Alis knocks before entering the room with Priyya and Darvesch. Within, she finds her cousin sitting atop the bed with the smell of incense still lingering in the air. After the stench of sweat and earth and decay, she finds the familiar odor invigorating and enjoys a deep breath.
"Lureene said that you needed my help with something?"
Lureene feels a jolt of pleasure at the touch of Sasha that travels from her shoulders down through her wings all the way to her toes. Wow, she is goood! She returns the hug readily, and after a moment she gently disengages and replies "I am sorry Sash, bit I need to prepare my spells for our battle against the Red Mountain Devil."
She then whispers softly in Sasha'a ear, "Perhaps later we can drag the tub out of the tower for a private bath..."
Priyya nods. "Darvesch seems to have helped himself to a double dose of exceptionally strong poison while we were combating an awakened avatar of a snake god in the catacombs. There is no guarantee that I will be able to cure it on my own even with magic."
Her tone is clinical and does not spare any time for pleasantries or coddling. "Since our goddesses saw fit to set us on this path together, I see no good reason why the should object now. Do you?"
"You'll have no objections from me. I leave my body to your care. If you have a single curative spell that would eliminate this poison, give it a try. Otherwise, let the poison take its course. If the poison takes my life, Kahn must need my vigilance elsewhere."
"Well Kahn might need you elsewhere, but I still need you here!" She smiles gently, masking her uneasiness from him with well-practiced grace, although her anxiety does not escape Priyya's notice.
"Alright, let's try magic first and if that doesn't work..." she looks to Priyya, "do you have any more of that incense left?"
The dusky-skinned priestess nods and points to her pack on the floor. Closing her eyes for a moment, Alis says a short prayer and touches Darvesch on the shoulder. "For luck..."
With that, she nods to Priyya. "I'm ready."
Sense Motive Checks:
Theme: Holding your breath
Priyya unfurls the scroll of neutralize poison and with Alis by her side, the two intone its words together in the hopes of curing the poison in his system.
"Only one way to know if it worked or not," Priyya says, meeting Darvesch's gaze.
Steeling himself, the dwarf dismisses the magic keeping the poison at bay. Immediately, he begins to feel the numbness spreading thru him again like ice set afire. "Dammit, it didn't work! Alis, the incense!"
poison 0/2 saves DC 26
-2 penalty
ghoul fever 1/2 saves DC 16
diseased
Theme: Race against time
Sh1t!
"On it..." With a snap of her fingers, Alis ignites the second cone of incense and holds the censer near her cousin hoping that the fumes can restore enough of his constitution to keep him in the fight. Even as she does so, Priyya attempts to bring her skills as a healer to bear.
Reaching out, Alis grasps Darvesch's meaty hand with her dainty one. "You keep fighting! Got it?!"
nope
save 1/2
poison 1/2 saves DC 26
-2 penalty
ghoul fever 1/2 saves DC 16
diseased
"Pfft. That poor excuse for a snake just got a lucky shot. That's all. I can barely feel it now." Darvesch says confidently, gripping Alis's hand as he smiles at her.
"Give it hell, Hellhammer..." Priyya says grimly as she continues to try her best to aid him.
This ISN'T working!
"He doesn't even know the meaning of the word quit! Isn't that right, Darv?"
Alis returns her cousin's smile but in spite of her considerable level of composure, he can see the worry written all over her pretty face. She says another prayer for good luck and squeezes his hand a bit harder to ensure that he remains focused.
Sense Motive Checks:
save 2/2
"You have nothing to worry about, cousin." He assures Alis. "But remember, it is my duty to protect you. Just as it is my duty to purge the wicked. I'll just try not to be so hasty next time."
There are several more tense moments but with an incredible effort of mettle, Darvesch manages to persevere and the burning sensation finally starts to subside. As the dwarf's breathing begins to level out and the clammy feeling vanishes from his skin, Alis breathes a sigh of relief and throws her arms around him, tears of joy threatening to spill down his bare back.
"Fair enough," she sniffs, "Just no more playing cat and mouse with the undead avatars of forgotten gods, OK?!"
A long, slow sigh escapes Priyya and she sits heavily on the edge of the bed. "You know, Alis, I would have sworn that I had only seen 21 summers when we first set out. Lately though, I'm starting to wonder if Priyya is the disguise and Sarah is the real Surya-ka-Vahaak!"
She gives a deep laugh and claps her hands on her thighs. "If I see grey and wrinkles the next time I find the courage to brave my reflection, I'll know who to thank!"
She punches Alis playfully in the arm before giving Darvesch a shot as well. "Listen to your cousin! Next time you get poisoned, at least make it something that's treatable. In spite of recent practice I'm rusty on my funerary rites."
After a moment, she adds, "Not that I'm implying I'd like more practice, mind you."
From outside, you can hear Mal give a shout, "BACK WITH SOME GRUB! WHERE IS EVERYONE?"
"Where is–"
Eyes narrowing, Priyya pushes herself off the edge of the bed and stalks to the door silently whereupon she flings it open.
Perception Checks
The instant the door flies open, you hear a loud, "Waaauugh!" as Sasha topples into the room landing heavily at Priyya's feet. Priyya sees Lureene standing nearby, doing her best to look innocent.
"Oh, um... HI!"
Lureene finishes buttoning up her blouse, and also slides her precious spellbook into its box. When Priyya opens the door, she gives the warrior priestess an innocent smile, and says "We were just....umm....concerned about Darvesch, weren't we, Sash?"
Priyya gives her a look that is a cross between bemusement and exasperation. Turning her head to the side, she says, "I see thru your ruse, Master Dwarf. Preying on the tender hearts of all these impressionable young beauties... Tsk, tsk. I'll leave you to them then."
With that, she steps ove Sasha's prone form and quickly exits the lighthouse casting a baleful gaze at the thicking cloud cover overhead. "Grand..."
Time: 3:30md (midday, 3:30pm)
It takes some time for Sasha to fillet and cook the ram that Mal and Tal brought down. The rest of you use that time wisely, retiring to different areas of the lighthouse to pray and study in peace and quiet. Far above, Priyya kneels atop the tower's parapets facing where the sun would shine (if not for the gathering storm clouds). Alis and Lureene lounge on Ieana's bed, Alis humming softly as she pores over her songbook, Lureene anxiously chewing on the ends of her hair as she flips thru her spellbook. Darvesch meanwhile simply sits calmly on the bottom step, not far from the blondes, bearded chin resting atop folded hands and brow furrowed at he sits in silent contemplation.
It is with perfect timing then when each of you hears Sasha shouting that lunch is ready — now that your minds and spirits have been taken care of, it is time to see to your bodies as well...
A strong, cooling wind sways the tall trees surrounding the village. A light drizzle begins to fall, and far off you can hear the rolling rumble of thunder. As the rest of you step into the courtyard to help yourselves to skewers of roasted meat and fruit, Mal nods to Priyya and the two approach Darvesch.
"Priyya told me about the chance you took to be rid of the poison. If fighting thru the wrath of a dead god isn't enough to earn you the right to your clan's name then I don't want to find out what it takes, Hellhammer."
Not far away, Alis overhears the exchange and one corner of her mouth rises into a half-smile.
"You're tough, Darvesch," Mal continues, "but we're going to need you at your best to take on that devil. No complaints, we've got a job to do..."
With that, the towering hunter's eyes roll back and a primal intonation rises deep in his throat. He places a huge, clawed hand on the side of Darvesch's thick neck and a surge of power flows into the shorter warrior. Within mere moments, the young inquisitor finds his breathing comes more naturally and that the sense of weariness he'd felt has vanished.
With a nod of respect, the sergeant claps the dwarf on his pauldrons and motions for him to dig-in.
ghoul fever 1/2 saves DC 16
diseased
"Thank you. I feel much better now." He takes a deep breath. "Facing the wrath of a dead god is but another day in the life of a Hellhammer." He laughs. "Let's get on with it then. Let's eat and finish up here, and be on our way."
Lureene glances up at the threatening sky, as she devours the tasty skewers of meat and vegetables. "Mal, were you going to try to track Ieana at all before we reach Red Mountain? Since the weather looks preety bad, we may just want to head directly for the mountain. I know she arrived there at the mountain, but it is possible she may return to the lighthouse to signal a ship. I don't want her to slip by us while we deal with the Devil.
Darvesch's stomach grumbles just as he speaks, "I can help you track her, if you'd like, Mal."
Mal picks his teeth with a claw before licking them clean. "We already know she hit the Tide Stone. Why waste time tracking when we know damn well where she went? If she doubles-back to the lighthouse big deal. The signal mechanism is still a crate full of gears. If she's got another destination we need to the Tide Stone before the storm washes her trail away."
Lureene nods slowly, "I suppose you are right, she would not need to...but wait, what if she is going to meet a ship in that lagoon there, now that she has accomplished her goal. Should we try to see if she returned along the same path?"
Gods below... I swear I'm going to wring her neck one of these days!
"We've been over this before, Ourson. We can't check out every one of your 'ideas'. We know she went to the damn mountain, so we work from facts, not... whatever the hell you work from."
"That's enough, Sergeant," Alis says sharply, "you've made your point. We'll head to Red Mountain with all due haste. Hopefully this storm will work more to our advantage than against us, but that's beyond our control. Let's finish up and get marching!"
"Agreed. I'm already getting restless." Darvesch nods.
Lureene gives Mal a blistering stare, and mutters quietly "I am trying to anticipate what her next move will be! If you have a prob..." sshe stops suddenly, as she noticed she has her fists clenched.
Stepping away from the group for a moment, she takes a few calming breaths taught to her by Rath-hun, so long ago it seems.
I have to keep better control of my emotions, but why can I not make that big oaf see my point of view! Ieana has been at least two steps ahead of us, and I am sick and tired of it!
She returns and picks up her pack, along with her weapons. "Let's go," she says ungraciously.
Time: 1:15et (evening, 7:15pm)
With nothing left to say, all of you gather your packs and hit the trail. Not more than half and hour later, as you hike north along the bay, a light rain begins to fall upon Reaver's Shiv. Heat lighting flashes between the clouds, it's rumble not quite drowning out the raucous sounds of colorful birds and apes within the jungle. With the somewhat lower temperatures over the last two days, the weather very nearly seems pleasant, you vision relatively unobscured.
However, not long after 5 o'clock, as you approach the 3rd bend in the river, the storm intensifies.
All around you, birds hurry for the cover of the trees as the winds pick up and the once-gentle rains become much harder limiting your visibility. Water begins to pool on the ground faster than the earth can soak it up and it starts getting difficult to hear one another over the boom of thunder. Thankfully, in spite of the wind and rain, Alis spies a patch of trail where the water is seeping thru rather that pooling and uncovers what would normally have been a well-hidden pit-trap.
About another mile further, Lureene calls out a hidden snare at a crossroads leading north. Thankfully she does so before anyone can set foot in it and you are able to detour without issue.
By the time 1-o'clock sees you approaching the crossroads leading north to the ambush gorge, the 3rd trap (defeated by Alis) is already well behind you. It is then, after a little over 3 hours of hiking that you pause to take stock of your situation.
Ahead of you to the east, the crab-claw shaped lagoon looms covered in a fog that has settled down into the cliffs surrounding it. By Sasha and Mal's estimation, it is going to be at least a couple more hours before the storm plays itself off. As you shelter under a tree in the deepening darkness, he can tell you that pushing on without being able to see clearly will halve your rate of progress. By the time the storm could be expected to end, you would be nearly adjacent to the Tide Stones, albeit on the south side of a rain-swelled river and on a much lower cliff.
If you pushed on thru, it would most likely be close to 2-o'clock at night before you could hope to reach the Tide Stone — provided everyone can keep up the pace as you begin scaling the lower half of Red Mountain.
The question then is whether you break for the night now, hike on a bit further, or push on thru the night knowing that the likelihood of an encounter with the Red Mountain Devil will increase with each footstep and that it prefers to hunt at night...
Survival Checks
Survival Checks
Survival Checks
Survival Checks
[ REAVER'S SHIV: Map | Position (025 - Approaching the Crab-Claw Lagoon) | Overland Rules ]
Lureene looks up at the rain soaked skies, and thinks for a moment. She turns to Mal, aquestioning look in her eyes. "In your best judgement Mal, how do you think the Devil hunts its prey? Does it use senses such as sight and smell, or does it possible use telepathy to track its prey?"
"Huh..." Mal scowls as he thinks on the matter.
I mostly just know how to hurt you outsiders but...
"Could be some of both. The damn thing intruded on our dreams back at that hut so it has some sort of telepathy. It also knew where to bomb us with those animal carcasses when visibility was poor. Both times it was within bowshot so if it does hunt by telepathy there's a chance that the range is limited. If that's the case then it would still need to sight or smell things out from a distance."
"Sooo...it would be as hindered as we are by the elements... at least until it gets close enough." She adresses Alis at this point, "We should press on until the storm abates, and then decide what to do from there. If we can get as close as possible without it being aware of us, then we would have the advantage."
Since Darvesch can't add anything useful to the conversation about devils, he remains quiet about that subject. Though he does add, "If we encounter the Devil at night, some of us might be at a disadvantage, as far as visibility goes. I think we should stop here, and continue at first light."
Before Alis can respond to the two, Sasha pipes up. "I don't mind continuing on, but it's like Short St– uhh..." she pauses when a flash of lightning highlights Darvesch's scowl. "Darvie! Yeah it's like Darvie said, I can't see for sh1t in this crap so archery's out."
"Course, I'd rather stick a blade in it anyway..."
"I've slogged thru worse, but that's not the point. If we force a fight without visibility, it can pick away at us and we won't be able to retaliate."
"True, but we've witnessed that it enjoys tormenting its prey. Even if we delude ourselves into believing that stopping means safety, its last attack came while we were encamped. There are no guarantees. Besides which–" she looks to Alis who nods knowingly as if intuiting Priyya's thoughts.
Lureene interrupts, "I was not planning on attacking it immediately, but thinking of setting an ambush for it. That way we can pick the terms of battle. Still if we rest here, I can then summon Grak in the morning. An extra pair of eyes would be useful."
Alis waits for Lureene to say her peace before finishing Priyya's statement. "The point Priyya is making is that eliminating the devil, while desirable, isn't our main objective — stopping Ieana is."
Mal cocks his head to one side and puts his hands on his knees to bring himself closer to eye-level with everyone else. "What, you thinking we can just ignore it?"
"Lesser of two evils. Right now, I have no illusion that we can ignore the Devil. But, we can't let ourselves get caught up with trying to eliminate it. That'll accomplish only one thing: delaying us further, and allowing Ieana to escape." He takes a deep breath, sighing at the 'short' comment, "However, if we can quickly get information from the Devil, maybe that would help speed up Ieana's capture."
Alis extends a slender hand towards Darvesch and tips her head in acknowledgment. "Ieana didn't care about Quellig's treasure, she didn't care about Skather. She definitely had no compunction about killing everyone aboard The White Pearl just to get here swiftly and secretly. If she's in that much of a hurry, and ignored a powerful artifact like Skather, then whatever she's after must be truly impressive. Given the wicked place in which she went searching for clues, I want to stop her as soon as possible."
"Well," Sasha smiles as she sweeps wet tendrils of hair out of her face, "if we have to fight, it'll be better if we're already up than if we're caught napping, right?"
"I do not think we can take on both Ieana and the Devil in one battle. Either one of them is a formidable foe, and it will take much of our energy to defeat one. We need to have a clear plan so as to avoid being in a spot where we are overwhelmed by them. Remember, we do not know if any minions work for the Devil."
She nods in acknowledgement to Alis, "I think 'Lis is right. She is the true threat here."
"It's my understanding that Ieana's involvement with the Devil goes no further than some deal that gets her to whatever it is she's after. I'm not under any impression that they're working together at all. In fact, I'm under the impression that the Devil and Ieana's agendas are separate entirely. I highly doubt that, if we find the Devil, we'll find Ieana with it. Her plan, whatever it may be, feels to me, more insidious than whatever the Devil might have in mind. As hard to imagine as that may be."
Darvesch looks up to the sky, "I'm not looking to battle the Devil. I'm looking to question it, and move on. I'm convinced that Ieana is far more dangerous to us than the Devil will be. And as such, have no interest in combating the Devil at this time. And I'm sure, even it can recognize the waste of time a battle will be, regardless if it is more powerful than us."
Lureene sighs, "Darv, I don't want to be cruel here, but how can you possibly trust anything that fiend would tell you? The only way it would tell the truth is if we had it completely under our control! To bring that about would require us to...subdue...it in some way, which means we have to fight it. Not to mention the fact it is probably inclined to help Ieana since she provided it with what it seeks."
"Fine. Let's just get to the Tide Stone as quick as we can. We'll deal with what we have to as we encounter it." Darvesch slumps onthe ground to sit. "But first, you sleep." He says as he lays his shield face down on the ground, and places his axe on top, so both are easily battle ready.
"Sleep?" Alis looks at Darvesch like he's grown a second head. "We slept late today, we rested at lunch to prepare ourselves for whatever we find, it's not even a half hour past sunset, and it's pouring rain."
She laughs and slaps her hands on her soaked knee-breeches to emphasis just how wet it is. "Out of everyone here, I think maybe on you and Mal could fall asleep in this Darv, maybe Sasha too. Me though? Someone would need to takes a sap to my skull!"
Lureene gives the Princess a grin, as she brushes her bedraggled locks of hair out of her face. "I think what Darvesch means is he will make you sleep, if you do not stay out of trouble!"
On remembering all of the trouble the Princess is wont to attract, she feels a smile come over her face, and much of the tension she is feeling is drained away.