Since before your father's father's father's time, the Elder Witch has watched over the Great Unkindness. Her feathers have grown white and ragged, her beak cracked, and her eyes clouded, yet is her mind still sharp, and her eyes see things beyond the physical world. Many times have her words saved the Unkindness, and so when her apprentices arrive to call you to her presence, you listen.
She awaits you in the heart of the Eldest Tree, the huge sycamore in the Great Wood that is your roost, perched within her nest (which she rarely leaves), gazing out between the massive branches of the Tree, waiting for you to arrive.
C'a'rrrar'kkk swells with pride as she's summoned before the Elder Witch in the heart of the tree.
"I will sing the new song I've been working on. Or perhaps the Eldest will wish to hear songs of her youth? Either way I will make sure the performance is memorable!"
After a quick check that every feather is in place and that her beak is clean she hastens to attend the Eldest one.
S'kkk'aaa'rrrk flies up to the Eldest Tree, trying hard to appear nonchalant and unrattled by the summoning
He lands reasonably close to the Elder Witch, although definitely far enough way to not be a threat and to not be appearing to challenge her in any way
"Oh great Mistress. You have summoned me and I am here."
She then patiently waits to be recognized.
C'a'rrrar'kkk arrives to find the Elder Witch busily ordering two of her apprentices about. They seem to be dropping some herbs and berries into a small depression in the tree near her nest, while a small piece of wood, rounded on the bottom, moves itself up and down, smashing and mixing them together. She does not turn as the two younger ravens arrive.
"Ah, C'a'rrrar'kkk, it is good that you are here. And S'kkk'aaa'rrrk, dear, there is no need to be so formal. Just give the other two a moment, I don't want to explain this twice, and you'll need this potion to be done before you leave."
R’rrr ar’kkk, Son of T’r’k nods at the Elder Witch's apprentice in his unusual manner, first with his head tilted to the left to look at her with his right-side normal eye, then turning his head to the right to regard her with his stranger left-side eye, then back again. "I will fly where my destiny lies, witchling." Considering the apprentice dismissed, he takes to the air, slowly moving his head from side to side as he flies.
It is as I thought - I shall answer the Elder Witch's summons.
He lands at the end of a bough which will lead him to her nest and begins to walk, so as to give himself time to think. Her magic is strong. Though she grows blind to the world-that-is, she sees deep into the world-that-would-be; if I were not going to answer her summons, she would not bother to send one. As he nears her nest he can see that there are others present besides her usual apprentices. That is S’kkk’aaa’rrrk the Shadow and C’a’rrrar’kkk the Singer, birds of import both. What does the Elder Witch see for us, I wonder?
The sorcerous bird walks up and bows silently to the Witch, then stands amongst the others called, his head slowly bobbing in its customary side to side motion.
"So, not a command performace. What could this be about? Perhaps inspiration for a brand new piece!"
T'rrr'aaa'rrr'k of the Great Tree arrives in a flutter of sleek wings. An honor, to be called by the Elder Witch-- but I'm sure I can rise to the occasion.
She dips her head respectfully to the Elder and remains attentively perched as she awaits further instruction.
T'rrr'aaa'rrr'k of the Great Tree as well? The sorcerer stops his head-bobbing, facing the Elder Witch and training both his eyes on her. This must be a fateful day indeed...
♫♪♫
As T'rrr'aaa'rrr'k arrives, the Elder Witch turns to face the four gathered ravens.
"Ah, now you're all here, dears," she says, her words whistling slightly through her cracked beak. "Good, good... you see, I have had a dream of late. The same dream. A great wind, a terrible dark wind, blows from the north, and the Eldest Tree, though it tries to stand, cannot forever, and is in time blown over. Nor are the other trees of the Great Wood spared."
She shudders slightly. "An ill omen... but one whose cause yet lies hidden. I would have you four, our greatest heroes, fly north, to search out the cause of this dark vision, and turn it from its course."
She glances at R'rrr ar'kkk's left eye for just a moment, then back to the others. "Perhaps it is nothing, but would you do this to ease this old bird's mind, dears?"
A dark wind from the north, blowing over the Eldest Tree... a dire foretelling. What force could stir such a gale? R’rrr ar’kkk bows to the witch. "You know I shall, wise one."
"Of course I will help. But it is dangerous out there, and the dangers aren't well known. Your dream is strong in foreboding but weak in details. Is there anything more of what we seek that you can tell us? Anything of the lands that we will pass through? Any material aid that perhaps you could provide for us?"
"Oh, of course I shall help! It would be unbecoming of one such as myself to not lend aid to you, honored elder."
"Good, good," The Elder Witch whistles, "Now, for your questions, S'kkk'aaa'rrrk, if I knew more of what you are to seek, I would tell you, but I do not. This wind does not carry the scent of lands beyond the Great Wood, so I doubt you will pass beyond its borders, and you know it as well as I, yes? As for aid, there is this potion..."
She turns her head back towards her apprentices, who had been watching the mash of berries and herbs keep mixing as their mistress spoke. They squawked and hurried over to a little nook in the wood of the Tree, then came back with some small gourds on strings. One by one, they scooped a bit of the mixture into the gourds, then brought them over to the Elder Witch.
She looks over the little gourds, then slowly spreads her wings and calls softly, then turns back to you. "These little snacks will heal your wounds, dears."
R’rrr ar’kkk accepts the gourd and bows to the Elder Witch in thanks. She sees the journey will be a dangerous one. Such is to be expected, I suppose. I wonder; are gains without risk, without cost, less rewarding than those which cost us, or more so? Does the bitterness of sacrifice taint one's gains, or make them seem sweeter by contrast?
Momentarily distracted by his train of thought, the son of T’r’k realizes that he has been staring off into the distance. The task at beak, R'rrr ar'kkk, the task at beak. Carefully removing the leather cord from his neck, he lays it on the ground and unties it with his beak, threading it through the witch's gift alongside his own gourd before retying it and placing it back around his neck. Thus outfitted, he looks to his new companions, awaiting a signal that they are ready to depart.
S'kkk'aaa'rrrk adds the potion to the potion she already has
"Thank you"
She then nods to R'rrr, indicating that she too is ready to depart
T'rrr'aaa'rrr'k also accepts the little gourd, slipping it over her neck, adjusting it so she doesn't shift the sprig of holly tucked into her feathers.
"Most gracious of you, Elder. Let us hope we do not need to use them."
"Oh, yes, dear, let us hope, let us hope... now, there is little more I can do for you. It will be a long flight, however, so you must make certain you are ready."
T'rrr'aaa'rrr'k is skilled in the magics of living, growing things; no doubt she can provide for us on the journey. C'a'rrrar'kkk knows the tales and legends of the Unkindness, old and new; she has the best chance of knowing something of anything unusual we may encounter in the northern wilds. S'kkk'aaa'rrrk is indeed a shadow, and a cautious one at that; she can scout our way and steer us clear of dangers.
And any enemies that are unavoidable are fated to meet my magic - an unfortunate end. It seems that in truth it is not we who are prepared, but rather the Elder Witch, to have such a group at her beck and call in time of need.
R’rrr ar’kkk stretches his wings and shakes his tail feathers, preparing himself for flight. Catching the Shadow's nod, he turns an inquisitive right eye on the remaining pair.
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♬ I love the night, I love the night,
I love the element of danger and the ecstasy of flight,
I love the night, I love the night...♬
The Elder Witch smiles at C'a'rrrar'kkk--an expression which, in ravens, involves the eye more than the beak.
"Thank you, dear. Now, speaking of flight, it is time for you to be off!"
"I'll take the lead," T'rrr'aaa'rrr'k declares as the four of them take flight to begin their journey.
As if I am going to let somebody else lead. Don't think so
"Perhaps it would be better for the shadow to lead when heading into danger. For it is better by far not to be seen"
Without another word, S’kkk’aaa’rrrk flies off
R’rrr ar’kkk takes wing with the others and heads north, trusting S’kkk’aaa’rrrk to communicate any dangers or course changes to them as needed.
The first day of your flight is uneventful, with only the familiar dangers of the Great Wood (none of which are a problem for such great heroes as yourselves) to trouble you. You make good time, except for when you have to forage for food.
The next day dawns gray and cloudy, though there's no sign of actual rain in the clouds. After a couple hours of flight, you notice something odd... you've seen a number of ground animals, and even a few other birds, and they were all going south...
That leads to an interesting question.
As far as we know, are there other "awakened" animals here in the forest. Not quite the right word, but hopefully close enough. Essentially sapient animals that we can communicate with.
I'll swing down and ask one of them (using speak with snimals as an at-will power.), "Where are you off to friend? Is there some danger to the North or a gathering to the South?"
Most of the animals scatter, too spooked to speak, but one fox looks up.
"Eh? What? I can't hear you!" He says. "You're too far away!"
Edit: Never mind. A search for speak in the pdf found it. Never saw that portion as most of the pdf was obviously GM only so I skipped to the character sheet section
I will swoop down a little closer, "Don't be difficult now. You can answer the question or I can follow you for a bit... Dropping pine cones on your head. Your choice."
The sorcerer-crow begins to circle in the air above his more talkative companion. The songstress is quite outgoing; to be expected, I suppose. He keeps an eye on the sky, wary for any airborn threats. I hope the Shadow's keeping track of us, lest she pull too far ahead and we become lost to one another.
S'kkk'aaa'rrrk will silently and hopefully stealthily fly circles about 100 feet or so around the others, watching to make sure that the noise doesn't awaken any other dangers
The fox looks a bit disappointed. "Okay, okay! What is it?"
Patiently repeating herself she asks, Where are you off to friend? Is there some danger to the North or a gathering to the South?"
The fox sighed. "Look, everyone's running away from something, right? So I started, too. And now I'm going to keep doing so."
With that, he dashes off into the underbrush, heading south.
You see a few other animals coming your way now, including, of all things, three sheep, as well as a couple of magpies.
What could cause an exodus of this scale? I see no signs of fire, nor flood. It must be a dark wind indeed to blow so many before it. Perhaps our northern cousins may know something of value... Keeping an eye on the magpies now, R’rrr ar’kkk summons forth his crow's tongue and makes ready to intercept them in the case that none of his companions do so.
Magipies. They'll steal anything if you let them. Silly, flighty beasts. I'd better hide and watch them to make sure they don't rob my friends blind
What's the use of asking a magpie for aid? Even if they know something you'd hardly trust them," T'rrr'aaa'rrr'k comments as an aside to her companions. But she still draws on the abilities that let her speak with all the wild's beasts and flies nearby the others to hear what they might say.
"It's terrible!" One shrieks as she sees you, not even waiting for you to ask a question.
"Oh, so terrible!" The other agrees.
"Fly away!"
"Flee! Quickly!"
"He's coming!"
"He'll be here soon!"
These creatures are fated to die, but I do not see myself among them.
"The dark wind blows a cloud drinking blood," rasps R’rrr ar’kkk in warning, nodding in the direction of the stirges. He then begins to fly upwards, trying to rise above both the advancing enemy and easier prey.
I'll follow R'rrr ar'kkk ganing altitude.
Baffled by the magpies' disturbed reaction, T'rrr'aaa'rrr'k accompanies the others as they fly upwards. Stirges, hm? She tries to recall any facts about the blood-drinking creatures.
They're disgusting and... I know not what else.
Would be trying to gain altitude as well.
[ooc]How are you planning on running Tiny creature vs Tiny creature combat? The rules as written don't deal with it at all well. We have to move into each others square to attack and that provokes. Which really makes no sense :-). And can I get sneak attack in some way (as tiny creatures we officially don't threaten and so can't flank :-()
As a group, you ascend as the stirges weave their way between the trees. Now that they're closer, you can see that there are only five of them. C'a'rrrar'kkk remembers there being a song about fighting them, but it was rather vague on the details of stirges, just saying something along the lines of them being dirty bloodsucking monsters.
The animals around you panic as the stirges approach, including the magpies, who fly past you as fast as their wings will carry them.
They're about 80' away, and 20' below you, which at their present speed means they'll reach just below you with a double move. You're up in the branches of the trees, so you have enough concealment for stealth should you so wish.
Initiative!
S'kkk'aaa'rrrk slips into the shadows of the trees and waits for the stirges to approach. Once one is within 30 ft she will hit it with her ray of frost combined with sneak attack
for