Julio continues down the rope.
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Akula's axe came down again.
The stream of profanities do not abate as the guardsman slowly, angrily feeds Sureliah her potion.
She better survive this now... these things aren't cheap.
Julio manages to nearly fall again but catches himself.
Akula lashes out at the rat, seeing his blow deflected by its surprisingly resilient skin.
Savien manages to administer the potion to Sureliah. The bleeding stops and her breathing stabilizes.
Blitz moves around the half orcs-using all of his movement taking the scenic route to avoid a reactive attack, satisfied with drawing blood he lashes out with his scizore.
Even with the distraction of Savien on the other side, Blitz fails to make contact with the rat. Finally sensing the flow of the battle, the rat tries to spin and retreat but is instead brought down by a series of blows from the party. Kazh in particular doesn’t stop until the vermin is well and truly dead.
Blitz moves to Surliah, takes out a potion of Cure Light wounds, and administers it to her.
Julio again tries to figure out the rope.
The guardsman cleans his blade and scowls toward Sureliah as she stirs awake, before sheathing it and unstrapping his polearm.
"Hey, maybe don't jump off a cliff next time..."
With a shake of his head, Savien moves several feet down the path toward the south and keeps a watch while the others get their bearings.
Sometimes I wonder why I work with other people at all...
Akula helps the elf sit up, and then to her feet. He says nothing about the fight or the fall.
Savien takes a look around. The path leads more or less directly to a less broken portion of ground at the southwest corner of the low building. It look like there may be a door there. Scattered around the area are the remains of columns, the larger of which have very obviously carved runes in them. The cliff around you is uneven with plenty of very small caves at ground level. You don't see anything else alive down here.
Kazh! Come!
Vak'rogh recovers the harness from the quarry floor and secures it once more to his wolf.
Kazh, stay!
And Vak begins to ascend the knotted rope, with the end of the harness rig loosely threaded through his shoulder strap.
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Sureliah coughs as she comes to, her broken bones sewing back together. Ack, ouch.... Ugh, I fell didn't I? she groans, Ack, Melaphisto will be mad at me for this...[/b] she says clutching her ribs. I ah... Suppose that was your potion? Or was that mine? she asks, reaching to feel her pocket, finding the potion gone she smiles. Well... Thanks for that...
Savien looks back at the others, Julio landing at the bottom and Vak'rogh climbing right back up.
"Are you.... fleeing?" It seems like, by his tone, the guardsman means it both as a question and a taunt.
The guardsman eyes the small caves in the cliffside uneasily.
Vak'rogh looks back over his shoulder from his position on the wall and laughs.
Flee? No. But hurt too bad to do more today. I'm not stupid.
And with that, he resumes his ascent.
The guardsman runs a hand through his hair with a sigh and a glance around. "Twig monsters up there, rats down here. Doesn't seem much different. Might be a bit more defensible with walls. Maybe we should find a place to hole up here."
Savien shrugs either way and spends some time scanning the area for any defensible resting places.
Akula was more comfortable in the forest, so he climbed up the rope after Vak'rogh and set about finding a good place to make camp.
"At this point, I think it is of utmost importance that we stick together. The half-orcs have made their choice in this matter, so maybe we should follow suit. Especially since one is our healer!"[/b]
Blitz unstraps his scizore and puts it and the short sword in a sack. He turns to Surliah,
"My innate magic is gone for the day, but I would ascend after you. If anything mishaps this time I will do my best to catch you physically."
Blitz awaits Surliah to ascend the rope.
You all make it up top together. The concern that Vak was abandoning the group abates and Akula sets out to find a defensible position to make camp. The problem is, there is not much around. The road leads right up to the lip of the pit on the south end and leads away from the pit on the north end. The cover in the surrounding grasslands is about 3 or 4 feet tall obscuring approaches from any direction. The treeline abruptly starts about 1/2 mile to the east and the west. Still though, perseverance pays off and the half-orc finds a hill a little ways to the north with a shallow natural cave that at least offers some protection from the elements and will also shield the light of the group's campfire from at least a couple directions. The party gets some well deserved rest.
The sun climbs over the treeline to the east. It is another clear day.
Blitz wakes up sweating and with a pounding headache. Something isn't right.
Vak notices that the bite marks around his wound are bright red. He feels fine today though.
Julio rises early to groom himself and brush the dirt and dust from his clothing.
He manages to stay upwind of his companions as he tabs on some cologne.
You never get a second chance to make a first impression. Who knows who we will meet today.
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Sureliah groans, her body bruised, Ah, I find it Strangly Ironic that I, who didn't even fight, happen to be the one in the most pain...
She makes her way up, and moves over to the others. I think this is a good time to introduce Melaphisto... she says, You see, I'm a Summoner, and I have an Eidolon... But he isn't the most... Ah, appealing thing... she leans a little to the side, favoring her left foot. Now all I ask is that you do not attack him when I'm done Summoning. Honestly I figured you would if I had just shown him to you earlier.
She moves to the side a little, I'm gonna take a minute to Summon my Eidolon, I'll be right back... she then steps into the woods.
Akula watched the strange elf wander off to commune with her spirit. She seemed embarassed about it, and a bit ashamed that she was even bringing it up. He was starting to realize that he understood people even less than he thought.
Savien frowns slightly. "Strangely ironic that you jumped off a cliff? What were you going to do if you made it down safely, anyway?" the guardsman asks as he follows her into the woods.
I don't know why, but it just feels like a total waste to let her go die on her own after using two potions on her. Maybe this is why I'm so bad at Golem.
Savien doesn't let her out of his sight.
Blitz is slow to rise as he realizes the depth of the damage from the rat bites.
Julio looks great...in his own mind anyway.
Sureliah finally begins the unveiling of her greatest creation.
...Meanwhile, down below in the pit...
The sun rises over the eastern ledge of the crevice, shining onto the destroyed second floor of the building at its base. All is quiet...from the outside of the building anyway.
Akula did not sleep much. He took last watch and woke early to listen to the wind and connect with the earth. He hung a simple set of chimes from a tree branch and listened to them stirred by the wind while he slowly washed his head and upper body with cool, clean water from a small conjured rain cloud. When he was finished he stoked the fire and made a simple breakfast by waving his hand over a cookpot and causing a small rain cloud to fill it with water. Next came hard tubers and dried meats. It was not a fine meal, but it was a hearty one.
He served Blitz last but gave him the most food.
Before setting out, he asked the injured and the sick, "Are you well enough to continue on?"
No. Not good to travel today. Only matter of time before I am sick, as he is, Vak'rogh grumbles as he gestures to Blitz. Will help hunt, with Kazh, but I must rest more.
Blitz just sits there sullen on how literally "green" he is showing himself to be...he takes all kindness shown his way gracefully and graciously.
Savien is unusually quiet as the party rises, several of them nursing wounds. Rats. And a cliff, of all things. This is promising. Real promising.
As he dwells on his thoughts, the guardsman carefully unpacks several items from his backpack and stows them inside his bedroll, before putting the now-lighter backpack on.
"There's obviously more than rats down there. If we're staying here, I'm going to go watch. You can come along if you stay quiet," he says to nobody in particular.
Without waiting, Savien heads off to the south side of the pit and searches for a spot in the tall grass with a safe view of the crevice.
Akula spends the morning hunting with Vak and Kazh and manages to trap three rabbits and fill a pouch with berries gathered from a bush along the edge of the treeline.
Blitz spends the day resting.
Savien heads over to the pit quietly watching. Everything is still in and around the building. At one point, he heads over to see the entryway and just watches it. Nothing happens. Near dusk, just as he is thinking of heading back to join the others, he hears a single screech from somewhere down below. Unfortunately the echoes make it impossible to pinpoint and he is unable to spot anything.
As for Sureliah...
Savien returns, grumpy, to the group just before dusk and eats whatever is left of the meal from earlier in silence. After his meal, Savien shakes his heads at the others' wounds.
"Not much happening during the day over there. You guys will have to handle watches here without me tonight. I want to see if anything comes out of that place in the dark."
With his brief return, Savien quickly heads out again, taking up a hiding spot in view of the entryway. He's no stranger to twenty four hour watches in his line of work. Just another day at the job for Savien.
Akula went still for a moment while he dressed the rabbits he'd caught earlier. "Something is stalking the camp." he said quietly.
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Sureliah looks over to Akula,
Akula likely doesn't see much, just the slight shape of something moving behind some brush.
No worries, says Sureliah. It Shou just be my Eidolon. I told him to keep hidden so that if we are ambushed again he could catch them back... she says this dismissively, trying to to brush off the Orc's suspicion.
In the woods the Eidolon remains quiet, hiding in some brush, and acomolshing it quite well, despite it's strange appearance.
Sureliah pulls a headband from her bag and ties it over the glowing rune on her head, effectively hiding it. You'll be able to tell, if it has the same symbol as the one on my forehead than it is mine. she says, Anyways, to keep it hidden I suggest you not mention it... I'll properly introduce it when we begin to move again...
Akula grunted and gave a nod, going back to dressing his rabbits.
he still had the skins from the previous day, plus these three made five skins. He bent some branches and used a spool of twine to make stretching racks. He rubbed them down with salt and left them to dry next to the fire.
Sureliah arrives back in camp...alone...sort of. Akula sees her eidolon but makes little reference to it. He spends his time preparing rabbit pelts.
Savien returns long enough to provide an update on where he has been and to grab a bite to eat. He then heads back to watch the rest of the night.
The rest of the party sets the watch schedule again, one short of their full compliment. Fortunately again though, the night passes uneventfully.
The sun comes up once again. There is some cloud cover today but otherwise, it looks just like yesterday.
That night, before they bed down Akula heals the wounded.
The full nights rest helped Blitz stave off the effects of the filth fever. Though he remains ill for the most part.
Thank you, Akula. I hope the spirits will keep the sickness from me. I hope by tomorrow to feel more myself, again.
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After the night's rest, Vak'rogh feels more spry than he has since the battle with the vermin in the quarry. Kazh is getting restless, bored with hunting rabbits and sitting in a hole.
Today may be better for exploring! Still not at my best, but much better! At this, he glances at the still-reddened rat bite, and adds: But this may become a bigger a problem soon . . . .
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In the morning Sureliah goes to call her Eidolon back again, this time she doesn't leave camp,
The ritual, taking most of a minute consisted mostly of her silently chanting under her breath as she slowly drew a summoning circle in the dirt.
When she finished drawing the circle it glowed brightly, opening up into the realm that her Eidolon resides, sliding slowly from the circle it came, not clawing nor climbing, just appearing, as iff the circle was simply moving to reveal it. The Eidolon stood as tall as the elf, with skin white as paper and as smooth as worked clay, overall it appeared as a clay doll, with grotesque features. It's skin looked like it was solid, and there was no bone or Mussle below, as if that was it's whole being. It was mostly humanoid worth digigrade feet, three long digit on each foot, as well as on it's hands. It's arms where inproportionate, with large hands and forearms but thin upper arms, it's neck was hidden in a tangles of sickly tenticles hanging from it's head and face it's head was perfectly smooth save for the tentacles hanging from it's face and the two pure black eyes. It bows as it finishes appearing.
My lady... As beautiful as ever... it says to Sureliah, who smiles and bows back. Only as the beholder sees it is her response.
She then turns to those who bothered to watch and introduces her Eidolon. This is Melaphisto, he is my Eidolon spirit. Do not attack him... she says, as of expecting that to happen despite her requests.
Julio watches the ritual and then stares at the creature that arrives. He thinks back over the time that he has spent with Sureliah and hopes that he has not offended her in any way.
"Welcome Melaphisto. I am Julio."
"Ughh... I must be seeing things." Savien's been yawning and rubbing his eyes all morning. He's not very talkative about what he discovered in his 24 hour vigil. Mostly he just scowls and rubs his eyes again if anyone asks him about it.
Did Mustachio just greet that thing? But if I'm dreaming, why am I so tired?
Deciding to play along with the dream, Savien, through a yawn asks Sureliah, "EEEUUUAAAAHHHHHHH, can you tell your spirit-thing to put a shirt on?"
Lazy, probably due to lack of sleep, Savien leaves his bedroll containing his heavy gear in the camp as he prepares to head back to the citadel with the others after breakfast.