In about a minute Krazok and Selena return. They both look fine. His axe bleeding.
"Just a pack of worgs. They were dealt with easily enough." He says as they return. "So who wanted to hunt Will O Wisps? They are around and the rumor is they feed on fear. Though their invisibility makes them hard to hunt down. Anyone got something for that?"
"Glitterdust is a good option." She offers.
"I could prepare one invisibility purge the next time." She offers with a wink at Kevros.
The magic around Cleonora faded, exposing the assassin mage had moved to Jorne's side for the fight. "So, just how many spells of that will you have?" Cleonora asked Selena. "After all those spells have a limited range to both cast and effect. We'd need to ensure the wisps are within the area unless we have a large amount of that spell that would allow us to cover the whole island... or, and this is an option but difficult to deal with... they feed on fear, which means if you create fear they will come to feast." She pointed out.
"I can't cast glitterdust, I was thinking of the dust as an item. I know it is a spell too. Though I think invisibility purge will do much better." She offers weakly knowing her selection of spells is limited. "We could bring some sheep or other livestock and ash along..."
"Or simply cast fear upon one of ourselves." Cleonora said with a shrug. "But both options work." She nodded.
Kev smiles back after the compliment and looks towards the Wyvern when Kat tells him what it is, "I think I like stinging dragon better because the darn thing tried to sting me?" Kev looks back at Kat when she asks about why the Wyvern was aggressive, "Since it showed up at the same time as the worgs, it is probably someone's pet or pet guardian?"
Kev nods his head at Krazok and Selena, "Thank you for taking care of the worgs."
He winks back at Kat, "I am glad you can memorize that, I have not been granted that divine power yet ... I am not worthy" Kev says with a smile.
Kev nods, "Or cast both spells to lure and make them visible but we may get flooded with too many."
"Are they ethereal as well or just invisible."
"I only know so much but... they go by many names and gain fast healing when near something dying or fearful. Evil things that no one knows where they came from. I may learn more if we go to town and I have time with more books." he relays.
"I would suggest that the rest of you return home and make preparations, tomorrow we can hunt Will O Wisps. Larina and I shall stay behind to purge this island of the nettles and make it worthy of being cleansed." He offered as he continues to burn the plant life of all the isle.
Quince nods, "That makes sense we can prep for the fight better."
"Take care." Cleonora told Sulvanii, she got closer to him but not close enough to be burned by the aura he was putting out. "Enough Will O Wisps around you and they can take down anything." She said.
"We can look in the academy library, there might be a bit on them." Cleonora then told the others.
Kev nods too, "Thank you Sulvanii and Larina for taking care of the nettle, debris, and other obstacles. And definitely don't let any harm come to you both." Kev thinks to himself, he does not yet have enough experience to prepare any further other than maybe more arrows so he does not have to use divine powers to create new arrows. "Shall we return to Elkheart?"
The group returns to Elkhart. Most if not all of you rest well. Then going about your daily tasks little time is available to converse with each other much. Flying messages ask to meet in the courtyard again.
With what little time she was able to get Cleonora had the librarians pull any books that may have Will O Wisps within them. Hoping that they may lend some help to those who would know what to look for. She even brought them with her to the meeting.
Kev goes to the armory to collect some arrows and extra quivers w/arrows making sure he does not have an ammunition problem in which has to use divine assistance.
Most of the faces from the night before collect in the courtyard with their mounts.
"Invisibility Purge is prepared. Though only one... it will last for 5 minutes. Does someone have a fear spell or do we need to get some livestock?" She asks looking at those collected.
Kev nods and smiles, "Thank you sweetie for preparing invisibility purge and I understand the reason for the fear spell. What is the livestock for?
Quince arranges a number of nets making sure everyone has one. When the time comes to hand them out he explains, "If invisibility purges wear off use the net. The wisps are invisible but the net will hang on them."
Kev nods, "Are they tangible creatures or like ghosts, phase in and out of the plane?"
"Well, I did bring books if anyone wishes to find out." Cleonora said with a shrug. Then she picked one up and began to flip through the pages.
Kev smiles at Cleo, "Thank you Cleo, I do not have any knowledge on Will O Wisps. Besides being drawn to fear, they are invisible, and maybe solid or phase creatures, what else can you tell us about them?" Kev then takes the net from Quince and places it in a saddle bag for now while he listens for Cleo's briefing on Will O Wisps.
"I try." Cleonora said with a small shrug. "An academy is a place for learning and self betterment, though the library is small compared to many others, I try to keep books on everything. We teach that knowledge alone is not good or bad but how one uses it is. As such I have done my best to keep my students supplied with knowledge. If I couldn't what kind of head mistress would I be?" Cleonora asked with a half smirk.
"Very True and you are doing great work with the current resources you have now! And hopefully the resources will improve in time? I may have to enroll in some classes one day to fill in my gaps?"
"Thank you, that is nice to hear." Cleonora said with a nod of thanks. "Just keep in mind that the normal students I have are in their mid teens. Also myself, I'm just the Professor of Arcane knowledge, so I would get with the other Professors if you want to learn their areas on concern." She mentioned.
"The fear spell is to cause fear to draw in the will o wisps. The livestock, sheep would be preferred or goats, nasty goats. Much better. Would be the target of the fear spell. Though bringing Ash with us he could get near them and the spell would not be needed." She explains thinking that it is rudimentary and an explanation is not needed.
Reading in the books you find many things:
A general description: This faintly glowing ball of light bobs gently in the air, the nebulous image of what might be a skull visible somewhere in its depths.
Then very descriptive texts:
Every trapper and bog farmer living near marshes or swamps has his own name for these faintly glowing balls of light—jack o’ the lanterns, corpse candles, walking fires, pine lights, spooklights, rushlights—but all recognize them as dangerous predators and false guides in the darkness.
Evil creatures that feed on the strong psychic emanations of terrified creatures, will-o’-wisps delight in tempting gullible travelers into dangerous situations. In the wild lands where they’re most common, will-o’-wisps favor simple tactics like positioning themselves over cliffs or quicksand where they can easily be mistaken for lanterns (especially if they can set their traps near actual signal lanterns), allowing them to lure unwary travelers into perilous situations. On rare occasions, will-o’-wisps seeking easier pickings will move into a city and take up residence near gallows or follow along invisibly behind an army in order to harvest the fear of the dying men; why the vast majority choose to remain in the swamps where victims are scarce remains a mystery. Will-o’-wisps only use their electric shock ability under extreme duress, preferring to let other creatures or hazards claim their victims while they float nearby and feast.
Will-o’-wisps can glow any color they choose, but are most frequently yellow, white, green, or blue. They can even vary their luminosity to create patterns—many will-o’-wisps are fond of creating vague skull-like shapes in their glow to further terrify their victims. Their actual bodies are barely visible globes of translucent spongy material 1 foot across and weighing 3 pounds, capable of emitting light from every surface. A will-o’-wisp’s light is approximately as bright as a torch, and though they do not seem to use sound to communicate with each other, they hear perfectly and can vibrate their bodies rapidly to simulate speech.
While vilified by most other sentient creatures, will-o’-wisps are actually quite intelligent, if utterly alien in their reasoning. Sometimes organized into groups called “strings,” their society and goals remain complete unknowns to outsiders, as do their origins, though they have sometimes been known to strike bargains with those who can offer them vast quantities of appropriately frightened victims. As will-o’-wisps do not age, and are effectively immortal unless killed by violence, particularly ancient will-o’-wisps can serve as fantastic repositories of knowledge from the ancient past, although convincing one of these cruel creatures to cooperate with an interrogation can be a trick in and of itself.
Cleonora closed the last book after reading the information for the group at hand. She set it back atop the other books before saying "I won't lie, I'd love to be able to speak with will o wisps. With how little is known a book upon their forming or, culture if you will, would be a valuable resource for the academy... But I doubt there would be a way to get that sadly." She shrugged before grabbing her hands behind her back and stretching a bit. After settling back she placed her hands on her hips "Any questions?"
"Kevros has asked if they wisps are intangible like ghosts, ethereal. Or is it just invisibility?"
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
Kev turns away from his saddle bags after fastening it and speaks to Cleo, "Maybe when the budget is available, you can hire faculty and staff for evening classes for adults?"
Then turns to his Sweet Katrina, and nods with an uneasy laugh, "Of course! I was more focused on worrying about herding undisciplined goats than thinking we need something to make fearful. Do we have any old goats past their prime about? And we should bring Ash anyway for his fighting prowess alone. In addition, if we can use him to scare the tied up goats without using a divine power saving it for more important situations, all the better?"
Kev then pivots to Quince, "Your majesty, she read that they have actual bodies that are barely visible globes of translucent spongy material. So they are tangible but just hard to see."
Quince visits the boyer and gets a Strength bow.
"Well done Kevros, someone was listening well." Cleonora said, giving him a nod of gratitude once more. "Was the read of the books that boring to you?" She asked Quince with a raised eyebrow.
Quince chuckled. "It didn't not say they were capable of . . . anyway."
"I do not know of a single creature that can have both a physical form and an ethereal form. The closest I can think of is the creatures that can phase through from one plane to the other. But they never are ethereal, they simply pass through the barrier between our plane and their." Cleonora explained. "Though this doesn't mean such a creature doesn't exist, but I have yet to come across one."
"I see what you mean. I have heard of spells that let someone move through solid things but that isn't necessarily 'ethereal'. So its safe to assume that the net will catch them and then give them some shape for us to see even if they are invisible."
Those around you nod in agreement at what you are saying.
"You know Quince, if you want a slightly used, slightly cursed magical composite bow you could always have one..." He states looking at the new bow. "So we have nets, invisibility purge, get a few goats and then we are ready?!"
"Oh no not that one...." Cleonora muttered as she looked at Sulvanii out of the corner of her eye, a slight smile pulling at her lips. It almost seemed like she knew what he was talking about.
"It does sound that way." Cleonora answered as she looked to the group to get their reaction to Sulvanii.
Quince looks at Sulvanii, "You have a bow to spare. . . .how slight is the curse."
He chuckles and his face turns into a cheshire smile, one you have never seen on him before, "Yes, I have four! There is, let me see if I can remember. The one Cleonora is speaking of damages your Wisdom each time you shoot it if you don't resist the effect. Though there is a Strength modifier of 2 with a curse that makes you smell and smell rotten fish, possible nausea. The modifier of 4 has no effect immediately but after your first encounter with it being in your possession requires a quest be undertaken. I am not sure about the last one." He chuckles more.
He looks over at some guards and orders them, "Here is a bag of coins, go fetch us a half dozen goats."
"I feel like you're wanting him to take one just to see if those curses still work." Cleonora said as she crossed her arms and smirked at Sulvanii. "Admit it, you're as curious as I am." She almost seemed to tease him about it. "But you shouldn't be handing out cursed items, bad for you reputation dear Sulvanii."
"What sort of quest?" He shakes his head. "I have no desire to smell like fish or be less wise. A new quest sounds like a distraction. And this encounter might not be the last this trip." He smiles, "I figured you were still on the island. So I went to the local guy. Sturdy enough bow. Perhaps you have magic arrows that won't give me the clap or turn my hair blue."
"Oh yes... it would be interesting. I did open my vault for the Wardens and none of them have taken me up on the items. I never told them about the curses but you never know what might work for one." He states with the wide grin still on his face more towards Cleo than anyone else.
"You know I would have to hold the item again to learn about the specifics again, Quince. Perhaps once we get done with the venture, you might visit my office tomorrow. Though that sturdy bow should do fine for you. That is true. We will see if my arsenal of arrows is needed." He states. Then adding, "You know adding curses to items make them cheaper right?!"
The guards return with six goats.
Soon the group is off again on your ethereal running mounts. Within an hour you are upon the island again. Looking around you see no vegetation was left behind except the few trees. Also Sulvanii must have been working other magic as well. The dirt seems to have been moved away leaving only rocks and packed dirt.
"Do not curse the ruler of your town." Cleonora sighed as she slightly elbowed Sulvanii. "Besides if they take them I can't do my studies." She said.
When they got to the island Cleonora looked around and nodded. "I must say you have done a wonderful job." Cleonora said Sulvanii. "How did you get it down to rock and packed earth?" She asked a curious tone ringing in her voice.
"I would have napped if I could, this took one more trip and the night of work. The island still gives off an eerie feeling but like Sulvanii told me, a consecration of the land and it should be good. Especially with the wisps dealt with and the tower repurposed." She says with a bit of disdain.