"Good thing this is called the Teeth... cause those would be some jacked up teats." He looks around with a shrug, "Just sayin'."
"Is that all you can think of Jak Howell?!" Lyrica replies as she is learning a great deal about her friend.
"This place.... We should be careful. I'd like nothing more than to obliterate whatever is causing this blight, only...Mayhap some of us should take a look around before we go rushing in."
"What is this place, Aerik? It looks like something druids would have created."
"I'll go. And maybe one other? We don't want to give anyone or any...thing, warning of our approach."
"What? I'll come half-way with you and be the support or relay in case something happens. Besides... I gotta get a closer look."
"I am sure that you will be quieter than me, but Just be careful, Jak. We need you alive in this one! If you hollar, we'll come running."
Lyrica waits with Zeke and Marcus while Jak and Aerik push ahead. However, while she waits, she looks around her surroundings and put her hand on the hilt of her scimitar.
Marcus and Aerik advance, weapons ready, with Jak a trailing and armed shadow. They cautiously approach, then scout, and finally enter among the teeth...
The ten standing stones are silent, stern, and brooding. They have few, if any, commonalities. They are of several different rock types and no two are shaped exactly the same. Some are vaguely columnar, others are spindled, others are lumpy, and still others look vaguely like human statuary - as sculpted by someone with only a loose knowledge of anatomy, no sense of scale, and even less of an eye for capturing details.
What the teeth have in common is a desire to claw towards the sky. The shortest is no less than 15' tall. The tallest is a sharp spire well over 30' in height. They all surround a sloped hillock of granite and earth. In the center of the hillock, having cooked the rock and earth to a molten slag is a scorch mark nearly 40' across. Only the spot of earth and ground-cover at the heart of the explosion are untouched. One of the rocks (walking the line between lumpy and columnar) also bears blast marks. Whatever struck the stone blackened it with soot and broke the two ton monolith in half - shearing off the top half on a diagonal and leaving the decapitated head of the stone resting near its foot. Only the exposed face of the destroyed stone is clean of soot. And that appears, ominously to have writing upon it and an image of some sort. Clearly, whatever the message is, it has been locked in the unassailable center of the stone for a very, very long time.
Before satisfying their curiosity about the text on the Ruined Stone, Marcus and Aerik notice that additional soot marks mar a few of the standing stones. In a moment, the patterns become evident. Each 'soot mark' appears to be the vague silhouette of a human burned into the stone - the shadowy afterimage of a person caught in a frozen moment of time. It is impossible to make out details save to say that all but one of them appears to be of adult size. The final one is slightly smaller, possibly the size of teenager. The figure reaches out with both hands. The wavy arms follow the contours of the uneven surface and wrap around the side of the implacable stone. Of the others, their actions in that frozen moment are less clear.
A quick spin at the heart of the standing stones reveals there are five silhouettes.
Ezekiel keeps both hands on the slung crossbow while the others move forward, silently watching the direction they went, eyes alert for, well whatever.
Marcus will slowly approach the broken part of the stone to read the message.
Jak looks over the stones, "Someone want to do some magical detection on these things? Wouldn't surprise me one bit if they were some flavor of arcane. And I'm definitely on scholar in things of that nature." He looks over at Marcus and Aerik, "There any footprints around here? Game trails? Anything to give us a clue what might be lurking around here?"
Marcus, crossbow at the ready, sidles up to the split stone and reads the curlicue script bearing an ancient inscription...
North from the dark shroud - the Mourning Vale
Come the vengeful, bound by hate.
Snatch the black hand from the Pale;
Anoint the tools that sever Fate.
Below the text is a depression in the stone shaped to fit a perilously thin, long-fingered hand - easily twice the length of a man's.
"So what do you notice, my friends? Do you think the burn marks have anything to do with any of the missing villagers?"
Lyrica takes a moment to concentrate on the area and see if she can detect any evil auras.
Lyrica sweeps the area with her holy sight...
In the 1st round, Lyrica detects abundant evil in the area.
Lyrica still concentrates for a few rounds as she uses her detect evil to determine the area and power of the most potent evil in the area.
Lyrica probes deeper into the darkness using her divinely gifted senses... and Zarzanna's warning "There are questions you don't want to know the answers to." comes back to her in a whole new context.
The Paladin gasps and staggers backwards, away from stones on the hill.
It is so powerfully evil that you are stunned for a round and your detect evil is canceled.
Lyrica stands there stunned as she confronts the evil before her. After several moments, she gasps and cries out, "Oh dear Gods, this entire area is flooded with a monstrous, implacable evil that is bereft of any trace of compassion, humanity, or redemption. Dear Sarenrae, save us all!"
Aerik, about to join Marcus in examining the writing, turns sharply at Lyrica's outcry.
"What is it? What did you see?"
He runs to her side, putting a hand on her shoulder to steady her.
"What is it? What did you see?"
"Oh my dear, Master Aerik! It was terrible! It was absolutely terrible. It's so hard to describe, but this whole pace is surrounded by a wretched, wretched evil that shows no mercy, no compassion, no redemption, and no hope any sort! It is so out of place that I don't think it's human or even understands humanity in any way! Oh dear God it was terrible! I looked into the spectrum to see what aura these stones gave off and it has shaken me to my core! It is not enough that so many have died, but to just know that this evil exists weakens my heart at the thought!"
Momentarily startled by Lyrica's sudden cry, Ezekiel nearly sends a bolt from the crossbow flying randomly. Seeing Aerik come up and start to calm her down, Ezekiel considers bringing out a sedative to help calm her nerves, but reconsiders. Putting on his best face, "You have to calm down, Lyrica. Panicking will get us no where."
"You have to calm down, Lyrica. Panicking will get us no where."
"Ezekiel, you just don't understand, there is no humanity with this evil. It is something beyond redemption. There is no room for good in this presence at all. It is nothing like I have ever experienced nor even conceived of in my entire life. I was taught that Sarenrae would be forgiving, but this is something akin to Rovagug, the rough beast who seeks only to destroy creation and the gods. I knew of the stories of such evil, but I just never imagined that such things existed!"
Lyrica's near-hysterical reaction makes Jak jump. His eyes flick between her and the stones, bow held ready, arrow suddenly knocked. "So the existence of your supernatural being is a no-brainer, but one with an opposing outlook is unimaginable?" His grin is weak as he fails to take the edge off the situation. "So, the Teeth are magic. And evil. And do we think the people that left those marks," he indicates the human-shaped scorch marks with his arrow-tip, "made all this happen? Though I guess it's possible that they weren't necessarily here of their own will. The little guy there seems to be hugging the stone... not the actions of someone excited about what's going on."
"We have seen evidence of such creatures. The purpose of the black root that attacked me in the forest was to corrupt the natural environment. The undead that attacked were created only to end the lives of the living. Those creatures are without a doubt beyond redemption. Seems to me that whatever created them, and the mist, would be beyond redemption as well."
The druid looks into Lyrica's eyes.
"I don't mean to look for a measure of goodness or the possibility of redemption. A weed needs to be pulled, root and stem. If this thing can be destroyed, we will find a way."
"I don't mean to look for a measure of goodness or the possibility of redemption. A weed needs to be pulled, root and stem. If this thing can be destroyed, we will find a way."
With tears streaming from her eyes and overwhelmed with grief, Lyrica, cannot help herself and suddenly embraces the stern druid as he speaks those words.
She quietly replies between sobs, "Let's pull the weed."
"I'll see what I can about examining the stones. I've got a formula that'll let me see the lines of magic about a place. It'll just take me a moment to mix it up."
Ez spends a busy minute swirling a variety of ingredients plucked from his clothing and gear into a single small flask. When it glows a neon green, he downs the vial and looks about - his pupil-less eyes glowing the same startling color.
Spellcraft doesn't reveal much as the stones are not magical items, per se. However, as a bennie for two good rolls, you realise the magic auras suffusing the five stones are centered on the human images.
"There's definitely a magical nature here. Give me a moment to see, yes some form of transmutation magic. They're all similar, probably the same spell. It seems, yes I do believe the emanations are coming from those human images. The strength is more powerful than I've seen come out of the Drear."
Ezekiels rubs his eyes as the concoction wears off. "Not quite sure what to make of it, but that's what I saw."
"I don't mean to look for a measure of goodness or the possibility of redemption. A weed needs to be pulled, root and stem. If this thing can be destroyed, we will find a way."With tears streaming from her eyes and overwhelmed with grief, Lyrica, cannot help herself and suddenly embraces the stern druid as he speaks those words.
She quietly replies between sobs, "Let's pull the weed."
Aerik awkwardly wraps his arms around Lyrica, patting her back with both hands.
"Uh, there there... Don't be upset....Erm...What? Transmutation you say?"
Aerik quickly (but gently) disentangles himself from the weeping paladin, walking over by Marcus and Zeke.
"Transmutation...But here, look at this inscription.... Transmutation is the magic of change. Remember what Zarzanna said? If we are the vengeful, then does this mean us? I know not what this 'pale' is, but if we place its hand here, perhaps it will act as some sort of key to activate a magic effect. But if it changes the tools into something that can sever fate, why would this place be covered in evil energies? It doesn't make sense...."
His voice trails off as he mutters to himself.
Marcus grinds his teeth, narrowing his eyes as he scans the stones, one at a time.
Evil, huh? So the coward who sent the mist to murder women and children vanishes at the first sign of trouble.
The big man retreats back a few steps, carefully unloading the crossbow and setting down his belongings. He places Beula down gently and says to Jak, See to it that Ole' Merl gets this back, if something happens to me. From the looks of it, if we're not the ones in the prophecy we don't stand much of a chance anyway, so we might as well find out right now and not waste any more time... . Then, smoothly, he draws his lumberjack axe, holding it in a two-handed grip as he approaches the standing stones.
Angarak! I'm Marcus, from the Drear. Nobody special, no great soldier or sorcerer or anything of the sort. Just a woodsman, and a father. Don't get much cause to read, myself, and I damn sure am no prophet, so I can't say if I'm THE 'vengeful' or not. But I come here for those who couldn't. For the children you snatched from their beds and the families who cry over those taken by the mist. I come for vengeance.
Color rushes to his face as Marcus' anger rises, and with it the volume of his words, until he is screaming into the aura of evil. Her ma wasn't enough? You had to take more? Her family, her friends? This is for Heather, you bloody bastard!
Before the others can stop him, Marcus breaks into a dead sprint and swings the blunt end of his axe with all his strength at the southernmost standing stone, aiming for the center of the scorched human-sized impression.
Lyrica let's go of Aerik and tries to pull herself together once again. She begins with a prayer that she whispers to her deity.
"Dear Sarenrae guide me and protect me in this time of horror. Be my guide as I listen to your voice and follow your calling day by day. I pray that I may ever serve you to protect humanity against evil such as this. Give me the strength and the fire to do what you would have me do. As the call comes, Here am I send me use. Amen!"
After her prayer she stands silently and watches the others as she gathers her strength and looks within to find her courage again.
Jak avoids trying to make connections with the prophecy just yet. Like trying to break a damn riddle, anyway, he thinks as he listens to the group.
He tries to remember anything he might have picked up about Transmutation magic, "That's magic that like…. changes stuff, right? Turn a person into a toad or something. So what was changed to what here? Does it have to be physical change? Or could it have been changing energy. Zarzanna said corruption and evil follow in Angarak's coming. Meaning he's gone. Locked away, maybe? Or sent away? If so, might our transmutation magic be some way of brining him back? Or changing him so he can come back? Or maybe –"
Whatever he was going to say next is cut off by Marcus's rage. "Um Marcus," Jak begins tentatively. As the big woodsman begins yelling, Jak's voice climbs in volume and intensity. "Do you really think that's…"
Before the others can stop him, Marcus breaks into a dead sprint and swings the blunt end of his axe with all his strength at the southernmost standing stone, aiming for the center of the scorched human-sized impression.
"… wise?" Jak finishes as he falls back a few steps, looking around warily for some crazy response from the evil saturating the place.
Marcus charges and slams the flattened steel head of the axe against the unyielding stone column, right between the eyes of the sooty figure. The sharp crack of metal on stone rings across the hillside as the haft of the axe creaks ominously. The lumberjack feels the stinging reverberation from the blow all the way up his arms. The axe, its force spent, springs away from the stone. It leaves a scuff mark on the rock in exchange for an impressive dent on the axe-head.
Stranger, though, is the sooty figure. From that kind of blow, the soot should have rubbed off. It hasn't. It appears embedded in the rock and is more of an omnipresent shadow than soot really - like seeing a figure trapped in a block of ice.
Toe to toe with the stone, Marcus makes out a few more details... This figure is a bit stooped and carries a pair of long and slender 'wand-like' things in one hand.
Jak steps back, wary of an evil response that seems slow in coming, if it comes at all.
Figure 2:
Figure 3:
Figure 4:
Figure 5:
Roll-Off
Figure 4:
Figure 5:
Jak waits for a few tense moments.
"Huh. Kind of expected something to happen. It's just almost a disappointment." He cautiously walks up, looking closely at where the big woodsman failed to leave a mark. "It's like the shapes are IN the stone… huh." He walks away, looking closely at each stone-figure in turn, trying to note anything recognizable.
Upon closer inspection, Jak notices some details about the shapes in the stones:
- The figure holding the wand-like implements. They appear to be a set of knitting needles.
- The smaller figure 'reaching out' looks to be leaning a bit, as if in the middle of a dash and unless Jak's eyes deceive him - the 'he' is a 'she' judging by the smallish budding bosom on the figure.
- The other three figures have no obvious distinguishing characteristics - being relatively upright and empty-handed. None of them are obviously female, but this is about all that can be said.
Once Lyrica calms herself down, she slowly approaches and begins walking around the stones looking at them to see if she can find any evidence of the lost villagers. She also looks at the shadows (if there are any) that the stones give off, looking for some connection or clue as to where to go next.
Everyone examines the stones and sees the nuances of the figures...
Being as the hour is just past noon, Lyrica notes that the stones cast the barest whispers of shadows and that they are consistent with the position of the sun. Apparently, the single evil presence that suffuses the Teeth as well as the whole hillock itself does not warp the shadows.
"Well, my friends, at least the sun shines true on these stones and the shadow is not altered by the evil of this place! Can we figure out what we should now do with these teeth? I am not sure how we could dent them, never mind breaking them!"
Jak continues to circle the stones as the group discusses different ideas, translations, and options. Somewhat in an attempt to try to catch new details, but really he just thought better when he moved. Finally he stops, "Well, unless Marcus thinks he can do a better job on these rocks before he shatters his axe, I'd say we wrap up here and move on." He chews his lip for a few seconds in thought, "I don't have any idea if there's anything we should or could do here for the time being. I'm still unclear if we're the tools or if we're supposed to wield the tools to break the teeth, but either way, we don't seem to be up to the task here."
He looks around the group, "Plus, this place is creepy. Which means I guess we should check out the White Barrow."
Connecting the 'Pale' as possibly being an obscure reference to White Barrow, Jak and Marcus consider what they know of the monument...
The Barrow itself hasn't been visited by anyone from Drear in living memory. It is said to be a hand-made stone 'hill' with a single heavy door set in one side. It is believed to be a haunted funerary crypt from some vanished race of people - though no one has ever ventured inside it to confirm this suspicion.
"Well, unless Marcus thinks he can do a better job on these rocks before he shatters his axe, I'd say we wrap up here and move on."
"That's a good idea, Jak. This place is rather disturbing. So why do you suggest the White Barrows? What is the connection to this place?"
Jak shrugs, "After what all we've discussed, Aerik's thoughts sounded like it could be the Barrows. And that seems to be the only lead we have at the moment. Though I'm open to other ideas."
His gaze shifts to the southeast as he lapses into thought. "I've never heard of anyone testing the Barrows, but we shouldn't do it lightly." Jayse spends a few moments verbalizing everything he can remember about them . "Given that the mist woke up the dead, and the Barrows are supposed to be some kind of burial place, we should be prepared to encounter them. Anyone have any good information on avoiding or fighting them? Or the dangers of fighting them?"
"Hmmm… and we should get word back to the Drear. They should know where we are and what we're doing, as well as what we've uncovered here. Someone may have more information than we could put together about the Teeth. Or maybe have some insight into the words we've found. So we should stop in there before we hit the Barrows. Also, anyone have any good ideas on how we can try to set up a way to communicate with our people from a distance? Pigeons or signal lights or horns or something?"
"After what all we've discussed, Aerik's thoughts sounded like it could be the Barrows. And that seems to be the only lead we have at the moment. Though I'm open to other ideas."
"No, your idea sounds find to me. I think it is a good plan. My only concern is with the vast amount of undead that we are likely to find. A barrow is likely to inhabit more evil that we have ever seen before. I am just glad that I don't need to venture into such a place alone."
"Given that the mist woke up the dead, and the Barrows are supposed to be some kind of burial place, we should be prepared to encounter them. Anyone have any good information on avoiding or fighting them? Or the dangers of fighting them?"
"I can say from the Skeletor that I fought, that it appeared rather resistant to my sharp blade. We should try to find some weapons that are better at bludgeoning in case we meets such undead. If we at least have some choices, I think we would be in a better position."