of strength, hardly even able to see the creature through the blood dripping down his face. Miraculously the blow strikes and the creature slumps to the ground just as Volpe's scimitar cuts into its neck, draining it of its remaining life. As the creature hits the ground it twitches one last time and lies still in the sanguine pool of its own blood.
Sticking the point of his greatsword into the dirt floor of the beasts den, Bein used his bloodied blade to support himself. He panted for a moment breathing slowly to avoid aggravating his injuries further. "Excellent work everyone, twas a most perilous foe indeed. Valor won the day, despite the beasts powerful rage~"
After a few more minutes of pacing his breath he regained enough strength to sheath his weapons, after cleaning them off on the creature, he clenched his teeth as he muscled through the pain. "While you work on everyone Teacher Xarafine, I can work on getting the camp pitched." If no one has anything further to say to him, he moves to leave the cave and gather the horses and mules in the area near the pool outside and, slowly, sets up camp.
Kneeling beside Jack, Xarafine lifts, then cradles his head and shoulders in the crook of her arm. She then uncorks the skin containing the water from the Broken Woman statue, and holds it to Jack's lips, pouring gently.
She watches for the healing power of the water to take effect, and assesses Jack's condition carefully.
Turning to the rest of the company, she states firmly, "If any of you have taken wounds, drink from your skin of healing water, immediately. I will look to your injuries in turn. Do not leave the area until I have done so."
Bein uncorks his waterskin and takes a swig from it, swishing it around in his mouth for a moment before swallowing it down. He quietly complies with the Teachers wishes for a few moments, before his curiosity over takes him and he begins to examine the creature. He looks at the creatures powerful claws and well muscled frame between taking drafts off his waterskin.
Jack blinks at Xerafine, in no position to speak, but swallows the water down. It's not often his head is cradled in the arms of a lovely woman, shame he has to be nearly killed for it to happen.
It's not often his head is cradled in the arms of a lovely woman, shame he has to be nearly killed for it to happen.
Volpe pauses for a moment, considering what just happened. After cleaning and sheathing his sabre, he bends down and claims one of the larger feathers from the creature. Replacing the rather ragged plume in his hat, he put it back on his head and returns to the group.
Teacher, I was not injured. Please tell me if there's anything i can do to help.
Xarafine holds Jack's sunrod out to Volpe.
"Hold this for me. Keep the area lit, and watch for danger. That thing could have cubs or a mate nearby."
After a moment, she adds, "Thank you, Master Coltello."
Volpe gladly takes the sunrod, making sure Xarafine can see what she's working on.
Family, I hadn't considered that. I'll keep alert.
When you swallow the water its tastes amazingly fresh and somehow cold, lacking the warm, slightly oily taste that water usually picks up after a few days stored in leather waterskins. As it travells down your throat you feel an odd cold shiver pass through you and a sense of wellbeing pervades your body.
After examining the creature for a few more minutes, Bein was feeling measurably better as the 'magical' water coursed through his body and refreshed him in unexpected ways. He corked his waterskin to save some for later as he patiently waited for Teacher Xarafine's ministrations. The cold feeling he had felt before in his side had faded now and he was feeling a lot less sore.
As he drew his longsword once more, he moved to stand guard nearby Xarafine, he was frowning behind his helm as he stared into darkness. "I hope there are no cubs..."
Xarafine unshoulders her healing kit, and sets to work.
"Those of you who are still injured should continue to drink the healing water in lieu of any other libation throughout the evening and tomorrow until you feel fully refreshed."
"Master Coltello, you and I need to hold ours in reserve until such time as it is needed."
Jack sits up as the water clears his mind and allows his wounds to close, albeit just barely. He sits patiently as Xarafine prepares to bandage his wounds, muttering a shy and awkward thanks to her as she works.
He is a bit frustrated--but at least he felt he had successfully tested his theory, if at perhaps too high a risk.
"The light irritated it, I think. We must be careful in our exploration of this place."
He looks up with some alarm at Bein drawing his sword at the mention of cubs (though he realizes it might be a defensive maneuver). "If there are others, let us not fight them without provocation. We invaded the creature's home; it was defending itself from us, not the other way around." He shakes his head. "If there are cubs, they will be hungry and frightened. But depending on how young they are... if we could feed them, maybe..." He trails off, a thread of optimism fading in his voice as quickly as it had arrived. Being an abandoned as an infant, he does not like the idea of abandoning young offspring to die from neglect, nor killing them as a mercy. But he also knows a feral beast is a feral beast, and taking on the responsibility of taming such a creature would be a difficult task indeed.
He ponders the creature and wonders if taming the hypothetical cubs would be truly possible--especially given their circumstances.
"I don't relish, nor wish to consider, the thought of putting cubs to the sword, I am merely standing ready in case the beast had a mate. But if you believe you can tame the cubs Jack, I will do my best to assist you."
He gives a grunt of surprise when Teacher Xarafine snakes past the side of his armor and starts examining parts of his wound. Although the water had soothed some of the pain, there was still fractured ribs to consider and Bein barely had time to avoid hissing as he sucked in a breath as she probed his side. At least her hands were warm. Ignoring what she was doing took a great amount of concentration and effort as he spoke. "I will admit that creature was like fighting a landslide made of sinew and claws... We were lucky..."
Jack managed a smile. "Well, we don't know if there are any cubs, so let's play it by ear. I am thinking much too far ahead for my own good."
"As for a mate... if it has not been drawn out by the light and the noise of the fight, I would be surprised if it had one. But then, we were surprised by the creature attacking the first time around. We were lucky indeed."
Finnabar, hands on his knees, catches his breath again.
"Thank you cousin, you saved my life. At least twice."
Looking at the fallen beast, he adds "I hope ideed there's no cubs or mate. Have you seen other tracks, Jack? If not, we should have a look at those caves quickly before settling down here."
"Thank you cousin, you saved my life. At least twice."
"Your thanks are appreciated, Captain, but hardly warranted. Witnessing the force of the creature's blows, and those teriible claws, I would have been torn to pieces in mere moments had the four of you not stood so bravely."
"We would all be in pieces without you, Xarafine," Jack says, in pain and not used to thinking about titles enough to remember to refer to her by her honorific.
He turns his head to Finnabar. "Only the creature's tracks led into the cave, that I saw. A better look is a good idea---if our healer says it's alright to move."
On closer inspection the creature is altogether more strange than it first appeared. In general appearance it resembles a bear, huge and heavily set, with thick bands of muscle below the skin. Its oily dark-brown fur is mottled and streaked with darker black stripes, its legs are short and stocky for its size and its feet are slightly webbed. The strangest thing about the creature, however, is its mouth, which looks similar to the black beak of a parrot. When you touch it the beak has a soft, leathery texture instead of the hard sharp feel of a bird's beak.
It might be possible to tame the young. You've never heard of any creature similar to this one and without seeing the babies themselves it is impossible to say whether they might be tamable.
"You may walk, but try not to overly exert yourself. The same goes for you, Captain, and you as well," she says, looking toward Bein.
She begins methodically packing her healing kit. Once finished, she shoulders the bag, and smoothly rises.
Jack nods and stands up carefully, to avoid shifting any of the bandages Xarafine put in place.
"Volpe, could you stand there and hold up the light?" Jack motions to about 20-30 feet from the entrance out of which came their attacker (whatever Volpe feels is safe). He looks about, scanning the area, allowing his elven eyes to see into the dimmer cracks where others might not notice things. He looks into the cave entrance, at as safe a distance he can while being able to see into it, to see any signs of occupation by anyone other than the beaked ursine they fought.
Volpe steps over to where Jack indicates, maybe a little deeper than caution would actually warrant, and holds the sunrod high and into the cave.
Well, all right. He takes another step into the cave. Is there something specific we should be looking for?
'Cause I don't think we could handle another one of those. I don't think their babies would be very cuddly either. Meanwhile he's still slowly stepping forward into the cave, not sure what to look for, but looking nonetheless.
"I am looking for tracks and the like--signs of movement, fur caught snags. But keep an eye out for anything unusual--or any strange sounds or scents."
Bein nods his armored head respectfully to the Teacher in the odd half light. He knew gritting his teeth and bearing it wasn't going to go unnoticed by her, but he had to try for the sake of simplicity. He hated using up to many of their dwindling resources and had been kicking himself for getting hit in the first place. He stayed close to Teacher Xarafine and Lord Finnabar, having complete confidence that Volpe and Jack could handle whatever came up. "I will be nearby gentlemen iff you have need of me but for now I will do nothing but disrupt your tracks..."
.... He looks about, scanning the area, allowing his elven eyes to see into the dimmer cracks where others might not notice things. He looks into the cave entrance, at as safe a distance he can while being able to see into it, to see any signs of occupation by anyone other than the beaked ursine they fought.
1d20+9
The creature's tracks lead into the darkness and aren't joined by any others. Indeed, it would seem from the tracks that the beast has only travellled this way a few times starting a couple of weeks ago although fresh leaves in the entrance and scuff marks in the dust suggest that the creature may have dragged several leafy branches into the alcove.
The enrance opens into a deep alcove (about 20' deep) the far wall of which you can faintly make out. At this distance (in this light) its hard to see details, but the wall appears to have some more carvings similar to those outside. In the left corner there appears to be a pile of sticks and leaves and a musty smell pervades the room.
It makes sense why the bear creature nested in here. It looks pretty defensible. Might not be a bad place to hole up and rest ourselves, if you can handle the smell.
Xarafine uses her feet, and the end of the Speaking Staff to sift through the debris on the floor, looking for anything unusual.
As you draw closer to the pile you see. nestled within the twigs and leaves, a pale ivory-white coloured sphere, about the size of a man's head and with a leathery texture. The carvings on this wall depict female animal-headed figures surrounding larger figure which kneels on the floor facing outwards from the wall. This central figure holds a bowl outwards from the wall.
Xerafine clears the debris away from the sphere, kneels down beside it and scrutinizes it.
"What is this?" She says to herself, searching her mind for anything she might recall having read.
She reaches out with the Staff and lightly taps the surface of the sphere.
Bein cannot help himself as he stops the teachers staff from tapping the surface of the pale sphere. "Forgive me Teacher but perhaps a softer touch is needed. It reminds me of an egg is all and, if it is such, best not to tap the shell." Having said his peace Bein returns to examining the walls and marveling at the odd carvings in the walls. I will have to try and write about this, perhaps Jeane will have an idea of this place...
Xerafine clears the debris away from the sphere, kneels down beside it and scrutinizes it.
"What is this?" She says to herself, searching her mind for anything she might recall having read.
You can't recall anything about this from your studies, however, when you examine the sphere you can see that it is not a firm hard surface like a chicken egg.
The sphere's texture remindes you of a turtle or a lizard's egg.
Bein cannot help himself as he stops the teachers staff from tapping the surface of the pale sphere. "Forgive me Teacher but perhaps a softer touch is needed. It reminds me of an egg is all and, if it is such, best not to tap the shell." Having said his peace Bein returns to examining the walls and marveling at the odd carvings in the walls. I will have to try and write about this, perhaps Jeane will have an idea of this place...
To herself: "But bears do not lay eggs...perhaps the bear ate the previous occupant...a large bird of some kind..."
Leaving the egg undisturbed, Xarafine turns her attention to the sculpture with the bowl extending outward. She examines it carefully, looking for anything that might give a hint to its purpose.
The sculpture, like most of the similar carvings you've seen on your journey, naked figures, - in this case female. The main figure which holds a bowl out towards you bears the head of one of the striped animals you encountered feeding on the dead trapper. This figure has her lips pulled back in a snarl, revealing her sharp fangs. On closer inspection the bowl has, at its base a small hole which seems to lead to a pipe running down the inside of its arm and which might be designed to carry away some type of liquid.
The figure seems to be asking for or demanding some type of offering. Given the pipe and the hunting scene outside you'd guess an offering of blood.
To herself: [b][smaller]"...blood sacrifices..." She gives an involuntary shudder.
"These pagan gods, it seems, demanded tribute in blood. This bowl served as a place of Offering. See how there appears to be a drain at the bottom of the bowl? It passes through the hand here, then down the length of the statues's arm."