I can stick around. I'll start setting up camp." Putting action to words, he rifles through the packs and starts laying out bed rolls and gathering wood for a fire.
"Right. I'm off to see what kind of game I can scare up," Gundar says. "You folks do what you need. Here, take this. Whoever stays with the camp, if something happens and you need the rest of us back here, break this. Makes an awful racket, like a horn blowing."
Gundar hands Dante a smooth wooden stick with runes carved into it.
Gundar has given Dante an alarm stick. It operates as Gundar has described.
With that, Gundar heads into the forest.
Luca glanced at the stick - it seemed to be as Gundar had said - then looked to the north again. She wasn't even looking for threats coming from other directions, and kept frowning even as she helped Dante set up the rest of the camp. She had nothing in particular to do, though, and quietly sat down to rest once they were done. The journey had been fairly tough on her, after all, and she didn't mind any breaks.
An alarm stick? Handy. Best break it away from my ear though. These things are loud. Dante pockets the stick in case of emergency and busies himself with setting camp. Luca seemed contemplative at the moment so he gave her some room. It was good to see she wasn't fidgeting as much and had started to speak up. She had a lot of power wrapped up in a tiny little body. But she still had the right throw her weight around a little. Strut a little even. She'd saved their lives a couple of times. She deserved it. If only she could see that.
Tyrus nodded sagely. Alarm stick. Good idea. A simple, elegant design. I can't help thinking there has to be a better way.
Tyrus casts something on himself and walks over to Dante, speaking in a low voice with the occasional look at Luca.
"Back by sunset" he announces, leaving Torble behind to scavenge as he walks off into the bush.
Luca quietly began muttering under her breath, but the tongue was one few in the world spoke. She didn't seem to have noticed that she wasn't speaking Obanese.
You head into the woods in the most likely direction: to the north. The area proves to be almost startlingly rich in magical and semi-magical reagents. Keeping an eye out for tell-tale signs, you manage to gather up a collection of different plants.
You notice the density of of your finds increasing in certain directions, and decide to following them - and you discover what seems to be a cave entrance with a tiny stream babbling out. The cave is large enough to enter.
You find a collection of herbs, barks, mushrooms, and mosses, many of which you know how to reduce and process into common remedies and other useful things which sell readily.
More importantly, you find a pair of more valuable reagents:
1x Elsen Plume: This magical nettle-like plant bears seeds which can be rendered down into an oil commonly used in the construction of magical wands. The oil can also be used directly by an arcane caster, setting it alight in the process of casting a spell - it directly adds +1 Caster Level to the spell cast.
1x Anger Eye Blossom: A fairly rare, magical flower. It is a beautiful red and yellow, but the pollen is a decidedly ugly thing. Upon refinement and concentration it provides a debilitating contact-based poison that is exceedingly difficult to withstand.
Tyrus comes hustling back into camp, just before dark. His pouches bulge with the plucked bounty of nature.
"Anger Eye Blossom AND Elsen Plume! The frequency of finds were statistically implausible! I think there's some sort of power source in a nearby cave, causing reagent growth to improve markedly!"
The large man almost bounces from foot to foot. "I think we should leave Gundar to mind Kelsa, and explore!"
Dante salutes Tyrus in acknowledgement of his suggestion to take it easy on Luca. That was the plan already. He didn't realize he as going to leave just after. Three simple words and he was gone. But when he came back, a whole lot more. Dante even paused mid bite through what was left his rations to turn and listen. "Oh come now. That's just ridiculous. A cave and an ancient source of power causing uncommon herbs to grow together?"
"...What are they good for?" Luca asked, tilting her head as Tyrus rejoiced over the presence of a couple of plants. She genuinely had no idea what importance the plants had - were they just rare? Did they have useful medicinal properties? Were they outright magical? Or... something else?
Tyrus happily rattles off the properties of the reagents he's found. He saves the best for last "Anger Eye Blossom Pollen is a devastating contact poison - prepared correctly. Else Plume is used to make an oil that augments spell energy - commonly used in wand creation."
"As for ridiculous, statistics don't lie. There is a definite effect in the region of the cave. I confess the 'source of power' is supposition - it could just as easily be something more mundane - but either way, well worth a quick look I think."
"A quick look maybe but you'll have to convince Gundar to babysit then. We could always return on our own once we finish this."
A few hours after he left, Gundar returns to the camp with a pair of rabbits tied to his belt. "Not an amazing catch, but it'll help," he says as he takes a dagger and sets to butchering the animals. "I figure we're about halfway home. Long as we can keep at least the same pace, we'll be fine even without stopping to hunt any more."
Tyrus and the rest tell the dwarf about the possible anomaly in the cave. "Well, if it's magical I'm not much use. I'll stay to keep an eye on Kelsa if you want to investigate. I'd say be careful, but I've seen that you lot can handle yourselves."
"Absolutely! This is an intriguing find, but cautious, careful study is the best way to proceed. The amount of reagents I found in a short period is amazing, but not worth anyone's life. Let's see... it's about 20 minutes that way." Tyrus gestures north "We'll aim to be back before sundown. We can always revisit it."
Oh dear.
Luca slowly inhaled, then exhaled, then stood up and nodded. Right. As excited as Tyrus was, someone needed to watch his back and make sure nothing nasty snuck up on him, and that person was probably going to be her. (Maybe Dante, too, depending on whether or not he helped gather stuff. If nothing else, the herbs would probably supplement their income, and they were badly in need of that right now anyway.)
She didn't know for sure that there was a problem to the north, just that there was something, quite possibly that energy source Tyrus had mentioned. "All right. We'll leave Kelsa to you." she told Gundar, getting her few things together and preparing to head off with the others.
Dante shrugs. If Gundar was willing then no harm in taking a look. Well, there was always some harm and the gods above might just throw them an insurmountable barricade, but that was highly unlikely. Chances are its a normal cave with an abnormal growth of flora. "You are getting far too excited over some plants and a long shot," he says to Tyrus. But he gets up and makes ready his gear.
This is no noble venture, procuring plants.
Well I can't do much else now can I?
...
Finally, one point for Dante.
Tyrus leads you north, and after a short tromp through the woods you arrive at the small cave mouth he described. It is really no more than a rock-and dirt crevice apparently leading straight into the hillside, but it is widen enough for a person to enter. Peering within, you realize it shrinks down a ways beyond. One thing is obvious - the smaller the person entering, the further they'll be able to explore.
Anybody who tries to get far into that cave stands a real chance of getting stuck... you should probably take precautions in case that happens.
Unlike certain other people, Luca was not especially good at looking for plants - or looking around in general, actually. She spent so much time hiding that she'd never really developed a desire to look at the world around her... and, as a result, was not particularly helpful for gathering plants.
Tyrus carefully checks the cave for magical traces, peers in deep and hovers mostly around the exit.
"Well. It's a little large for me. Seems I'm going to have to rely on the smallest member of our little troupe."
Reaching carefully into his carrying case, Tyrus pulls out Torble, chants, and puts him on the ground. "Go, little one. I'll follow while I can."
Tyrus goes in with his familiar as far as he is able.
Dante looks at the gap and judges it a tight fit, even for him, especially for Tyrus. How were they even going to get in there? Was there another way?
"Tis too small and slick for one unprepared," the blade comments. Dante looks at the walls and notices they are damp. Getting stuck is a real concern here. He grabs Tyrus before the portly man can get too far and ruin any hope they have of getting him out. "That is probably a bad idea. If you get stuck we may not be able to get you out without Gundar." So how to explore without undue risk? Luca was the smallest. But he didn't care to put her into a situation she was reluctant to do anyway. Same goes for her feline companion. The one they hadn't seen in a while. What else could they do? He looks down at his weapon and an idea forms in his head.
He draws the blade and ties a rope to it. TO the others this seems an odd act. "What art thou doing?" it queries. But Dante ignores it. He then focuses on it with his magic, attempting to utilize a simple spell of levitation. It doesn't move. "Damn, too heavy. Tyrus," he says looking up. "Do you know a spell to levitate objects of about 5 pounds? Or maybe we can combine the efforts of a the simple levitation spell I tried."
Torble scuttles into the cave.
As Torble slips into the cave, Tyrus follows behind. Despite his magically enhanced dexterity, Tyrus' size simply prevents him from moving very far into the cave. The wizard pays careful attention to the feelings coming back to him through the connection he shares with his familiar. For a time it is a mild contentedness, the same thing Tyrus always feels when he has sent Torble out to do something. Then there is a shock of alarm and fear, and moments later Torble bolts back out of the deeper parts of the cave, climbs up the wizard's clothes, and perches on the wizard's shoulder. The closest thing Tyrus can tell is that perhaps some predator spooked the bug.
You find a couple things you remember from your scant training in herbology, including at least one you think is useful: a plant called Lady's Grace. But you don't remember what it is used for.
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"Nevermind," Dante says. He conjures some lights in the crevice and, without warning, he tosses the blade deep into it.
Wait. What? What art thou doing? I am an ancient blade of great power and renown. I hath witnessed the passage of centuries, been on hundreds of battlefields, helped slay every manner of evil creature on this entire plain. And thou art using me as a fishing lure?
Yep, what do you see?
Luca quietly watched as Dante did weird things with his sword, idly wondering if it would be worth calling up some Vilstrak and asking them to look around... buuuuut they knew she could do that sort of thing, and they'd ask her if they wanted that kind of help. The girl dropped her gaze back to the plants, sniffing them curiously before stuffing them into her bag.
"Torble? Are you alright?" Tyrus comforts his oozebug familiar, awkwardly petting it while it perches on his shoulder trying to wedge itself in between flaps of skin "There, there"
At the same time his eyes are locked on to the cave, moving slowly backwards.
"Something scared him" he says to the others "Even with augmentation, his intellect is limited. Perhaps it is simply some comparatively large predator. Perhaps... something else."
"Cease this at once!" the Blade indignantly shouts at you.
You throw the Blade into the tunnel, and the shadows shift rapidly as the spell-light moves. The first throw doesn't get very far - there is a bend in the tunnel that you can see now. Drawing the Blade back you try again, aiming for the slight open space. It takes a couple attempts, but you finally manage to get the blade beyond the initial bend.
"This is intolerable! This is beneath you and most certainly beneath me! This is... oh..."
"There is something very wrong in here. I see... teeth? And an eye. Growing in the dirt itself. The eye is looking at me."
"What's the point," he thinks as he reels in the blade for another throw, "of having a sentient...near indestructible blade...if I can't use it to aid...in dangerous situations. I mean I am the one doing the fighting. You need to pull your own weight every now and then, even though I am also technically doing that," he says chucking it one last time.
Upon hearing about the beast inside, Dante yanks the blade back and into his grasp. Turning to the others he says, "So there is something in there. Something toothy and has one eye. Appears to be growing from the dirt. Any idea what that is?"
Luca eyed Dante for a moment. "It's just living there, right?" she said. "If it's not going to bother us, we could probably just leave it alone." she didn't seem to feel any desire to go out of her way to hurt things - which probably wasn't much of a surprise, given her personal history. If it became necessary, though, it was just as obvious that she'd do whatever she could to help protect the others.
"Symptom? Cause? Or Guardian." Tyrus hums tunelessly in thoughtfulness as he runs his mind over decades of learning.
"I begin to regret trading our excavation spell away."
Dante felt rather ashamed. Luca had a point. One he hadn't considered. It wasn't attacking them, likely was just be defensive, whatever it was. It would be wrong to slay just out of curiosity as to what lay beyond. "You're right," he says to her. "We should just leave it be. Guess this is the end of our short adventure." Rather disappointing.
Dante ponders some of the more... nontraditional learning he's had, but without more information about the creature, there is no way to decide. Eyes and teeth are rather inspecific. Tyrus faces a similar difficulty.
"Oh? Well. I suppose, if you think we should just leave it. Seems a shame though. I suppose we could all just harvest reagents."
he calls into the tunnel, just before they leave.
Luca, noticing Tyrus calling out, quickly got further towards the entrance of the tunnel than him - and farther from anything that decided to come barreling out.
...What? She had no business anywhere NEAR things with teeth and claws...
Tyrus's shout echoes weakly within the hole, but produces no response.
Tyrus sighs "All right. It's obviously not hostile at all. Let's start gathering."
Opting not to further investigate the dark, muddy, possibly-but-not-definitively-hostile hole, the group return to the camp. Gundar looks up as they tell the tale, and shrugs when you ask what he thinks the thing in the cave might be. "Just about everything in the world has teeth and eyes," he says. Then he points to the roast rabbit and indicates you all should eat. You'll start out again in the morning.
"That's true" concedes Tyrus "But growing out of the earth?" feeling the need to defend their decision, he justifies further "In a narrow cave like that, something that could move through earth could be devastating. Better to just leave it alone."
Luca considered that for a moment, remembering the things the Vilstraks had done to hurt things that wanted to hurt her, then rapidly nodded in agreement. Anything with the ability to burrow through the ground was not to be underestimated. "Um, maybe we could sell the location of the cave to people who do want to explore it?" she suggested. "I mean, if we're not planning to come back this way..."
"Just a moment - we might well want to come back. Even if we simply harvest reagents, though this site is ideal for starting some sort of reagent farm. If it works with proper cultivation, it could be quite profitable. I'd also be interested in coming back with proper excavation tools."
"Right, and as soon as we tell them about the creature in the cave, the orcs, and the inhospitable location, I am sure we shall get a great deal," Dante says sarcastically. He sits down near the fire and partakes of rabbit. "I'd be financially more advantageous to come back every few months and collect."
With Tyrus to guide the effort, the group quickly scrounges up all the easily-found plants of any value in the area, working until the impending sunset forces them to depart.
All in all, the day of camping has proved to be surprisingly profitable to the group, even if unanswered questions remain as to the source of the area's fertility. In the morning you gather up and set out again.
It takes another six days of travel, but finally the group returns to civilization - a town rises up in the distance. "Kelstead," Gundar says. "Logging town. A quarter of the masts of Rivettian ships come from here."
With Kelsa remaining comatose, the group hires a cart to take them the rest of the way to the city. In another day, they stand before the gates. "There and back again," Gundar says. "In one piece and with an extra to boot! Though... I suppose "in one piece" ain't quite the way to describe the poor lass." The dwarf gestures to Kelsa, still lying on her makeshift stretcher.
Luca wasn't especially fit, and the first day was awful - but Tyrus had apparently exercised even less than she had, and over the course of the six days of travel, Luca had started to look outright alarmed at the old man's condition and fitness. "Um... do you... need to rest for awhile?" Luca asked, genuinely frightened at the thought that Tyrus might simply fall over from heart problems or something. If that happened... well, there'd only be Dante, and he probably wouldn't want to keep taking care of someone as worthless as her. She'd be all alone again.
(And yeah, she had a lot of self-esteem issues...)
Tyrus took on a definite greyer pallor over the trip. Unbeknownst to his companions he had started to use his magic simply to keep himself going.
"Perhaps for a moment" he puffs.
"Haemothurgy requires a... delicate balancing of the humours..." he puffed "All this exertion is making it impossible... to keep my Phlegm hydrated." he coughed, and spat into a handkerchief "My Yellow Bile is elevated, and that is altering my Blood humour."
He grins - or grimaces - at the others "Had I realised I would be taking up bushwalking, I can assure you that I would not have been so sanguine about the consequences of my choice."
"I would suggest we move more slowly, but I fear we are racing the clock for Kelsa. I anticipated she would have awakened by now. We will soon need magical assistance just to keep her alive."
Luca quietly rubbed Tyrus' back as he finally made his way into town, trying to help soothe his body. She had no idea what he was talking about, but he seemed pretty confident, so it was probably true. Or at least true-ish. "Um, maybe we can look for a temple or something?" she suggested.
Dante listens to Tyrus symptoms and then leans over to Luca, speaking quietly, "I think he's delirious? Pretty sure most of those aren't real." He turns to Gundar and extends his hand. "It's been a pleasure Mr. Forgelight. We appreciate all you have done for us and will definitely put in a good word to Mr. Naswel.Thank you."
Once they say their farewells to Gundar he turns to Tyrus. "Best get her back first then. I don't think I can properly describe her condition. We can rest for a few days after."
"Fare you well, lad, and the rest of you as well. Our little trip certainly wasn't boring - I've got some new stories for all me friends now. Finally have something that can rival the time old Griggs met a dryad. 'Feh!' I'll say. 'I helped kill a demon!'"
After his bows and farewells, Gundar shoulders his pack once again and starts off down the street, leaving you three to your own devices.