Alexandria will keep focusing for another round to try to pinpoint what thoughts are whose.
@ Alexandra, afraid that you only pick up Vort and llano in your area of effect. if you want to use colored lines for your area of effect you can. but detecting someone with this will not be easy. I know its the best you got though.
@Hans, sorry you need cure blindness. you cant mitigate it with a heal check.
Hans considers his situation and tentatively probes at his eyes, gasping in and yanking his hands back as searing pain lances through his eyes and into his brain. Holy Mother!!! Damn... Okay. Take stock. You're blind. Grethel is missing. Probably Togar and Crissa, too. Werewolf. Does it have a pack? There was more than one howl. Oh... no no no."
He half-talks, half-yells in the direction of the doctor's voice, "Doc, wolf or no wolf, my sister, the professors daughter, and our friend are still out there... we have to get them."
the blindness lasts 1d4 days.
"Blast it Hans, If we go out there we are toast, we have you and Llano blind. only, me, Alex, and Vort seem to be ok. but if we leave you unprotected you will be easy pickings if there are more out there. My Daughters out there too, you know. "
"So you'll leave them to die!? Bring us with you!!! My faith is my shield!" Hans says this with such ardent sincerity there is no question he means it literally.
Vort's body twists and contorts in a fit of pain as his form melts back down into its more familiar human configuration.
Without wasting a moment, Vort makes his way over to the brother Grim.
"I am Vort."
He takes Johannes' hand and motions for him to place it on his shoulder.
Hans jerks slightly as Vort puts a hand on his shoulder, then relaxes when he hears the Kellid's voice. "Thank you... lead on."
Vort guides Johannes back to the doctor and hefts his axe to show that he is ready for whatever needs to be done.
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Trying to gain his bearing the elf turns his head to every random sound around him. "Well this should be an interesting new perspective, even if only for awhile!"
Holstering his weapon he tried to slowly move back towards the wagon where he dropped his halberd earlier. "So professor if what's out there is too dangerous to face why are we just leaving Grethel and Cass to their own fates? Hey wait I think I can smell Vort! Vort your pungent and unique odor might be my new guide!" The elf happy proclaims as he looks for the halberd on the ground, right next to a large fresh pile of manuer.
the girls are towards the left side of the map near where the werewolf went.
the camp is still quiet with a blood red moon still overhead there still isn't any sounds other than your group. The animals are keeping quiet as well.
the doctor says "ok fine then, lets go." as he lights up a torch and leads the way west towards the missing people.
@ vort you can hear some noise to the north. you don't know if it is the werewolf or Mard. just something is moving north of the camp.
Alexandria walks over to get Llanofiss. "Come on Llano, just put your hand on my should and follow me as we go and try to find Cass and Grethel."
She will then follow the doctor as he heads west.
"Doctor...something moves to the north...are we hunter or hunted?"
Gritting his teeth to fight through his deep seated Kellid superstitions about beasts that walk in shadows, Vort readies his greataxe as he walks alongside the doctor.
" No idea Vort my boy." the Doctor continues to go towards where last the others were seen.
Standing before finding his halberd Llanofiss turned in the general direction of Alexandrias voice and gave an awkward but flirty bow to the wagon beside her.
"ahh the lovely Lady Andria, I am humbled by your offer and grateful for the much more pleasant smell. Please Lead on, oh but first would you be a dear and hand me the large choppy apparatus, I think swinging that wildly will be much more effective than the flail. Or perhaps I should just keep to the crossbow and allow you to call out directions to me. Either way I am sure it will work out smashingly well."
With a dashing smile he gave a blind wink from his wounded and cloudy eye right at the horse over Alexandrias shoulder.
Alexandria is a little worried about handing a blind Llano his halberd, but she does so. "Just do not swing it in the direction of my voice. Please."
"Hmmph. And don't swing at Vort musk. Takes many months to brew."
As the doctor leads you into the woods torchlight going off the trees, vines, and woods you realize how quiet the woods are, and after several moments you quickly realize how hard it will be to find the others. the Doctor starts yelling " Crissa!" maybe the others ran into a trap or ditch.
Hans keeps one hand on Vort's shoulder while the other wields his long sword. He keeps his eyes shut to protect them from the air from touching the wounds, focusing on trying to listen to the sounds of the forest and any hint of Grethel's voice.
He whispers, "Is more light needed? It does me no good but I don't need to see to summon Sarenrae's blessings."
[ooc]Casts light on an object someone can choose
"Vort need light."
Alexandria casts light on a bolt in her crossbow as she looks for a target to fire upon. "The problem with this light, is that though it will allow our friends to better find us, it will also allow any enemies to better find us."
Vort nods in agreement.
"Yes, but the spider needs no light...to find the fly."
"Gods damn this f@!@ing light and burn these a!&$+*! hands," Grethel's voice comes raging out of the night, a ruddy red glow preceding her. "I told you, wee've been wandering around in circles, but the blighted camp must be this way, Crissa!"
She emerges, followed by her two companions, eyes growing wide as she sees your state.
"Hans! What happened?!" she cries in alarm.
Hans's head whips towards the sound of Grethel's voice, the bloody scratches around his shut eyes more obvious than he'd realized despite the pain. "Grethel! Thank the Dawnflower you're okay! I'm fine, fine. Don't worry... Just some ruddy birds. I don't think they plucked anything out, so it should heal in a few days. We do have at least two of those bastards loose, though. Vort took the head clean off one of them, but there mother is around here somewhere, and the other one went invisible and escaped."
Crissa comes forward and hugs her father. Torgar says "Those blasted Lights kept leading us away from the camp at one point the ground came alive at our feet trying to tangle us up"
"However it looks like you had a worse time of it." Togar continues.
It takes the group several minutes to make its way back to the camp. once they get there. they realize that the Doctor's Wagon has been thoroughly destroyed and looted by someone, along with all the horses missing. "DAMMIT!, F%&#, that Wolf Bastard! when I get my hands on him I will................" The rest is lost in expletives. as the doctor needs a few moments throwing things around his already destroyed wagon.
Crissa stays close to her dad wincing every time she hears a crash.
Track DC 16 survival. to try to follow tracks into the woods.
Alexandria groans. "I really do not want to have to walk all the way to the next town. I just know I'll end up with blisters."
She gathers up her belongings that are left and looks about at the mass of hoof prints in the clearing. "Anyone think they could track down the horses? With any luck they just scattered them and didn't eat them."
Keeping his hand on Alexandria's shoulder Llano tried to keep up with the others as they wandered. "I knew you three would be safe."
As they arrived back at the camp he was startled by the Doctor's cursing. Keeping close to his guide he remained silent and tried to perk up his ears and find noises indicating what direction the horses went in.
I don't think you can. Llano. that is stretching it quite a bit to say your not using vision to track.
All checks and activities that rely on vision (such as reading and Perception checks based on sight) automatically fail.
I'm ok with that..
"Not much for tracking," Grethel says. "I never could find my way through the woods without leaving some sort of trail.
"And even that didn't always work," she finishes, casting a rueful glance toward her brother.
"I can give us some more light, though."
A brief moment of regret strikes Hans for insisting they leave the camp, but he shrugs it aside. Yes, they happened to be okay but we had no way of knowing that... Deal with each challenge before you and let the light of the Dawnflower shine upon it.
"I'm sorry, Doctor. I can't see, but I know something of tracking. Perhaps I can help. Here is what to look for...and goodness, watch where you step..."
SO who is leaving into the darkness? who is staying at camp and who is going into the woods?
"Vort will track..."
The barbarian bends to a knee and begins working his fingers in the dirt.
Alexandria tries to keep her steps slow and even while avoiding any obvious rocks or roots in their path, trying her best to keep Llano from tripping. She also makes sure his hand doesn't slip any lower than her shoulder....
Once they reach the campsite again: "Though I am loath to let them get further headstart on us, we might be better off waiting until first light to head out. There is always the chance that we could wander into a trap that we wouldn't be able to see in the dark. Plus you trackers would better be able to see any sign or trace of our quarry in the daylight."
"Didn't everyone going out there lead to this mess here?" Grethel asks. "We could try splitting up, but is there anything still here to worry about?"
Seeing the others already going, she follows along.
"Can't you help him, 'Lexa?" she asks, gesturing toward her brother with the glowing stone in her hand.
Johannes considers Alexandria's words and chews on his lip. His eyes closed and his head bowed slightly (for there was nothing for him to see), he sighs and says, "Alexandria makes a good point. Two of us are blind and, even if we had a proper tracker, night would not be the best time... Still, the longer we wait, the farther our horses get, if they're not dead already." He nods to his sister's words. "Doctor, is there anything left in the wagon to justify us staying?"
Alexandria shakes her head. "I am sorry Grethel, but no. There is nothing that I can do to help him. Curing blindness is beyond my clerical ability. We can only hope that the blindness that plagues him is temporary. Otherwise, we shall have to seek out a priest powerful enough to cast the needed healing spell to return his sigh and who knows how long that could take."
@Johannes, you may be right if you spend the night searching.
It appears that the horses were scattered intentionally by either the werewolf or Mard.
"Bah, this stuff is useless now, that Bastered or B!%&+ took everything of use and destroyed the rest. Just you wait until I get my hands on those two." the doctor says as he picks up a broken beaker. then throws it down in anger.
Crissa says "I think, Alex is right there is no use us searching around all night. there is no way to know who or what is out there we need to just cut our losses and see where we stand in the morning."
Vort nods in quiet resignation.
"The hunt will wait for another day..."
Alexandria sighs. "Perhaps if we are very lucky, some of the horses will wander back this way when their fear wears off."
With a light smile on his lips the elf allowed Alexandria to lead him around while listening to his companions. Once everyone had said their peace and gotten their complaining out he tried to lighten the mood while trying to give Alex a relaxing shoulder massage.
"How many dwarves does it take to change a lantern mounting? Thirteen, one to hold the lantern and twelve to get so drunk the room spins." chuckling softly to himself the elf hoped spirits would be lifted slightly by his crude attempt at humor.
"Don't feel bad Doctor, at least you know we did the right thing and valued our companions lives over our material possessions, we can all sleep well knowing we are among true friends."
Hans sighs in resignation and asks Grethel to help him to his bedroll. As he makes his way there, he says, "We'll need to keep a watch tonight, and I'm afraid Llano and I aren't going to be much help... unless our attackers are invisible... which, sadly, could very well be... Unless we want to set some sort of trap, take to the trees, or move camp." He keeps his pistol loaded with the silver bullet... he might get lucky.
"I'm still feeling OK, though I wouldn't mind a little rest later. I won't let anything get close," Grethel says.
"Reminds me of a child. Eventually he'll find a witch in the woods and everything'll change. That's what happened to us, after all," she replies bitterly to her brother.
Vort quietly scoots Rufus' head into a small sack. He looks forward to drying it out and fashioning skull fragments into a proper fetish to honor the hunters of his Tiger tribe during their first bit of downtime.
The barbarian seeks out a soft spot in the treeline to lay back and cast his eyes to the stars. His thoughts race back to the fierce encounter with the lycanthropes and his failure to track the horses.
Vortigorn's eyes close and exhaustion overtakes him.
Nothing happens through out the night, with the guards set the doctor stays up with Vort, Crissa with Alex and Torgar with Gethel. after a few hours the blood moon goes away and the animals of the night come out. The next morning after the doctor and Alex check up on Llano and Johannes the blindness goes away.
the horse's trails are easy to find, and you recover three of the four horses.
The party has a choice: to take the prisoner wagon to be repaired or take the doctors wagon.
you also find a note attached to one of the horses.
Sorry I had to cut and run, thank you for the horses. don't worry I'm sure ill see you again. My mother will want to take vengeance on you for killing her favorite son.
-Rufus-
It turns out they switched who was the mage and who the barbarian was.