"See you all at the Stoat!" says Grimkell, heading back to the tavern. There, he takes out his lyre and starts playing a few notes, trying to compose the first verses of their saga.
After a half hour, Ordrik comes into the Stoat settles into a chair to wait for the remainder of the group. ah one ale will not hurt
An ale please and then sips the ale until everyone gets back.
"Thank you, Annalísa." Fizzlewhisk smiles and follows her to procure warmer clothing.
After gathering together hew own things into a bag, Annalisa sets to work digging through what she has at her house that might work for the gnome. Not finding anything that doesn't simply swallow the gnome whole among her own things, Annalisa makes a stop to purchase Fizzlewhisk what he needs to stay warm. Once that is taken care of, unless Fizzlewhisk has some place else that he'd like to stop, she makes her way to The Stoat.
Ordrik looks at the human female in the smithy
So lady Runa, you say that you have the arts arcane at your disposal, I can see how that might benefit us. Would you be willing to accompany us in trying to rescue the missing lady ?
Back at the Stoat, the owners bring out one complimentary drink per person. Kale Garimos is looking at the party, now equipped with better gear to deal with the threat before them. "You all be careful in that wood, you hear. And Marcian, we'll keep our traps shut if your mother comes around. Last thing we need is her charging off into the wood too!"
Grimkell smiles as he sees all the others assemble, he observes each an every of them for a moment, his eyes filled with giddy curiosity.
"Careful? Yes. Do not worry Kale, we will do our best to come back glorious. the skald pauses for a moment and starts playing an inspiring tune Good good... we are all here, even our new magic user. Fizzlewhisk, would you mind leading the way, I believe you are the one who knows the outside of town best, no?"
The gnome beams, "I would be happy to! Plus if I am in front, there will be fewer... big people tracks confusing the trail. If I can find Yuln's prints we should be able to follow them back to where they ran into the fey he talked about." With both hands the gnome finishes his drink. "Ah. Thank you, Kale. Hopefully we will be back soon! If Mum and Da get back before I do tell them I'm off on my own adventure! Is everybody ready?"
Finishing his drink the massive Northerner reaches down to ruffle his companion's shaggy hide before straightening up and nodding in assent.
"Works for me," Annalisa says taking a drink.
Marcian walks in with his new gear, has a whiskey and waits for the signal to proceed.
"I wouldn't mind doing so, I mean, I was planning on heading into the forest myself and if that's where's she's at, I think we have a mutual understanding of needing to go there," Runa Responds.
Runa had followed them to the tavern and had ordered herself something cheap to drink, something simple for that matter and fruity at that. She wasn't much for the sour taste of ale unless it was a sweet ale at that.
"So who is the missing woman's name?" She asked.
"We seek the Lady Argentea Malassene. Her entourage was attacked by bandits an' winter fey, so Yuln said."
After the last of the people who were at the smithies comes in,
Ordrik drains his ale in one deep draught Now, let us go and bring the lady back and then heads out of the inn into the cold air.
Grimkell stands up, and readies himself to go. As he does so, he eyes Runa with curiosity, and after a moment, finally speaks to her:
"You hadn't heard about the lady Argentea? Why exactly are you looking to go into the forest? I have never seen you around here, is it your first time visiting the region? Where are you from?" he asks inquisitively.
"I'm from Irisen, somewhere from the far north, I took to training as a witch up there, though I failed my teacher and I took to teaching myself from the books of the classes," She responded before chuckling some.
"I think it's odd that the forest is in winter and look to fix this problem, maybe a witch like me could help out with that, though I doubt my abilities sometimes," She stated before nodding finally.
"Like I said, I was training to be a witch, I wasn't paying attention to the local information was I was caught up in my studies."
Grimkell's smile fades and his eyes become as sharp as daggers while he tries to pierce the woman's true intention with his gaze.
"Were you not gifted enough to the lacking of the cold hearted witches? The subjugation of those weaker than you was unbearable? Humm ... That seems plausible since you seem to want to help this region... a good thing. Aha!" he finishes, giving a strong yet friendly slap on Runa's shoulder: the skald having genuinely changed from suspicious to amused in such a short time.
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Annalisa throws her head back and laughs at Grimkell's deft assessment of the woman.
"Looks like the dwarf is in a rush. Sounds like he expects us to follow his lead. Should we make him stand out there in the cold waiting for us a bit longer? It's worth a good chuckle."
"Might be for a laugh, but the Lady does need us to hurry." the gnome scrambles down off of his chair and heads outside.
She blinks as she’s slapped on the shoulder, her skin was cold to the touch, that was a sure thing, he could feel the coolness beneath her clothes. The girl finishes off her drink before standing.
”We should really head out, save the lady as soon as we can,” She stated before chuckling some. She was starting to get to like these folks.
With an affected sigh of disappointment, Annalisa stands and tosses back the rest of her drink. "I suppose you're right. Hundur, come on boy."
Her cat, Mister Mumpkins followed her out, having hidden himself in her clothes up until a certain point and then, seeing Hundur he stared at the dog apprehensively before rushing to follow Runa, crawling into her shirt once more.
Taking hold of his spear Aðvinr strides outside,Ratatoskr at hisside, a small smile on his lips.
Ordrick, is waiting outside the door to the inn as they come out.
Taking a deep breath, Ah a brisk day, kind of reminds me of home. But enough wool gathering, shall we go.
He then grins at the others. This weather is warmer than home, but we must make haste, as most people are not used to this weather down here,
and it would be bad form to lose the lady that we are trying to rescue to the cold
Whenever the group reaches the edge of town, Fizzlewhisk will crouch down and scan the area, trying to find tracks that match the injured Ulfen's gait.
As the party steps out, they look to the south west and see the Border Wood. Even from here, the sheen of white covering the tree tops is evident.
Travelling towards it, one would never guess that a pocket of severe winter was ahead save the Wood itself. Well, at least not for a few miles. But about halfway there, the temp begins to slowly filter down.
Near the forest the temperature grows even more noticeably colder. The road ahead is littered with debris and the corpses of slain humans and horses. A carriage stands in the roadway, it's team of horses apparently cut free, while another carriage lies nearby, sprawled and broken near the tree line. A little to the south, more bodies have fallen around what appears to be a statue of ice. And just beyond that a snow covered trail passes between trees and heads deeper into the forest.
"It... is worse than I thought it would be." Fizzlewhisk looks around, approaching slowly, testing the ground with his walking stick.
On their way, Grimkell alternates between harrassing the members of the group with questions, reflecting upon their answers, and thinking of lines that would describe them well.
As they arrive, the skald follows Fizzlewhisk, looking at the corpses of the fallen. Grasping a pendant hanging from his neck, Grimkell softly starts singing a dirge for people who died in battle.
Aye, this is bad
Ordrik, starts moving over towards the statue.
This seems like an odd spot for a statue. indicating the statue around which the bodies are.
However, the oddity of the statue in the cold, seems to be keeping him from fully looking around.
As Fizzlewhisk pokes around, movement is heard from within the upright carriage. Some groaning can even be heard!
As for Ordrik, the statue doesn't so much appear to be a statue but a man frozen in the ice itself!
Completely shocked Ordrik exclaims, By Torag's hammer, this is worse. There is a man in this ice
Completely shocked Ordrik exclaims, By Torag's hammer, this is worse. There is a man in this ice
Upon hearing the moans her eyes widen before she puts a finger to her lips.
"Shhh, do you hear that?" She asks.
Aðvinr approaches the carriage, using his spear to try moving the door. "Someone may still be alive."
Annalisa moves to examine the cart laying on it's side when they first arrive.
Pausing when the other's say that someone might be alive in the other carriage, she waits to see what is found.
Grimkell turns around and walks toward the carriage while Aðvinr is trying to open the door.
"Is there someone? Are you a survivor of the attack" he calls out.
Hear what Ordrick looks a little confused, I don't hear anything
Once he hears that someone is saying that there might be a survivor, he looks towards the carrages
Fizzlewhisk flicks his staff, and a scythe blade locks into place as he cautiously approaches the carriage.
Marcian straps his shield to his arm and moves to back up Fizzlewhisk.
Upon seeing him ready a weapon, he draws his new longsword.
"I hear something moaning... do you hear that?" She asks before shaking her head, moving a little closer to the downed horse.
"It sounds like someone is either alive... or we have something else on our hands." She states.
As Fizzlewhisk approaches the carriage, Grimkell and Aðvinr decide to get a jump on things by opening the carriage.
What they see is not pleasant in the least. Within are three humans, or former humans at least.
Glancing up at the two, the things burst out, the scent of death evident on them.
[b]"What the???"[b] says Grimkell, preparing to strap on his shield as soon as possible.
Torag, give us the strength to deal with these
"Eew they reek!"
Fizzlewhisk 23
Grimkell 22
Annalisa 21
Ordrik 19
Aðvinr 19
Runa 14
Marcian 7
Zombies 7
So, the party gets a chance to go! Top of the round, Fizzlewhisk!
You all may post your actions, seeing as the zombies all went really poorly on their initiative.