While Lars is investigating the snowman, Mirri keeps an eye out for trouble. While she is keeping watch for any impending threat she asks the sprite in Sylvan, "Så hvordan er dine vinger gjør Pym? De ser ut som de er bedre. Hva har du tenkt å gjøre når flyet ditt er gjenopprettet, vil du bo hos oss eller gå din egen vei?"
Zisel peeks around Theora at Mirri and Pym, a smile tugging at the corners of her mouth.
"You'll have to teach my the language of the fey, Mirri. Or perhaps I can learn as a child and simply pick it up as you two converse. Somehow, I always thought Sylvan would have less hard syllables, though I suppose I was merely basing that on what I've heard of Elvish," she comments with a shrug.
Seeing Lars move close to the snowman, Zisel moves up as well. Partly in curiosity, partly because someone should be close enough to pull him out of trouble should the need arise.
Lars still sees no sign of a trap, nothing looks unusual about the snow surrounding the snowman and nothing sticks out from the snowman that you wouldn't expect to see. Lars is certain that there is no trap to be seen by mundane means.
Pym smiles at Mirri's concern, and then her little face takes on a very solemn look as she says, "Ja, jeg trenger en eller to flere passeringer av sola før mine vinger vil være som de var, men de gjør ikke vondt lenger. Jeg skal bo med søstrene, og beskytte dem som jeg har sverget. Jeg vil gå der søstrene gå."
She perks up when she hears Zisel, "I will teach the sister! It will be fun!"
An annoyed sigh formed a small and visible cloud in front of Lars' scarred face "I distill don't see anything strange...except the snowman that was built in a place like this" Lars turned to the rest of the party. The frown on his face now gone "I say we'd best try passing around it" His head turned towards the unmoving sentry of snow.
"Could be more fey tricks for all we know"
Grimkell draws his sword and straps on his shield. If Lars was right, then this could indeed be a trap. So far, most of what they had come across, the chest and the elk, had been distractions for ambushes. This time, he would not let it be so.
"I'll have a look around." he says, before leaving the group.
The ulfen passes from one bush to the next, laying low, to approach the river. Hiding in the last one, Grimkell pushes a few branches to watch the other side of the frozen water.
Giving the tiny fey woman a nod of thanks Mirri replied, "
Da vil det være en ære å ha deg kjempe med oss Pym."
Mirri nods at Zisel and seconds Pym's words, "I'd be delighted to help teach you. The sylvan tongue is considered important among my people as they are some of the few intelligent creatures to share the ranges of the far north with us. Even though we were often at odds, it has always been preferable to reserve fighting until other options are gone as resources are few and a fight over them often results in a greater loss than if they were divided up peacefully."
"I'll look the other way" Said Lars in a hushed tone before delving into the bushes that Grimkell did not choose. He did his best to remain quiet and searched for any signs of behavior that was alien to these woods, anything that disturbed the stillness of this place and any sound that had no business being here.
The two men working in concerted effort are unable to see anything out of the ordinary until they get a little closer to the snowman. The snowman seems to stir to life and says loudly, "Can't you read? The sign says turn back! Now get lost!"
Oh yes, the same trick again, because it worked wonderfully the last time Lars halted a sarcastic sigh before it could escape him and stared at the snowman and the area in it's proximity. Blue eyes combed the area for any detail of any sort, anything out of the ordinary, a shaking of leaves, unexplained footprints, any movement or abnormality from the snow guardian itself.
Lars sees the same mess of footprints that they have been following all of this time, but nothing to indicate that there is a hidden foe anywhere.
With the strange snowman speaking Mirri cautiously begins to approach. She cast a spell causing her eyes to glow and concentrated on the snowman, reading any magical aura's upon it.
Mirri looks at Lars and says, "There's magic involved, I'm not sure what kind of magic exactly but their are two feint auras involved. Whether the spells are the same or different I don't know." She considers, "Maybe Zisel would be able to tell us more but my guess is one aura makes the words and the other tells the first when to say them...that's my absolute best guess."
Tagging along a few paces behind the group, Jamarcus lets the rest of the party investigate the snowman as he takes the opportunity to press some snow to his forehead.
At the sound of the snowman talking, he drops the snow to the ground and massages his forehead.
'course the snowman would be talkin' to us
"I don't suppose you could tell us why we aren't allowed past? It may make the difference between whether or not we choose to attempt passage or not. Or perhaps you are trying to keep the riffraff out? I assure you, we are not riffraff," she says, feeling a little put off by trying to start up a conversation with a snowman.
Zisel nods at Mirri and mimiced her actions, casting her own web of spells over the area towards the snowman.
+5 to identify magic with cold descriptor
Grimkell, having searched, having been patient so far, and now finding anything interesting is getting quite bored. The kind of boredom that gets replaced with the same curiosity that led him to open the chest two days earlier.
Standing up, Grimkell comes out of his hiding place, unfortunately for the others, his helmet covers just enough of his face to mask his expression. There, in plain sight, he calls to the others.
"You know what, let's just go around their trap and cross the frozen river... if it is an ambush, they will need to move and we will see them, if it's a trap, we will be far from it."
He motions for the others to join him further down the river bank.
"Grimkell has the right of it" Said Lars as he left the leafy veil that protected him from prying eyes. Lars took particular care to keep as much distance from himself and the snowman as possible before he followed after the shorter blond and stood next to him.
"Whatever happened to proper ambushes Grimkell? Plenty of men with crossbows, bows and what not" Lars unsheathed his sword and let his quickdraw shield fall into place at his forearm "And if I can make a suggestion, you'll want to cut this part out of your tale...walking past a talking snowman isn't exactly exciting or heroic" The scared man snickered as his eyes filled with a bit of nostalgia "Have I ever told you about a pirate named Clancy?"
They be holdin' a serious conversation with a muthaf$$%in' snowman.. Sweet jesus.
Jamarcus moves behind Lars and Grimmy and takes a rope out of his bag.
Tie dis' round yo' waists, case the ice is thin
Lars gladly took hold of the rope and passed it on to Grimkell after tying a knot around his own waist "Good thinking" He turned to Jamarcus with a half smile on his face, then his eyes focused on the icy bridge they'd have to cross, studying it for any areas that looked particularly intolerant towards an increased load "But still it's best we try to avoid falling, just give me a minute to look this river over and see if it is in any mood to let us pass"
a square covered in ice costs 2 squares of movement,
and the DC of Acrobatics checks increases by 5 in such
squares. A successful DC 10 Acrobatics check is required
to run or charge across the creek.
Zisel, not wanting to come off as crazy so early in her new found companionship, doesn't continue trying to negotiate with the snow. Instead, she conjures a couple gallons of water and dumps it onto the snowman. Theoretically, the snowman would disintegrate to some extent upon contact with water.
Sometimes she acts first, thinks later.
Water pours down over the snowman, melting a good chunk of it and leaving it a wet mess. What doesn't melt is instantly iced over. The sign falls forward into the snow with a wet splash.
Mirri realized what Zisel was about to do and started to speak, "Zisel, that might no..." by then it was too late as water appeared and drenched the snowman. She grabs the woman's arm and starts trying to pull her towards Lars and Grimkell, "We might want to move sister, now."
"You would wonder. All this business with traps is silly and would not do in an epic. You are definitely right about not putting a talking speaking in a tale. Those bandits are truly frustrating. The only decent opponents we had were the feys that ambushed us." Grimkel answers to Lars, still bored, before turning to look at what the women are doing.
His boredom is quickly relieved when he witnesses Zisel's display.
"Hah! Well done newcomer! That should be insulting to anyone who left that sign! I hope it makes them mad enough to act." he says loudly, maybe hoping that his words might attract the possible ambushers.
Seeing as though the women are now coming toward them, he joins Jamarcus and Lars, tying part of the rope to himself too (after sheathing his sword).
Theora snorts slightly at Jamarcus' amusing new nickname for Grimkell, watching with further contained mirth as Zisel effectively destroys the snowman. "Well, let's get over this," she sighs, looking warily at the frozen river. "Promise not to let me drown, mmm?"
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
Zisel, slightly surprised the whole thing hadn't blown up in her face after a moment to reflect on her impulsive action, smiled at her handy work. Mirri would have found it easy to lead Zisel off to the others as they pondered crossing the frozen river. Being less cautious around ice than most others as a general rule she eased a foot out and gave it a test with her weight. She then looked about for a decent sized river rock buried under the snow, using her dagger to pry it from the frozen ground if need be. She tossed the stone across the icy surface, listening for any watery echos that may suggest thin ice.
The snowman doesn't appear to mind being melted, and no retribution is taken against the oracle for her actions. The rock makes a rather solid thudding sound as it bounces a few times and then slides across the ice coming to a stop in the middle somewhere. Zisel feels pretty certain that the creek is frozen enough to cross, of course there are bound to be areas that are weaker than others but moving slowly should give enough warning to change direction before the ice gives way beneath her feet. The biggest hazard here is a slip that leads to a broken bone.
"I'd say it's best we moved on" Announced Lars as he took one last scanning look at the ice "We won't be very mobile as we cross, so if they are going to ambush us it will likely happen then" He swung his sword at open air and shrugged the arm holding his shield "Except for that bird on your shoulder" his finger went in the direction of Theora's pet "He doesn't have to worry about slipping...you know any ravens bird? Maybe you could talk to them for me, see if we can get some business going" He laughed at himself as he prepared for the crossing.
"Seems solid enough," Zisel says with a sideways look to the men who were busy tying themselves to each other. "If we move slowly, and spread out, we should feel any weak spots long before they become a danger to us."
She steps out a pace onto the ice as if to demonstrate for the others.
Before she was ready to move out onto the ice Mirri said, "Do we have enough rope to tie us each together, or at least to tie and send one person across at a time. That way if the ice cracks or we slip and fall we have a means of getting help." Mirri began to carefully move out onto the ice, her feet testing each step cautiously before she put her weight down on the ice in front of her.
Jamarcus manages a weak smile and a wink at Mirri.
I got 50 feet o' rope sista. I say we send the blonde one over first, if he dies, ain't much of a loss
Hazard: The frozen creek acts as an ice sheet; entering
a square covered in ice costs 2 squares of movement,
and the DC of Acrobatics checks increases by 5 in such
squares. A successful DC 10 Acrobatics check is required
to run or charge across the creek.
"Hey, whether it was meant to me or Grimkell, we are both plenty useful and it would be a huge loss if we drowned" Replied Lars with a snicker on his lips as he placed his arm around the shorter blond's shoulders "I say we send your sprite friend first Mirri, she can fly what does she have to worry about?"
"No," Zisel says firmly at the notion of sending Pym over first. "I'll go first, if there is argument over that role."
She shakes her head and mutters about damsels in distress and women and children first.
Grimkell laughs at Jamarcus' comment, throwing his head backward in the process. That is, until Lars answers.
"You better have been talking about Lars." he almost growls, faking seriousness a bit too well.
With a friendly push, he gets out of under Lars' arm, kneels, and starts removing the pack on his back. While unstrapping his pack, he turns toward Zisel.
"Don't worry newcomer there won't be any argument, I'll go first."
Grimkell stands up and heads toward the riverbank. There, he slides his pack across the ice as far a possible .
"There, should me make less heavy." he says, slowly starting to cross the river. "Remember to leave 15' feet between each other!"
A soft sigh made its way past Lars' lips as he mimicked Grimkell's actions with his pack and followed the Ulfen after there was 15 feet between them. His sword and shield were at the ready, in case the ambush he suspected did occur.
Somewhat uneasy over the thought of crossing over the frozen river, Jamarcus moves behind Theora and waits for the group to begin the crossing.
Grimkell makes it across the ice without much issue, the footing isn't the best and the ice is obviously slick but he remains upright and the ice does not break on him.
Lars likewise is able to make it across the frozen creek without much difficulty.
After Lars joins him on the other side of the river, Grimkell unties himself and taps on the other blond man's shoulder.
"Why the long face? Anyone should be happy with such an amount of camaraderie. Anyway, I am going through the pine trees to see whether the path is clear. Make sure no one drowns!" he says, letting go of the other man's shoulder.
Using his shield, Grimkell makes his way through the dried lower branches of the pinetrees adjacent to him until he makes it to the path left by the bandits. There, he looks around, trying, once more, to spot possible ambushers.
Mirri followed Grimkell and Lars' lead, sending her pack across and then following their root carefully.
Grimkell doesn't see much other than snow, and footprints.
Just as Mirri steps foot on earth once more, two ice elementals rise up out of the ice soundlessly. One of them grabs Mirri, and pulls her back onto the ice. The other grabs Zisel and pulls her onto the ice as well.
Mirri
Theora
Grimkell
Jamarcus
Lars
Zisel
Pym
Skrikks
Szassh
R1
Lars, Grimkell, Mirri, Jamarcus, Theora, Pym, Skrikks, Szassh, Zisel
Zisel cries out in surprise as she moves to cross the frozen water after Mirri, and is cut short by the ice elemental who easily grabs on to her.
"Get off me!" she shouts, trying idly to flail her way free with no semblance of success.
Ambush but no bandits...I am starting to wonder if there were any With sword and shield still at the ready Lars moved towards their new opponents, his feet leaving the snow and once more touching upon solid ice.
A small smile possessed the former pirate's face as he flanked this icy terror and went for a diagonal cut. His sword gleaming with what light that was left in the day as it came down upon the elemental.