It has been some time since you first heard of the Shadowy Wedge and its sombre reputation. The area's name has been cropping up more and more often into the darker rumours in the town of Karakuru, where you have spent the last few weeks looking for a promising lead for your next trip. Even though very few travellers choose the path through the hills to the north, and fewer still come from this direction, the locals seem to have a propensity for mentioning the place that borders on the supernatural. Phrases like "To the Wedge with you!" and "bad as a northern shadow" are an inseparable part of the local street language.
Long talks with various colourful local characters have painted a weird picture of the small hilly region. It is said that more than half of the travellers on the north road disappear with no trace, although that might be because of a large group of bandits that seems to have claimed the forests and glens huddled between the hills. There is talk of golden and platinum veins running close to the surface and even making the small streams sparkle in the moonlight with nuggets of precious metal (though who exactly saw them glittering by moonlight is unclear). Sometimes during the night the forest to the north just falls silent, all birdsong, rustling of leaves, creaking of trees or sounds of wind extinguished; these spells of silence are attributed to a mystical beast that feeds on sound and is said to suck the speech out of people, leaving them unable to make any noise for the rest of their lives. Most people think there is an inn between the hills, but no one can tell you its name, or how far exactly it is from Karakuru, and travellers coming from this direction keep to themselves and are very reluctant to speak about the journey. There have been regular groups of "layabouts" or "do-gooders" (depending on who you ask) that have ventured into the Wedge in search of gold, hidden tombs and treasures, the silent beast, new trading routes to the dwarven town of Maheto or bounties put on the bandits in the region. In the last ten years not one of those adventurers has returned to boast about their findings, or to claim a bounty.
It is with this treasure trove of stories that you set off on the northern path out of Karakuru. It's a sunny Sarenith morning and most people are working in the fields to the west. Bright red flags flap merrily in the southern wind here and there, marking the end of the Burning Blades festival. As you pass the town walls the militiamen on guard duty mutter under their breath and raise their right hands as if waving to you, but then quickly turn them with the back of the hand towards you. This is the local sign to ward evil, however, it is also made when people want to set themselves apart from a madman or a criminal. This charming display of good wishes is soon behind you as you pass the first trees of the forest that covers all of the hilly country ahead. The wind in your backs picks up clouds of dust off the road and throws them at the hills as if trying to push them away.
In ten minutes the road enters the shadow of the trees that are now close enough for the occasional squirrel to hop from branch to branch. The beautiful song of a bird can be heard nearby. Then, as a last gust of wind blows past you with its share of dust and old leaves the song dies abruptly. In the next few moments you realize you can no longer hear your own footsteps. The wind has disappeared too and small flecks of dirt float down around you in the dead silence.
Edmund marches on past the guards and their stares. He's used to it, of course, and has been for years, though he has to admit to himself: There certainly have been more stares since leaving Cheliax, I suppose...and I thought tieflings had a bad rep there...hmph, pathetic peasants wouldn't know glory if it walked past them and stared them in the eye.
Remaining silent, his tail whips in disdain, and he looks on to the others with him, but then returns his eyes to the road. It's only when his ears perk up at the lack of sound that he stops, hands reaching to his weapon and shield. "Hold. Something seems...wrong. There's an unease in the air. I don't like it."
Daka holds still, eyes scanning for activity "I sense it too..." his voice is almost a whisper as he draws his scimitar "Something is amiss here!". His left hand instinctively clutches the holy symbol that hangs from his wrist and a faint glow lights up his hand for a moment "Can anyone see anything?"
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"This doesn't feel right"
Leyafold and I stop and look around attempting to determine the cause of the abrupt silence.
Or
Leyafold
Or
"Any of you encountered this before?"
Leyafold's self preservation instincts kicks in and he shifts into a small tree by the side of the path.
Your voices sound strange as you speak, like an invisible membrane has been stretched over your lips. The words echo in your heads and make your teeth tingle, but you are fairly certain that the others can barely hear what you're saying as almost no sound comes from them either.
Then there's a rustle nearby, the sound of crushed dry leaves crackling loudly through the silence, apparently coming from behind a tree!
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Almost losing his consciousness, Torcet snaps out of it and tries to think on his feet. "We are in danger! Hoping his screams reaches his allies in an frail attempt to warn them. Drawing his bow in anticipation, he readies himself for the oncoming evil and thinks hard. Am I familiar with this magic?
Daka wheels around, searching every corner of the forest, Torcet's warning only just registering in his ears. The crackling of the leaves gives him focus, something tangible to concentrate on. What evil is this! He holds out his holy symbol, still gripping it tightly as he shouts "By the Everlight, give us strength!".
Edmund draws his tower shield and gandasa and starts to shake his head in annoyance. Sure, just let the enemy know you're terrified. Blasted cowards.
Edmund grits his teeth and as soon as the druid speaks in common rolls his eyes. "...And there it is." he mutters to no one in particular in common.
His muscles tighten and he raises the massive wall of wood and starts to circle the tree where the sound came from...
...apparently easily distracted by his annoyance.
Hearing the people speaking in Common, he tries to reach his sheathed sword and is, like many times before, mildly surprised. Right. He still ocasionally felt the two limbs he had lost, and sometimes suffered pain for hours, unable to do anything about it. Kusanorr retrieves the weapon, this time with an arm he actually has, and wields it in front of him. It almost seems like it is made of bone, but a glitter reveals the spiny blade is metal.
He doesn't really understand what everyone is saying, since he is been thinking and talking to himself in Kasatha for months. He tries to remember a bit of Common, that was taught to him by his grandmother years ago.
"Not go! Stay... I want..."He tries to remember the word for "speak"
Shirak gets no response to his plea, although the tree nearest to him seems friendly enough, and not dead at all. Leyafold still trembles, but the assault on him looks more psychical than physical. Torcet’s scream reaches the others quite muffled, but audible as a clear whisper. While the detective racks his brains fruitlessly for some information on similar magic Daka’s spell blooms as a small flame in the hearts of the group. And then, just as the heavily armored Edmund steps around the tree where the sound came from, most of his senses obscured by emotion and the heavy shield on his arm, a voice speaks loud and clear about an inch from the tiefling’s right ear.
"Not go! Stay… I want..."
The words are in Common, but carry a strange accent that you are not familiar with.
As if that was not enough, a movement in the dim light above draws your attention and you realize a giant leaf ray is passing overhead, floating on a nonexistent air current just above the tree tops. You have seen such a creature only a couple of times since you're in the forest.
I don't like this... We need to get out of here! Sarenrae, give me strength!
Daka takes a few steps, following Edmund "Come forth and face us!" he screams at the top of his voice, nostrils flaring. Reaching down, he picks up something from the floor and hurls it in the direction of the earlier rustling, hoping against hope that it'll make a sound.
"I... I will go! There! Not... attack!" He takes a breath and advances forward warily. If they are people, he has never found as many as this time.
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Shirak turns to his companions pleading,"Not everything must be met with violence. This could be something trying to protect it's domain."
"Please show yourself so we may assist, if needed. We know this place isn't right and we aim to fix it" He hollers toward the source of the noise.
Patting his tree friend's branches Shirak whispers
attempting to recall any possible natural causes to this strange plance
Seeing as he hasn't exactly been assaulted yet, Edmund makes no move yet to strike the impending voice, but furrows his brow. He rolls his eyes at his companions. "Yes, let's all just offer this random magical stranger assaulting our ability to perceive the environment a bunch of hugs and fairy dust, while we're at it."
He turns to look at the triangle in the distance and raises a brow. He doesn't really know what to make of this phenomenon, but decides to focus on the more immediate conversation. He turns to the voice near his ear, gandasa in hand, ready to impale anyone sneaking up on him. The warrior growls. "Enough of this foolishness. I have no time for idle games. Show yourself, and I better see empty hands, or I will not be so kind as my companions' offers."
While Daka's stone flies harmlessly past the tower shield and into a tree nearby, still making no sound at all, the druid’s search for a natural cause to the phenomenon falls short.
As the floating voice makes a badly worded attempt at a surrender, the dead silence that you have unknowingly gotten used to suddenly lifts. With a pop Shirak’s ears are flooded by the sounds of the forest, then the still unfinished song of the bird nearby reaches Daka and Torcet, and the tiefling is thrust into the normal world last, while in the middle of his threat. For the first few moments the wind sounds high and loud and the rustling of the leaves seems to fill the air with ghostly whispers, then all is back to normal.
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"What? What was that??" Torcet speaks with almost a fear in his voice. This is like nothing I've faced before, my voice, without it, I could be helpless.
Being the detective he is, he attempts to look for any clues that could lead to the whereabouts of the incident.
He speaks and turns a full round, "Magical light, show your face to me"
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Shirak jumps at the sudden influx of noise but relaxes as the familiar sounds wash over him. What could disrupt nature like this? It's not right
"Now that's better." Glancing at Edmund he mutters "Why would we hug..." and trails off.
Clearing his head with a shake, Shirak looks around trying to locate the source of the voice. "What are you? You mustn't do that again."
Daka calms down as sound is returned to the forest once more, a sharp intake of breath taking him by surprise. Holding your breath? You must be stronger than this you fool!. On hearing Torcet's questions, he steals himself for action and says "We will soon find out." in a voice sounding more confident than it has any right to be.
Scimitar still in hand, he walks around the other side of the tree to Edmund "No more games! Hear my companions and make yourself known."
There is no response - nothing you do or say provokes an answer from the mysterious voice, no magic can be traced or felt around you, and the forest looks, sounds, and smells like a normal forest in all directions.
You can try anything you want in order to unravel this strange occurrence (it is still the middle of the morning), or you can continue on your way north.
Edmund nods at Torcet. "Indeed. We've too much to do to layabout examining every mystery that has nothing to do with us."
Daka nods his assent as he resheathes his sword. "I agree, but I may have a lead." he glances at each of his companions in turn "Did anyone else see that shadow in the sky? There's no sure way to describe it other than it was large and sort of triangular shaped. It went that way" he says pointing in a northwesterly direction, "It flew by at around the time the silence was broken. I would have said something earlier, but I was... distracted by the voice."
After a moments pause, he shrugs and says "But then again, it might be nothing." his voice unsure.
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The immediate threat subsided, Leyafold shifts back into his natural state.
Shirak nods in agreement with his companions, "You make good points. Perhaps the trees can help" . Turning to his leafy companion,
Leyafold begins to slowly rub his leaves together and sway in an almost rhythmic fashion:
"He wont take long, then we'll go with you.What shadow?"
“What horror? Shadow thins the light and takes away the two-legged babble sometimes, but there is no horror.”
I'm not sure if I'll ever get used to the idea of sentient trees... I wonder they understand us.
Daka chuckles for a moment "A 'two-legged babble' sounds much less intimidating." he remarks, looking at the small crimson flower with a smile on his face. Turning back to the others, he says "The shadow was barely visible in the bright sky, impossible to track properly, but it went this way."
He starts off in the direction he saw the shadow float, motioning for his companions to follow.
Edmund proceeds to follow, but keeps his weapon and shield out for trouble, since they're apparently hunting down the source of their auditory assault. "We should proceed with caution. Don't assume everything can be reasoned with. It is useful when it can and saves effort, but sometimes offering to parley is only giving up the element of surprise." He pauses and scratches his chin with his tail. "Though, I admit, getting clues from a tree is new to me, so exceptions may of course be made. Still...one offer is enough. After that it is hands empty of weapons or chest full of them. Repetitious offers to talk are wasteful kindness."
As you start north-west off the path the trees quickly become more dense and the undergrowth slows you down. An hour into the journey you have not seen anything suspicious and the sky is obscured almost completely by the trees, the chances of noticing a pale shadow in the gaps between the heavy branches close to none. In another hour the forest floor starts sloping upwards - you have entered the first hill range and the trees and sounds around you change subtly. The air is thick with the smell of rotting old leaves and unseen forest flowers, and the space between trees is filled with half wilted bushes. From time to time a small bird flies out of the undergrowth under your feet and you hear the scurrying of tiny animals as you move forward.
Another hour later the ground levels out and then starts sloping back down. The forest floor is moist and the old leaves make you slip occasionally (and a bit more often if you're wielding a tower shield). Then you come across an area in which the undergrowth is missing. Walking here is a relief compared to the last hour.
“There were bushes here too, not so long ago.”
"A triangle you say... Hmm, I wonder if it looks anything like our mysterious shadow?" Daka muses as he tries to get a better look at the sign.
"Fine, if it means we don't have to be harassed by unknown entities, then by all means, let's investigate." Edmund flicks his tail in annoyance.
"Patience in all things my friend." Daka says whilst unslinging his crossbow "Perhaps this is an old warning of some kind. The creature we're hunting may nest somewhere close by." He probes the area around the tree with his foot, and ventures a bit farther into the clearing staring intently at the ground...
Perhaps there is some sign of this 'two-legged babble' nearby.
As the detective studies the sign but recalls only talk of a triangle around a certain love affair, Daka is reminded of the view of the shadow he got from below. In that fleeting moment he thinks the shape was actually moving forward with one of its sides, trailing behind a pointed end. With a lot of imagination you could say the sign cut in the tree looks a bit similar.
Group initiative:
Round 1, Init 20
As he starts his search around the tree leaving the fuming tiefling behind him, the cleric is suddenly confronted with a strange scene. A scruffy looking man with a dirty leather eye patch and a mad expression on his face is trying to get out of a bush nearby, being held by another man. The two fight for a second in silence, and after that the one with the eye patch grabs the other bodily and pulls him out of the bush. They fall on the ground, making a racket that alerts everyone in the vicinity of their presence, and then scramble to their feet.
"Who 'e callin' an ant-eater..." gasps the mad one, trying to pull away and into your direction. "Lemme go, you dung head!"
"It's 'entity', not ant-eater, you idiot!" manages the other one, before receiving a punch in the face and falling back down. The one-eyed bandit lets out a victorious cry, draws what looks like a very rusty falcata from his belt, and charges Edmund!
Caught off guard, the madman manages to strike a blow on Edmund, but the rusty blade scapes easily off of the thick scale armor the tiefling is wearing, and the tiefling's eyes narrow at the man.
Dumbfounded for a moment, Daka watches the madman charge towards Edmund Poor bugger doesn't stand a chance. before turning his attention on the other This guy on the other hand... Daka breaks into a sprint, dropping his crossbow at the halfway point between him and the possible assailant "Aaaaaaahhh!" he screams as his clenched fist makes for the other man's jaw.