Giri grabs a dagger as he climbs out of the tree, and moves to flank the third wolf with Kendra.
The wolf that attacked the tree while Giri was in it moves over to Giri. It ends up flanking Giri with the other wolf, and attacks. It bites Giri and hurts him, but doesn't succeed in dragging Giri down.
The other wolf stays focused on the prone Kendra, but misses her when it tries to bite her again.
Round 2:
~
Crystal
Kendra 6/10HP (Prone)
Kyra
Round 3:
Wolf #2 (Hopelessly entangled in net)
Giri 6/11HP
Wolf #1
Wolf #3 -4HP
Crystal
Kendra 6/10HP (Prone)
Kyra
Kyra continues to press the attack, hoping to end one of the threats and heal her wounded companions in a moment. "Hold strong, just a few moments longer and the light of Sarenrae shall wash away those bites."
Giri digs his dagger into the flanked wolf's neck, taking it out. The others team up to bring the last wolf down with a cut, a smash, and a snowball to the face.
The wolf in the net yelps. A quick inspection by Kyra reveals the downed wolves are both still alive, but slowly bleeding out.
"I do not know much about animals; however, I am not one for killing unless absolutely necessary. I think they may simply flee in fear. Perhaps we could put some rations near the treeline? I can heal them, but you must ensure they do not return, Kendra." With that, Kyra sends out a wave of healing powers into the clear to heal not only her companions, but the injured wolves as well!
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Kendra nods to Kyra.
Then she reaches into her backpack and pulls out a torch and sets it alight and reaches into her back for some of her dried meat rations and throws it as far as she can into the forest and shoo's the wolves away with the flames and shouts.
"Be gone from here! GO! You'll find no more meals here. GO!" and waves the flames at the wolves to chase them off abut winces a little as she stands on her bitten ankle.
You heal the injured wolves back to walking capacity and free the other wolf. With a mixture of growls, snarls, and yelps they retreat back into the treeline. A while later you spot them eating the food, after which they leave the area.
The rest of the night passes uneventfully. The next day, you continue your journey through the Fangwood. You follow a path that will lead you to the shores of the Gray Lake, where you can refill their waterskins and stop for a quick rest. The trees eventually begin to thin, revealing a field of short, green grass that leads to the shores of the wide, calm lake reflecting the overcast sky above. A dense fog hangs over the center of the lake, obscuring the far side. Near the shore of the lake, a dark form lies next to the water.
Crystal and Giri their squints don't lead to any discoveries. Perhaps the distance is too great.
Kyra unsheathes her scimitar and cautiously approaches the form...
The form is actually the decayed body of a man.
Kyra looks over the decayed body with a critical eye. "This man has been dead for several months. Huh. Look at his ribs, looks similar to what the river pythons do to their prey back home. He was likely compressed to death by some sort of constricting creature."
There's nothing else you notice, and so you move on. You walk for about 3 hours, and the trail leads ever deeper into the Fangwood, through a twisting maze of trees and confusing ravines. As it tops a small rise, a broad valley spreads out before it, the opposite side of which looks like a writhing serpent. Yet between the two lies a steep hill sloping down into the valley. A cold rain starts to fall, making the ground slick and treacherous.
You have to navigate the slope downward, and will have to be careful.
Kendra and Crystal make sure their end of the rope's securely tied to a tree. Giri reaches the bottom of the slope without a hitch, and ties the other end of the rope to another sturdy tree.
Kyra looks at the slope and takes a few minutes to remove her chain shirt while the others go about securing the rope and stuffs it into her backpack. She then looks at the rope and the steep slope. "While its certainly not dignified, it is more dignified than breaking my neck." With that, she takes the rope in both her hands and sits down onto the muddy slope to use the rope to assist in slowly sliding down the hill....
By using both the rope and her patience during her descend, Kyra makes it to the bottom of the slope.
And Kendra also reaches the bottom without much trouble. Only Crystal's left standing atop the slope.
Following Kyra's example, Crystal makes her way down the slope as well.
You move deeper into the valley. An archway of stone is set into the side of a small hill at the bottom of it. Moss has overgrown many of the details, but one is still quite clear. The keystone of the arch is carved with a flame symbol with a stylized rune in the middle. Beyond the archway is a darkened tunnel that leads to a pair of massive wooden doors, one of which is slightly ajar. A pair of horses and a trio of ponies lie slaughtered next to the archway, each corpse still tied to a post set into the ground nearby. A swarm of flies hangs lazily in the air above them.
Giri tries to open the doors stealthily, but can't get them to open. Inspecting the doors reveals that while the doors are unlocked, they're rather heavy and will require a certain measure of strength to be opened.
There's a loud *CREEEAAAK* as the heavy doors swing open, the faint light from outside revealing a long chamber with risen platforms on either side. A faded painting of Kassen is on the far wall. The room appears to be the site of a gruesome battle, with two bodies piled in the center and a number of skeletons scattered around. An echoing wail can be heard somewhere in the distance, beyond this foul chamber.
There are eight skeletons in various places around this chamber. Of the eight, two are smashed and broken, while the other six are intact. You watch the intact skeletons rise while you stand in the doorway.
Two of the skeletons in the back hurry over to the doorway and end up in front of Kendra and Giri. Another skeleton near the entrance to the crypt moves up behind them.
Round 1:
Blue Skeleton
Purple Skeleton
Pink Skeleton
Kendra
Yellow Skeleton
Green Skeleton
Red Skeleton
Giri
Crystal
Kyra
Kendra draws her club, which she swings at the nearest skeleton. Her attack misses, and the other skeletons in the room join their undead kin in the bottleneck that is the doorway.
Round 1:
Blue Skeleton
Purple Skeleton
Pink Skeleton
Kendra
Yellow Skeleton
Green Skeleton
Red Skeleton
Giri
Crystal
Kyra
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Ugg... Moldy Bones walking! Don't they know they should be dead?
She holds out her arm and spreads her fingers as a wide burst of chilled air blasts from her hand. It shoots forward and coats the ground ahead of the pathfinders with a thin coating of ice, making the whole area amazingly slick.
That should make some of them lay back down...