"Look out!" She cries before holding out her hand towards the candy monster.
She shoots out a frosty ray from her hand at the beast.
The beast shrugs off the effects and approaches Jerrica and slams into her.
Thankfully, the beast misses.
Round 1: Candy Cane Monster, Sig, Jerrica, Frostine
Moving alongside Jerrica Sig begins to sing, a song of battle fury and power, electrifying in its effect, drawing up a powerful fury screaming to be unleashed.
Jerrica accepts the rage and attacks with a single strike.
And she lets out a ferocious yell when she misses.
Aiming her loaded crossbow at the beast she fires at it.
She stomps her foot as her shot misses as well.
The monster preys on Jerrica and Sig.
;
;
Round 2: Candy Cane Monster, Sig, Jerrica, Frostine
The songstress utters a cry of agony, barely managing to keep her ragesong going as her body is slashed open, her return swing falling short.
There was nothing they could do but keep attacking this hideous beast. She would run, but she couldn't leave her friends there like that to be killed. If they all died there then so be it. They would go back to the start, but she would not leave them alone.
Uttering a cry of frustration and defiance, she fires at the creature again.
Frostine's bolt barely grazes the creature, which lumbers up ahead, seemingly disinterested in the group now. An old man with a candy cane staff appears on the road ahead and cackles. "Turn back now or my beast will send you back to start like all the others."
Round 3: Candy Cane Monster, Sig, Jerrica, Frostine
Jerrica sighs and sheathes her rapiers in frustration.
She puts away her crossbow but crosses her arms in agitation as she takes the stance of a willful child. Her mouth set in a pout she says, "No....we can't go back. We have to get to the town, you'll just have to stand aside and let us by. We aren't interested in you or your.....pet, so leave us alone."
The old man cackles again. "I am the Candymancer, none shall pass through my woods. Least of all, you."
Getting rather irate she says, "Then how in the hells are we supposed to get to the damn village on the other side you crazy bastard? I swear when I get my hands on that crazy brat I'm gonna beat the hell outta her."
"Maybe you ought to get stronger before you go traipsing around place you know are dangerous," the Candymancer replies.
Scowling now she asks a bit frustrated, "And just how are we supposed to do that?!"
"There are other monsters around," the man answers. "Go test yourselves against them. And, maybe, one day you can handle this challenge. Or make some more friends."
In a moment of frustration and anger she starts to say something very unlady like, that if here Goldie would not approve of at all. Though she's feeling more than put out by the bastard in front of them she stops herself, losing her temper wouldn't do them any good or get them anywhere any faster. Letting out an angry growl she peers at the old man, "Fine....maybe we'll do just that. We'll make so many friends that your princess b#@$! won't stand a chance and we'll kill her and be done with this ridiculous bull$#@t." Taking a deep breath she covers her mouth. Did that really just come from her? She had never let someone get her this upset before. She looks down in time to see the ground underneath her starting to develop a layer of frost. Looking at the others she says, "Come on...let's go before I do something that we'll likely regret." Looking back at the old man, "We'll be back, you can bet your ass on that."
She kicks some rocks as they walk away, "Gumdrop, some healing please if you don't mind."
As they head back to Corrie's cottage she starts formulating ideas in her head of how they can deal with this issue.
Gumdrop spreads her healing light over the group.
...A couple of times.
"Well, that went poorly," Jerrica says.
Stalking back to the cottage angrily she says, "Well...it could have been a lot worse, though that guy really pissed me off. He's right though...we need more people. We're not gonna be able to handle everything that comes our way by ourselves and I think I have an idea of where to start recruiting."
"That's assuming anyone wants to cooperate."
She sighs, "Surely common sense will take over at some point and people will realize that small groups can't accomplish what this crazy heifer is putting us up against. I'm hoping that if I can reason with some people, that maybe we can get them to see that maybe no one has to be left here....or to whatever fate would await them once one team wins. She said "teams"....she said nothing about how many constituted a team. I know it may not work with everyone, since some people can be fairly ignorant and self serving....but, there has to be some that can see the logic of what I'm proposing. Deal with what we have to deal with to get to the princess and MAKE her send everyone back to where they belong...or at the very least, somewhere more normal." She gives the road another kick as she walks along, her dress swaying in the light breeze. Sounding frustrated, yet a bit hopeful she says, "I say we start by talking to Nolletta and her friends and seeing if they want to join us. Then, we'll go to the stupid chocolate swamp and take it from there. We can be working on things while Nolletta's leg heals up. That's about the only idea I really have for dealing with all of this so far. Like you said, it might not work with everyone....but hopefully we can get enough people together to accomplish what needs to be done to survive and get outta here."
Jerrica nods, going to the door of the cottage and opening it.
"Back so soon?" Corrie asks as the group walks in.
She nods, the signs of what she's feeling clear as day on her face. "We ran into some crazy old geezer with a candy cane pet who won't let us pass through his forest."
"Ah, the Candymancer," Corrie says. "He is the first challenge on the road to the Licorice Lich."
"So he's the guardian of this forest? Got it," Jerrica says. "We beat him, we move on and we find another jerk to stop us."
She sighs, "And we don't give up....you left that part out Jerr. We'll get through this...we just have to stick together. Speaking of which..." She turns to look at Dan and Ishmael, "Look, I know you don't really know us that well, but it's apparent that by ourselves we will accomplish nothing short of some frustration. How bout we team up, get stronger and possibly find a couple more people willing to team up and teach Ms. Prissy pants princess that we can't be f&*$ed with so easily?" Her cheeks are flushed with anger and it's apparent that she's hell bent on getting her way one way or another.
Dan sighs. "I'm not fond of leaving Nolletta by herself, even if it is here. It seems the rules of this place seem to change on a whim."
She looks down for a minute before looking at Corrie, "Would Nolletta be safe here with you Ms. Corrie?"
"As far as I know, she would be," Corrie says. "But as Dangren said, if the Princess believes that safehouses would make the game less interesting, she would do away with them."
She stomps her foot angrily, "Then what in the hell are we supposed to do? Just let her do what ever the hell she wants to? Fine...stay here and be at the mercy of her damn whims, I'm sick of this s&%@ and I'm gonna do something about it. I'll go to the stupid swamp by myself if I have to and I'll find people that aren't afraid to stand up to that spoiled brat."
She takes a few deep breaths to calm herself. Getting mad at people that had nothing to do with how she came to be here wouldn't help and it wouldn't make them want to join their cause either. She could understand how Dan felt and why he didn't want to leave Nolletta, but what were they supposed to do then? How could they get strong enough to do what they needed to do to get everyone out of here safely....if no one was willing to do anything or take any chances? She had pretty much given up on ever seeing Goldie or anyone else she knew before....but, maybe there was still a chance that they could at least get out of here. She didn't want to be here forever, trapped with some crazy sadistic princess that thought people were put here solely for her enjoyment.
Fighting back tears of anger and frustration she says, "I'm....I'm sorry." Taking another minute to collect herself she goes on, "It's just....I didn't run away from one prison to end up in another, and I'm just having a really hard time dealing with all of this right now. Everything in me just wants to go find this princess and beat the holy hells outta her for everything she's putting everyone through....but my brain keeps telling me that wouldn't work right now and that we have to at least somewhat play by her rules....which makes me even madder. I can't blame you for being concerned for your friend....so, I'm sorry I got so mad." She says quietly as she sits back down at the table with a heavy sigh.
"If we had a way of making sure she would be safe, then we would join you," Dan says.
"Corrie, couldn't we pay you to keep this place a safe one?" Jerrica asks.
"Your money means nothing here," Corrie answers. "If I disobey the princess then I shall cease to exist."
"Damn...well...I wish I had an answer to that one."
"What did she ask you to do Corrie? Specifically what directions were you given?"
"Couldn't we just heal her ankle?" Sig asks looking at Gumdrop.
"Hmph....I bet you she's gonna tell you that's against the rules or some such thing." She says with a pout as she sits at the table.
"None of us possess the magic to do so," Gumdrop answers. "That's a pretty high-level spell."
"I was told to provide a safe place for any adventurers who entered my door," Corrie answers. "The same with all the other safehouses."
"Alright, let's be reasonable about this," Jerrica says. "No one's gotten past this forest, right? So until someone does, then we have nothing to worry about. You and Ishmael can come with us and help us get strong enough to face that idiot and his pet. Nolletta will be alright."
Ishmael cocks his head. "Well, you and I have the same skills so it would make more sense for Dan to go with you and I can keep an eye on Nolletta. Two rogues aren't exactly the best in battle."
Dangren nods. "We'll have to find some others to shore up our weaknesses."
"Yeah, fighting over flanking isn't gonna help us," Jerrica says. "I guess this means you'll stay here, Gumdrop?"
"I'll have to since you'll have a cleric," Gumdrop answers.
"Damn, I wish Derika was here, she could chop up that beast with no problem...but then she'd be as weak as I am now."
Frostine just sits quietly as she listens to the more experienced fighters work things out. She didn't know anything about tactics or things of that sort. The only fights she had been in was the one with the fish people on the boat, and those kobolds. Luckily they hadn't gotten into it with the centaurs....her thoughts kind of veer off as she thinks of Thorgr again and wonders what was going to happen to him and the others now.
Shaking her head she gets back to the "reality" they're in right at the moment, "Okay....so....have we figured out what we're doing yet because I'm just getting bored on top of being frustrated and pissed off and that's never a good thing."
"I guess we're taking Dangren to the swamps and we're going to beat up stuff."