The soldier alongside Hassan runs to keep pace with him, his eyes fearful as he sees what has happened to his comrades. Septimus reaches the fallen man and his prayers bring the man back from the brink. Though still unconscious, he is no longer in imminent danger.
The mother bear, attempting to flee, is finally brought down by the blades of Hassan and his soldiers. She collapses, bleeding from numerous wounds and an arrow thumps into her side. Her cubs can still be heard tearing through the forest, 100 feet ahead, but they are out of sight.
"I will stay with the wounded man, deal with the others."
If the badly wounded guy is conscious and movable, Septimus will help him back to Newspring, otherwise he will wait until enough people return to help him move the man.
Istiel has another arrow knocked when the bear finally collapses to the ground. She relaxes and slides the arrow back in the quiver, throwing her bow over her head. She calls to the elves in the trees, instructing them to hold their fire and dismount from the trees.
"আগুন ধরে থাকুন! মাটির জন্য, সামান্য বেশী ক্যাম্পের দিকে যাচ্ছে!" "Hassan, the cubs are headed towards the camp!" She shouts, not sure if the man is aware after finishing his melee.
The elf begins to pick her way down the tree with both hands, knowing she wouldn't be able to catch the cubs on foot any way.
Sparing not a moment to for their victory, Hassan spins and hustles after the two cubs, shouting over his shoulder to his men, "Quickly now, with luck the cubs won't be a threat but we don't know how people will react to their arrival. Catch them if you can, scare them away from the camp if not!"
As the elves descend from the trees, Hassan charges off in pursuit of the bear cubs, four of the soldiers chasing after him. The noise of the warriors crashing through the woods behind them keeps the cubs running, and before long, they have outrun their pursuit.
Hassan and the others find work proceeding in Newspring.
"Bear cubs?" the man looks at you. "Sorry, haven't seen any."
"I think Vada saw a bear," the woman next to him asks. "Did you ask him?"
Hassan sighs, "I guess they turned off somewhere then."
He gestures to three of his soldiers, "Keep an eye on things here. Tell people to be on the lookout for a pair of bear cubs. Tell them to notify someone and keep their distance but make sure they know the mother has been taken care of."
Sheathing his sword he turns to the wounded soldier, "Lets head back to the others. Septimus can take a look at that wound."
Once they rejoin the others spares a hard look for the elves before heading to check on the downed man, "How is he Septimus? Can you take a look at Roland here? He took a nasty bite."
Hopping to the ground, Istiel joins her brothers and sisters, and they walk over to the collapsed bear, the unconscious solider, and Septimus. Taking a look at the arrows sticking out of the bear and the unique identifying fletchings, she grins and compliments the ones that who were able to score hits.
Drawing her longsword from its sheath, she speaks to Septimus. "He's still breathing. Will he survive, or does he need put out of his misery?" She turns to the bear and grips her sword's hilt with two hands, raising it over her head. Istiel lets out a powerful cry and slams the longsword into the back of the bear's neck, drawing the blade down through the flesh and out in an attempt to cleanly sever its spine.
The elf wipes the blood off her blade using the bear's fur, looking to Septimus for a reply before sheathing it.
As Hassan approaches the woman she looks to the wounded solider and smiles. "You fight ferociously. What is your name, warrior? You deserve a prince's share of the meat tonight." Large, dark hazel eyes turn to Hassan. "Good work, Hassan. I'm glad a man who can actually fight volunteered to protect this place."
"He will live, though it may be a few days before he is completely healed."
Hassan looks up from the downed soldier, his face pulled into a bitter expression, "At least we did rely solely on the legendary accuracy of the elves.", grimacing he looks down, "...I am sorry Istiel, the brush is thick, it's a miracle any of you were able to find your mark. I...these people place their faith in me to keep them safe and today I nearly got one of them killed. Still, tongues are not vipers, they should take care before they strike."
He looks at Septimus, "Good, we should fashion a litter and get him back to Newspring. The bear as well, we cannot afford to let such a kill go to waste."
Roland refuses any aid until the other soldier is being carried back to camp. The elves stay quiet in the aftermath of the battle, but one of the soldiers, a half-elven woman from the other flank who was unable to reach the fight smiles at Hassan.
"You'll have to wear this, commander," she says, nodding at the bear skin, and she calls to the elves in their language.
"আমরা নতুন বসন্ত এই ফিরে বহন উচিত," she says. They begin cutting poles to carry the body back to town.
Hassan stares at the dead bear for a time as the others are hanging it from the poles, mildly uncomfortable with the suggestion, "Perhaps...it is like to be far too warm though."
Once back at Newspring, he ensures that the bear will be butchered with care and the sets to figuring out how to rearrange the duty rosters around the injured soldiers.
The rest of the day passes uneventfully in Newspring, though there is another impromptu meeting at dinner time, when the bear is eaten and the story of the fight is told. Sandra Thayer offers thanks to the fighters and asks that the wounded man be brought into her tent.
Meanwhile:
The second group makes good time across the bay and finds a decent spot to spend the night by the mouth of the bay. Manari takes advantage of the last hour of daylight to study her spellbook, and Jaysin sits and meditates. Sai takes Ben and Kyle to gather wood for a fire, and Walton stands in the surf, fishing. Edmund climbs a short hill and scans the horizon, his bastard sword worn over his shoulder.
Kal'Tos engages Vallen in a discussion on the merits of various types of stone, their useful applications and profit margins while establishing camp.
Gair joins the others in collecting firewood, grateful for the chance to stretch his legs on solid ground. With the fire going, he returns to his work on the bow, "We will need to organize our watches for the night..."
A thin eyebrow shoots up at Hassan's remark about the legendary accuracy of the elves, but her face resumes its usual impassiveness after he apologizes. She says nothing, instead looking to the half-elf woman and nodding in agreement.
Istiel helps carry the unconscious solider on their makeshift skiff, later returning to the spot to collect arrows and to move butchered portions of bear.
The elf woman sticks with her brothers and sisters during the meeting, silent unless questioned.
Vallen enthusiastically discusses with Kal'tos, particularly focusing on the finer building and sculpting stones. Or, better yet, those that can be used for both! Their conversation turns towards mining, with Valen suggesting they should search for some surface iron or copper sources to smelt in small batches, as well as convincing people to start copices for making charcoal. There's plenty of wood now, but in 10 years? 20?
The dwarf raises a hand as Gair mentions the watch. "I'll take first watch. I wanted to trim my beard, anyway." He produces a small mirror and shaving kit, intensely inspecting every hair in the twin braids.
The night passes uneventfully, or at least, it seemed to. While Ben, Walton and Kyle are on watch, though, as the sky in the east starts to grow light, they see a strange figure on the dune overlooking the camp. With the light still dim, it's hard to make out any details.
as he gets up Kal'Tos sees the strange figure and tries to get a better look, grabbing for his warhammer as a procaution.
Perception
Kal'Tos, being an early riser, wakes up before the sun and notices the figure. As he climbs to his feet and grabs his warhammer, his darkvision enables him to notice what the others hadn't. The figure is actually just a crude statue made of sticks, with long black feathers that dance in the breeze making it seem alive.
Knowledge (Religion) check to see if such symbology is similar to any I am familiar with.
"I suggest we make our morning preparations quickly, it would seem we are being watched"
Once i realized there was a something on the hill, yes.
Vallen wakes up slightly panicked as he is roused by Kal'tos. When he learns there is just a weird statue on the hill, he relaxes and is quite groggy. "So... something was sneaking around during the night, and made... that thing? Well... at least it didn't try to eat us."
Kal'Tos wakes to find Ben on the edge of the camp cursing under his breath. There is something out there he says to the dwarf but it is too damned dark for me to see what.
When Kal'Tos tells Ben what it is the halfling relaxes but not much. I agree we should go, but I want to investigate this further when our current job is done. Ben helps to wake the others and prepare to leave.
When news of the bear hunt reaches Newspring, Sorala grabs her pen and parchment and makes her way to the kill site, where she takes notes of the butchering process, draws the various cuts, and writes down step-by-step instructions for both the skinning and the butchering.
Cueta silently curses when she sees the stick figure. Besmara's balls, we need to do a better job during the night's watch!
Dropping into a crouch, she slowly circles the figure, looking for any signs as to the figure's intent - writing, symbols, a theme. She's also trying to figure out what exactly the figure is - a humanoid, another creature of some sort, a representation of one of the salvaging party?
"How would you all feel if we took this figure with us? Someone back at Newspring may have an idea as to its purpose. On the other hand, it could upset whatever put it here."
Vallen snorts as Cueta suggests taking the thing with them "Cueta... I respect your curiosity, but I don't think any of us want to be carrying this idol around. It could be cursed, or... hmm.."
The dwarf turns to his fellow priest. "Kal'tos, could you see if there are any magical residues present?" He frowns at the figure, stroking his beard. "Could they be marking their borders? Where did they get so many feathers, anyway?"
Kal'Tos casts detect magic, looking at the figure for about a minute after casting the spell.
"Cursed? I doubt it. But I think you could be right - it could be a border marking. Whatever it is, it certainly has meaning to whatever put it here, and they are trying to tell us something."
"Maybe the feathers came from the creator of the figure? Or the creators are superb hunters and trappers?"
"Agreed, Ben. We should look into this as soon as possible."
Gair stares at the idol silently, with a slow considering look he turns slowly, taking in the surrounding wilderness.
His attention is drawn back to the other at the mention of it being cursed, "It could very well be, there is power to such things. But as you say, there is no time to investigate it now. I say leave it here, we will see if it remains when we return."
Making his way back to their camp, he begins collecting his equipment and preparing for the day's journey.
Vallen nods at Gair, pointin at the Kellid. "See? Gair agrees with me. He is knowledgeable in such matters as well, why he was the one that figured out we had a skin-stealer on the loose in Newspring, in fact."
The dwarf begins to collect his belongings, loading them back on the longboat.
Shortly before Kal'Tos woke up, Ben spotted the figure silhouetted against the grey, predawn sky on top of the dune. He saw no movement, other than the feathers fluttering when the breeze stirred.
As you gather around the figure in the growing light, you notice a thin strip of leather around its neck, with a shark's tooth hanging from it like a necklace. It is impossible to tell if the tooth came from a shark or from one of your friends.
Cueta takes one look at the feather and realizes it is too big to come from any ordinary bird, but smaller than the wingfeathers of something like a giant eagle or a roc.
Kal'Tos detects nothing magical about the figure.
Gair is able to spot footprints in the sand, leading to and away from the figure, coming from the forest that clings to the ridgeline of this point. A few yards away, the grass holds enough earth to show more than a small depression in the sand, and it is immediately recognizable as a large goblinoid's footprint, from the size of it, most likely a bugbear.
Vallen nods at Gair, pointin at the Kellid. "See? Gair agrees with me. He is knowledgeable in such matters as well, why he was the one that figured out we had a skin-stealer on the loose in Newspring, in fact."
Cueta grins and elbows the priest in the shoulder in a joking manner. "Ha! One of the many things I see dwarves and northmen share is a healthy fear of curses! We'll leave it of course, if it will make you feel better."
The Mwangi woman then goes into the treeline and spotting a log about three feet tall and thick in diameter, drags it into the boat. Taking out her carpenter's tools, Cueta begins planing the bark off. "Sai, can you pilot today? I've got work to do."
Shortly thereafter, she hits a weak point in the log and splits it down the middle. "BESMARA'S BOUNCING BALLS!"
Vallen harrumphs as he is teased about curses. "It would make me feel better. Less garbage in the boat, anyway."
He looks on curiously as Cueta begins working a log, wanting to assist but figuring it would be better to leave her to own devices.
As they are preparing to leave the dwarf jumps as Cueta curses, looking to see her raging over a split log. He laughs heartily, long and loud, at this scene.
"I don't mind sailing," Sai says. A moment later, she offers a bit of helpful advice. "You might do better if you don't break the sticks into such small pieces though. Just sayin'."
Bern and Kyle haven't put their weapons down since the thing was first spotted, and seem a little disappointed to discover that the expedition will not be stopping to give chase. Thayer finaly puts them to work keeping watch on the top of the dune, though a safe distance from the figure. Manari studies it for a bit.
"I see no magical influence here, though it could be a sign of one of their gods. It seems nothing like anything I've read of. It could well be an attempt to communicate, though what the message could be, or for who it was intended...." She shrugs.
Gair seems uneasy after discovering the tracks, "Bloody bugbears. Well hopefully it loses us on the water. We'd best be going quickly."
He smirks at Ceuta's cursing but makes no comment on it. Instead making sure Bern and Kyle are packed, his son seeming prepared to try tracking the bugbear here and now.
Vallen responds by returning the elf's shrug. "As long as it's not bothering us, it can make terrible statues all day. Well, I'd prefer such monstrosities be out of my sight, but I wouldn't tell it that, of course."
Gair looks back at the totem again, "If it is communication, that tooth could well make it a warning? We know the shark-teeth are nearby at the very least and they have certainly proven more directly hostile than our visitor. Though I'd still prefer to avoid meeting him for the moment. We have enough unknowns to deal with right now."
"I don't mind sailing," Sai says. A moment later, she offers a bit of helpful advice. "You might do better if you don't break the sticks into such small pieces though. Just sayin'."
Cueta flips the broken halves of wood into the water, and turns tersely to Sai. "Aye, thanks for the advice. You're a regular berking Vincent Van Ghastly, I'm sure." I'll try again tomorrow. The gods don't want it to be today.
Sitting down and sighing, Cueta draws her shortbow and nocks and arrow, waiting for the others to load up. Catching Vallen chorteling away on the beach, Cueta can't help but realize how foolish she just looked - and sounded, and the laughter crawls its way up from her belly, lightening her mood. "Sorry I snapped at you, Sai. Compared to me, I'm sure you are quite the Van Ghastly!"
A bugbear! Ben says when Gair shares what he found. I've heard of them. They have a foul reputation, but I have never met one before. Have you had any experience with them Gair?
Ben spends the rest of the day watching the shore line and worring about the future.
The ranger nods to Ben, "We see them in the north sometimes. Raiders mostly."
Settling into the boat as best as he can, Gair sets to working on his bow again as they shove off.