Sel is at the same time sad and experiencing schadenfreude at Imedren's bad luck. On one hand, it's a horrible thing to have happen to anyone. On the other, at least it was Imedren. Although TaBog would have been better.
Selgaer drops his bow and pulls out his spear, stabbing at the creature.
"Im! Hold on!" Uruuna shouts. She maneuvers to a spot between the two monsters and lashes out with her scimitar with each of them, but they bend at bizarre angles and nimbly dodge her strikes!
Tabog looks past his target and sees Imedren yelp and begin to get overwhelmed. He jumps away into the shadows, getting behind those that are fighting and gaining sight on one of the ghouls flanking the now nearly blind man.
He takes a shot at the monster's hand holding the dagger that almost blinded Imedren, in an effort disarm it.
"Get away!" Dramm stumbles back in terror, leaving himself undefended. The knife scrapes against the barrier in a shower of sparks. In response Dramm sends another destructive spell outward.
The magic coursing through Dramm still clings to him. Several of his tattoos writhe violently around the skin on his arms and the air hums.
Selgaer misses with his thrust, though the monster continues to bleed from its previous wound. Dramm wrecks its body with more destructive magic as Joy's witch fire whizzes harmlessly past. Across the cave, the two other monsters skitter and dodge the worst of Imedren's twin eruptions.
The monsters lash out with their knives. Dramm's forcefield shatters as the blade punches through to slice his face. Imedren takes another painful slash! His two foes scatter to avoid further explosions.
Tabog dashes away, opening himself up to a painful dagger stab. The ferren turns and shoots the thing through the hand. The arrow goes all the way through and into its chest, and the monster falls!
Seeing Tabog's arrow slay the creature returns some of Dramm's senses. He takes a few gulps of air as he creates some distance between him and the remaining monsters. Dramm leans against the stone wall and draws magic into himself as he steadies his mind.
Damn these things are fast! Sel calls out as it dodges his thrust. He was sure it was a solid blow, but the unnatural movement of these things belied their appearance.
He spun the spear back around, twisting his body as he did so to create an extra force on the spear tip as it whipped around.
As the wounds knits shut with the magic, Dramm feels the cut. It seems if Dramm hadn't stumbled, the knife would have gouged out the eye entirely. A sobering thought.
The pain was intense, Imedren was sure he was losing his eye but he blinked a few times rapidly and could still see.
Joy sees the knife come for Dramm.
"Watch out Dramm!", she calls as she wills her witch fire towards another of the creatures.
Uruuna growls in frustration as she charges at the skittering monster, but once more, she fails to hit!
Tabog fires twice on the nearest creature, sinking two arrows into its chest. Imedren scorches the other one with a fire bolt. Uruuna's charge misses.
The creatures dance across the cave to attack! One slices Tabog across his face, while the other stabs his blade into Imedren, dropping the sorcerer!
As Dramm falls back to recover, Joy maneuvers her witch fire but misses once more. Selgaer moves in to attack the monster that stabbed Tabog, slaying it with a powerful spear thrust!
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Selgaer had made a running thrust at the other thing - he didn't have a name for it yet - killing it and saving TaBog. He quickly turned away, pulling his spear out of the corpse and launched his spear at the last thing.
"Keep going Imedren!", Joy calls as she redirects her witch fire once again.
[Ooc]Guidance on Imedren as reaction. Slow initiative. Move witch fire, then attack orange [/b]
Imedren staggered and fell back and away from the skittering thing. Anger was replaced by fear. The world spun around him and though he tried to act, as long as the thing was in front of him, he couldn't. His vision began to darken as he struggled to move.
They were too fast and the environment dark, and he'd simply failed to keep track of them correctly. For all his intellect, potential foresight, preparation, and magic, this was what he'd been reduced to. Simply an observer while his wife, friends, and ally still fought.
I'm sorry... but you can do this.
From the darkness, Imedren hears a familiar voice. It is distant at first, but insistent.
"-p! Get up, Imedren! NOW!" A sharp pain cuts through the hazy world, followed by a flood of warmth.
Dramm is standing above Imedren. His knife point is pierced a centimeter into Imedren's chest, pouring a flood of healing magic into him. Relief washes over Dramm when Imedrens eyes flutter open. He yanks out the knife to defend himself.
"Teleport! Get out of here now!" Dramm is attempting to hold off the monster.
Screaming in anguish as her husband falls, Uruuna throws down her sword and shield. She draws her bow and fires an arrow into the monster's face! As it reels, Selgaer hops forward and finishes it off with a powerful thrust of his spear!
Uruuna rushes to Imedren's side as Dramm heals him. "Im!" she sobs, wrapping her arms around her bloodied husband.
"AH! F+$~, f&~~, f*%#, f~~#, f+!&, f~@+!........... I'm fine! Everyone, I'm fine. I can still see!"
Imedren shakes his head blearily coming back into focus and preparing to pull on his teleportation magic when the enemy just steps away seems to go rigid and fall over. His sharpened eyes see that all of the darting figures seem to be down and he spots Uruuna rushing over to him and he embraces her through the pain his body still felt.
He began muttering, his body still shaking and feeling some of the maddening affects of cuts and visions he'd been seeing. "Enemies quick enough to dodge most conventional attacks and the more destructive parts of wide area elemental magic. Not to mention seemingly recovering from wounds while harming us. Bad... kept aiming for the eyes too." he says, gingerly touching the tender spots around his eyes where he'd been cut several times.
After another 20 odd seconds of holding Uruuna he seemed to calm down.
"Dramm, thank you. I could feel myself starting to slip away... getting more tired. We got them all though, right?"
A look around the small cave confirms no more creatures are lurking about. It looks like they have only been here a short time. There are no signs of any previous victims.
"So, that's it then? We just came down here and risked our lives fighting things hadn't done anything except show up yet?!" he kicked the body of the Harvester that had focused on him several times.
"What the hell were they even doing here... and three of them? Wait, unless... Were these harvesters sent here by the Brotherhood of Shadow?"
"Yes, they're dead." Dramm is checking over Imedren's wounds and ensuring none are immediately dangerous. "We should leave. We can have others recover the bodies from the well. Zeke saved several lives."
Satisfied, he inspects Tabog's injury as well.
"We were lucky. They nearly blinded three of us." He shudders at the thought. "I can heal us when we are above ground. It is dangerous to now."
Dramm trails off in embarrassment. He busies himself checking the bodies for information or valuables.
Sel walks over to retrieve his spear, yanking it out of the corpse violently, splattering a line of blood behind him. He spits on a corpse.
At least it means that the mayor's son wasn't wrong. And it's another threat eliminated.
Sel starts looking around; there's gotta be something here. He grabs a knife to see if it looks like it's worth anything or at least would make a good boot knife.
Each of the creatures' knives would serve as a long knife in combat. Otherwise, there is nothing of value here.
Joy gulps.
"That was very close. But we did it! People saved, because of us."
She looks around.
"We have a meeting for sunset with Merry. Let's get ready for that!"
You emerge from the well, bloody but unbroken. Dramm uses more magic to heal the most grievous of your wounds, then you head to the Green Man Public House to check into your rooms and seek some rest after the grueling fight.
The bartender, Anise, is an attractive young woman with straight black hair and a quick smile. She happily chats up anybody interested in conversation. Her two servants, Marissa and Thom, help you get settled in the two rooms above the bar, each of which can sleep three comfortably.
As evening approaches, the townsfolk gather in the Green Man to enjoy a feast of drake meat, prepared courtesy of the pub's chef, Trent. Despite the good company, there is an undercurrent of unease throughout the pub, what with the recent spate of dangers that have been plaguing Verge. Delores the constable reports more bad news--yet another farm has been attacked earlier this afternoon. "Two in one day! Is no place safe from their depradations?" bemoans Elder Zeke.
With the sun beginning to set, you slip away from the feast and make your way outside of Verge's inner wall. Merry Peen is waiting for you, a hooded cloak pulled up over her head. "There you are! Come on, let's go before anybody notices we're gone."
You make your way south for a mile to where the cluster of huge stone slabs stands arranged in a circle. This site was once a gathering place for worshippers of the Old Faith, and those of you sensitive to such things can feel that magic lingers here still.
Merry looks about, hope burning in her bright blue eyes. "This is our spot. Craven will come tonight. He has to!"
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Tabog schmoozes with the towns folk, gravitating toward the prettiest women and showing off his story telling. Eventually a group of several that he's talked to begin pleading and cheering him to do a song after learning of his musical affinity. You can tell he feigns embarrassment and denies them a few time before eventually "giving in" to their request.
He sits at a piano in the inn or has someone fetch their old lyre or guitar.
"Alright ladies, alright! We have time for one song..."
He smiles and winks at one of them randomly and starts on a new, upbeat song about the very fight they're celebrating.
Him and Sel feel down low!
Ain't no sound but the sound of defeat,
Nobo-dy, knows where to go!
We weren't ready, hey, but we never forget;
When you're scouting or patrolling your beat!
It doesn't matter who the enemy is;
They gonna feel our heat, yeaaah!"
"Another drake bites the dust!"
"Another drake bites the dust!
And another one gone, and another one gone;
Another drake bites the dust!
Hey, gotta eat some too
Eating drake meat is a must!"
The song is a few minutes long, detailing the fight. He makes sure to cover every single arrow he shot, Imedren's near death and hardy resistance, Dramm's healing, Uuruna's ferocity, Joy's courage and Selgaers inability to hit anything while cowering.
The guests cheered, hooted, and hollered when the song finished and Tabog beamed with ego. He waved at everyone as he walked back the group and noted to Joy that it was about time they made their way to meet Marry. He grabs another plate of meat and begins leaving, even as a couple of the ladies pine over him. He dismisses them and apologizes, promising he'd see them later on. Finally able to leave, he munches meat while they walk.
As they get close to the wall, Tabog discards his plate and clears the grease from his throat. He addresses those that came along with his plan.
"When we get there, I'll introduce y'all to Marry and let her know that I'm going to watch from the shadows so we're not all in a big group, you might do so as well Selgaer. Any way, I'd rather not reveal my ancestry to our new friend; they tend to lose trust quickly. Mum's the word."
Tabog is as pleasant as he can be, letting Joy do most of the talking. He introduces those that came with and details their specialty, as one would we arriving at a job that requires different roles. Once they start off into the forest, he steps away and out of sight before he falls into a sizable white lynx and clamors up a tree.
As the others wait within the standing stones, Tabog can see a small figure creeping from patches of brush, trying to spy on the group. His keen eyes pick out the ugly features of Blister the goblin in the gloom. Blister doesn't seem to notice the big cat in the tree above him.
Joy takes pleasure in the happiness the group has brought the townsfolk. The little bit of relief and hope that slaying the drakes has wrought.
She engages in pleasant conversation with the bar staff, particularly Anise, trying to get to know them better.
Stepping into the circle, Joy seems pleasantly surprised.
"The power of the Old Faith is strong here. Very strong! I can see why Craven would want to come here, trained by a druid as he is."
Joy looks about the standing stones, trying to piece together if anything occurred here besides romantic meetings.
Joy doesn't notice anything out of the ordinary.
Using his talents, Tabog throws his voice to the other side of the goblin; whispering his command from a nearby bush. Although he never spoke to Blister directly, he made an effort to disguise his voice slightly as well. Just in case.
"Halt! One more move and I'll put an arrow right between your shoulder blades. What do you think you're doing, what are your intentions at this hour!?"
Joy turns to the girl.
"Merry, would Craven and you have any sort of signal? Or did you just meet at the same time?"
Blister startles and looks around fearfully, unsure where the voice is coming from. "Nothing! I was just out for a stroll! The standing stones is lovely this time o' night!"
***
Merry shakes her head. "We just came out here at the same time so that we could be together without judgment. The townsfolk... My mother... They wouldn't understand the love we share."
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"Well there's nothing wrong with a changeling and a human in love. They're all people."
Joy suppresses a slight twinge of mental discomfort.
"Not to test your resolve, but what makes you so certain he will come this evening? Is there some sort of message you received? "
Merry shakes her head. "No, but he just has to come! I can't live without him!" Fresh tears threaten to spill from her eyes.
We'll wait as long as we have to, Sel says, trying to reassure the girl. How long did you say he has been gone for?
For now, why don't I take a look around.
Sel does a perimeter search, looking for anything that seems off, or any sort of tracks that might lead back to where Carven has been staying.
Imedren crossed his arms at Merry's desperate answer and sighed. He walked around the circle of stones. After a few minutes of waiting while others talked he opened up his bag, pulling out his tarot deck and kneeled down as he began shuffling, his eyes beginning to glow their telltale blue while performing a reading.
Quickly, he laid out the 8 cards in their two diamond patterns and asked his question.
"Will Craven come to the circle of stones this night?" his eyes flashed and the spell ended. Imedren frowned at the compilation of cards, determining their meaning.
"He's not going to come tonight." he said loudly to the group. "We're wasting our time just standing here."
Dramm merely glares at Tabog's antics. The Ferren knew how he hated to be the center of attention and delighted turning eyes to the Sorcerer for a laugh. Despite this, Dramm seems to enjoy the feast, but Selgaer notices that Dramm is quick to agree when the time comes to leave.
Dramm finishes some last sketches of the stones and snaps his book closed when Imedren speaks.
"Not fully a waste. Look at the well of magic gathered here. The structures don't match mine. I don't think I can even manipulate or manifest it." Dramm's voice is contemplative. "There must be ways to unmake magic woven this way. Iron disrupts Fey creatures... this would be a stronger blight..."
Dramm finally snaps back to the present.
"I'd like to stay a while. See if there is more to learn. I am enjoying sketching them." He looks up at the formation. "I like the rocks."
"Craven was supposed to meet me here two nights ago, but he didn't show up, and I haven't seen him since then," Merry tells Selgaer.
The only recent tracks Selgaer finds are Merry's from when she came out here the past two nights. As he walks the perimeter, though, he thinks he hears some faint whispers from the direction where Tabog is hiding...
When Imedren declares Craven isn't coming, Merry's tears finally begin to fall. "No! Then w-we have to go into the woods and find him! He could be hurt, or trapped somewhere, or, or..."
Speaking with a gentle voice, Joy approaches Merry.
"Merry, Imedren is very good at reading the tarot. If he says Craven isn't coming tonight, I'd believe him. We *are* going to look for him but this area has gotten very dangerous. It would be safer for you to go home while we search. And Craven would surely feel better knowing that you are safe "
"Okay," Merry says, sniffling. "Please, bring him back to me."
She pulls her cloak tightly around her as she heads back to town.
Once Merry is gone, Joy lets out a sigh of relief.
"So, where will we start looking for him?", she asks while looking at the stones. She tries to feel their power, to know it.
"It seems like we have a lot of reasons to go search the woods now. Two missing people, Warg Fomor, not to mention there's a chance we'll find whoever's lighting the farms on fire. They seem to be getting bolder so I'd say we should find someone more familiar with the terrain... maybe the sheriff would be willing to send one of her deputies. Not all of us need to go speak to her though."
"If there are any tracks to find, we might be able to determine how many and who have been burning the farms. It's on the way to the forest so we'll meet up after that."
Sel goes to investigate the whispering, trying to sneak in.
"You better hope you're telling me the truth right now. Don't make a single movement, hear me? We're not going to hurt you, just need to ask you some questions."
Tabog suddenly lets out a sharp whistle, easily alerting anyone as close as the stone clearing to his location.
Ah yeah, should have talked about a signal to listen for as a group, oh well.
"If you run, we will find you, and we will no longer be interested in questions."
Joy feels the power in the standing stones. She figures there must be a convergence of ley lines here suffusing the region with primal energies.
Selgaer sneaks closer to see Blister the goblin, looking around nervously.
When Tabog calls out, Blister stands stock still. "Yeah, I get ya. No runnin'."
The whistle alerts the rest of the group.
Sel steps out of the brush at TaBog's signal, showing the Goblin that TaBog wasn't alone and he's been surrounded this whole time.
Yup, come on out into the clearing. It's time to figure out what's going on in this place.
Once they're back in the clearing, Sel opens up the questioning.
We've got missing people. We've got fires on the outskirting farms. We've got monsters in the town well. What the hell is going on here?
Blister shrugs. "F&+! if I know. I just came here to spy on the redhead. Elder Zeke's quite keen on the broad. I'm sure he'd be quite interested to know she's slumming around with some changeling. Probably pay a pretty penny for that kind of juicy gossip."