When they come upon the shack Jillian looks to the others "Should I go and knock?"
When they come upon the shack Jillian looks to the others "Should I go and knock?"
"That would be the polite thing..." Selde said quietly from atop Nur.
Emil makes sure his holy symbol of Erastil is clearly visible, takes off his shield, and steps to the door and knocks, "Anybody home? This is Father Emil late of Phaendar with refugees from the hobgoblin attack. If you need food or water, we can share."
After some scuffling noises from inside, a crackly elderly woman's voice calls out "You've got nothing I want, except I want to be left alone. Now, get out from here!"
Jillian steps up behind Emil "Please excuse our intrusion. We are just looking for some help. You see our town was raised by an army of hobgoblins, we have refugees with us and we are trying to find some place safe to harbor everyone. We are also seeking supplies to keep us going. Perhaps you could help us by giving us information or, if you have supplies maybe we can trade?"
The old woman opens the door to her shack. It is more bramble than door, and it is hardly visible even when you know where to look. "Well, missy, since you all don't seem to want to go away, you can help me out a bit. I've got to get some more firewood, and you look like you could use the workout. Ha! If'n you all need some things done for you, I can do them. But for hard cash or trade goods. If you need some good food, I've got some of that too. Tell you what, missy, I'll give you a basket of food for a pile of firewood."
Looking above the aasimar out into the forest, she continues, "I've dealt with hobgoblins before. And raiders. And thieves. I'll be alright. But, you might need my services again. I've got some scrolls I can sell you, or if you need a certain spell cast, I can do it. Nothing too difficult, you understand, but certainly more than any of you can expect to do."
Jillian nods "I'm sure we can gather some firewood for you. Give us some time and we will get it for you. Before we go though, can I ask you a question? As I said we are looking for someplace safe to shelter everyone. We've heard of caves to the southeast, but there was mention of some sort of lizard people. Do you know anything about that, or maybe somewhere else we could look to shelter several dozen people?"
"Wait," Caspan grumbles, though not loudly enough for any but those standing right next to him to hear, "we're really going to do this biddy's chores? We might as well just do them for the hobgobs, since they're going to hobgobble her up along with any wood we get for her!"
"Hmmm? How many are you?" she asks with half an eye closed. She peaks her head out and looks at the group and whistles. "You've got quite the collection, don't cha?"
She moves back into her shack and sits down to think. "Well, the lizard people are likely kobolds. I saw one 'while back exploring or scouting or whatever it is they were doing. I think they referred to themselves as the Children of the Stone. Pesky bastards! They harassed and feasted upon those Chernasardo Rangers in the area I heard."
Scratching her head she offers "There used to be a Chernasado redoubt a few days from here, but I haven't had no visit from a ranger in quite some time. Come to think of it, I ain't heard from old man Keloch in ages neither." she shrugs. "Don't think neither place could be big enough for your group, but worth looking into mishaps? Could try Gristledown as well, though they lumberjacks are more crass than I am!"
She's never been to any of the locations herself, but she's had them described to her. She does her best to recollect what she was told and passes it along to you.
Know. History
”What was that little tune I heard, ma’am? I know that’s a weird question but it reminded me of an old drinking song from many years ago. It’s kind of catchy,” Wren grins looking in amazement at the house made almost entirely of brambles. ”I really appreciate your craftsmanship! This house is really neat. I’m sure we can talk some of the boys into chopping some wood for you, that’s the least we could do for a friendly face in these deep woods. ...”
Jillian looks back at Caspan and gives him a glare "We need the supplies don't we? A few simple tasks to feed some of us, I think is a good trade off don't you?"
She turns back to the old woman "I wonder do you think we could setup camp nearby so we can see to our people and your tasks at the same time? I'm Jillian by the way. What's your name?"
”Jillian is right! Sorry for not introducing myself. I’m Wren. I’ve had wasps all in my hair earlier this morning and I’m still a bit frazzled. Ive never been in the woods this long at one time before and it’s a lot to get used to,” she grins.
When the old woman says she knows spells, Emil speaks up, "We have three people who have caught filth fever. If' ya know any spells that kin remove the disease, we kin perhaps offer ya somethin' in addition ta the firewood. We have ingredients fer a brew that should help, but some have the power ta remove disease with a single divine spell."
When she mentions having no concern about hobgoblins and mentions Gristledown, he adds, "Just so's ya know, the hobgoblins aren't jus' a small raidin' party but a coordinated army with a fortress in Phaendar. They obliterated Gristledown, showin' no mercy fer the fine people there. Ya may be safe since ye'r off' the beaten path an' yer house doesn't draw attention ta itself, but stlll, ya might be safer with a large group. We've defended ourselves against several groups o' them an' we would welcome someone like yerself ta help us as we look fer a new place ta live. We can escort ya back here when it all blows over."
"What, by the way, are those scrolls ya mentioned?"
Selde shrinks away slightly as the group engages with the old woman, slightly overwhelmed by the conversation. When there was enough of a lull, Selde pushed her question out. "Have you seen an old elf druid? His name is Talathel, he wields a bow and is quite irascible."
Caspan grunts.
"Fine, then," he says, acceding less than gracefully to the group's decision to do chores. "Guess I can put this axe to use."
”What was that little tune I heard, ma’am? I know that’s a weird question but it reminded me of an old drinking song from many years ago. It’s kind of catchy,”
The old lady slaps her hip with a "Ha!" and breaks into song and finishes with "Cuz we be off the pier of Cassomir" She laughs to herself as she relives some faroff memory, looking distant for a moment before turning to Wren and smiling with a twinkle in her eye. "Aye. I have more than one tale with some sailors o'er that one, missy!"
"I wonder do you think we could setup camp nearby so we can see to our people and your tasks at the same time? I'm Jillian by the way. What's your name?"
With a slight nod the woman explains "You may call me Veld. And you are?" Jillian goes through the effort of introducing everyone in your group, but stops short of delving into the survivors.
At the mention of camp nearby she frowns, "Welp. If it being just for tonight that's fine, but you say there are a menacing lot about and I don't want you drawing attention to myself. I done a good job staying out of sight all my years and a group of two dozen ain't helping me none with that!
Tonight is ok, but then you best be on your way."
If' ya know any spells that kin remove the disease, we kin perhaps offer ya somethin' in addition ta the firewood.
She shakes her head, "Nope. Sorry, don't know any spells like that."
"What, by the way, are those scrolls ya mentioned?"
She raises an eyebrow, "I know most of 'em, tell me what you be looking for sonny."
Additionally, she can offer spellcasting services or scrolls, but you must barter an equal amount of goods or hard coin. Her spellbook contains all 0-, 1st-, and 2nd-level wizard spells from the Core Rulebook except those of the illusion and necromancy schools.
"Have you seen an old elf druid? His name is Talathel, he wields a bow and is quite irascible."
The old lady looks up and to the left as she thinks on this. "Talathel, eh? I do think I know the old feller, though it been some time since he came around this way. Now he's the one you should be askin 'bout disease spells if I remember correctly. " She cackles as she remember something. "Why, I remember one time he visited and told me this tale of this grandaughter, " she pauses unsure of herserlf, "er, maybe it was his niece. Oh, a piece of work that one! Anyway, where was I?"
When Selde and Caspan go to chop wood, Veld seems pleased and enjoys watching the youngins put in some hard work. Selde executes the exercercise with a practiced motion with excellent form and ends the effort with only slight soreness in her arms . Caspan however is not used to chopping this much wood and throws out his back and pulls a muscle in neck. .
Father Emil tries to read the weather based on the wind, clouds and temperatures and comes to the conclusion that more of the same is in store for tomorrow. After conferring with Aubrin however, she draws a different conclusion. Unsure of themselves, they check with Jillian and Selde who possess some skill in this area. The two of them draw different conclusions and in the end all four are quite unsure what to expect.
omg worst luck ever.
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Thael, who had been exhausted after his ordeal earlier in the day, listens as the group discusses matters with the old crone.
He leans heavily on his staff, not much caring what she says until she mentions scrolls and spells. He pulls his own spellbook from his pack.
"Might I have a look at your spellbook?" he asks. "Under your supervision, of course. I happen to be a practitioner of magic, myself."
Jillian spends some time doing chores for Veld before the ground starts to setup camp for the night.
When they are ready to setup camp she will work to sure there is enough shelter for everyone.
She will also send Hunter off to try and scout for the caves to the south east.
Once the decision is made to camp, Emil will attend to the sick people, explaining how the alchemical remedy is supposed to help and checking on their symptoms, in an attempt to help them recover.
DC = save DC for disease
Emil did what he could but he's worried the stress of travel and lack of bed rest may hinder their ability to heal.
I there is time, Emil will also spend some time working on shelters.
Jillian is also well practiced at chopping wood and these chores and ends the hours of work with nothing more than some light soreness. .
With Emil's assistance, Rhyna's care and all other assistance from the group, by the end of the day Kaleb and Braedon are showing signs of improvement. While their fever is diminished, though still present, their aches and pains are starting to fade.
Mia however, is not in good shape. Covered in sweat and drifting in and out of sleep, it appears the difficulties of travel today were more challenging for her and she still maintains a high fever and all of her aches and pains.
Spells Copied from Another's Spellbook or a Scroll: A wizard can also add a spell to his book whenever he encounters one on a magic scroll or in another wizard's spellbook. No matter what the spell's source, the wizard must first decipher the magical writing (see Arcane Magical Writings). Next, he must spend 1 hour studying the spell. At the end of the hour, he must make a Spellcraft check (DC 15 + spell's level). A wizard who has specialized in a school of spells gains a +2 bonus on the Spellcraft check if the new spell is from his specialty school. If the check succeeds, the wizard understands the spell and can copy it into his spellbook (see Writing a New Spell into a Spellbook). The process leaves a spellbook that was copied from unharmed, but a spell successfully copied from a magic scroll disappears from the parchment.
Once a wizard understands a new spell, he can record it into his spellbook.Time: The process takes 1 hour per spell level. Cantrips (0 levels spells) take 30 minutes to record.
Space in the Spellbook: A spell takes up one page of the spellbook per spell level. Even a 0-level spell (cantrip) takes one page. A spellbook has 100 pages.
Materials and Costs: The cost for writing a new spell into a spellbook depends on the level of the spell, as noted on the following table. Note that a wizard does not have to pay these costs in time or gold for spells he gains for free at each new level.
Level 0: 5 gp
Level 1: 10 gpLevel 2: 40 gp
She will scribe them for:
Level 0: 6
Level 1: 12.5
Level 2: 50
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Despite illness hitting a few of the refugees thanks to tainted water from the waterskin, Gozran 5 continues to see the group adapt, with their stores supplemented by the fey, as well as Veld and the sheeps' milk. They have to cut into the stores as the three ill refugees weren't able to help find food, but not in any way that seriously threatens them right now.
They're also getting somewhat better at finding shelter, managing to locate sleeping accommodations near Veld's for most of the group, even as Amaliel, a seamstress, and Malcolm, a shepherd who did leathercraft in his spare time, started turning their cloth from Gristledown into tents.
Wren and Aubrin kept an eye on the flock (while Rhyna tended the ill trio), but they may have caught all the escaped sheep -- the trio looking for more that fled Phaendar were only to find one more, and may move to more productive work soon if their results don't improve.
Emil rises early as usual and reflects on the previous days highs and lows. He longs for a day of just working in his field, with no one else to look after except his pets. But he shakes his head and lets the fantasy go and focuses on his ritual, planting seeds in an arrow pattern. Then he contemplates his spells. He's concerned about the weather so he prepares his weather forecasting spell, Erastil's Lore, and Goodberry. Then, he prepares his spell to cause plants to wrap themselves around anyone in an area, to impede movement.
He immediately takes the opportunity to cast Read Weather. He tosses his forecasting sticks and watches as they swirl and fall. Then he gathers his sticks and joins the others just waking up to report on what weather to expect.
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Thael spends much of the previous evening, then all of the morning, adding the additional spells to his spellbook.
Though the effort seems to have been mentally grueling, he leaves the shack highly encouraged.
"These spells will prove very useful, I assure you," he tells the group. "Thank you for allocating our limited resources to this purpose," he adds.
"Hngrh," Caspan grunts. "Wasn't anything else to spend it on. Can one of your fancy spells make this shelter comfortable?"
He kicks the root he propped his pack on to use as a pillow the previous night.
The sleeping last night was chillier than the previous nights and the wind was relentless, never really stopping and keeping a brisk bite to the air all night. Nevertheless, the night passes without incident and the next morning arrives. The weather is quite similar to the previous day, remaining windy and chilly.
Before packing up and departing for the day, the group checks in with Veld one last time to ensure she is fine only to be met with a grumpy reply. You ask some last minute questions on distances to the locations she pointed out the previous day and while she doesn't have exact figures for you she is enough to provide enough information that you guess the redoubt is about a three quarters or so of a days journey north from here, old man Keloch is about a half days journey to the south and those caves are several days to the east. While she's happy for your help with the wood, she's insistent that the group leave now lest they lead any stray hobgoblins to her home.
Emil begins to read weather and is alarmed by his findings, trouble is coming. A terrible storm is going to hit early afternoon that is going to give your group much trouble. The temperature will drop, winds will be severe and pelting rain will but cripple visibility.
"Storms' comin'! If'n we don't want ta be caught out in it, we may have to double time it toward that ranger redoubt before it hits. I know it'd be rough on our sick people but it'll be harder if'n we're exposed in the wild during a storm."
Emil will also inform Geld of the oncoming storm.
”Ihate to not check in on the old man, but it sounds like the redoubt would be a safer place for us to stay. I agree with the father....we should head north. Maybe we could double back to check on him after we ride out the storm and talk to the rangers,” Wren nodded, chewing on her fingernail, clearly torn by the decision.
"Nur can help transport the sick. These woods are no place to be caught in a storm."
The group packs as quickly as possible in order to get a move on to the north before the storm hits. Moving as quickly as possible, they put the sickest individual on Nur for transportation while the others make do at at hurried pace.
The way north fades from a wide trail and narrows to an animal trail only a forearm’s length wide. It takes some effort to move single file and go
carefully along this path. That choice might actually be faster than going side by side and blazing new trails. Jillia and Father Emil seem to handle following the trail the best and alternate turns leading the way through the dense area.
After a few hours of single file coverage the path begins to widen and allow people to move in groups of two wide just as the terrain begins to get a little more marshy and less dense. About the same time there is a noticeable drop in temperatures Jillia, Caspan and Wren warn the group that they have about ten minutes before the storm hits.
Doing their best to increase the pace as fast as they can, they urge everyone to push it and move quickly. The skies begin to darken and a light rain quickly turns into stinging, pelting rain with increasing winds pushing against the party. The winds go so strong in fact that Wren, Kaleb and Reuben all find their small frames occasionally stalled by the steadily increasing winds and are unable to push forward. Once an incredible strong burst blows Wren right off her feet and she flies backward into a nearby tree and nearly knocks the wind out of her.
A crack of lightning erupts loudly overhead and the group knows that the storm as arrived, though not in full force quite yet. Skylar and Farrow both are having trouble moving against the wind, their strength not quite enough to push on uninterrupted. Though it's nearly midday, the darkness of the storm coupled with the gale force winds and stinging rain have reduced visibility by three quarters. You don't think your destination is too far, but it's difficult to tell in this conditions which way is correct.
Wren tries talking but quickly realizes she has to scream to be heard over the rain and wind! ”We smaller lot are having a lot of trouble moving here! Is there any way to build some quick shelter? I’m not sure we can make it any farther. I’m not even sure which way is north anymore,” she yells, rubbing her backside after picking herself up from her unfortunate meeting with the tree. ”What have I done to anger you, Green Mother?!”
Caspan hunches down, miserable in the cold weather, even if he's easily able to muscle his way through the wind.
When the others start talking about stopping she looks about and gauges the storm and how far they should have left to go.
If she is confident they are close she will press the others to continue on to get out of the weather rather than struggle with trying to setup shelter that may not provide adequate defense against the storm. "We should be close. I think we should press on rather than struggle against this weather while attempting to setup camp."
If they do proceed she will help one of the smaller folk along, holding their hand to guide them through the storm.
Emil is in favor of setting up camp rather than try and fail to reach the redoubt. "These storms can be hella to ride out in the best o' shelters! We got lightning, wind, trees could fall, and tornadoes are even common when we get a big 'un like this."
Jillian thinks that if they press on in this weather and these conditions, it's likely and hours worth of effort.
While setting camp is a possibility, Father Emil knows that this storm is going to be powerful enough that if they do setup their shelter that there is a high likelihood that several of them will be destroyed due to the high winds and debris.
Selde leaned down to help brace Wren. "Jillian, you or I might advance, but it would be a real danger to most!" Her soft voice struggling against the winds. "If we press forward we have to be certain!
Caspan looks back and forth between those who knows the woods and weather far better than he did. He frowns as Jillian proposes moving forward.
"Sometimes it's just best to lay low," he grunts. "You hunker down in a nice basement, even a pile of trash if you got to. Whatever keeps you safe."
Jillian shakes her head "It will take us as long if not longer to setup shelters when there is already someplace we can find shelter. It's one thing to trek through a storm, it is something completely different trying to setup an actual shelter in the middle of it."
Either way Jillian will go with the group consensus but she worries, whether rightfully or not, that stopping and trying to build shelters in the middle of the storm will be worse than trekking through it.
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Thael holds his heavy cloak shut at the throat, the hood protecting him somewhat from the rain.
Shivering like a wet cat despite his fine cold-weather clothing, the wizard nods at Jillian's suggestion. "I don't want to spend a minute longer than we need to out here. This looks like a particularly bad place to make camp. Let's push through and make shelters when we get there."
Turning to his half-sister, he yells into the wind"Maybe Wren can ride Nur."
"Yer all assuming the fort is intact and occupied by a group of friendly rangers. What if the hobgobs burned it ta the ground and left it like they did Gristledown? We have time ta make shelters an' that gives us an advantage. If we move an' git lost or meet hostile occupants or find the fort doesn't have enough room, we're out of luck when luck is already in scarce supply an' sorely needed. But if'n we're gonna go, let's haul glass! Folks should tie themselves tagether fer stability an' then run for all they're worth."
The decision is made to stay put and to shelter in place. Everyone begins to setup and try to get the best protection that they can from the elements. The lean-to's are set up only to have the wind knock them down to the ground and blow it around. Any open flame is extinguished in the wind and anything that is not tied down begins to blow away.
Communication becomes difficult and requires close quarters and shouting in order to get messages across and people begin to grow worried. Marleen, the seven year old girl, screams as she loses her grip of the hand she was holding and flies backwards into a large log that sends her cartwheeling to the ground.
Caspan needs a medium sized branch to replace a piece that broke when the camp was last broken down and quickly moves aside from the trail to try and locate one as fast as he can.
Scavenging the ground he looks down and finds not a stick what looks like a huge hole in the ground that appears to lead down out of the elements. The hole is large enough to fit medium sized creatures, but the depth and extent of it cannot be seen from out here in the storm.
Father Emil points out that this was likely the den of a creature such as wolverines usually dig. The hole looks large enough to fit the party and all survivors potentially...
"Hey!" Caspan shouts. "Over here! There's a hole! Let's get out of this storm!"
It doesn't seem to occur to him that a normal wolverine wouldn't normally make a hole this large as a den. Heck, it was probably even too big for some sort of sabretooth critter or even 23 wolverines!
He waits for someone to give him some light and then heads down into the hole to get out of the weather before anyone else can.
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Thael, glad Caspan has found some shelter, stumbles after him in the rain and wind, his cloak billowing out behind him. Once in the relative shelter of the entrance of the hole, Thael casts light on the tip of his staff, which begins to glow with a soft yellow light.
"Good find," he says, breathing heavily.
If I never spend a night outdoors again, it will be too soon...