Triumphant laughter briefly sounds before it is interrupted by a loud thud. After a moment of silence, it resumes (though not so loud as before).
"Ha! Yes!! Yesyesyesyes! Eat it, Azi! I'm not surrendering the Ruby Jackal that easily!"
Lying on the ground, the petite Taldan woman laughs a bit more and punches the air a few times, letting out a loud "Whoop!" She wears a khaki jacket covered in pockets, and matching pants. Trinkets can be seen poking out from some of them: dried plants, sketches of ancient glyphs, thin envelopes filled with various colored powders, bits of metal, etc. Underneath, a thin layer of fine chain offers some protection. A slim pith helmet lays nearby, obviously having fallen off during the transition here. Her long black hair falls down her back as she sits up. It is mostly straight, but looks unkempt (possibly from the fall, though it seems to have been a little while since it was last cared for). A streak of dark gray can be seen on her side-parted bangs, fading into the surrounding black. Her face is dusty and rough, but comely, and her blue eyes sparkle with excitement.
"Gods, what a rush!" she says, as she stands up and brushes dust from her clothes. She bends down to grab her hat, and flips it onto her head. "But where am I now...?" She crosses her arm, one hand on her chin and mutters to herself, "Let's see... there was the forest... the temple.. Oh! That rooms with the spikes, hehe... then those Aspis took..." Her eyes widen, "Oh gods, the statue!" Eliah looks frantically nearby for a few moments. A groan escaps her lips. "UgghhHH!!! I had it in my hands! I held it!!" She kicks a rock in frustration.
It's at this point she hears movement, and a gruff voice asks who she is. She turns and spots a burly half-orc. "I could ask you the same, Tusks," Eliah says, putting on a disarming smile and assuming a non-threatening posture. Discreetly, she moves her hand near the whip on her belt, in case this orc isn't so friendly. "Though honestly I'm more curious about our current location at the moment," she says, glancing at the huge trees surrounding them.
Then, her eyes suddenly widen and she grins. Excitedly, she asks "Hey, you haven't seen a red statue recently have you? Really shiny, about yay tall," she mimes a statue about 2 feet tall with her hands, "...pretty little thing of a man with a jackal's head? Or maybe a jackal with a man's body...? Eh, details." She makes a dismissive wave at the thought.
"My name is Valaravans... and I fear we are not on the sea. So I am lost, matey."
He licks his tusks again.
"So you are?"
"A seaman, eh?" Eliah says, cocking one eyebrow slightly. "I'll have to remember that if I come across any ships." She glances around to assess her surroundings and check if anyone else is sneaking around.
"Oh! Sorry, weeks in the bush tend to erode my manners. My name is Eliah. I'm... not really sure how I got here." A confused look crosses her face. "Last I remember I was in a Varisian forest, but it didn't look anything like this." She turns back to Valaravans, "I'm guessing you don't have any idea either?"
"I fear not. I was on board the "Dragon's Barnacle" making some Turtle Stew with black pepper and purple onions and next thing I know I am landlocked in this horrible place."
He smells the air.
"Damn all the sharks of the deep! Damn them all to the desert hell! I can't smell the sea!"
He licks his tusks again, noisily.
"You are a landlubber, aye? And seems you are as lost as I am. We sure are swimming on the wrong side of the current, here."
"On that, we agree. This place is off." she says, looking out at the forest. "My work tends toward more terrestrial environs, true. Though I'm no stranger to traveling by sea."
Eliah wracks her brain, trying to remember something that might help her figure out where she might be.
"Well, this has been... strange," she says, eyeing the half-orc. "Tell ya what: as long as you promise not to eat me or something, I think it would be a good idea if we stuck together. We'd stand a better chance of surviving than we would alone. Valaravans, was it?" She looks nervously at his tusks.
Salty looks at the human female from head to toe, and then licks his tusks yet again.
"You don't seems like much to eat, and I prefer my meat tender, and I fear you don't seem tender to me. Yes, Valaravans is my name. But people call me "Salty" for short. They say I use too much salt. Nonsense."
He looks away, like trying to find the sea with his eyes.
"Yeah, it is a good idea to stick together. I am as lost as a whale in a pond."
He turns and smile to Eliah.
"And I can get very hungry later."
"Heh, lucky me then," she says with a nervous chuckle. "I would probably be pretty stringy." Eliah looks up through the trees, shading her eyes against the sun's glare. "Looks like it's getting late. It'd probably be best to shelter under this outcropping for now and set out in the morning. Can you try to find something we can burn?" she says, turning back to Salty, "I'll see if I can find something to eat... that isn't me," she adds after a moment.
Eliah pulls a shortbow from her back and sets the string. "Out of the frying pan, as they say. At least my survival skills aren't rusty..."
She looks up at the orcs last comment, "Riiight, right.." Eliah snaps her bowstring and says "Wish me luck." She turns and starts to walk into the trees, still slightly worried she might wake up on a breakfast platter the next morning. To herself, she mutters "...Dropped into a weird forest with a tusked, half-orc (possibly cannibalistic) pirate. I'd almost rather be back in Varisia..." She chuckles and shakes her head lightly.
A few different rolls, if needed
Valaravans sees the human go hunting, and he thinks on the useless of his own fishing knowledge away from the sea. He looks for a place to camp, picks up some firewood and tries to get his bearings.
Salty and Eliah do not get the feeling they are being watched in a standard sense, and both of them realize, in their interactions with the plantlife, that these plants are both ancient and foreign. Eliah is totally lost as to their location, also....
However, two hours of hunting finds her lucky. She bags an elk just as the sun is starting to set. Salty is able to find some firewood, too. There is plenty of deadfall from the enormous trees.
Eliah arrives back at the cliff just as darkness is settling, carrying as much as she could of the elk she managed to down. "Good news!" she says cheerfully, dropping the pair of haunches from her shoulder. "That should be plenty for tonight. The rest of the beast is still out there. If we're really lucky there'll be some nibbles left in the morning, though I wouldn't count on it."
Eliah busies herself setting up her bedroll and blanket by the cliff, trying to get as much shelter from it as she can in case the weather turns. "It sounded like you're some kind of cook, right Salt? In that case, I'll leave this," she motions toward the legs sitting near the fire ring, "to you. I can't cook to save my life."
The elemental isn't overly preturbed by Fajra's spell.
Max pulls out a cold iron arrow and fires it, followed quickly by a second arrow.
"Elk!?! What the sea urchin legs I am supposed to do with this?"
Besides his talking tirade he starts to cook the leg with practiced ease.
After the smell of the meat seems correct, "Salty" presents a big portion to Eliah, in a nice presentation on a piece of bark.
"Hope you like it, I did my best considering the situation..."
He waits, expectantly, next to the human, waiting for her comments...
Having no confidence that her sling could penetrate the rocky hull of the elemental, Pharysene assumes a defensive stance and passes.
>IF someone looks damages she will move to them and heal.
Eliah turns back at Saltys protest. "I have the utmost confidence in your abilities," she says with mock sincerity, and returns to unpacking her bed roll.
When when the smell of the roast reaches Eliah, she returns to the fire. Taking a step back, she bites off a piece of the meat offered to her. "Hm, well I can see where the name came from," she says with a smirk, "but I've had much worse."
At that point, a raspy croak comes from Eliah's shoulder. A small, reptilian head pokes out from under her jacket. "Scales! I almost forgot about you." She scratches his head with a finger. "Glad you weren't crushed during the fall." Eliah takes a small piece of the meat and feeds it to the lizard. She sits on the ground, feeding him a few more pieces as her and the orc eat their meal.
"We're not likely to get much sleep tonight, not with just the two of us to keep watch."
"Stand watch? For what? Is not like a ship will pass us by in the night.... Nice lizard, we can snack on it in the morning..."
Tuich attempts to impart luck on Max whilst Xarl has a field day, hacking merrily away at the creature. Fajra casts a spell that would have had awesome effects, perhaps, had it functioned, and Max misses the mark entirely. One cannot help but think that his foot is now literally pinned to the ground. Pharysene stands at the ready in total defense.
The creature retorts to Xarl with a wicked slam before missing so horribly that he leaves an opening in his stance.
Tuich splits the half-dozen pebbles into twin batches, quickly dropping one into a pocket. She closes her fist around the remaining three and mutters to herself. Those with keen eyes might notice a dim blue glow emanating from between her fingers in the dimming daylight.
She turns to Pharysene and hands her the three stones. "I don't know how much harm rock will do against rock, but if you're going to use that sling, try these. They're magicked, which sometimes helps. And they'll give you a little more... oomf!"
Xarl looks up at the big mound of earth.
"You know if I could only hack away at you you might win, but the gods are on my side."
With these words Xarl quickly heals himself, and swings again.
Eliah covers the lizard's head with her free hand and puts on a slightly aghast look. "He's not for eating! This little guy has survived more than any lizard has right to." She feeds him another bite of meat. Turning back to the subject of the night watch, "You apparently know the sea.." she points to the orc with the elk, "...but I know forests," she finishes, pointing at her chest. "And given the size of these trees, there's a good chance that some of the things out there are huge and/or dangerous, and.. maybe even invisible, I don't know," she says, a bit frustrated. Then, just as suddenly, she grins. "But I'm sure we'll be just fine. She says with a confidence she wished was real.
"Excellent! Good night then!"
Valaravans gets to sleep under the stars.
Eliah looks over at the sleeping orc and sighs. "Yes, I'd definitely rather be back in the first gods-forsaken forest," she thinks to herself.
The night was dark, but small patches of stars shone through the canopy. Eliah watched the sky for a time, comforted by the familiar sight. Though the pieces of sky she glimpsed didn't seem to match her memories.
After about an hour, Eliah realized how tired she was from all the exertion and being dumped unceremoniously in this primal forest. She gave up and retired to her bedroll, keeping her dagger ready just in case.
Max looks down at his foot, the one with the arrow embedded in it.
"What do you think the chances of finding a cobbler are? I just bought these boots a few weeks ago too."
He chants a short prayer and the his bow begins to shimmer slightly.
Reaching up and touching his holy symbol another short chant causes his hand to emit a brief light that flashes as he touches his leg.
Pharysene gratefully accepts the slingstones offered by Tuich. It takes a round or two to make the trade, being buffeted by wind gusts.
On seeing the damage to Max's boot, she raises her hand.
"I could... fix that for you." Ventured Pharysene shyly.
Tuich can almost feel her own foot throbbing in response to Max literally "shooting himself in the foot." And just after she'd attempted to bestow Ashava's guidance! Sudden panic rattles her: Had she unwittingly cursed him instead? Perhaps Ashava is displeased with her! What with everything that happened last night, she'd neglected her devotionals...
And then an even more frightening thought flits through her mind, and she glances up at the early evening sky. Was Ashava even reachable beneath the strange moon here? Perhaps the True Spark couldn't hear her... or worse, perhaps her call for aid was answered by something malevolent!
She must atone for this. Yet watching the elemental absorb blow after powerful blow from Xarl, Tuich knows any damage she could inflict would be as a mosquito to a dragon.
But still...
A skilled, deadly paladin stands before her with an arrow through his foot. And she'd just seen their elemental enemy stumble and open itself to attack. Not everything happens as expected.
She glances around and surveys the situation as a bold thought forms. Maybe, just maybe, she can still contribute to ending this.
"Max I am going to cast bull strength on you!"
Fajra then casts bull strength defensively on Max.
Coming to a decision, Tuich quickly darts to the side of the main group and takes up a spot about 30' from the rock monster. Now distanced from Pharysene, she realizes she was being buffeted by her own non-wind as well as the Sylph's gale.
It's okay Tooley, we're safer over here anyway, calm down... she thinks to her burden as she moves into position.
She snaps her readied scarf almost as one would crack a whip, sending one end flying towards the elemental. Almost instantly it glints in the late day sunlight as it seemingly turns to steel mid-flight. And the end keeps going... and going... extending far beyond the length of the scarf she'd just been holding in her hands. The now-deadly weapon lashes out towards the malevolent creature...
Quickly yanking the scarf back to her -- it returning to mere fabric as it does so -- she readies herself for another attack.
Tuich magicked a few stones and proffered them to Pharysene, who accepted them gratefully before turning to look at the carnage that had been the top of Max's boot. Max undid caused his bow to shimmer and then undid the self-inflicted damage, his arrow pushing out of his skin with a 'Pop!'. Fajra, kind soul that she was, imbued him with strength.
Meanwhile, Xarl continued to swat at the thing with his weapon. To be honest, he came upon the conclusion that he almost couldn't miss. Clods of dirt and stone continued to fall away.
Oh, the monster was injured, to be sure, but it while it was barely alive in the standard sense, it was furious. The hellknight's armor absorbed the first of the might blows, but the second... the second really, really hurt.
Tuich veered to the side and invoked some form of supernatural power that send her scarf.. harmlessly into a rock in the creature's side before it shot back like a child's ball and string.
Beauty and the salty beast, erstwhile (well,I say that, but it actually happened before the battle occurring on your screen), awoke to this: There was a small group of golden deer that had come meandering into their area, pulling out bits of choice foilage.
Eliah's hair, looking as it did, drew one of the fauns towards them, and, assuming she was still in a dozing state, allowed the creature to take a cursory nibble.
Finding it was hair and not grass the creature might have started, but it smelled the waking "Salty" and pined for his namesake. And so it was that the orc was roused by a faun's tongue while a doe looked on, her ears pressed back.
The stag that accompanied the group nursed a large claw wound from something, but he seemed content and healthy enough.
Two other does busied themselves in the brush.
Grumbling to himself for messing up his boot, Max pulls another cold iron arrow from his quiver and fires it at the elemental, followed closely by another arrow. Each time the arrow fires it shimmers as it leaves the bow.
Regardless, Max's arrows bring the creature crashing down, and bits of it melt back into the earth, leaving only a bone skeleton-like boulders behind, encrusted in something that shines in the evening air....
Xarl cleans the earth off of his blade. After he is done he walks over and cuts off whatever appears to be the head of the creature.
"Anybody actually know what we just killed?"
At feeling the tongue in his ear Salty smile, let's his tongue out, and mumbles.
"Oh yes, keep it, you know what excites me, you dirty... "
He then realizes he it is not happening what he thinks its is happening and slowly pets the animal.
"Here pretty, what a good and nice girl you are. I bet you taste great!"
Then he quickly proceeds to bite its throat off.
Salty succeeds in his bid, much to the misfortune of the faun who had been lavishing him with her tongue. Blood sprays everywhere, and the half-orc gets a mouthful of raw venison. The doe looks bays something, starts on her front legs, and then pads at the ground as her baby dies, but runs along with the others after a few more seconds if allowed to, spurred on by the antlers of her buck, who rounds back to make sure he has all of his mates in tow...