Tutavak narrowly fails to bring down the blight at G22, but bloodies the last untouched section.
Chary slips her rapier into the mist next to her, trying to take it out.
Chary's attack does nothing, but Whiteclaw moves alongside the drow and removes the cursed patch of mist.
Kia moves back into the fray and attempts to finish the horrible stuff. She moves opposite Tutavak and then politely asks Chary if she would mind shifting one square before doing so.
Kia looks at her sword with disappointment when the mist doesn't seem to react to her swing.
Somewhat to her chagrin, Kia narrowly misses the last patch of mist. It retaliates by moving over her head.
Arianwyn contemptuously removes the last of the voidblight. The mists do not lift, and nor does the sense of menace, but there is now no impediment to the party sailing onwards.
\_/
That sounds wonderfully debauched and really gave me a BIG smile this morning. Thanks!
The skiff makes rapid headway once clear of the blight and reaches a beach that is familiar to Whiteclaw, Kia and Arianwyn. As Chary and Whiteclaw secure the craft, the arcane nature of the surrounding mist is made plain. At the edge of the land, it lifts, revealing a shingle beach, fir-trees encroaching on the shoreline and two paths leading roughly north-east and south-east.
Slightly to the north of your landing place, the wreckage of a vessel lies forlorn.
Grimacing only momentarily, Tutavak debarks from the skiff and moves onto the beach, bow at the ready.
After dutifully rowing to rest of the way, Chary lets the oars slip form her fingers as whe catches her breath. Some deep breaths and rubbing of her hands to ease the aching from the oars, she is refreshed and ready to go.
"I wonder what became of Baldrech the Unkind? Hmm, that seems fit for a poem..."
"Yes, lets see if we can find him, his remains, or his tracks starting at the wreck over there...who here can read trail spore? I am adept in towns, but I am out of my reckoning here."
"Baldrech? A companion, or an enemy? What race's tracks do I seek?"
Kia nods her approval and moves towards the wreck to see what she can see. She wonders if the boat looks remotely like anything that could have been Bifrost's boat.
Whiteclaw pads silently at the rear of the party, snuffing the air from time to time and watching the woods.
Tutavak may know little about boats and dislike sailing, but his skills are amply good enough to tell him that the wreck is too small to be Bifrosts vessel (based on his observations of the Sandpiper). More, it has been waterlogged for a long time - years probably and the remaining wood is rotten and close to collapse.
Chary is too busy looking at her shoes to notice anything around her. She was mesmerized by the way the little bit of available sunlight was not glinting off the water on them.
"Baldrech was a former associate. He decided to stay here as a guardian for the isle. You would be looking for shifter tracks, though how those would differ from those of a man, I have no notion."
To the keen-eyed warlock, it seems that there are some faint traces of disturbance in the shingle. They are too far up the beach to have been caused by a tide.
"Hsst!" the eladrin gestures for his companions to not move up the beach.
Chary stops, trusting Arianwyn's judgement. She has her rapier in hand, just in case.
Kia doesn't notice much until Arianwyn starts, then she peers in the direction that he is looking in. She looks at him questioningly.
"It may not be an enemy. It may be some unfortunate sailors who are trapped here."
A slight rustle comes from the trees as a grizzled and rangy shifter's face emerges.
"Get off the beach and into cover you fools. The mad-eyes patrol here."
Arianwyn, Kia and Whiteclaw recognise their old companion. The years have added many more scars to his torso and don't seem to have done much for his manners either.
"Tha," the eladrin says with a theatrical flourish, "Is Baldrech the Unkind."
"And shut up. They're mad, but they're not stupid."
Tutavak stands warily, dividing attention between the shifter and the treeline.
"Unkind he may be, Unclean her certainly is, but let's get to cover as he suggests." Chary unquestioningly goes towards the woods from which he is berating us.
"Personal hygiene is the least of my worries right now."
Satisfied that the group are at least listening to him, the shifter drops silently from his perch and moves up the north-eastern pathway.
He glances across at the companions.
"Can any of you make a trap worth a damn?"
Tutavak nods, still obviously unready to trust Baldrech.
Chary puts away the rapier, and sets to making some traps...her time lifting food and shiny things from the unsuspecting helps.
KiA asmiles warmly at Baldrech as she follows his advice.
"Nice to see you again, I think we have a lot to talk about."
Baldrech points to a set of complex branches and indicates that Chary and Tutavak should twist them into trap designed to bring down some large creature.
He keeps an eye on the north eastern pathway and moves swiftly to arrange loose rocks to spray across the path when the branches swing out.
Gesturing again, he returns swiftly and silently to the trees, jerking his head at the pair to follow him.
Keeping his voice low, he looks at the assembled company.
"We'll move out now. At least we'll know if they're on their way. I have a cave we can use to talk. Keep it quiet."
Chary likes to live dangerously also.
Baldrech rolls his eyes as Tutavak crashes through the unaccustomed undergrowth.
Baldrech sighs.
"Forget it. We'll take them here. I'm not leading them to my cave."
He moves onto the beach and draws his bow as from the northern path comes a curious crashing and clanking sound.
"Welcome to Pharoe."