Jaye's Carrion Crown (Inactive)

Game Master Jason Sonia

Kaleb stutters out a reply, "Oh, yes, our camp. In all of the excitement.. the literal barrage of questions about the beast, I forgot to reply. You may share a camp with us if you like, provided you do not mind exposed silver, garlic or the Holy Symbols of the Grey Queen."

Alexa looks confused:
Exposed silver, garlic or the Holy Symbol's of the Grey Queen?

Do you mean to say that they are readily exposed here? Or we must expose any we have?

"Many thanks to you. Of course we do not mind; such precautions are completely understandable. Herr Stellori here is a priest of the Grey Queen himself, and we have fought and vanquished the undead often in the last few weeks."

Vaghn turns to Alexa to address her confusion. "Such items are traditional wards against that most feared and dangerous creature, the vampire, that stalks travellers in human guise." He chuckles as he turns back to Kaleb. "Of course I believe the fact that the sun still hangs in the sky, low that it is, is more effective proof that we are not such than any amount of garlic. I suppose vampires are not the only things to worry about however. Tell me, have you had much trouble with wolves of late?"

Kaleb suddenly appears serious. "The sun does not always bar those who bear the taint of such foul blood."

At the mention of wolves, Kaleb looks to the forest. "No. Should I call in the girls?"

"Does it not? Curious. One learns something new every day." Vaghn follows the man's gaze. "I do not wish to cause undue alarm, but I did have to fight off the beasts on my original trip south, and then once I reached my destination, the town of Ravengro, it was beset by a small army of the beasts! It would not be a bad idea to have someone armed with a stout club keep an eye on the girls."

Kaleb nods and calls back over his shoulder, "S’jeer fetch the girls, would you?"

A large Vundrani woman, with four arms, nods and picks up several swords. She heads east into the forest.

Lacking anything vaguely resembling social skills, Alexa stares at the giant 4-armed woman and the other strange people about.

How does this happen? Is nature that twisted? Or is this caused by something else? Or, are these folk not what they appear to be.

Knowing that her vision allows her to see not only undead, but also creatures from other planes, Alexa adjusts her sight and scans the area for otherworldly auras.

Use Spirit Sense - 60' range - allows me to detect the presence of undead; fey; outsiders; and astral, ethereal, or incorporeal creatures.

Easy Mule...

Weehawk looking that they may be camping here tonight - moves over to what looks like a good area and hobble's mule.

Eeeeeyyyyyyyyaaaaaa

Madeline follows Master Weehawk and the mule with her pony, though she has no idea what the fellow is doing between the legs of the animal...and judging by the mule's reaction...she's not sure she wants to... (¬_¬)

She waits patiently with the pony's reigns....smiling politely when he glances towards her, she offers the reigns to him expectantly, giving a slight curtsey and nod of thanks when (if) he takes them.

Madeline returns to where Alex and Master's Vaugn and Valen are still speaking with the Caravan Troop's leader.

Alexa shrugs and looks to Valen.
You know my preference, but I am sure you all would like some new company for the night.

Moving things along....

After a brief discussion, your group decides to spend the night in sight of the caravan, but with enough space between your groups to allow for some privacy. Kaleb agrees that even if neither group means harm, it's probably for the best.

Around dusk, as the glow from the cooking fire grows to a healthy orange glow, the four-armed Vundrani woman returns from the forest with a pair of girls. A few moments later, you hear Kaleb curse and a woman start weeping. Kaleb looks very agitated.

The flute playing has stopped.

Vaghn looks concernedly across to the agitated performers.

Perception 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (17) + 5 = 22

Alexa listens and looks to see if she can determine what is going on.

Perception: 1d20 + 13 ⇒ (12) + 13 = 25

You think I should go and investigate what is going on?

Alexa looks to the others:
The flute player is missing. They don't seem to know why she stopped playing.

"I'm not certain he meant the flute player. Little girls play too," Vaghn says, looking pale, as he surges to his feet and walks toward the performers. "Hail Kaleb. Is something amiss that we might help with? My companion here is a druid and knows the woodlands well."

Posting from phone. Madeline will spend the time 'calling' Smith, kitting up and getting ready to go searching. Ugh! Walking into the swamp. She is going to HATE this! (>_<)

Madeline - how exactly do you know you're walking into a swamp? To date, I've described all the terrain as forest or rough hills.

As Vaghn walks up to Kaleb, Kaleb raises his hands to clearly display he is not armed - showing you his palms - but you can tall that he is immediately agitated. He speaks quickly, taking a few quick breaths in between his description.

"The girls inform me that their sister - Aleece - disappeared a few hours ago. They searched for her, tried to follow her flute. Then, when S’jeer arrived, they all looked. But then it got dark. They returned here to gather a search party.. but then her flute stopped. The forest is dark, thick... and I'm afraid that while we are skilled performers, we're not trained woodsmen. We're going to try and look for her, of course. But if you're trained in such skill, you'd have our favor... and even some of my personal treasure, if you could locate her. Could you? Are you skilled in such efforts? We'd sing your praises if you could."

Sorry...the party is in the middle of the wilderness...There is bound to be mud....And there are always swamps around, aren't there? Knowledge Survival:1d20 + 2 ⇒ (6) + 2 = 8(Untrained) See! I'm SURE there are going to be swamps...and morass' and bogs and quagmires. Quick-sand! There's always quick-sand in the wilderness!

Alexa speaks up from behind Vaghn.
I will not claim to be the greatest tracker, and in the dark it will be even more difficult, but I can usually find where animals have gone, and humans tend to be much easier than animals. If someone could show me where the young lady was last seen, and tell me a little about her, how tall she was, what she was wearing, then I can try to find where she went.

If the others agree, she turns to Vaghn
Can you provide some light, lets see what we can find.

With a few mumbled words, Vaghn sets the hat atop his head glowing like a torch. "Do not worry. We shall not rest until the girl is found."

Kaleb's relief is clear. He says, "We have torches, as well, if you need them. Are all of you going out, or just the two of you? Should I ask S’jeer to accompany you? "

It only takes Madeline a minute to bring Smith into existence. So, she and her side-kick should be able to head off momentarily.

So... Madeline is summoning Smith (back at the camp - not in front of the performers, I assume) and Vaghn/Alexa are talking to Kaleb at their camp. What is everyone else doing?

Indeed...Madeline is spending some quiet time alone... in camp... summoning her imaginary friend...

(>_>)

(<_<)

Stop thinking those naughty thoughts! (¬_¬)

Weehawk asks one of the performers to look after his mule, grabs his shield and sword and the offer of torches from Kaleb. He joins up with the other's ready to set off into the woods.

Alexa looks at Kaleb:

Any help us useful. Those skilled at stealth or fighting would be most useful as we do not know who, or what, might have taken the girl. Or if she is merely lost.

Alexa will take two torches from Kaleb and light one. Then with the combination of Vaghn's light and the torch, she will lead the group, following S'jeer to show them where the girl was last seen.

Survival(tracking): 1d20 + 11 ⇒ (20) + 11 = 31 <-- I should be able to find something.

Kaleb turns to Alexa and says, "I'm afraid none of us are really soldiers or sneaks. We are performers, nothing more. While I've known S'jeer to scare away the occasional bandit or ignorant peasant, I fear that is more from the fact that, with a sword in each of her hands, she is an intimidating sight. Still, I can send her along with a torch if you think you'll need help. I'd dare not send any more of my troop, however. I think we'd do more harm than help if stealth were required."

Kaleb shrugs his shoulders.

Valen has remained quiet - not saying much but watching the performers and their leader. His heads tilts at the mention of Pharasma as the Grey Queen - never having really used that title himself in his prayers. He makes no objections to any methods that reassure them that he is a servant of Pharasma; although again he tilts his head at the curious revelation Kaleb makes about vampires. Something about seeing the Varisian performers and hearing Kaleb's tale puts him in a reverie while they make camp - thinking about home and such.

When the alert comes he also stands and armors himself to follow the rest. "A lost child is something I would gladly aid without recompense, good sir." Turning towards Alexa, he adds: "I think I may know something that can aid us in the search - hopefully the Grey Lady will give me the vision to help you track her."

If Valen casts deathwatch: You can determine the condition of creatures(and I assume that means people as well) near death within the spell's range (30'). You know whether each creature within the area is dead, fragile, fighting off death (alive with 4 or more hit points), healthy, undead, or neither alive nor dead (such as a construct). Deathwatch sees through any spell or ability that allows creatures to feign death. Would it be possible that she would show up as one of these conditions in his vision even if he can't see her directly (like behind some brush)? Or is that a stretch?

OK - thanks for the clarification.

Valen whispers a prayer, and his eyes take on a glow at the request. He nods to Alexa that he is ready, adding:"The Grey Lady's blessing should allow me to sense the girl - even if she is injured. Hopefully - that will help us in the search."

He will then proceed to move along aside her to aid as needed.

Ready to go, in case people were waiting on me. :-)

Alexa begins to follow the girl's trail.

I rolled the Survival above - nat20 for a 31.

Madeline indicates Smith should move up and walk behind Alexa knowing his vision is the best of the group's by far in the dark.

Madeline's Perception:1d20 + 7 ⇒ (16) + 7 = 23

Perception:1d20 + 12 ⇒ (8) + 12 = 20

I'll update later

Your group easily picks up the trail of the missing girl and, after nearly half a mile of tracking her through the dense woods, come a small clearing. The body of a young girl - not unlike the two twins back at the camp - lies still on the ground. She is surrounded by grey flowers, all partially in bloom. As the sun continues to set, moonlight filters through the trees, illuminating her body.

Alexa raises her hand:
Why is the girl here? And what are those flowers?

Knowledge(nature): 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (4) + 4 = 8 <-- no clue

If nobody stops her, because they know more about the flowers, Alexa will carefully proceed forward to see if she can help the girl.

Perception: 1d20 + 13 ⇒ (12) + 13 = 25

Madeline draws a deep hissing breath at the sight of the small, prone still form. She arches an eyebrow at Alexa's comment of being in a quandary in regards to the blumes. Raising a hand, Madeline does try and halt the other woman.

"Might I suggest the 'Alien' nature of Smith might be better suited to investigation?" She suggests then motions her manservant to carefully approach.

At his Mistress bidding, gripping the haft of the great-maul tight, he slowly begins to stalk towards/into the flower patch.

Perception:1d20 + 12 ⇒ (6) + 12 = 18

"Be careful. She is still alive, but the Grey Lady is not long from receiving her soul," Valen cautions to both Alexa and Smith, as he examines the flowers.

Knowledge(Nature): 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (19) + 6 = 25

When Smith moves forward, he glances around to see if anything else is amiss in the clearing.

Perception: 1d20 + 9 ⇒ (15) + 9 = 24

As your group cautiously approaches the clearing, Alexa, Smith, and Valen notice the body of a young girl in the center. A ring of grey flowers surrounds her. They cautiously approach, leaving the rest of you at the eastern edge of the clearing. As Valen bends down to inspect the flowers, there is a sudden, audible "pop" and the air around the perimeter shimmers for a moment. Then, everything is chaos.

The map I need to update to CS5 on my machine, so it'll be a day or so before I can add all the icons and such to the map. Just assume the top is north and right is east (you entered the clearing from the east). Valen, Alexa, and Smith are in the center, close to the body of the girl.

Surprise Round!

Alexa, Valen, & Smith have been told to roll for the surprise round. Everyone else needs to roll for round one initiative. Once they roll, I'll outline the surprise round and we'll proceed to round 1. Madeline can either have Smith "act" or convey what he notices to her on the surprise round.

Init: 1d20 + 3 ⇒ (18) + 3 = 21

Seeing so many eyes that clearly do not appear friendly, Alexa calls upon the forces of nature to aid them.

Everyone, hold on. Let me see if I can soften them up and slow whatever they are a little.

Standard: Cast Stone Call - no save
--> Not sure where they are located, but it is a cylinder with a 40' radius. I will get as many of the evil eyed creatures and try to center it on them to slow them from attacking us.
--> Entire radius takes 2d6 damage and is considered difficult terrain for 4 rounds.

Damage: 2d6 ⇒ (3, 4) = 7

EDIT - if they get the jump on me, I might do something else. Hopefully they won't.

"These flower's are called Reaper's Roses - they are sometimes a portent of death...," Valen trails off at the sudden noise and change; immediately tensing up for whatever is around them.

Initiative: 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (17) + 4 = 21

Have a couple of spells in mind, but based on when I go in the order will determine what I do.

At the sudden flurry of activity Madeline draws the sword that has been riding upon her hip, deftly assuming a 'duelists' pose and sets herself against any enemies.

Smith takes a 'five foot step' towards the girl.

"Reaper's Roses you say? Fascinating! I wonder what... hey!" Vaghn blinks confusedly from his cirle of light as chaos erupts.

Surprise round: gawps.

Round 1: Initiative 1d20 + 2 ⇒ (20) + 2 = 22