Cal reloads and fires.
Alder, shaking his head and making a note to find a silversmith at Citadel Adbar, keeps his arrow nocked and scans the surrounding area for any other potential threats.
Perception:
Anasth delays to Desfra's initiative and releases another blast of fire at the werewolf, as Desfra attacks the werewolf from behind, attempting to distract it (aid to grant +2 to Anasth's attack)
for
Anasth burns the beast while Desfra tries to assist. Jaxon fires his shot but it bounces off of the beast's armor. Glimly tumbles toward the beast as electricity races up his hand and into the werewolf. With a howl, the beast finally goes down.
Glimly wipes his blade off on the cloak of one of the beasts and limps toward Anasth, "I don't suppose you have any of that old fashion curing magic for me?"
Anasth nods his head, and heals Desfra, Glimly, and himself with two healing touches each.
Jaxon thumps down on his backside, sweating and puffing. Fear and adrenaline were giving him the shakes. Taking a swig off a flask, he immediately broke out a small notebook and started scribbling in it with a stick of charcoal.
"That is never f@+*ing happening again."
Ariael runs his blade through each werewolf, just to make sure they are dead, then checks their bodies. "I agree" He says to Jax.
Ariael looks over the items on the werewolves. While there are many items, each of the werewolves carry a familiar item, a runescribed gem.
Ariael:
Alder:
Jaxon:
Anasth: -8hp
Desfra:
Glimly: -3hp
Ariael shows the gems to Alder "Coincidence?"
Alder shakes his head. "I doubt it."
Alder also inspects the chainmail. If one of the suits is in decent condition (and if his companions aren't opposed), he takes it for his own.
:
Alder looks to the road. "We'd best hurry. It doesn't look like whoever's out to get us is running out of friends anytime soon."
Alder studies the gem but is unable to remember anything else about it. The type of potion is not readily apparent.
Eager to be gone, Cal drops down onto the driver's bench and says "Toss all teh stuff in the back and load up. We can check in on the move."
Anasth nods and allows the fire to remain in his hand for a brief moment longer, lighting the procedure for everyone. It flickers out at the end of the spell's duration, a few seconds later.
He strings his bow and readies the quiver, taking up the scouting position, all silently.
Kythorn 11, Year of Wild Magic
You continue on with your journey. By night fall you reach the turn to Deadsnows and camp. The night goes by without a hitch and you rise the next morning and begin to move out.
Kythorn 12, Year of Wild Magic
The day is cold but sunny as you ride on for the day. By night fall you reach the Fork with the Abdar Road to the north. There is a small fort with other travelers. You bring the wagons into the walls and set up a camp near the outer wall. Glimly approaches you all, "Thank you all for traveling with us. In the morning, we will continue to the east. I wish you the best with you endevors at Citadel Adbar. Please take these as a thank you. The bar is quite fun here."
"Farewell, Glimly. Good luck to you."
Alder takes some time to explore the town, sitting down at the bar and looking to gather some news, keeping an ear out for anything, but especially trying to sound out if there's any word of creatures carrying runed gems or other information related to the events of the past few days.
Gather Information:
He also sees if there's a fletcher in town that might be able to provide him with some specialty arrows - silver-tipped and cold iron in particular - as well as replacing his arrows from the previous few days.
Cal passed the reins to Gimli and looked perturbed. "Gim, no offense, but this whole trip has been a lot more than I signed on for. You said we were just going to do some trading, you were going to show me the lay of the land so I knew the routes before going into business for myself. I don't know if this land is just utterly f@~!ing dangerous, or if you're just really bad luck, but I don't think I want to keep this up."
Glimly looks disappointed, "I guess you'll be leaving us then Jaxon. Sorry to see you go. Best of luck with your business."
Alder checks out the inn. Above the door hands a sign that reads "The Wildlands Rest." While the wall around the camp is barely standing, the inn is more like a stonewall fort. There are only a couple caravans in the camp but there are some lively fellows about. The inn is run by a grisly human male and a gruff male dwarf.
As Alder chats with the occupants, he hears tales of nearby ruin by the name of Ghaurin's Hold. It was once the keep of an ancient dwarf hero by the name of Ghaurin; some say it still holds the old dwarf's gold as well as the spirit of the old dwarf.
Anasth purchases 20 more regular arrows and 20 silver arrows as well, sliding the coin across the table silently to pay for the goods he points out.
He spends the rest of the day in hawk form, looking around the town and staying out of range of any ranged weapons.
"Thanks. You take care Gim. Hope to see you again."
Wandering into town, Cal followed Alder and Anasath.
"Hey Alder, you guys are some kind of soldiers, right? Is this where you're headed, or is it just a stop?"
Walking next to Jaxon, Alder says, "We've not yet reached our final destination. That will be Citadel Adbar, some way from here. You're a good man to have around, Jaxon, and handy in a fight. If you're interested in seeing more of the North, we'd be glad to have you travel with us."
In town, Alder buys 20 cold iron, 20 silver, and 20 regular arrows. He also buys 6 more days worth of trail rations.
He sits in the Wildlands Rest for the remainder of the evening, soaking up the stories and the talk. Idly he considers investigating this Ghaurin's Hold if time and his duties allow after delivering the message to Adbar, and he raises a glass to the adventuring blood he inherited from his mother, before returning to camp.
"I plan on getting handier." Cal said with a scowl, obviously less than thrilled with his performance against the werewolves. "Which reminds me, I've got some specialty shopping to do. Where are you guys staying?"
Alder enjoys the drink of the night. As he sips on the hearty beaverage, he notices that the human proprietor has a Uthgar tattoe of a blue bear on his back. When the tat is exposed, he quickly covers it.
Alder starts when he sees the tattoo, knowing full well the treason of the Blue Bear tribe, their servitude to the demons of Hellgate Keep, and, worse, their link to his own Tree Ghost brethren.
Carefully masking his emotions, he calls the proprietor over for another drink, and casually remarks, "A hard land, eh? How come you here to refresh weary travelers like myself?"
If the proprietor seems reluctant to talk, Alder adds, "I don't mean to interfere in another man's business. Only, I'm a gatherer and teller of tales, and it seems everyone here could tell a good one."
Diplomacy check to improve the proprietor's attitude:
The human proprietor looks Alder up and down, "Hard land indeed. Coin to be made in hard lands. I am called Irvag the Bear. You sound like a Uthgarth but you don't have the look. What would your story be?"
"I'm a man of Silverymoon, but have spent some time among the Uthgarth." He pauses. "I had friends among the Tree Ghost tribe."
Irvag nods knowingly, "I've known a few Tree Ghosts. Meself hasn't ran with the hunters since I was a boy." He spends sometime filling everyone's drinks before he continues. "Ya saw my birthmark did ya? Don't worry so much lad. The place of a man's birth don't set a man's fate, Uthgar does."
Still a bit suspicious of someone bearing the mark of his ancestral enemies, but willing to give the man a chance, Alder lifts his glass.
"Aye, here's to that."
He then asks, "We're on our way to Citadel Adbar, but there have been some strange things about. Odd weather, odd creatures, descending on travelers and bearing strange runes. Have you heard tell of anything in that way? The journey's hard enough without wandering blind into some mess we know nothing of."
Irvag scratches his chin, "Iye, we've seen some strang weather blowing out of the desert but have heard no tales of strange creatures bearing strange runes." He spits into a mug and wipes it out with a rag, "This be the old lands lad. Mean and strange things are about to test the sons of Uthgar. Do you require anything else?"
Ariael stays out of the conversation. He's never been to comfortable talking to others, mostly because a lot of people he meets are about as bright as a box of rocks. So he kept his mouth shut more of than not, and as Alder talks to the proprietor of things in the bard's past he polishes his blade, and looks over the others in the bar
Ariael notices one other elf sitting with a group of humans looking board. The elf looks to be a ranger from his gear. When the elf notices Ariael looking at him he smiles warmly and excuses himself. The elf walks over to Arial and begins in elven:
if you speak elven
Still in the form of a large (medium-sized) hawk, Anasth attempts to join the others at the tavern without being seen by anyone else in the town who might be out to kill a hawk for some reason.
He alights on Ariael's shoulder, attempting to be very gentle with his talons.
"Well met cousin. I am making my way to Citadel Adbar, on a mission for Silverymoon. I ask of you the same in return."
"That'll be all. Good health to you." Alder finishes his drink and waits for Ariael to finish his conversation before heading back out to the camp.
The elf raises an eyebrow.
Elven
"Not sure how esteemed we are, but its what I've been assigned to do, and I will carry it out." He laughs at the comment of smelly apes, "Yes, they can be quite fragrant, can't they? Not as bad as many dwarves I've come across, but they're still pretty rancid. Where are you traveling to?"
The elf laughs while glancing at Ariael's companions.
Elven
At that, the elven ranger walks out of the inn into the night.
As the elven ranger leaves, Ari clasps forearms with him
The rest of the night goes by without much excitement. You find a place to put down your bedrolls near Glimly's wagon.
Kythorn 13, Year of Wild Magic
The morning comes quickly. As the morning dew clings to your eyes, you hear the gnomes packing the wagon. The gnomes wave and give you quick goodbyes before heading out on their journey.
The road is pleasent and the day is warm. It seems that the spring is beginning to take on in earnest. As you travel the Adbar Road, you notice that the road has suffered from the winter and will need some repair.
You camp for the nigth near the road and enjoy a quick meal. Your watches pass uneventfully.
Kythorn 14, Year of Wild Magic
The morning is crisp as the cold winds blow from the north. You can see a storm far off to the south and the east but neither seem to be moving.
By mid-afternnon, you come into a vally leading up to the city of Citadel Adbar. As you approach the city, a group of dwarven guards come running up with axes and hammers. They are all clad in the tabbards of the Argent Legion. The corporal shouts out to you, "Well met strangers. Perhaps you should explain your garb. How did you come by Argent Legion tabbards?"
"Hail and well met."
Alder briefly explains their mission. "We have a message for the garrison here."
The corporal looks over your orders after breaking the seal. "Uh hum, uh hum, uh hum.....looks to be in order. Report to the garrison immediately. The commander will want to speak to you."
Alder salutes.
"We have come with a companion who, though, not of the Argent Legion, has proven himself a trusty fellow. We ask leave for him to accompany us, and we stand surety for his conduct."
The corporal looks at Cal, "He's on your head human. Get going."
You move through the gates and quickly find yourselves in the garrison. An officer looks at you as you walk in, "You the recrouts we been waiting for from Silverymoon?"
Cal nods as the Corporal eyeballs him and grins. "Howdy."
Anasth steps forward, bow over his shoulder and nods briskly at the question.
He does not say anything if he can help it.
Alder salutes. "We are. We bring a message from Silverymoon." He shows the case.
The officer takes the message and reads it. "Seriously? You came here to get three horses to take back? Doesn't the Legion have enough horses in Silverymoon? This is a joke right?"