Robert thinks for a moment. "You said that this boar had a ring around its tusk, right? Well, tusks are like teeth, and any tooth injury can cause excruciating pain. No wonder it has a foul temper. If we can remove the ring, perhaps that will end Gnashmaw's hostility."
Robert thinks for a moment. "If we can put it to sleep, we might be able to get the ring off if we pour some cooking oil down the tusk, then work it off. Removing the tusk should be a last resort."
"Yeah that boar has a pig around his tusks," Lirosa concurs. "I was there when it charged at Taidel...after that I had to drag him out of there and back to town to Father Noelan."
"Well... if you want to pull out things off the tusks...you might want to get Tammylan with you. He's the town Vet afterall." Bella suggests from the corner, overhearing the conversation. "He's saved my goats before."
"Surgery? Why would anyone want to help such a foul-tempered brute?" Taidel gives the party a puzzled look.
The torrential rain continues for an hour before subsiding, in which a few leaks, handled with buckets spring up. The rest of the night passes uneventfully, and the next morning dawns sunny.
Norris does not seem to be any better, still having a high fever and delirious .
Hedran however finds that after application of the salve and taking Rhyna's really bitter medicine, that patch of swollen, red skin on his stomach has dissipated.
The party comes out and inspects the cabin. There's an enormous branch on top of the roof, and some places in the ceiling have been damaged by flying debris carried by the gale force winds. They realize that the place could probably shelter the refugees through a few such storms, but eventually they would need to find a more permanent shelter. The previously yellowing trees are now sprouting little green leaf buds, and the remaining leaves are less yellow. The smell of grass and pine is heavy in the air.
Hedran tries his hand at identifying the longbow and the arrows.
Hedran identifies the longbow as a magical +1 longbow, and the 5 arrows as +1 flame arrows.
The party sets off heading for the berry patch that the wolves described with movement near it. As they are leaving, Edran comes up to them and whispers, "Thanks for not leaving me out there in the storm last night...I think even had I survived the things falling out of trees, the cold might have killed me."
After travelling through the Fangwood for 3 hours, the party finds the location Nigel's wolves were telling him about.
The party sees a patch of bramble berries heavy with large, ripe berries grows in a sunny glade, offering a potential harvest.
Nigel and Robert spot a blue-green vine covered with stiff, verdant leaves and barbed thorns protrudes from the berry patch.
Nigel identifies the plant as a bramblelash, and it's a carnivorous plant.
Breakage (Ex) If the bramblelash scores a critical hit against an opponent, 1d4 thorns break off in the victim’s flesh. As long as the thorns remain embedded, the victim takes a –2 penalty on attack and damage rolls due to the distraction. It’s a move action to remove one thorn (a character can also remove a thorn from an adjacent ally as a move action).
Bramblelashes blend with the local foilage very well, and a tunic made from bramblelash leaves grants a +2 circumstance bonus on Stealth checks in forests and jungles.
Robert moves forward and fires at the stem of the plant, and the arrow strikes it, sending green ichor oozing out of its stem.
As the storm rages outside, Ratel is relieved when the conversation changes from talking to the boar to providing medical aid for it. He looks from Robert to Nigel, "Ummm, we have people starving, why don't we butcher the pig for food?" scratching his head "Or are either of you vegetarians?"
Ratel smiles and nods, "Were glad you appreciate it, so now show that appreciation by helping these people survive."
Looking at the odd plant"A Bramblelash? I've never heard of that. Can we kill it from range?" Ratel pat's Bear. "If we can kill it from here, I don't have to worry about Bear getting a thorn in his paw."
Nigel sends a javelin through its stem and it falls down in a heap of vegetative matter.
Picking the abundant berries on the berry bushes yields 5 provision points of berries.
Fizzlebang crashes out of the bushes and rushes over to Nigel, his legs pumping like little pistons and his face pale. "Isawamostterriblesighttoday!Isawadeadhumanbodyintgecreekbedfullofcutsallov erher!," Fizzlebang squeaks.
As Nigel brings the plant down, Ratel returns his sling to his pouch, "come on Bear let's go gather berries," But shaking his finger at his companion, "But don't eat too many, we have a village to feed."
As they pick the berries, he hears the gnome Fizzlebang, turning he asks, "A dead body in the creek? You should probably show us where."
”ItwasneartheforestedgeacrosstheMaridethRiverwhereweescapedfromPhaendar.The reisnowaropebridgeacrosstheriver.Thereweretwohugebullmenguardingthebridgebu ttheydidn’tseeme.Thebodywasleftabandonedinthecreekbedintheforest.”Fizzleban g squeaks out.
From Fizzlebang’s description and taking into consideration the perspective of the small gnome, Ratel thinks that Fizzlebang saw minotaurs.
Minotaurs have innate cunning.
Although minotaurs are not especially intelligent, they possess innate cunning and logical ability. This gives them immunity to maze spells and prevents them from ever becoming lost. Further, they are never caught flat-footed.
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Nigel retrieves the javelin, but also makes a point of harvesting the leaves from the plant, planning to make a (surprisingly effective, apparently) ghillie suit from it.
When Fizzlebang explains what he found, Nigel's expression grows grim.
"Vell, it vas to be expected zat dropping ze bridge vouldn't stop zem permanently. Ve should probably go retrieve zat body, zough - at ze very least, zey deserve a decent burial."
”Okfollowme.”Fizzlebang says as he leads the way, a little brown-haired gnome running into the woods.
Following their guide, the party continues traveling through the Fangwood.
Following their guide, the party continues travelling through the Fangwood.
The party sees a humanoid covered in small feathers bearing the head of a grand eagle, its arms feathered like wings and it has talons in place of hands, with a shortbow in its talons. ”Hail fellow travellers,” The creature waves its winglike arms at them. ”And to you, “The creature inclines its head respectfully at Ratel,”spirit brother.”
Ratel has no idea what the creature is.
'What a wonderful fellow, much like a Tengu.' Seeing the feathered creature, Ratel rests his hand on Bear, inclining his head in like fashion, he greets the traveler. "Greetings Traveler, How fare you?"
”I am Azriel.” The creature answers. ”The hunting in the Fangwood has been good except of late, after the hobgoblins took over the town of Phaendar. They’ve been sending their scouts into the woods, and the disruption they’re making has been scaring away the game.”
The creature looks at Ratel. ”I called you spirit brother, because we both share a bond with nature. Both of us are living bridges between nature and humanity.”
”Well, there are a pair of ogres thrashing their way through the region, and you’d want to avoid the hunting harpy. She gets possessive over her kills and what she’s hunting. And I spotted a group of humans, well, moving, for humans, stealthily through the forest, they went south.” Azriel reports.
”Then there’s that leshy grove, but its pretty pointless for me, since I’m a carnivore and I don’t eat fruits and berries.” Azriel replies. ”What they should have done, was to lay traps around their garden – I bet they would have caught quite a number of animals like squirrels and rabbits. Now those would make good eating, and I did suggest it to their shaman, Stout Stem, once, but he was rather offended at the suggestion.”
”I won’t profess to understand those tree huggers, though they’re always happy to talk shop with you, or in case of the leafy ones, duel you with sticks.” Azriel replies.
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Nigel nods.
"Ve met ze leshies - zey vere troubled by an undead fiend 'living' in a cottage to ze east, vhich had been poisoning ze surrounding plant-life by its mere presence. Ve dealt vith zat particular problem. Zanks for ze varning about ze harpy, and ze ogres; ve vill definitely keep an eye out for zem!"
'I wonder if he is searching for the village of Moreau.' His curiosity peaked Ratel asks Azriel, "Ah, living bridges, excellent. Do you live here in the Fangwood or are you passing through or are you looking for anyplace in particular?"
"Blah,undead. I hate them and especially those that corrupt the places they reside. If there are no plants, then there are no animals and that means no game for me. Good job in slaying that fiend."Azriel compliments Nigel.
"I live here and occasionally I'd trade furs for arrowheads from... Uh..sorry." Azriel blabbers, "I'm not supposed to talk about them. They swore me to secrecy. You know I don't look human, so I can't exactly walk into Phaendar without drawing unwanted attention."
Ratel smiles, "Maybe someday, I normally look more human, but the people of Phaendar have gotten used to me in this form.' Having a brilliant idea he continues "Interestingly, I bet if you came and helped us save them, when this is all done they would accept you into their town with open arms. That way you could trade openly, or just socialize if you wanted to."
"Save whom?" Azriel cocks his head. "You know, I've never had what humans call a good time , before, and I can't just walk into a bar."
Looking from Nigel back to Azriel, "Why save the people of Phaendar, of course. That's what were doing, that's why were gathering all the food. Were taking the survivors of Phaendar to a safe spot and then were going to help them get their families back." Ratel thinks for a moment. "We're not just helping them to get something from them; but come on, Everybody loves a big damn hero. If you help the people of Phaendar now, they would love you for the rest of your life. You would be able to walk in any bar there, any time, and people would line up to buy you drinks."
As the storm rages outside, Ratel is relieved when the conversation changes from talking to the boar to providing medical aid for it. He looks from Robert to Nigel, "Ummm, we have people starving, why don't we butcher the pig for food?" scratching his head "Or are either of you vegetarians?"
"If it comes to that, then yes" - Hedran agrees - "But if not, and so far things are working out decently as far as provisions go, why pass on the opportunity for such a strong animal ally?" - he shrugs - "In any case, it was just a suggestion"
Hedran looks around at his companions with a surprised look on his face, than back at Azriel with admiration - 'Amazing'
Nodding his head, "True, a powerful animal ally is nothing to overlook." He shrugs, "But in my admittidly limited experience, the older the animal is the harder it is to train, especially if it's territorial instead of more pack oriented." He gestrues toward the wolves, "The wolf is looking for a pack to be part of. Don't boar females run in 'sounders of sows' and the males live solitary outside of breeding season?" Looking around at the others, Ratel shrugs, What? "I knew a guy."
”Ok, Ill join in. What do you want me to help out with?” Azriel eagerly volunteers. ”Oh, I have to tell you something, I’m claustrophobic. Can’t stand being cooped up indoors.”
Ratel smiles, "Welcome aboard!" He turns and looks at Nigel, "so where do you think we should go now?" Ratel turns back and looks at Azriel, covering his mouth slightly so the others can't read his lips, he whispers to the avian "Nigel is the brains of the operation, Bear and I we're the brawn."
Ratel smiles, "Welcome aboard!" He turns and looks at Nigel, "so where do you think we should go now?" Ratel turns back and looks at Azriel, covering his mouth slightly so the others can't read his lips, he whispers to the avian "Nigel is the brains of the operation, Bear and I we're the brawn."
The party continues their journey, through the forest. On the second hour of the journey, suddenly a winged monster has the body of a lion, though two more heads flank its central feline one—a dragon and a horned goat jumps out of the trees from behind and gives a ferocious roar. The only escape is the small forest path forward.
Ratel thinks that the creature or whatever the heck it is, isn't real. Like why weren't there any sounds of passage of the beastie? "Wait, I don't even think this should even exist?" Azriel looks at the beasty.
Hedran and Nigel have no idea what the creature is.
Ratel smiles, "Welcome aboard!" He turns and looks at Nigel, "so where do you think we should go now?" Ratel turns back and looks at Azriel, covering his mouth slightly so the others can't read his lips, he whispers to the avian "Nigel is the brains of the operation, Bear and I we're the brawn."
Looking from the 'magical beast' toward Bear, he shakes his head, "I don't hear or smell anything, do you Bear? Something with that many heads, at least one of them would have bad breath right?"
Hedran's instincts tell him to run for his life, but logic tells him otherwise after the observation from Ratel and Azriel. He decides to take a second look at the creature.
Nigel and Hedran realize the creature isn’t really there. The party heads down the path and finds that the path has been made slippery with mud, and is more like a veritable slide.
There is a aggrieved pout in the trees when the party generally ignores the creature and it does not have its desired result. At the end of the path, Robert finds trip wire tied between two trees, attached to a sack of pokeberries. As Robert sighs, and steps off the path and bends down to cut down the trip wire, a piece of paper, reading, ”Kick me” appears on his tunic.
'A sign?' Seeing the sign appear on Robert's tunic, Ratel grabs Bears harness, just to make sure he doesn't go anywhere. "Hey Robert, you have a "Kick Me" sign on your back. I guess the good news is that whoever our pranksters are, since they read and write Taldane they probably speak it as well." He then begins to look around for the pranksters, in a sing-song voice he calls. "Come out come out wherever you are!"
”Oh fine.” A tiny sprightly girl with black rabbit ears and a wicked, whimsical grin on her face appears, sitting on the branch of one of the trees. ”You guys weren’t much fun..I was hoping you’d run away screaming…sliding all the way down…and splosh! You’d be purple for the rest of the day!”
Nigel recognizes the creature as a Pooka. Capricious in nature, pookas are always in search of fun, though they don’t often care who they inconvenience with their antics—they’re just in it for the whimsy.
Ratel smiles at the bunny girl, "Well if your looking for fun would you like to ride Bear? He generally likes the attention."
"Nah, my idea of a good time is pranking people. I really should be storing up some skunks."The pooka answers. "Put them in someone's bed roll."She claps her hands together happily as her eyes light up, "Instant hilarity!"
Wrinkling his nose at the thought of 'skunk odor' Ratel shrugs, "Suit yourself. But if you really want some fun, theres an army of Hobgoblins." He turns and points the general direction of Phaendar, "That direction, who would probably give you the reaction you are looking for."
"Do you also like when the prank is on you?" - Hedran inquires, having never seen such a creature before.
”Well, you’re welcome to prank me anytime!” The pooka gives Hedran a devil-may-care grin.”If you can find me…” Then the pooka vanishes, her tinkling laughter echoing through the woods.
Hedran has no idea how she did that.
Azriel narrows his eyes. ”I don’t really care for her pranks.” And gets “rewarded” by suddenly having a pair of deer antlers sprout from his head.
Turning his head, attempting to follow the laughter, Ratel looks at Azriel as he sprouts antlers. Rolling his eyes, he points out. "Now that's the type of humor that you could be using on a whole army of hobgoblins. Just a thought." He grabs Bears harness and pulling the bear along, heads down the trail.
"Maybe, I'll think about it." There's an amused giggle some way on top of Ratel up above. Ratel looks up but sees nothing.
Azriel sighs, then keeps the antlers.
The party continues to the creekbed that Fizzlebang described without further incident. They find the body of a murdered trapper lying in a creekbed. The body has been brutalized both before and after death, and its face almost unrecognizable beneath the bruises and wounds. The party realizes that the wounds on the body come from the same sort of weapons the hobgoblins use and also reveal a broken black hobgoblin fingernail lodged in one of the wounds. Robert examines the body and determines that while the injuries were fatal, none are decidedly lethal blows. Instead the wounds were shallow and carefully placed to cause pain and a slow death.
Ratel and Hedran recognize the body to be that of trapper Gilida Dravonich, a part time resident of Phaendar. Gilida still has her haversack which contains a bear trap, a climbers kit, 4 days of rations, two water skins and animal skins worth 150 gp.
The haversack is magical and Hedran identifies it as a Handy Haversack.
From the edge of the forest, Ratel sees that there are now two minotaurs guarding a newly constructed rope bridge leading from Phaendar, across the river.
Nigel’s wolves return to him as the party finds Gilida’s body. They begin to start whining.
We found some of those hobgoblins. 3 of them in total in the woods. About half a day north-east from here.
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Nigel's expression grows grim when Robert describes what was done to Gilida.
"Zere vas no need for zat; zat vas done purely for sick, tvisted amusement..."
When the wolves report back, Nigel makes sure to give them some more jerky.
He then turns to the others.
"Zere is a Hobgoblin patrol betveen here and ze refugees. Ve she go make sure zat zey fail to report back to zeir superiors..."
'Blast them, it looks like they tortured her, what could she have ever done to deserve that kind of treatment? This kind of evil has to be stopped.' Devastated Ratel rolls the body over and recognizes Gilda. "I know her, her name was Gilda Dravonich, she was in Phaendar pretty regular. Why would they do this to her?"
Staying far enough away from the rope bridge not to be seen, Ratel looks for a while to see if there are any troops just the other side, so he can inform the others so they can make a strategy. whispering to Bear, "I wish bunny girl would have come with us, I would sick her on those two."
Hearing of the patrol Ratel asks, "Should we knock out the bridge first? That way if they get past us, they still won't be able to report, at least not immediatly."