Your group finishes exploring the forest but before leaving Imrael finds his hood being tossed back, with no apparent reason why. A moment later Valisia's hat pulls free of her head and soars away landing on a branch 15 feet off the ground.
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Then venture out into the plains once more. The great expanse of plains with a few rolling hills and a few small groves of trees spotting the horizon. These groves could be explored but nothing of interest can be seen from a distance.
The group does not care to take a closer look at the groves,
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The whole area is flat plains with much tall grass. A few bushes and trees spot the landscape but overall the long plains let the viewer see a very long distance.
Bringing in more meat, he hunts down a few rabbits and collects some roots for the group. He even finds an overgrown section of blackberries.
Valisia collects some gravel that seems edible.
Walking along side her pony as the group travels slowly foraging, she pays attention as best as she can. Foremost on her mind seems to be looking for opportune sites for planting some trees. Special ones at that.
"Arvangail, what is your time schedule for taming this land? I know there are a lot of unknowns, but what are you thinking?"
Krazok looks at Valisia once she brings the gravel and shakes his head, "At least you could bring some inedible roots but no you bring gravel, really? I don't think any of the hatchlings from my tribe would even bring that. Do you have no sense in your head?"
"Hmm.. currious..."
Florian casts Detect Magic on the grave and concentrates for a few rounds to see if anything else is down with the barbarian.
After Krazok flagged down the group as they congregate around it and search the area those detecting magic do sense something, something small with a magical aura.
Looking at Krazok and the gravel. "OH, I ...ummmm.... Heh.." Valisia tosses away the gravel. "I have been distracted a bit lately. I'll try to be more helpful. A personal quest is weighing heavily on me."
"Perhaps if you share your quest with us we can guide you to accomplish it." He says in a calm gravelly voice in response to Valisia.
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Knowledge(nature):
Blienka shows the berries to the others.
Pretty sure these are the Fangberries that were requested on the reward board. We will have to take care of them until we get back. Or, we can always swing back by here on the return trip unless we remain out for a long time and end up way south.
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As there is confirmation that there is magic present, Imrael rolls up his sleeves and prepares to move the rocks. "I've no obstacle to digging here. Once the soul has gone on to their earned reward, the body is but a broken vessel, no longer caring of what happens to it. I admit, were this some high priest of Iomedae, I might have a second guess, but whoever this was was most likely some heretic, not even entombed near a major population center. Let us take a few moments and add the item to ours, increasing the likelihood of success of our mission."
Imrael will assist Florian remove the stones.
Valisia explains to Krazok. "A little bit back I obtained some acorns, the last progeny of a very old treant. I was entrusted to plant them somewhere so that they may grow and become new wardens of the forest. I look for such places now. One of the seeds was also special. Different, and perhaps will take extra..care..."
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Imrael smiles as Valisia talks about the acrons. He pauses in his labors and goes over to her, touching her gently on the shoulder.
"If you wish to plant one now, on this cairn of some long-gone sojourner, I could not think of a better place. I would not plant the special one, but for one his brothers, I could not think of a better spot."
He returns to his work.
"Hmm, I'll think about it, but I don't get a solid vibe from this place yet. I will know when."
Valisia, you can always return to this place if you don't find one to your liking during our travels. Its not like you can't plant that seed at any time he said smiling
Krazok helps moving the stones as he continues to listen to Valisia. "I don't know much about the magic of this world, though with little amount of trees around it likely is not the best of locations. Don't treants like to be around trees?"
As Blienka tells the group about the Fangberries he suggests, "We know where the berries are for now and we can send me to collect them later."
The two of you working on moving the stones get a few of them moved but Krazok makes the work look easy. Soon the stones are upturned and the digging commences. Toppling the stones and digging up the body below takes a good 30 minutes of work. Once exhumed, the body still wears tattered and rotted remnants of hide armor, and the skull still displays the crushed-in side that spelled this barbarian’s doom. Of all the barbarian’s gear, only a strange ring made of green wood on one finger seems of interest—the ring depicts an eel and
a frog locked in a tangle, its unique appearance makes it quite recognizable.
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Spellcraft:
Blienka looks at the ring, turning it over in her hands several times.
Appears to be a ring which will improve ones ability to swim. Not sure if it will really help us now, but it is the sort of thing which could be of use at some point.
As she ponders this, a thought wanders into her mind.
I wonder why such a valuable magic item was left here. This barbarian does not appear to be of high standing based upon his tattered armor.
"Glad my intuition was correct, seems someone may need to use this ring in the future, but as we are now not so much, thank you for the help exhuming the grave."
Great that is going to be a usefull find i hope
The skeleton buried under the mound of stones was once the son of a minor chieftain among the Tiger Lords, from a time when that tribe’s territory stretched all the way from Numeria to the Narlmarches—patrols from Rostland have forced these barbarians back to the east, and the majority of their cairns were toppled and the bodies looted—but this one has been forgotten, obscured as it is by brambles.
After Florian thanks the group for exhuming the grave, Krazok grunts in acknowledgement.
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Knowledge(history):
As she surveys the cairn, it suddenly dawns on Blienka what this must be.
I think this must be a cairn to some minor chieftain, or probably the son of a minor chieftain of the Tiger Lords, barbarians who used to rule these lands many years ago. The barbarians were pushed back long ago and most of the burial cairns have long since been destroyed and looted. This one must have been missed due to being hidden in these bushes.
"Sounds fair to me, thank you all for assistance retrieving it."[/b]
Fine by me Florian can hold on to the ring for now since its party loot and no one really wants it in his share
If Florian thinks its okay then he will wear it otherwise goes in the coin purse.
The plains are a nice sight with really no predators or monsters about at least that you can see. The group finds another cairn but this one has already been looted as the stones are apart from each other. A small spring of water makes a pool in a stoney part of the plains making a small oasis with bushes and a few trees blossoming from the ample source of water. Though nothing of note seems to catch the groups attention.
The last plain region before heading back into the forest and likely swamps is an enjoyable sight of tall grasses at least until something comes across your group right before you set up for camp.
Krazok growls at the group, "What is this none of you bring anything to the table, thank you Blienka for those roots, at least Valisia is trying. The rest of you can just eat rations then, I will share my kills and foragings with Blienka and Valisia alone."
Krazok continues to forage up roots, onions, vegetables, and small game animals for the group to eat, though if they don't attempt he might be testy again. He will begrudgingly share his catches, even if the others don't forage, though if they do his attitude becomes better.
Surprise Round
On the night of the 30th he tries to quickly dismount but only gets off with axe in hand before anything else happens.
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Survival(25-26):
Survival(27-28):
Survival(29-30):
Perception:
Blienka laughs at Krazok's comment:
There is food aplenty. You are welcome to eat the roots, they are actually quite taste when cooked with these fresh herbs and mint I found. They also go well with rabbits and deer.
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Surprise Round
Blienka also quickly dismounts:
Ride:
Unfortunately she is not the most comfortable in the saddle and it takes a moment longer than expected.
Guys, we have a visitor, and it definitely does not appear friendly.
Valisia brings back some old pinecones, grass and a birdsnest to eat.
"Yes, I see that it appears to be unnatural and sort of grotesque."
Valisia dismounts from her pony, knowing it may be scared of the unnatural creature, and not wanting to get thrown.
hein, what ? where? says a completly surprised arvangail
"I do hear a child crying in the distance..."
Looking in the direction of the noise
Round 1
The creature seems to be aware of your group, but you all act before it does.
Round 1
Arvangail will move down form mount and pull out his melee weapon
"Imrael, it is over there, the pile of clothes on the ground."
Pointing it out to Imrael, getting off his horse and drawing his weapon.
Don't ask me. Blienka was the one who saw something
"That creepy little thing over there walking towards us. I say we blast it now and ask questions later."
This takes up your Round 1 actions to remember it all.
history: 21
Drekavacs are the undead remains of children who
perished from disease, particularly in plague-ridden
areas where many such deaths occurred in a short period
of time. Able to become as insubstantial as the mist
rising from a graveyard on a cold, dark night, drekavacs
are carriers of disease, seeking to infect the living with
the afflictions that slew them. According to some stories,
drekavacs only result from young plague victims who
remain unburied or died bereft of the proper funeral
rites; performing those rites may allow their spirits to
rest and no longer haunt the world of the living.
Drekavacs have a sunlight aversion, a vulnerability to
magic that counters disease, and vulnerability to salt.
Drekavacs typically haunt desolate places, from windswept
plains and mountains to dark forests and abandoned
homes or villages. They may move among inhabited areas
in gaseous form, but are typically warded off by bright
lights and the sounds and sights of life. They are always
encountered indoors or at night, preferring dark, cloudy or
foggy nights, ideally during the waning moon. Drekavacs
are usually encountered during the gloomy, cold winter
months rather than in the spring or summer.
Rural clerics and adepts must sometimes deal with
one or more drekavacs seeking to spread disease in their
communities. Their favored targets are children, some
of whom can also become drekavacs 3 days after death
unless their bodies are burned and the ashes scattered.
The work of drekavacs in a community can sometimes
lead to hysterical accusations by grief-stricken parents
and families, stirring up resentment and violence toward
outsiders or anyone suspected of involvement with
unnatural forces.
It is customary in some rural areas to surround a child’s
crib with a ring of blessed salt to keep evil influences at
bay, including drekavacs, who cannot cross an unbroken
line of salt. However, drekavacs can convince others to
break the line of salt for them.
Drekavacs are lonesome, bitter, and pitiful creatures,
often crying when they appear, mourning their lost
lives. Some folk mistake them for living children, lost
or starving, although the creatures are not very effective
liars. Still, a dim night and a half-seen form huddled
and sobbing pitifully are often enough to trick someone
into approaching close enough to become victim of the
drekavac’s chilling grasp.
Once they have inflicted their plagues upon victims,
drekavacs quickly lose interest and move on, although
they may follow a victim, begging for aid and attention,
behaving as if they were still living victims of disease
rather than its agents. They rarely kill victims outright,
preferring instead to inflict long and lingering deaths
through disease. Drekavacs threatened with salt, magic,
or silver weapons become vicious, attacking opponents
like snarling dogs until they are dead or the creatures
are driven off.
Drekavacs sometimes band together in small packs,
particularly in places where epidemics or plagues have
swept through a population, either recently or long
ago, but they have no real organization beyond seeking
out new victims to infect. Drekavacs are intelligent
and aware, able to converse in Common, or whatever
languages they knew in life. This means some
drekavacs are only able to communicate in largely
dead or forgotten languages. They are childlike
in their understanding and largely incapable of
being reasoned with, but deft use of Bluff or
Diplomacy and a playful or parental tone may
keep a drekavac at bay, at least temporarily.
The Mythic Drekavac
In Slavic myth and folklore, drekavacs are the souls of
unbaptized children, not necessarily victims of disease,
although they were often said to be. They are known for their
horrifying cries, and descriptions of their appearance vary
widely, some looking like thin, emaciated children, others
having animal heads, fur, or bird-like features. The most
common way of exorcising them was believed to be a rite
of baptism performed on the creature, its corpse, or grave.
Believers say the touch of a drekavac’s shadow causes illness
and disease in anyone unfortunate enough to encounter the
creature. A home around which a drekavac cried and wailed
was destined to have someone die there soon, and drekavacs
were said to return to haunt the dreams of those who had
done evil, particularly to children. The spirit of a child killed
by its parents (from abuse or neglect) was likely to return as a
drekavac, either to seek vengeance or to accuse them with its
cries until they repented and confessed what they had done.
Valisia
Krazok
Arvangail*
Florian*
Blienka*
Imrael*
child
Arvangail and Florian dismount drawing their weapons. Blienka seems to be deep in thought.
"Krazok, you look like you could do some damage. How about I make you even bigger? I have the magic to do so."
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Realizing what exactly this creature is, Blienka calls out.
It is a Drekavac. We may be able to bluff it, or convince it to leave. Then we need to find its body and consecrate it and give it a proper burial. They are essentially dead children who were not given proper burial. Therefore, they still have child's minds, albeit undead children.
"I can tell you if it gets close enough to me I will part it with its head, better bluff quickly I suggest."
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"Ah! Thank you. And you are certain is not some stray child in need of aid? Well, of course. Alright, perhaps I can be of some help here where we might incapacitate it without undue harm to us or it."
Imrael trots forward, guiding the horse with his knees. When he's within 25' of the thing, he speaks, his deep voice booming out like a thunderbolt ringing off distant cliffs. "Hail and well met, noble dead. I mean you no harm that you do not mean me.
I am called Imrael, after the Angel of Confrontation, so I have position enough to grant you boon. Give off this path and molest not the large and dangerous party before you, and I swear by all-powerful Iomedae that your corpse shall receive all the rest that The Inheritor can grant.
What say you?"