Gezzo nimbly steps around Thorgrim and attacks canine #6.
Fener 5ft steps and attacks Canine #3.
If down then he moves to I12 and attacks Canine#6
Rudy moves back into the area at N9
Nästród, having finally shaken over the panic that had overcame him, runs back to where he dropped his greataxe and picks it back up.
Flug stands firm, guarding the horse.
Thorgrim makes a second attempt for canine 6, five foot step to K-13 and attack:
hp:12
ac:17
rage:4
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The combined attacks end up killing both of the remaining canine creatures. An eerie silence pervades the area – it seems that nature stopped its activities to observe the battle. The sun has dropped below the horizon, and darkness is near.
Sirena walks over to the campfire, drops the rabbits on the ground near the fire, and then slumps to the ground, placing her head into her hands. What just happened…and why? She shakes her head back and forth, emitting a groan. What were those creatures? I…I could barely look at them without having a sense of great peril enter my head!
She looks across the road at the carcasses of the slain beasts. Even now, I can barely control myself, and the sense of fear increases if I get closer to those terrible things. I am familiar with wolves…they are noble hunters. These things…they are abhorrent…twisted…abominations!
She stands, and looks at each of you. Pointing to the rabbits, she says, I hope you can make something edible of those. As for myself, I have no appetite…. She walks to the wagon, obtains a grooming kit, and starts brushing the horse, continuing to mutter to herself.
Once Thorgrim finishes catching his breath, he picks up the rabbits and attempts to cook them to make them edible.. If none of you city folks know how to cook, then you can't complain about the results..
Gezzo walks among the canine corpses, inspecting each closely.
Very odd, they don't appear to be created by the arcane or even from another plane. How did nature produce such abominations?
"Why did they attack us?" Nästród says as he looks over one of the bodies curiously.
"Correction. Why did they follow Sirena?" Flug sits down nearby, tilting his head up to gaze at the stars. "It is possible they could have been attracted by the scent of killed rabbits. Sirena, when did you first notice them?"
Fell beasts seldom need a reason to attack. It is their nature to destroy everything they come in contact with.
They should be tracked back to their source and that source should be razed.
Having stated his mind, Argyros resumes his seat, silently cleaning Llafn Du while watching Sirena attend the horses.
Fener states. These certainly are odd and unnatural
He also begins to study the creatures:
Perception
Knowledge Nature
Afterwards he walks over to Sirena and starts to talk with her and see if he can find out more about her experience in the forest. what happened, where it happened, and if she saw anything else odd in the forest.
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Sirena finishes grooming the horse, and she returns to the campfire. By now, night has fallen, and the campfire provides the only steady illumination.
Why did those creatures follow me? I don't know. I had not hunted long, and managed to get the rabbits. As I was returning to camp I began feeling fearful and uneasy. Looking around I noticed these beasts shadowing me among the trees. I have seen wolves before...and, I knew these were something very different! I tried not to run and turn my back on them. The closer I got to camp, the closer they came to me, and I knew there was going to be trouble. You know the rest.... We better make certain we keep this fire going tonight, and set up a watch. We need rest, and we need to break camp as soon as it becomes light enough to see the trail in the morning.
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I think we should hunt in pairs from now on, there is something weird going on, by the way these are as good as they're getting. Come eat while it's hot
I then go and fetch the javelin that I threw during the fight.
Gezzo looks up at Fener and nods in agreement. He then looks around the surrounding swamp.
Its quiet. Too...
Breaking off in mid sentence, he swallows his fear hard, bends down and grabs the end of the tail of one of the beasts. He drags it away from the group, to a far edge of the clearing. Returning, he grabs a second and starts in the same direction.
We should burn these things. Even the swamp knows they don't belong.
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Sirena yawns, and says, I'm going to take the last watch. Wake me before the sun rises. I'm going to sleep by the wagon and horse in case they need guarding during the night. Some of you were hurt by those foul beasts. I have a healing kit on the wagon, but if you have other means of healing yourself it would probably be more effective.
She walks down to the wagon, pulls a bedroll from the back of it, and curls up under the wagon to sleep.
I agree, Gesso. Want some help?
I grab the tail of another one and drag it to the growing pile Gezzo is making.
Thank you for your assistance, Imowen.
After completing the task of burning the dogs, Gezzo walks over to Thorgrim.
You fought bravely, barbarian. But, you're hurt. Let me help you.
I will take the mid-night watch. Someone wake me at the appropriate time.
With that said, Gezzo collapses on a pile of canvas and promptly begins snoring.
"I will take first watch. I do not feel the need to rest yet."
Flug takes an inquisitive sniff of the food Thorgrim prepared before he begins eating.
Seeing the others settling in for the night Argyros puts his sword away and begins laying out his bedroll near the wagon.
Since the watches seem to all be covered, I'll try to keep one eye on the cart. Just in case something happens.
After spreading his bedding out, Argyros quickly brushes the days dirt from himself and his clothing before laying down, Llafn Du at his side.
"Are these beasts edible? It seems a shame to waste all that meat." Nästród says.
Thorgrim finishes cleaning after the dinner, and settles down to sleep beside a rock.
I enjoy a large portion of the rabbit stew. Very tasty!
To Nästród I say, Why would you want to eat any of such a vile, unnatural creature? I am sure it is tainted! Think what it might do to you!
I will stay close to the campfire and keep it going during the night.
I settle down to sleep in P3, rousing periodically to add more wood to the campfire.
Fener, after assisting with moving and buring the bodies
Rudy, keep an eye out for anything strange during the night
I can't sleep, so I will stay up a while yet
Anyone for some of my calming tea now?
Nästród decides that Imowen is probably right. He eats a bowl of rabbit stew instead and puts out his bedroll and blanket.
He removes his armor and inspects it for damage. He does the same with his weapons and other equipment.
He places his axe at his side.
He lies down to sleep and tries to dream of the future.
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Thankfully, the night passes without incident. You remember waking fitfully once or twice, perhaps being aware of Imowen stoking the fire, or hearing someone being wakened for the next watch. When you become fully awake, you are aware that the horizon is just beginning to lighten, and daybreak will soon occur.
Sirena is already up, and has left boxes of shortbread and cheese open near the fire. You see her beside the wagon, haltering the horse in order to ride it a short distance downhill to be watered at a stream. A pot of water is starting to boil on the fire, and it appears that a tea canister has been hung inside it.
"Good morning," Nästród says.
He gathers his things and puts on his armor while the tea is boiling.
Gezzo stretches briefly and yawns loudly. He then rolls back over, pulling the spare canvas over as a blanket and again begins quietly snoring.
Eating a bit of bread and cheese with a cup of tea. I put on my armor, and strap on my weapons. We better get a moving.. We have monsters to hunt!
Nästród eats the shortbread and cheese and follows it down with some tea.
"Thank you, Sirena." He says.
He finds a spot with a flat surface and sits down to meditate on his spells for the day.
When done, he picks up his pack to make ready for the journey onwards.
Fener enjoys some breakfast and begins to talk.
Although, I am tempted to track these animals, find the origin of these fell beasts, and discover the cause of this strange blight, I think it may be wise to continue our journey to the next village and discuss this with the towns folk and see if they have had similar experiences.
I believe that these beast may be an indication or even the source of the problems in these parts but the villagers may be able to shed some light on our experiences
Sirena, I would like your opinion, you are the most familiar with these parts, and have valuable input.
"Good morning." Flug takes breakfast, watching the others go about their business. "One of you should wake Gezzo."
Having gotten up when Sirena put the tea on to boil, I have already eaten my bread and cheese breakfast and am enjoying a second cup of tea while I watch the others in our group come and go in their morning rituals. At Flug's suggestion, I get up and go awaken Gezzo, making sure he stays awake, and let him know breakfast is ready.
I see Sirena arriving back at the wagon after watering the horse, and go over and thank her for breakfast. Then I start helping her load the wagon in preparation for our departure while our group continues discussing our plans for the day.
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Sirena finishes watering the horse, and she brings it back and hitches it to the wagon. She then fills a tankard with water from the barrel, walks over to where Gezzo is sleeping, jerks back the canvas, and dumps the water on his head. If you aren’t on the wagon when we are ready to leave, you can walk to catch up. She then takes the boxes of shortbread and cheese and stows them on the wagon, empties the remainder of the teapot on the fire, and climbs up on the wagon seat. Flicking the reins, she directs the horse to pull the wagon back onto the trail and waits for you to stow your gear and climb aboard.
Gezzo jumps out of his slumber with a startle, pawing bleary eyed at his waist band for his dagger, when Imowen gives him a shove to wake him.
WITCHES!!! and monkeys!!!...with hats...and wings?
Blinking heavily to clear his head, he looks around the camp and breaks into a large smile at the sight of breakfast. Finding the first full plate, he happily stuffs large pieces of cheese into his mouth.
Fener smiles, gives a little chuckle and climbs on the wagon.
He then yells Rudy, stop rolling around in that, have some self respect.
Rudy continues to roll around, snorting, and looking quite pleased with himself.
Waking with sunrise, Argyros immediately undertakes 30 minutes of brisk calisthenics before partaking of breakfast and a large mug of tea. As he slowly eats, He studies a small leather bound book.
As Sirena finishes loading the wagon, Argyros puts hit book away and hops up on the wagon.
If the fell beasts are aggressive enough to attack armed mercenaries, I fear for what they may have done to the village.
Perhaps we should investigate the area? Something is obviously upsetting the natural balance, it might be the source that is causing the problems with the commerce, as well.
Gezzo finishes off the last of the shortbread before it's packed away and stands up, brushing off crumbs from his chest.
I believe we should get to town first, getting the wagon and horse to safety. Sirena, how far to the closest village? We could also split up, a half with the wagon and the other half to track the beasts..
I check to see if the trail is still good enough to follow
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Sirena: The first village we will arrive at is Boggy Draw, which sits on a small hill above a valley and stream. If there are no distractions, we should arrive around midday. As far as tracking the beasts, they came from the direction we are going, so keep your eyes wide open.
When everyone is loaded, the wagon starts traveling again along the track that winds its way through the marshland. The sun has peeked its way above the horizon, but is barely visible. Light fog seems to follow the water courses and low-lying areas, and you periodically emerge into the sunlight when traversing a hill only to drop down again into the next hazy area.
I maintain a lookout for other tracks during the trip
Fener will also keep an eye out for tracks or other strangeness on the journey.
perception
Survival
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You are able to see where the beasts came out of the woods to converge on Sirena, but as the wagon travels farther you don't pick up any tracks along the wagon trail that might belong to such creatures.
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After about two hours of travel, you get near a place where a stream must be forded, as the wagon trail winds down a hill and the sound of running water is heard ahead. Thankfully the morning fog is nearly burned away, and you can see farther than when you first started out.
About halfway down the hill Sirena pulls back on the reins and brings the wagon to a stop. She stands up, peers ahead and says, There is something that is out of place. A wagon is in the middle of the ford… she squints her eyes and shades them with a hand…but it’s not moving. I don’t see any horse or driver. We should see what is going on before taking our own wagon farther toward the stream. Does someone want to walk down there and take a look?
The stream and ford is about 150 feet from your wagon. You can see the wagon track crosses the running water, and then starts a gradual climb up a hill on the other side. The wagon in the stream has water running about 1 foot up the wheels, so it appears the stream at the ford is about that deep. Regardless of what may be transpiring, the other wagon is blocking the ford, and must be moved in order for you to cross with your own wagon.
I volunteer to go ahead, I will probably need help moving the stuck cart though..
Without waiting for a reply I get moving at an easy pace. Keeping an eye out on my surroundings looking for ambushes. Shield and ax at the ready