Magnus notes the sound of shouting coming faintly from the distance. Whisperwing hears it also, and can see light from several torches in the distance, further into the hills.
Stilgar looks about, oblivious.
Magnus speaks softly to the group. "Voices ahead. Shouting. We'd best proceed with caution. Leave the cart back while we scout ahead for more information. "
He then proceeds carefully up to the next ridge and sends senses forward to get a look.
Sensing that Whisperwing also notices activity, Kalaya makes her way up the ridge as well.
Nodding once, Stilgar slowly follows closely behind, adjusting his buckler just in case.
At the top of the ridge, you can see a low valley, rising up to a box canyon at the foot of a low mountain. There are a number of lit torches--obviously carried--moving along the rises to either side of the valley. A low thrumming noise precedes the firing of some type of artillery, and a flaming projectile sails into the valley, extinguishing itself upon impact with some sort of large, writhing shape, temporarily illuminated in the canyon by the flames.
Magnus returns to the group hastily "It appears that the rest of the dwarves are engaged in combat with whatever it was that left those bodies dissolved. They are using siege weapons for the fight, which tells me that this is a force of nature more than a creature. How shall we proceed?"
Jon frowns. "Cautiously. We don't want to become their target."
Stilgar nods in agreement, his face grim. "Perhaps we can approach them directly and lend them our assistance? We are sorely lacking in information, after all." More directed to those associated with the Hand, he adds, "I know your circumstances make that less than ideal, but I would like to believe they are more concerned with whatever it is we are dealing with."
Getting in for a closer look doesn't look too dangerous. The forces there appear entirely focused upon their foe.
Auric stows his sword in a spare cloak, concealing it beneath a bundle of firewood and other cargo. He picks up his hammer, adjusts his clothes to cover his mithril shirt.
"Let's get a closer look and we'll figure it out... Master Fulgrum, sir.", he says to Stilgar, getting into character.
Magnus leads the group on, approaching the battle as it continues.
Go ahead and do any healing you want. If you're looking at preparatory spells, figure about a 10 minute walk to get to the actual site of combat.
As they are about to set out, Stilgar pauses for a moment, noting that both himself and Auric are still covered in rather painful bruises and burns. Noticing such things only seems to make them hurt more. "Ah, just a moment, Auric. Its seems the severity of your injuries escaped my notice. I am terribly sorry."
By converting three of his first level spells into cure light wounds and using his last channel of the day, Stilgar returns them both to full health.
Auric sighs in relief.
"Thanks, boss. I feel a lot better about this plan now that we aren't half dead."
Kalaya is quiet as Whisperwing takes to the air to get a better view of what they face.
Auric falls in step behind Magnus, adopting a more slouched posture just in case any dwarves aren't looking at the ongoing battle.
From the top of the ridge, you can see that most of the dwarves have taken up a defensive position above the box canyon. Meanwhile, a small contingent of mounted soldiers harry their opponent, keeping it occupied while those above pelt it with flaming missiles from a pair of ballistae.
Their enemy is something out of nightmare. It is a slime-covered, undulating horror composed of limbs, heads, eyes and mouths. Not all of its component parts appear to be of the same species. Dwarf and human parts attach to others that seem to have come from horses, mules, and other animals.
Magnus' jaw drops. "This is way above my pay-grade."
He looks over the situation as it presents itself. After a moment, Magnus nods to himself and speaks up. "Alright, we need to gather some information about this monster. It's absorbing any living thing that gets too close to it, but we need a sample to study so we can figure out how to stop it. I'm open to suggestions from there"
"That is not natural. Not natural at all." Jon murmurs, his sight fixed on the horrid thing.
"Something created by the star? Or is this the necromancer's handiwork?" Stilgar manages to ask the others in a hushed tone, utterly horrified by the abomination.
Knowledge (religion):
"If you just want a piece of it, could any of you summon a bird or some other creature to fly in, grab a hunk of it and come back? Or... if it's worth the risk and we can get out fast we can try cutting some off ourselves while the dwarves have it pinned. Hmmm."
Auric surveys the battlefield, looking for any noisome bits of the creature suitable for retrieval.
Perception:
The attacks do seem to be having an effect, but the creature's sheer size and mass make it difficult to take down. The cavalry do not directly engage, but entice the creature to move and stay within the range of the siege engines. The fact that there is no magic being used in the combat might hint at the creature's defenses, or worse, perhaps indicate that their spellcasters were lost in the initial confrontation. It does not seem to be undead, but instead a gelatinous mass that has somehow incorporated parts of those it has devoured into itself.
Auric's eyes note quite a bit of mess on the ground. Gathering up some shouldn't be difficult.
"Do we have a bucket in the cart? Or something like that? Looks like plenty of, uh, 'leftovers' down there, if we've a mind to gather some up.", Auric says, pulling his gloves on.
Magnus looks about at the bits on the ground. "I suppose you are right, Mr. Ironwright. The bucket shouldn't be necessary then."
Magnus walks up to a chunk of the ooze that has fallen off and begins by casting mage hand on it, then detect magic as he studies the features of the ooze.
[ooc]Knowledge(dungeoneering) would be the skill for this. Detect magic doesn't give you anything on the creature itself, as it isn't technically magical.
"I am not sure if there is anything to be learned from this," Stilgar says, regarding their small sample with a grimace. He looks toward the ongoing battle, pondering their situation.
"They do not seem to be employing any kinds of magic against it... perhaps it would prove effective?" he asks, looking to Kalaya and Magnus, unsure of what they are capable of.
Auric squints his eyes, concentrating on the monstrosity.
"Well, Kalaya casting anything may draw unwelcome attention... Do you think we should intercede? I want Varras caught, mind, but the idea of this thing rampaging further is a bad outcome as well."
"It is a vile thing. But aiding the dwarves may only serve to draw their attention. Perhaps we ought to bypass them and this thing and use its presence as a boon to our stealth."
Magnus grimaces at the fighting. "Perhaps you are right, Jon. The dwarves are in combat with it now, and judging by the chunks of viscera scattered around the area, they must be making progress. My only concern is what the creature is heading towards. It's path has been consistently this same direction for some time. Perhaps we should slip past and scout ahead."
Auric stares at the monstrosity for a moment and recoils, shaking his head as if attempting to remove a bad taste or smell.
" You are right. as much as it bothers me to leave such a creature on the loose, aiding the Dwarves will only get us attacked like you say. We should avoid them if possible." Kalaya says, watching the battle unfold.
"Thing's pretty evil- can't say I'm thrilled to leave it, but I can see the wisdom in leaving the dwarves and the monster to deal with each other. Let's go then."
"...yes. I suppose that would be for the best. We have a promise to keep, a necromancer to hunt," Stilgar says grimly, staring at the monstrous entity helplessly. As reluctant as he was to leave, he was all but certain that facing the creature would be suicide. "I only hope that their efforts prove successful. We should head west again."
You leave the dwarves behind to deal with the monstrosity and continue your journey. You manage to get past most of the devastation left by the fallen star before it gets dark and you make camp. Magnus finds himself burdened, as the sack he is carrying is now nearly bursting at the seams, though the party did not see him put anything else in it as you traveled.
Magnus opens the sack and carefully removes the item contained inside. He exclaims before even opening the bag. "Gadzooks"
The fibrous, bean-shaped mass is now easily the size of a small (human) child.
"I suspect this thing will be ready by morning, if not during the night. We should set up a watch schedule. I'll take the last watch, when it's most likely to burst."
"Baal's breath, Magnus, you are still carrying that thing?" Stilgar asks rhetorically, bewildered by the strange pod.
While camping for the night, a few things come up during discussion of the mission that should probably be addressed.
First, food. With Jon's knowledge of the land, you figure it's several hours travel to the gnomish settlement, then a couple more to the western border of the Iron Marches. After that you'll be in mostly uncharted wilderness, rife with barbarians, hostile humanoid tribes, and monsters. With no clear idea how distant this "Fardusk" is from here, you'll need supplies.
Second, the pass out of the westernmost vale is likely to be guarded by a force of soldiers.
Finally, when you're ready to bed down, the fungus no longer fits in the bag, being about the size of a very young human child.
"Gathering supplies should not be too difficult," Stilgar surmises, "We can probably purchase some when we meet our gnomish friends again. It is the western pass that I am concerned about. Depending on how tight security is, I fear that out our façade as a master and his servants will not hold up."
Magnus rubs his hands together. "Sneaking the entire team past a tight security border? It will be my greatest trick yet! ". Magnus then looks over to the fungus he has extracted from his bag. " I will rest now and prepare spells in the morning for this plan. Let me know if the fungus explodes and tries to eat me during the night.