Having reloaded her crossbow, Aishe will struggle forward as far as she can through the deep snow in the time available, then loose the bolt at the retreating wyrm.
Finally, either through Growler grabbing the wyrm's tail, or Aishe's last desperate bolt from her bow, the creature slows and finally collapses in the snow, its coils unraveling and releasing Arkady.
Seeing the creature fall, Yagello trudges through the last few feet of snow and helps remove Arkady from the snow. He also reaches over and recovers the cold iron longsword he had dropped previously.
He looks Arkady over from top to bottom and shakes his head regretfully, "I'm sorry I failed you back there Arkady. I was completely unprepared for a flank attack, and it almost cost you your life. I promise I'll do better in the future and get my head more wrapped around this mission."
He continues to size him over. "Your clothes are completely wet from being under that snow. You're going to get frostbite like that Ulfen back at the apothecary unless we get you dry. Since I got this winter outfit in Heldren, I got some extra clothes in my pack now. How'll these fit you?'
He pulls out the clothes he was wearing this morning, a shirt, wool britches, and thin cloak.
Rushing up beside Arkady, Caelia quickly and calmly gets to work on mending his wounds. Pulling out her first aid kit, she applies first aid to stabilize her ailing companion.
Once the wounds have been patched up, Caelia nods at Yagello "Yes, thank-you Yagello, he will need warmer clothes now."
Hovering her hands over Arkady's body, Caelia looks skyward and says a short prayer to Saranae. Her hands glow again with divine energy, which washes over Arkday, healing his wounds and brings him back to consciousness.
Aishe will try to recover the first crossbow bolt she loosed at the wyrm, the one that missed, as it had a cold-iron tip.
After spending a few minutes looking for it, she gives up, giving the bolt up for lost under the thick snow.
Sarya pushes her way through the snow towards the carcass of the tatzlwyrm, stabbing her scimitar into its throat just to make sure. Convinced that it's sufficiently dead, Sarya gives a quick wave of her hand toward the field of vines that had arisen from the snow. The vines quickly retreat out of sight, leaving a pockmarked circle of disturbed snow in their wake.
"Anyone have any idea what this thing is and what it's doing here? It's definitely not any animal I'm familiar with. Animals at least have the sense not to attack when outnumbered." Sarya casts a look of disgust down at the creature's corpse, steam rising from the blood pouring from its wounds.
"Is everyone able to continue? We still have a lot of daylight to work with. And the sooner this cold is out of my forest, the better."
Looking over towards the deceased wyrm, Caelia thoughtfully responds to Sarya's inquiry "It's called a Tatzlwyrm, or at least it fits the description of a Tatzlwyrm. They're forest dwellers if I remember correctly."
Satisfied at Arkady's stable condition, Caelia moves alongside Sarya and continues "They're rare, the stuff of children's stories. As to why it attacked us, I suspect it was desperate for food. This sudden and extreme cold spell has probably left many creatures scrambling to survive."
As Caile's magic brings him back to consciousness, Arkady notes the concern on his new friends' faces.
"One of these days that gitchy feeling is going to actually give me enough information to actually get out of the way ... Thank you all for sticking with me. I barely got a look at it before it knocked me out. "
He stands up, checks to make sure Rom is still safe in his scarf pouch, and retrieves his staff. He leans on it heavily, clearly still suffering mightily from the snake's attack. He mutters a few words, then concentrates, magically drying his clothes.
"Thank you for the offer, Yagello, but I think I can manage to dry out here, if you give me a moment.
"I'm fine to keep going, but then again, I haven't been so much as scratched yet. But the rest of you have all taken some wounds, so maybe we should think about whether it's best to continue without resting?" Aishe speaks without much confidence. It's fairly obvious that she doesn't feel as though she has been of much use to the rest of the group so far.
Yagello looks up at the position of the sun and agrees with Sarya assessment, "Yes, I say we continue. We have enough daylight left to make a lot more progress along these paths."
He pauses to wipe some snow off the cold iron longsword, before continuing, "Maybe we were a bit hasty to get off the main trail though. As we've seen, trudging through these snow banks brings a whole host of new threats and obstacles to our mission. I say we get back on the main trail and hope this detour avoided any further traps the fey and bandits may have left us...."
Arkady stumbles a bit as the group discusses their next move.
"I'm feeling a bit weak still ... I'm not sure I'll be able to continue unless one of you has any more healing magic left. If not, I don't think it would be safe for me to continue."
"I think I can help that," Igmar says, reaching toward Arkady.
"I agree that we should continue, but perhaps we should be a bit more deliberate in our marching order moving forward. I don't mind staying in the back--we dwarves are quite hearty.
"Ah, thank you, Igmar. I'm still not feeling my best, but I think I can continue. "
Arkady will find a spot in the middle of the group, trying to be less exposed for the future.
Yagello's eyes light up at the mention of tactics by Igmar and Arkady. "Yes, yes. I've been giving the subject of our marching order some thought as well. Judging by our performance in the first two battles, our tactics have been woefully unprepared for what our enemies are throwing at us. Your ideas are good, so let me develop them a bit. What do you think of this?"
Using his longsword, he traces a pattern in a clean patch of snow.
Yagello-------Sarya/Zev
Aishe/Growler--------Arkady-------------Caelia
---------------------Igmar--------------------
He also rubs his hands together for warmth and shakes some of the snow off his boots. "We really should get going as well. So what's the final decision, do we return to the main path or continue this way? I strongly suggest returning to the main footpath."
Sarya grows a wicked smile as Yagello draws his marching order into the snow. "I'm up front, huh?" She clasps her hands together next to her face in a fake swoon. "Such a gentleman! You'll protect me, won't you?" Her little display changes her smile into laughter. She was beginning to notice a few patterns in her new ranger friend and she couldn't think of a better way to push a few of his buttons...and something told her he'd be the most fun to pick on.
Yagello turns a bright red at Sarya's comments, and he stands motionless truly befuddled at how to respond. This wild woman touched a nerve with surgical precision, and Yagello wonders how Sarya was able to read him so easily. Internally, he had been debating a proper marching order ever since that debacle with the zombies. He would have shared his thoughts immediately but was wrestling with idea of putting a woman such as Sarya in danger on the front line. After Arkady's near death, he came to realize that front, back, or on the sides, was there really any safe place on a mission like this?
He eventually forces his mouth closed and tries to form a coherent sentence. "I, I, I meant no offense, Sarya. Yes, I will protect you, and if you prefer, Zev can take the lead, and you can stand back just behind him..."
Obviously completely missing the druid's attempt at humor, he continues, "Ummmmm, it's just that you and I have similar woodland skills, and I thought we could work together..."
He then stops speaking looking for a reaction from Sarya, still unsure of how he feels about her in general.
Standing just behind Yagello and Sarya as the druid teases the ranger, Aishe rolls her eyes and chuckles under her breath at Yagello's apparent confusion. <She may just be tormenting him for a response, but at least it's some indication that there's still an actual person residing somewhere inside Sarya, and not just a wildling.> Finally sensing a pause in the by-play between the pair, Aishe interrupts.
"Yagello, why not place Caelia in the middle of the group, just behind Arkady, and I'll go behind her? That way, Igmar and I can protect the group from any attack on our rear, and Caelia, who's the only person here with specialist healing magics, is better protected? Growler will probably want to follow us off to one flank, so she'll let me know if anything is lurking off to that side , so perhaps Sarya could get Zev to do the same on our other flank? If that's even possible, of course... Growler usually does pretty much what she wants, anyway."
Sarya's eyes light up at Yagello's response. She had expected anger and instead got embarrassment, an infinitely more amusing prize if she did say so herself. As Aishe kills the mood with her talk of tactics, Sarya makes a mental note to return to the subject the next time she needs a good laugh.
"I think I'd almost rather take my chances with wildlife over the tricks and traps of the fey. But I will agree that the deep snow makes things difficult. If you want to return to the original trail, I won't protest."
Relieved that Aishe interrupted the interplay between himself and Sarya, Yagello turns to the half-elf with a content smile. "Your ideas make sense, let's go with it. You'll make a good ranger soon, Aishe. I sense a cunning about you, something I can't put a finger on but always present in great women warriors..."
He also removes his blades from their sheaths and looks at them carefully, paying particular attention to the elven curve blade. His mind appears to go elsewhere for a moment before returning to the present company. He continues speaking with Aishe and Sarya, "I assure both of you I won't fail you again with our next battle. We may talk about protecting the healer in our midst, but I have no plans of letting it get that far again. I will strike quickly and severely and show our enemies that they have messed with the wrong group..."
As Arkady finishes cleaning and drying his clothes the best his Prestidigitation spell will allow, he listens to Sarya and Yagello, mildly amused but not interrupting. As the group forms back up to continue on the trail, he takes his new, safer position.
As the party resumes slogging through the deep snow heading back to the main trail, Aishe will try to keep all of her senses alert for another ambush, as well as keeping an eye on Growler, just in case the wolf notices something beyond Aishe's own ability to perceive.
Taking the lead, Yagello draws his elven curve blade and starts pushing through the wet snow. The exertion brings some warmth back into his body, but he can't quite shake this unnatural chill out of his bones. Nevertheless, he refocuses his mind, filtering out the sounds of his companions and concentrating solely on the trail ahead.
The party trudges out of the gulley, following the trail as it bends slightly from a south-westerly direction to the north-west. Once the snow becomes shallow again, the trail is easily detectable by even the weakest tracker.
As they planned, Yagello and Sarya walk at the front of the group, with Zev at Sarya's side. In the middle are Arkady and Caelia, and bringing up the rear are Igmar and Aishe, with Growler at Aishe's side.
After a short distance, Sarya notices something strange in the trees. Soon enough everyone is able to spot them, as there most be dozens of the strange objects. Feathered bundles and strange fetishes hang from the lowest branches of the trees in this part of the forest, swaying and shifting in the wind. All are stuck through with small pins holding pieces of leather bound around them.
"Hold up, let us be wary this time, eh?"
Arkady observes the objects tied in the trees as they approach. Once they get to about 60 feet away, he says a few quiet words and holds one hand to his eye, peering between his fingers.
As the group heads along the path and approaches the strange bundles, Arkady is able to get a better look. They all appear to be small dead birds, mostly crows, tied to the branches with small pieces of leather.
The small pins are not pins at all, but tiny icicles no more than an inch long, much smaller than the ones in the corpses at the attack on the road. At the point each icicle enters the bird, frost emanates outwards in a faint fractal pattern. It appears as if the birds are frozen solid, but it is impossible to tell if it from the weather or the deadly icicles. Arkady has never seen birds killed and put on display like this, but he suspects they must be some form or warning or a way of warding off spirits.
Arkady concentrates on the dead birds. He detects some fleeting magic, but upon focusing on the birds does not detect anything. He lowers his hand and concentrates in every general direction in turn. There are definitely faint magical auras in the trees somewhere, but they do not last long, as if they are moving about. This makes it difficult for Arkady to determine the location or number of auras.
Sarya looked up at the tree, a pained expression evident on her face and in her eyes. Why would someone do this? Something about humans killing animals for sport never felt right to her. Humans can see the danger from other humans more readily and they often deserve whatever happens to them. Animals, though, weren't so lucky. Animals don't know what a bow is or how to spot a magic user...it wasn't fair.
Using animals as some sort of crude warning or killing them just for fun? She wasn't going to stand for this...not in her forest. She draws her sword and shield and casts a glance around the trees. If they were still here, she was going to make them pay for this.
Yagello sees the hurt expression on Sarya's face, and he nods solemnly in solidarity. Though a ranger, humans have always been his quarry, not animals. He never did see the purpose of hunting animals for sport; food gathering was one thing but to kill living beings for enjoyment was a black art.
Yagello sheathes his elven curve blade and draws the cold iron longsword instead. Whispering to Sarya, he slowly fans out to the left, trying to set up a defensive perimeter. "The work of damned witches or fey, for sure..."
Holding his sword high, he listens carefully for any sounds of the enemy.
Aishe will likewise extend her arcane senses out to search the area around, above and beyond the gruesomely adorned tree at the same time that Arkady does so.
Staying close to her allies, Caelia observes the strange scene closely for a moment. Standing up, she quietly scopes out the area surrounding the group.
Following Sarya's example, Caelia draws her blade and whispers to Arkady "I can't see a thing out here, but this feels like another trap."
Igmar turns his head away from the tree in disgust.
I can't take this brutality. I just can't stand it.
Trying to make the most of looking away, he scans the surrounding area.
Aishe and Arkady look about in the trees, trying to pinpoint the magical auras, when they all wink out at the same time.
The falling snow muffles any distant sound, and with the trees blocking most of the wind, the trail is deathly quiet.
Zev
Igmar
Arkady
Sarya
Caelia
Yagello
(Something)
Growler
Three icicles bolt out of somewhere in the trees, aimed at Yagello and the two wolves.
Yagello ducks the pin headed for him, and the icicles scrape Zev's front leg and Growler's back. Where the icicles hit, a white frost pattern begins to grow, similar to the one on the crows in the trees above.
The pattern grows alarmingly at first, but that fades just as quickly.
The entire group scans the trees for the source of the icicles.
Yagello spots one target in front of him, standing on a branch in one of the trees. The others spot two more, flanking the group on either side. They are tiny humanoids, not longer than Yagello's forearm, with deep blue skin and long ears. They also have folded behind them nearly white wings.
Sarya, Igmar and Yagello all conclude these must be the Fey the Ulfen was referring to, being vulnerable to cold iron and fire. Yagello figures that their icy attacks, if they hit, could freeze the flesh. Sarya had read something about these "sprites" in her book, that they use a variety of magic and their cold to stun their enemies, preferring to fly out of reach.
Sarya also remembers that the sprites can glow, and create dancing lights to distract enemies. Sure enough, each of the sprites begins to glow with a pale blue light. It becomes difficult to see the individual features anymore, instead seeing an orb of light.
As Arkady gets "the feeling" again, he reaches out and touches Yagello. "Desna smile on you, something is about to happen!"
As the sprites come into view, he watches to see which direction his friends move.
Diviner's Fortune: Creature touched gains +1 to attack rolls, skill checks, ability checks, and saving throws for 1 round
Seeing the icicles sink into Zev and Growler, Igmar returns his gaze to the trees. He spots the tiny fey, and immediately his voice rings out among the trees. He reaches to his back and grabs his bow, readying a cold iron arrow.
Aishe struggles through the snow towards the sprite attacking the rear of the group, raising her crossbow and trying to hit the tiny target, which is now nothing but a glowing orb of pale light.
Seeing Aishe moving towards the fey at their rear, Yagello hesitates for a moment and curses under his breath. Realizing he cannot reach her in time to help, he thinks, Hopefully, Growler will protect her mistress like we planned...
He sizes up his opponent in the tree ahead, Hmmm,about ten feet up on that branch; I'm 6 feet tall and my blade runs about 3-4 feet in length; should be able to take a pretty good swing....
Sarya's eyes narrow at the sprite nearest to her, a primal hatred in her eyes. She shouts out in the tongue of the fey, the anger in her voice making the message clear even for those who don't speak Sylvan.
Sarya drives her sword into the snow- it won't be of much use against flying enemies anyway. She speaks out to the others as she pulls out her sling and loads it with a bullet from the pouch around her waist, "Stay focused or you'll end up frozen in ice like those we found on the road." Sarya twirls the sling around quickly, sending the hunk of stone sailing off into the trees, hoping to knock the little demon off his perch.
Zev takes off toward the tree as Sarya winds up her sling. As he reaches the tree, he leaps toward it in an attempt to claw and climb his way up the tree.
Finding the snowy tree a bit too slippery to climb up, Zev instead takes to clawing at the tree, jumping up at the fey creature with open jaws and barking ferociously.
[Dice=Ranged attack, light crossbow]1d20+2
[Dice=Damage, crossbow bolt, cold-iron]1d8
Aishe's bolt hits a branch just short of the fey, harmlessly deflecting off to one side.
Sarya's target scoffs at her threat, and while the stone literally crumbles as it hits the fey, appearing to to little serious damage, the momentum does knock back the creature, causing it to panic, slightly.
Without something to hurl or throw at the fey, Caelia waits with Arkady where she is, blade drawn and ready to act.
Sarya's target flies off the branch and Sarya can hear the sprite shout out to its allies.
Each of the sprites pause for a moment. Yagello can hear some kind of chanting, and then another glowing orb with a human shape appears next to his original target. Looking around, it appears as if the same is true for each of the other sprites.
Each of the sprites then flap their delicate wings and circle behind the nearest tree before moving in different directions. No one is able to identify which are the original three.
Growler will rush towards the nearest sprite and attempt to leap up to the lower branches so that she can try to clamber up unto the branches next round. Hopefully her superior sense of smell will allow her to determine which targets are 'real'...
Wolf claws aren't made for climbing, and her efforts to jump up the tree trunk to get at the sprite are ineffective...
Cursing to herself, Aishe realizes that she has impetuously moved a little too far away from everyone else, and steps back onto the trail. Then, using Acid splash, she hurls an orb of acid towards the nearest sprite.
Frustrated to the max, Yagello hollers, "ENOUGH OF THESE TRICKS! STAND AND FIGHT!!!"
He moves to the closest fey and finally is able to exact his revenge.
;
Arkady watches as the fairies double and shakes his head. Knowing he has no spells that will be of help, he pulls out his crossbow. Cradling it in his hands, he speaks ancient words, and the bow appears to become denser in his hand, though not actually increasing in weight.
"I may not have cold iron, but let's see if I can manage to pick any off the hard way. Desna guide my hand."
Growler gets close to the nearest sprite, and begins barking as she tries to climb up the tree, obviously sensing something.
Aishe's conjured orb passes right through the target, falling harmlessly into the snow on the ground, almost as if the creature was not there in the first place.
Yagello takes a mighty swing with his blade above his head. Expecting some kind of resistance as the tip of the blade cuts into the fey, Yagello is surprised to feel his blade pass through the pale blue light as if it is air. Must be some kind of trick,, he thinks.
As Igmar continues singing, he takes aim at one of the fey. Distracted by the snow and the glowing creature, however, his arrow flies well of the mark.
Caelia continues to standby. With no ranged weapons, and no hurt allies, she feels that she will be most useful waiting in the middle, where she can reach anyone fairly quickly.
Zev takes a sniff at the orb of light above him, and moves onto the next one, trying to climb at it again.
Zev cannot make it up this tree either, and makes do with barking at the creature.
Sarya, following Zev's cues, unleashes another stone from her sling towards the real fey.
Sarya hits the sprite in mid-air. The orb is knocked back in mid-flight, and the rock crumbles again as the strength of Sarya's throw seems to be partially absorbed.
The copies wink out of sight, and the remaining sprites each try and hide behind a nearby tree, out of sight.
Growler chases the sprite as it flits from tree to tree, still trying to leap up and snap at the creature...
Arkady watches as the images disappear, and tries to get a clear shot to one. Cursing the unseasonably deep snow, he shuffles around his friends, slotting a bolt into his crossbow.