The satyr attacks Lucius as he passes by, but continues with its string of misfortune on landing a blow.
Sig hits the satyr, but does not penetrate its thick skin.
Hideaki continues his assault on it as well, landing two quick blows, neither of which does any real damage.
The wasps continue their pursuit of Silas, red welts beginning to appear on his skin where he has been stung.
The satyr takes a 5' step away from Hideaki and Sig and plays another quick tune.
Then he will 5' step to flank if possible.
Only a move action. 5' step away from swarm and retrive a potion of healing from my pouch.
Lucius makes two quick and deadly strikes. With a look of shock on its face the satyr topples to the ground, lifeless. As it feels, Lucius feels himself both energized and terrified at the same time.
"Eeek!"
The swarm is damaged some, but not dispersed.
Watching the enemy finally go down, Sigfried felt himself relax some before turning to look upon the swarm of hornets. Having no means of dealing with such enemies, he would slowly back off, not wishing to pay them any mind or aggravate them.
Lucius will spend a point of mythic power as a swift action to clear his fear, and then chuck a log at the swarm.
While Silas swats at the hornets, writhing in pain from the many stings he has now suffered, Lucius begins whittling away at the mass with blasts of kinetic energy. Silas is nearly unconscious by the time they are dispersed, his muscles feeling leaden from the poison in his veins.
As Sindri returns, the dryad also approaches. "I thank you for your aid. Satyr's are naturally wild creatures, but these... something made them vile, darkened their hearts."
"As promised, I have some items left to me many years ago that I have no use for. I can sense magic in them, but I do not know what form it takes."
The dryad holds up a thick leather cloak. As she unfolds it, it crackles slightly like autumn leaves rustling. Pigments have been set on the back of the cloak, colored in autumn colors. But the bottom edges of the cloak are frayed and appear to have been burned.
She also presents a small vial containing a silvery liquid.
"Anybody know what those things do?"
Sindri will approach the rest of the group, short of breath with redden eyes from tears of fear.
Sindri will stripe search the Satyrs of all valuebles, drinking from their water skins and filling their mythical blood into them.
Approaching the Dryad,"Thank you for the items, but I have one request of you, solely information. I only ask you as you appear to be an ancient being of sort, could you give me any leads on a potion or elixir to age me. I wish to enhance my mind through age to become sagely, normal means would take too long."
The dryad tilts her head, "A most strange request. Most people seek youth rather than old age. But if the ancient legends of a fountain of youth are to be believed, then there must of necessity also be a fountain of old age. For thus it is with all things, where something gives, something else must take. But if you would follow my advice, then it is that wisdom is best gained by experience, not by trying to take short cuts."
Silas is unable to identify either item.
A search of the satyrs also reveals two potions.
[oooc]Are we resting and healing up, or do we have more to do?[/ooc]
Sindri will attach the potions along his waist and the waterskin of mythic blood his other side.
Taking out his pipe and filling it with tobacco before he dryad spoke.
"Thank you for your advice, I will take it into consideration. However I would sacrifice an eye for this magical aging, perhaps more. Power to make a difference and hone my body. If I had power back then, I would of protected my people. I can feel something within my blood, as I'm sure the rest of us can, something within us. It's simply a means to an end, but in time I would gain experience."
Sigfried would mull over the events of the day and take the time to rest his body. Drawing from the unknown power, he could feel his body slowly pulling itself back together, repairing the damage from the battle without costing any of his magic. With the rest, he'd feel his power return and his prayers to Brigh only brought more blessing from the construct goddess.
The journey back to Coran to meet with Ris'jae and give him the blood samples is uneventful. The travel time allows those with magical talent to identify the two items given by the dryad. The cloak is a cloak of fiery escape, while the silvery liquid is an elixir of tumbling.
The wizard looks pleased to see you. "Excellent. I thank you for your aid in this matter. So tell me about what you found and how things went?"
"Well we went and talked to the Dryad, and she led us to the Saytrs, then gave us a hand. The satyrs took a bit of killing, but we got em eventually. They also burst with the weird energy thing, like the other critter. She said that would fix up the forest, so we came back. "
"Satyrs? Causing trouble within in the forest? That seems out of place for such creatures." Ris'jae scratches at the side of his jaw. "While satyrs are wild and unpredictable beings, they normally revere nature, after their own fashion."
"I did promise you some things though." Ris'jae hands over a small pouch to each, containing 250gp for each. Each pouch also contains two lead vials.
"I have also located another magical disturbance, in the desert to the south, past Issust Hold. Best I can figure it is 3 or 4 days south of the Hold, but near the coast. I can arrange for passage by ship to the Hold, but you are on your own after that. Following the coast should get you near the area, though you will likely need to do some scouting to find the source."
"Yeah, it didn't make a lot of sense for a Satyr to be trashing the place, but maybe the energy corrupts. Hey! Wait a minute, is the energy gonna corrupt us too?"
Sindri will take on a sullen appearance at the mention of Issust Hold.
"Aw f&@+, not there again. If we can hurry up our investigation there that would be great, I don't feel safe staying there too long."
Sindri will turn to master Ris'jae,"I am in no position to ask this, but could you do me a favour or two Ris'jae? I wanted to know if you go look into permanent magical aging for me, provide me with information and hopefully a means to achieve this. Lastly, do you have any strong magical poison activated via command word, I don't want to live if capture alive by Issust forces."
"I don't know for sure Lucius, its a risk, but very few things are capable of corrupting an individuals conscious. There is almost always an element of choice. You've probably heard the saying, 'Power corrupts?'. There is truth to that, those who find power often find they want more of it, and let that pursuit cloud their judgement in other matters. But consider this, what would you do if you had the power to shape the world as the gods do? Would you become as Sarenrae? Rovagug? One of the other deities? There are those who, with power, seek to better the lives of others, and those who gain power and then seek to destroy."
Turning to Sindri and his questions, "Magical aging? I'm not aware of anything off the top of my head, I may be able to find some time between my normal duties, though you are free to do some research in the great library as any other who visits Coran."
"I think poison is a little extreme. I can do you better than that, a seal to indicate you are on tower business. None would dare lay hands on you while you carried such a seal."
"Analysis: While I cannot claim to have a perfect understanding of this strange power, I do not believe this power to be corrupting. From my own person I feel stronger and even more in tune with myself then previously," the construct explained, gesturing to his own form as his lone eye glanced around at those in the room. He took his time looking over each and every one in the room before letting his eye again rest upon Ris'jae.
"Assumption: I believe your comparison to the God's to be the most accurate. This power will enhance every aspect of ourselves and whatever else comes in contact with it. Those good will do good, and those wicked shall do as such."
"OK, so it doesn't specifically corrupt. It's just on me. Well I can deal. I think. "
then more quietly "as long as nobody shrinks me again..."
"I'm sure that whatever this power entails, we will all have the willpower to master it and prevent any corruption of our souls."
"We are made of stronger stuff than those fey back in the forest." Silas says with a sneer.
Ris'jae gives a light hearted chuckle. "Yes, I believe you are."
"Captain Banuk will have his ship ready to leave for the Hold early tomorrow morning. If you need more time than that to prepare or collect any items you might need I will find another ship captain to take you."
The trip to the Hold takes only a little more than a day, much quicker than the week it would have taken to travel on foot.
The Hold itself is two small fortifications. A walled port, with a population of around 150, and about a mile inland a second fortified area with around 500 people. The second fortification is more a very large hole in the ground than anything. Housing, such as it is, is mostly holes bored out of the rock - where old deposits of ore once led the miners attention. Newer mining tunnels branch outward in all directions - away from the center hub.
A natural spring in this second fortification provides plenty of water in the otherwise hostile landscape. Near the coast the land is green with plants, but the farther inland one gets the land becomes more barren, rock and sand stretching for miles.
"Anyone know how to drive a camel?" Silas asks, wrinkling his nose.
"Thank you Ris'jae,if you can find time between your research I would appreciate that, I will head to great library when we have the time to visit Coran."
Sindri demeanor will calm down when Ris'jae hands him the seal. Sindri will put the seal in his pocket and bow in respect.
"I will be back soon everyone, I just need to get my new Longbow, engraved with gnomish engravings."
Sindri will leave the room.
"Maybe we should get some water, also information. We might also want to buy some protective clothing."
Sindri will laugh at Silas' question,"With these short hands and feet?"
Laughing at his terrible joke.
"Let's go hiring a crew of fools and get some supplies, although can someone come with me? I have a history in this place."
"I suppose I could go with you. Not like I'm busy. I think I need to pick up a wand anyway. "
"I'll pay extra if we can find a camel that has recently been bathed."
Silas looks for a camel team to hire, that doesn't smell, and is soon able to find one to accompany the group. The handler is a thin man with tan darkened skin, a pair of daggers at his waist. He freely answers questions, but otherwise doesn't talk much. "You didn't hire me to keep you company, or entertain you." he offers, with a thin smile.
On the evening of the third day, as the group prepares to make camp, a tiny pinprick of light is spotted in the distance to the southwest.
"What's that in the distance?" Silas asks the others.
Your guess is that it is a fire of some kind. Question is what did someone find in the desert to burn. It is probably four or five miles distant.
"I think they're burning the last tree south of the coast! We've got to hurry and stop them!"
"Why? I bet it was very lonely. "