Celif studies the array of gear, then looks back at the area around the carriage. "Many guards," she says thoughtfully. "Whatever this is, it's not a pushover. We'll need to be cautious."
To Celif I say,"Want to split the bolts? I'll take 12 and you can have the rest. We can leave the rest of this unless anyone else wants any of it until we come back after defeating these scoundrels."
"Sure," replies Celif. "As long as no one else needs any?" she adds as she looks around at the others.
|
After examining the armor and weapons left under the chest, the group continues to follow the trail in the snow. After about a mile, the snow becomes increasingly deep in this part of the forest, where a windswept gully carves a path through a tree-covered ridge. The trail of footprints winds down into the gully and crosses to the other side. A soft cascade of snow falls from an overhead branch, hissing softly as it strikes the ground.
Perception:
"Their tracks seem too visible," Flug wonders.
Nästród whispers: "Let's give the owner of the red eyes a chance to parlay peacefully. What do you say?"
"I think the odds are against it," Celif says as she squints in the direction Imowen indicated, "but alright."
Flug stares into the gully with black eyes.
"I speak to the one behind red eyes," Nästród calls out, "we seek peaceful passage. What say you?"
"Celif, do you know of any creatures with red eyes?'
"Flug, could you check your Divination Ball and see if you can tell what the immediate future holds?"
Do you all want me to try and sneak down there and do him in, or shall we attack him from here? Any ideas?"
"We should elect to finish any fight here rather than start one."
"That quill I picked up on the island seems to have some ability to foretell if we need it," she comments to Imowen as she thinks back over her studies for anything about red-eyed creatures.
Flug tilts his head towards Imowen. "The eye c-cannot see the events to come."
Celif shakes her head in resignation. "I don't know, Imowen. There are so many creatures and manifestations with red eyes, it's hard to say without more details. I can't think of any one specific thing tied to cold, ice, snow, winter..." She trails off with a shrug.
"Let us discover our destiny," Nästród says to the party.
"I shall sally forth," the dasun calls out to the eyes, "I shall do no violence towards you if you show none towards me. We seek only those that attacked the carriage."
He trudges forward to follow the tracks, ready to attack anything that displays aggression towards him.
|
|
Nastrod slowly makes his way through the snow and descends into the gully, following the trail of footprints. Suddenly, a large reptile-looking creature leaps at him, as white-scaled as the surrounding snow and at least six feet in length. It has a dragon’s head filled with sharp teeth, and two arms ending in grasping claws. A cloud of greenish vapor wafts from its gaping maw!
Bite:
Claw:
Claw:
Bite Damage:
Grab:
The creature charges at Nastrod, and manages to bite and grab him for six points of damage! It maintains its bite upon him .
Flug blinks and the next time he opens them, his eyes have begun filling with dark. Ah, a cold serpent lurked."
Well now we know the creature behind the red eyes . . I think to myself as I watch this scene unfold.
Initiative:
Nästród draws a dagger and tries to stab the creature holding him.
Flug's eyes completely fill with black and he speaks another word that tries to be forgotten.
He then moves forward, drawing his morningstar and reaches a hand out to the sky. He says another strange string of syllables and his cloak of dark shivers... but nothing seems to happen.
Nästród suddenly sees an opening to escape from the creature and takes it!
I start slogging through the snow to the trail of footprints and follow them into the gully, waiting to attack until I have a better view of the creature, ending up at F-7. I take my crossbow and arm it. I try to see if I can figure out what this dragon-like creature is.
Knlg. Nature:
|
|
Imowen makes her way through the deep snow, trying to get closer to the creature attacking Nastrod.
Celif arms herself with her crossbow and also drops into the gully, ending her movement at K-8.
The creature roars, green mist emitting from its toothy maw, as it tries to grab Nastrod!
Claw
Claw
Bite
Grab
The creature paws and bites with fury, but Nastrod is able to parry the attack!
Group 1: All players...
Nästród parries the beast's jaws with his dagger. Seeing an opening as it twists its head aside, he drops the dagger and uses both hands to bring the flaming sword down on the creature's neck.
Hoping to help Nastrod, I move to F-8 and launch a bolt at the creature with my MW Light Crossbow.
Attack:
Damage:
After Imowen launches her attack, Flug walks into the melee, moving next to Nästród. The cloak of darkness surrounding him vibrates when swings at the creature!
|
|
Nastrod swings his flaming sword at the creature, but it dodges out of the way...
Imowen fires a bolt at the monster and the shaft buries itself deep into the creature's chest!
Flug wades through the snow and swings his morning star at the creature, and he crushes its skull, killing it!
The creature collapses into the deep snow...
End of Encounter
I say to Flug,"Fantastic hit! Well done!"
I trudge through the snow to where the creature collapsed and start digging down to him to get a closer look, and retrieve my bolt if possible. Might also check to see if he has any loot!
Perception:
"Any idea what manner of beast it was?"
Flug nods at Imowen, wiping their morning star in the snow before putting it back in its loop. "P-perhaps it m-makes a nest nearby?"
His eyes search for the nest and the trail they were tracking.
"Well now that we have more to go by than 'red eyes,' let's see." So saying, Celif cautiously moves closer to the creature...
... but it doesn't seem to match any drawings or descriptions she can recall.
|
|
The group crosses the gully and continues to follow the trail of footprints in the snow...
After walking about a mile you come to a strange sight. Feathered bundles and strange fetishes hang from the lowest branches of the trees in this part of the forest, swaying and shifting in the wind. All are stuck through with small pins holding pieces of leather bound around them.
Celif carefully studies a few of the fetishes.
Flug accompanies Celif without speaking up and looks at the fetishes as well.
|
|
Your knowledge seems to indicate that the fetishes are of fey origin. A close examination of the feathered fetishes reveals they are actually the frozen corpses of dead crows, pierced with tiny arrows. This is a clear evidence that some malevolent presence is filling the Border Wood. You look around the trees, but don't seem to see anything menacing at the moment.