I relax slightly as the last of the strange writhing creatures are destroyed. They don't look amazingly apetizing - but the idea of fresh meat makes my mouth water.
One of them has fallen near the bones, and there's something about them... something... almost...remembered...
Then I see what Deng and Kryandra are doing.
Jon bolts for the door - he hasn't quite made it when the healing energy washes over him. Instinctually he covers his head with his hands... and nothing. The energy washes past him. Uncomfortable, but not painful. As if it were looking for something else.
Petra wipes sweat from her face as the last of the beasts is downed. "Well-done, Karmuk," she says with a nod at the other dwarf. He'd taken a mighty bite there, but she has confidence in a stout brother of the caves, even if Karmuk is not from her clan.
She winces when she sees the holy symbol held up again-- is Jon going to be roasted once more?-- but it seems to do him no harm this time.
"Gods' bones. So when Deng does it it hurts, and when Kyranda does it it doesn't?" she mutters with her brows knit. The ways of the gods other than Torag are mostly foreign to her; she won't learn more of them than what's needed to be a good leader, likely.
"Status, anyone still hurt or sufferin'?"
"Thanks Petra, just doing my duty."
"And thank you Kyranda for healing."
Karmuk lifts the bone with carved symbols and the old cloak. "Anyone knows what these are?"
"Is the anything interesting at the table?"
The combat over, Aurengil enters the room, looking for some way to be helpful.
Kyranda turns to Deng and says, "Poison? The power of Calistria would have healed the poison too, at least I think so." The priestess stretches her leg out and inspects where the wound had been moments before. "I feel fine but...Oh no, Jon! I’m sorry. Did I hurt you?"
Kyranda begins to cry, "The dead walking, I can take that but those disgusting bugs, no way. I’m not going on this mission. Zandu, I want to go back to the keep, now. Ill take what weve found here, and you all can go on ahead to Sunshine Crag." Kyranda stands and heads for the door.
Seeing the skull invokes feelings and figments of things remembered in Jons psyche, though perception often leads to delusion, of that, you are sure.
Karmuk inspects the bone with the strange symbols. Much of the symbols engraved upon the 6inch bone are alien and strange to you, with the exception of one particular symbol, of which you have chanced upon during your studies of various divinities. You recognize the symbol of a tiny grinning skull with what appears to be something in its eyes. Coins, yes coins in its eyes, as that of Charon, the boatmen of the Styx and Horseman of Death.
Aurengil divines the bone, it is a wand, a wand of inflict wounds. The divination of your incantation also catches an additional aura of moderate power, the book on the desk.
Aurengil watches Kyranda go, but makes no move to stop her. Better she learn her limitations here than in the midst of a far more dire danger.
He picks up the bone wand with a certain distaste and shoves it into his belt. He concentrates on the book to see if he can learn more.
"This wooden bone has something to do with death, I just cant figure out what it is."
Aurengil looks over the book; it is a ghastly thing and appears to be bound from flesh. Engraved upon the inside cover is the same skull like symbol that is engraved upon the wand, a grinning skull with coins in its eyes.
The front inside and back covers also contain other foul sketches such as a skeletal hand with its middle index finger extended, some sort of ghoulish figure constricting a human with its tongue, and the image of a human shaped beast with a horses skull for a head, hooves and the rotting wings of a carrion bird.
Flipping through the book you note that there are two different kinds of writing in the tome; one sort of writing consists of short annotations or notes of some kind written about the margins of the book in a language that is beyond the languages of your familiarity. The other type of writing, which comprise the majority of the books pages, you recognize as arcane magical script. In summary, Aurengil, you understand that this is a spell book.
Petra eyes Kyranda's disappearing back but her thoughts run similar to Aurengil's. If she cannot be relied upon, then better to know it now.
She grimaces in mild superstition at the sight of the death's-head decorated bone wand and book. Let those whose business is to know about such things, like Aurengil, study those. She won't touch them unless it's needful.
"Jon, you alright?" she asks as she looks over the thin wisp of smoke rising from his body.
After he answers, she'll eye the floorboards thoughtfully, and heft her axe again. There'd been four of them roughly as big as <I>her</i>-- there must be a fairly large hollow space beneath the floorboards. Might be worth lookin' down into it.
"I'm goin' to chop open this crack a bit wider," she informs the others, before setting her axe to work on the wooden floorboards. She doesn't mean to destroy the whole floor, just widen the gap enough to get a light clearly in and make sure there's nothing else down there-- either dangerous, or valuable.
"Well, if you think you need to go, Kyranda, but I don't think there's much for you to take with you. You can at least let them know we've arrived and seem to have gotten past the first few obstacles well enough."
He tries to go back to watching for anything approaching while the others start digging through the shack.
Like the bone wand, Aurengil takes the spell book. He can't use necromantic spells, but that doesn't mean he won't in the future. And either way he now needs to understand them.
"I... Think so. Yes, I'm fine."
"Kryandra - If you want to go, go." Jon offers "Your help has been appreciated, but those back at the keep could use your help too."
Just hope I don't need healing again
"What have you found, Aurengil?"
"The tools of the enemy," says the elf. "A book of necromantic spells. I need to study necromancy if I'm to understand what's happening around us, Jon."
The other part of the sentence...So I can help you...remains unsaid.
Petra chops away at the floor boards and widens the crack. Inside the small crevice there is nothing but stone and earth, there is nothing else down there.
Head down, Kyranda offers a nod of affirmation to Deng and Jon. Then, the priestess turns and silently exits the shack.
Zandu heads for the door as well, just before leaving she turns around and says,”I will remain at the keep as well. When should I return for you?”
"Dead end," Petra says with a shrug. Looking and finding nothing is preferable than not looking and getting ambushed, in her book.
She frowns at Zandu's question. "We should reach Sunshine Crag by nightfall, I reckon. One day to clear it an' investigate, another back... three days' time, eh?" she asks, glancing at the others.
"That's if we survive", Karmuk murmurs with quiet voice, more to himself than other.
"Are we done here? Everything interesting collected?"
"We have to survive. Somebody must. Life finds a way." Deng's thoughts aren't spoken any louder than Karmuk's.
As the others seem to be finished looking around and gathering whatever they have found, Deng readies himself to move on.
"To Sunshine Crag, then." Petra tightens a strap of her pack, and readies to go.
"I'd rather move during the day and have plenty of time find shelter" agrees Jon, though his heart is not in it.
More hours of trudging through this damned sunlight
"Anyone know what these things were and if they're okay to eat?"
"I'm not that hungry. Not yet. People eat vermin, though, so we probably could. I mean, big bugs are vermin, right?"
"Afraid of the dark Jon?"
how long until nightfall?
Zandu replies, Alright, I will return in three days’ time. As a plan B, or if you need more time, I’ll anchor and wait around for an extra two days. If your not back in five days total, I’ll sail back to the keep and will return once a week for three weeks. If you’ve not returned in three weeks, ill bet my cutter that Master Dorn will come looking for you himself.
Watch your assess out there.
According to the map you’ve found, Traitors Road leads directly to and through the village of Sunshine Crag. The ruddy and overgrown road awaits the parties trek. The Hallow Forest dominates the landscape beyond.
"They're centipedes... don't usually see 'em this size on the surface, but we get 'em that big sometimes down in the deep caves. You can eat 'em in a pinch but I don't recommend it. Turn the stomach of anyone but a dwarf, if you ask me. If you do decide to go for it, mind you take your meat from the belly-- there's poisonous glands all through the head and on some of 'em, the pincers too."
Petra consults her mental map of the region, and nods to Zandu. "Aye, 's fair. Safe travels, Zandu.
"Take your meat from that critter if you want it, but let's get on the road quick. Sooner we're done with this 'traitor's road' the better." Pause. "Humans sure name their roads forebodin' names."
"Thanks but no thanks. I'll settle to the wine that Jon found."
Jon smiles at Karmuk's question
I think I'd be safe enough. Not that hard to walk unseen in the dark, but no-one else seems much good at it.
"Understand me here - it's not that I want to eat these damn things. How many days food do we actually have?"
"Four days for m'self." Petra rubs at her jaw, studying the dead centipedes. She sees Jon's point, but blah... they taste awful.
"Five days," says Aurengil. "If we are not back here in less time than that, it will be because we no longer need to eat. If we make haste, we can arrive at Sunshine Crag before nightfall. Let us be off."
The companions set out upon the road and begin their trek at a hasty hustling pace. Soon you approach the Hollow Forest and the road bends eastward. You continue your journey at a hasty pace and continue along the road and adjacent to the forest. As you walk along the road you can see the edge of the forest but within it is so thick and darkened by the mass of gigantic trees and heavy undergrowth that it is nearly impossible to see inside.
Petra's steps slow, although they do not entirely stop. "Hssst, hang up," she whispers to the others. "Somethin's movin'. To right and behind. Weapons out, ears primed."
Karmuk readies his weapon preparing for fight and positions himself between the source of the noise and rest of the party (except maybe Petra) - trying to move as quietly as he can.
"What do you see, my friend?" whispers Aurengil, letting his familiar fly free.
Calathil takes flight and immediately communicates its delight and elation in the freedom as she soars high up into the air. The hawk circles several times before diving down to disappear into the woodland covering where she perches upon a lofty branch. After a few seconds, Calathils emotions shift from a general sense of happiness and freedom to one of anxiety, angst and fear.
"She's found something. And few things that walk can frighten a hawk," says Aurengil. " Which means she is frightened for me. Prepare yourselves."
Who can see anything in this damnable cursed light!
As the others call out their warnings, Deng is already looking in the direction of the noise. Nervous? Certainly. Scared? Some. Moments of adrenaline pumping combat with things which are unnatural make typical tension over the unknown seem almost calm by comparison. Almost.
As the party slows its pace, those who can hear the noise coming from within the forest hear it continue crashing on, its position and course relative to the road and now ahead of the party and moving.
Those trying to see within the forest cannot see anything, it is too dark and out of range of your dark vision.
.
Assuming the last one has worn off, is it okay for Jon to cast Mage Armour?
Aurengil has Calithil continue to follow the noise but remain high in the sky. He keeps his companions informed of anything he learns from the hawk.
"'s movin' past us," Petra grunts. "But not towards us. We can keep goin' forward, but cautious-like.... doesn't sound like whatever it is is too concerned with quiet."
She frowns as something occurs to her. "...'less 's just meant as a distraction while somethin' sneaky comes up from th' other side."
Petra, you hear another sound go swishing through the forest, although less audible than the first, yet moving in the same direction.
Petra frowns. "There's somethin' else that way. Goin' more quiet. But it don't sound like it's trying to sneak up on us either... goin' to join the first."
"Hunh." Deng looks at the forest and then back at Petra. "Do you think the first thing was something running away from the second thing? I thought most things in a forest moved a LOT more quietly than that, normally."
Jon frowns
"Joining up, or hunting it? If it is hunting - well the dead don't hunt the dead."
We're in trouble if the dead are joining up and moving ahead of us, though."
A disturbing thought occurs to Jon
"Could it be people? Fleeing the dead?"
"Doubt it," Petra says pessimistically. "Who could still be out here?"
But hope is nice. She glances around to the others. "Only way for us to learn what it is, is to follow the sounds. Even if it's just a panicked deer... that's food, or maybe livestock possibilities, eh? We can't just write it off."
"Maybe we should yell and attract it's attention, and just face what ever it is?"
"If it's rotters with half a brain, they might go find more of each other to try and ambush us," Petra sighs. "If it is a scared animal, it'll run off from our yell too. I think we need to go meet it. Them. Careful-like, and quiet-like, of course, but..."
Jon nods, steps into the forest and melts away.
"So, we're going to try to hunt something running full tilt away from us in a forest? I'll give ti a try, but I'm not optimistic."
"I don't reckon to catch up with it by speed," Petra says with a shake of her head. "Anythin' makin' that much noise will leave tracks, though."
She moves after the spot in the trees Jon had practically melted away into, trying to be quiet herself, but that's quite a bit harder for her. Twigs and branches and leaves constantly crack under-foot-- she misses the tunnels and caves. It's easier to be silent there, for her.