The thylacine doesn't move, seeming calm enough after Agnar's spell to sit there and watch as Edrukk, Rupert and Agnar begin moving the horses away.
Treshiell runs her hands across the wound on her mount while whispering some words in sylvan in her hazy and hypnotic voice. The usual crimson mist can be seen leaving the wound and sliding lightly to the ground, but her healing magic has done little more than stop the bleeding. She kisses the horse lightly on the muzzle before turning her attention to the thylacine lying on the ground, gurgling for breath in it's own blood.
"не е твое*!". The shriek pierces the night and in one motion the witch draws her dagger and drives it deep into the thylacine's throat with a ferocious thrust. A twig can be heard snapping underneath as the blade passes through the creature and into the soil below. Another yank of the blade tears the throat open and what life that was left in the thylacine flows onto the ground. Treshiell remains kneeled in front of the beast for a moment before she rises and turns around. Her hands are colored red and a spray of blood covers her face.
Not yours!
Rupert lowers his sword, shaking off the stress of combat with a slight chuckle and limbering of his arms. "Now what, folks?" He asks. "If that thing's just going to sulk about, ah' say we either try to scare it off or kill it while it's not expectin' it." He raises his sword and squints one eye down the blade's shaft, pointing it at the Thylacine.
Agnar will keep the horses on the opposite side of the fire from the beast, allowing the rest to deal with the animal as they choose.
"Can't you chase it away?" Treshiell asks, her voice uneerily calm. To calm for somebody with their face covered in blood. She holds up the silver stag amulet tied to her wrist before her eyes and looks at it critically. "We need to find a river. Erastil is bleeding."
Despite the spraying blood, Treshiell's dagger doesn't seem to strike a mortal blow as she tries to slash the creature's neck. It screams in pain and its jaws snap harmlessly at her before it leaps away moving south, easily avoiding the witch's attempt to strike again with her dagger and Orin's slashing swing.
Once the horses are secure, Edrukk will keep an eye out for the remaining predator after packing his gear up, pondering ways to increase camp defenses in the future.
Agnar will get the horses calm, then remove the thylacine body from the campsite. After banking the campfire coals for cooking breakfast later, he'll do his daily prayers once the sun rises.
"Bah, since we're already awake..." Once the horses are calmed and secured, and the Thlyacine has definitely had enough time to flee, Rupert enters the forest around them and begins to forage for breakfast. He brings his bow in case there is any game in the area.
Survival
"Bah, let's get a move on soon. After all the mornin's excitement, just sittin' is almost borin'."
Treshiell walks back to pick up Thaal who quickly coils himself around the girl's arm and shoulder. "You need to heal the horses. They are still bleeding", she tells Agnar then takes a seat next to the fire and starts to rub the worst of the blood from the silver amulet using her dress.
You travel several hours to the southwest as the sun rises, warming you and lulling you into a daze after your interrupted rest.
You're broken from your reverie as a strange smell starts to assault your noses, the distinctive odor of rotten eggs.
Moving forward, you see two bubbling springs leading from a large 150-foot pond, the apparent source of the stench.
As the thylacine turns and runs, Orin holds his breath for several seconds until he is sure that it is not circling around for another attack.
Satisfied he will turn to help the others calm the horses. As he sees the light of the false sunrise he thinks to himself "Well this night is over, no reason to try and get any more sleep." So with a sigh he will help Edrukk and Rupert break camp. After a while he will sit down next to Treshiell and place an arm around her, protectively, and smile wanly before saying "Don't worry about Erastil, he's a tough old god."
Later in the day as the smell of sulphur reaches his nose Orin will look around and say "Smells like we must be getting close." as the pond comes into view Orin will dismount from Windswift and crawl on his stomach up to the waters edge.
Stealth check:
"Aye, Orin's right on that point," Agnar says, before moving off to see to the horses.
"Ugh. Not the most wonderful place in the Stolen Lands. Let's be about our business quickly and move on to somewhere with sweeter air."
Edrukk will look for a high spot near by to scan the area from as he loads and readies his crossbow.
Treshiell's hands and face is still stained with dried blood as the party breaks camp and rides forth toward their goal. She does not seem to be effected by the smell, although Thaal has coiled up tight against her shoulder almost hiding in the witches falling white hair. Treshiell remains steated on her horse as she watches Orin crawl away and Edrukk position himself on a high spot.
"It is just us then", she says to Agnar and Rupert. "Shall we approach?"
"Aye. Be cautious. I don't know how large a frog has to be for one of the wee folk to think it big, but if they're big enough to eat us, they could be trouble if they're hungry."
Agnar will examine the banks of the pond as we approach, looking for any tracks left in the mud.
As you approach the stinking lake, you see three large creatures -- frogs, about 5 feet long -- start swimming toward you, their bulging eyes sticking out of the water.
"Those are big frogs all right, and they look hungry."
Agnar will draw his bow and fire a shot at one of the three approaching frogs.
"I've heard they eat frog's legs in Taldan and always wondered why they bothered. If their frogs are this size, I can see why."
Intiative:
In one fluid movement Orin will satand from the reeds he had hidden in and fire his bow at the lead frog.
Attack roll:
Damage:
Initiative
Rupert follows Orin's lead and launches an arrow off at the closest frog as well.
Attack
Damage
Treshiell strolls casually behind Agnar seeming more interested in the trees surrounding them than the pond. She only returns to reality when Agnar notches an arrow to his bow and prepares to fire at one of the toads swimming towards the group. Treshiell places her palm on the clerics shoulder and a surge of energy flows through his arm and steadies his hand.
Edrukk fires a shot at the farthest frog in an attempt to keep the frogs separated.
Treshiell - 21
Frogs - 19
Orin - 16
Agnar - 11
Edrukk - 9
Rupert - 7
As the frogs swim toward shore, Treshiell provides magical insight to Agnar and the other four members of the group fire toward the approaching amphibians.
Edrukk and Rupert's shots splash harmlessly into the water near the frogs, but Orin and Agnar's both connect with the same creature, though the hits seem to do little to stop its advance.
The beasts stop about 15 feet from shore, letting out massive croaks, louder than any frog you've heard before.
Round 2, Initiative 11:
Barring any interference from the frogs, Agnar will fire again, targeting the same frog.
Round 2
Ditto for Edrukk
Orin will sling his bow and pull out his greatsword and await the frogs.
Rupert notches another arrow and fires at the same frog as Orin and Agnar again, trying to bring it down before it even reaches shore.
Attack
Damage
With the toads closing in, Treshiell grasps one of the twigs hanging from her necklace and snaps it in two with a quick squeeze. There's a ripple in the water next to one of the toads and the air starts to sparkle.
Treshiell - 21
Frogs - 19
Orin - 16
Agnar - 11
Edrukk - 9
Rupert - 7
The frogs seems to ignore the sparkle as all three suddenly open their maws wide, their tongues flicking toward their assailants on the shore.
The tongues miss Orin and Agnar completely, the latter as it slaps a bird that had the misfortune to fly up seemingly at the exact wrong instant -- it's whipped back into the frog's mouth where it disappears with one final panicked chirp.
Treshiell gets hit in the face with a slimy, sticky tongue, but she manages to pull away before it can wrap around her.
As the party returns fire, Orin's arrow slams into the already wounded frog, and it sinks into the water, motionless.
Agnar and Rupert's arrows slam into one of the remaining two frogs, which gives a loud croak.
Round 3
The frogs again whip their tongues at Orin and Agnar. Orin's easily able to step aside, but Agnar finds himself trapped by the sticky organ, which begins pulling him into the strangely warm water.
(DC15 will save) on one of the frogs (not the one i targeted the last time)[/ooc]
Treshiell loses her footing as she is slapped in the face by the frog's tongue but she manages to roll back onto her feet and avoids the thing wrapping around her. Back on her feet she snaps another twig on her necklace to maintain the crackling around the frogs.
Orin drops his bow and pulls his greatsword ashe attempts to slice through the tongue of the frog holding Agnar and release his friend.
Attack roll:
Damage:
Assuming Orin is successful in freeing him, Agnar will clamber back onto dry ground to fire another shot at the frog that hasn't had it's tongue cut out.
Attack:
Damage:
Rupert launches another arrow, as the frogs seem to be staying in the water at least for now.
Attack
Damage
Orin's slash hacks into the tongue of the already wounded frog, killing it.
Rupert's shot toward the remaining frog hits, and its quickly followed by several more arrows, until the creature croaks.
The smell of sulfur continues to overpower everything else, and with the chill still in the air, Agnar begins to shiver as the warm water he was soaked in quickly becomes clammy.
Agnar removes the part of the tongue still attached to him, tossing it aside.
"The water here is warm. There must be a hot spring feeding it, or a volcanic vent that heats it...that would explain the smell. Pity, this type of pool is quite popular in my people's homeland, but that stink would keep folks from enjoying it."
Agnar pulls off his boots, dumping out any collected water.
"I should have picked up a spare set of clothing back at the fort. I should probably dry off before it gets much colder."
"Well, that wasn't so bad!" Rupert exclaims, putting his bow and quiver away and tapping his sword's pommel affectionately. "Didn't even need the ol' toad skewer. D'ye think that's all of 'em in these parts?"
"Is it the frogs or the smell Perlivash and Tyg-Titter-Tut don't like?" Treshiell muses as she pokes one of the dead toads. "Or have they soiled the land?" The witch walks up to the waterline and starts to clean her silver stag amulet from thylacine blood. As she approaches the water Thaal hisses loudly, almost in protest, and falls down to the ground like a rat abandoning a sinking ship. The viper quickly slithers back towards the horses, away from the water and the worst of the smell.
"Both if I had to guess. The smell is enough to drive any one crazy, and the frogs would likely see such creatures as lunch."
Orin will take a slow circuit around the pond looking for a possible nesting area for these creatures. "Can't be too careful. They may have left a clutch of eggs around here which could grow up to be another problem for someone else later."
Perception:
Orin, you don't find any more frogs or eggs in your search.
"Let's finish scouting the area and then find a place to camp, upwind of the pond. It's like I've got a basket full of rotten eggs under my nose."
"If you say so". Treshiell had just finished cleaning her amulet, if you could call it that. Most of the blood was gone, but the muddy water has left brown and black stains all over the silver. The same is true for her hands and face, both stained with mud and old dried blood. Of the bath she took a few days ago there is no trace.
"Agreed, Edrukk. This smell is startin' to make me light headed."
The rest of the area, mostly forest with the Skunk River cutting south-by-southeast through it, is peaceful, with no more thylacines or giant frogs to be found. Plains stretch away to the west and northwest while the stately forest continues in all other directions.
The rest of the day passes in exploration, and the night passes uneventfully.
16 Pharast