"May you rest in peace, wherever you go." Linge glances around, remembering the knight's horse and wondering if it ran away as they talked. "Will you try the mantle on?" she asks Eladorn.
Eladorn nods, though his nervousness is clear. Very gently he lifts the mantle and brings it around over one shoulder and then the next, setting it down so softly that he must be hoping it won't quite make contact, perhaps willing it to float millimeters above his form.
Eladorn feels the magical power of the cloak as he sets it on his shoulder. somehow he just knows how to use it, as if he has owned it for a long time.
the cloak offers the following benefits to its wearer:
At will Alter self - to look like the black rider
Darkvision - 60ft
Cold aura - once per day as a free action, creates an aura that causes creatures within 5' take 1d6 cold damage at the start of their turn every round. lasts for up to 10 minutes or until dismissed as a swift action
Grants a +4 armor bonus to AC as long as the Alter Self effect is active
Sigrun looks on in part awe and part foreboding as Eladorn tries the mantle. Not seeing anything happen, she whispers loudly, "How do you feel? Is it doing anything?"
Paldo looked approvingly at Eladorn "Looks good on you! I mean you don't look nearly as menacing in it as he did... Paldo said pointing at the fallen body of the rider ...But I'm sure that will come in time." Paldo paused briefly bringing his cloak closer to him. "So... now we need to go to the coldest place we know and find a little hut? Sort of a needle in a haystack type mission?? Oh but wait this needle is probably going to be heavily guarded too. Who else is super excited?"
Eladorn's face glazes over momentarily as he gets a sense for the cloak and what it will do. In response to Sigrun and Paldo's questions and comments, he... shifts... his appearance, and suddenly looks just like the Black Rider, though a fresh and hale version, none of the weakness of the dying man who just gave them the cloak appears on his face. "Is this better, Paldo? More menacing?"
He quickly shifts his appearance back to normal, though. "I'm still not sure about being Baba Yaga's envoy, but it'll do for now, I guess."
Startled, Limnge instinctively takes a step nearer Sigrun, as if to benefit from her protection, and relaxes a little when Eladorn comes back to normal:
"Yes, um. Very impressive," she pats Horn on the head, soothing his grunts tinged with anxiety -he knew little about the Two-Legs, but they were not supposed to shift appearance. "I guess we only need to see what's beyond that portal," she adds thoughtfully, turning her gaze towards its magical entrance.
”Ah, we might want to buy some winter clothes, before we take a jaunt to the far north...” Garran walks over to the fallen herald of Baba Yaga. ”I know little of you. What kind of life you led. But you seem a knight of honor. May you find peace in the afterlife. Garran plants his sword, point down Into the earth. He removes his holy symbol from his neck, and hangs it from the hilt of his sword. He takes a knee, then says. ”Iomedae be praised.”
Then he stands, returning sword and symbol to their customary places. ”I don’t know what gods he may have worshiped, but I have blessed his soul as I may.”
Sigrun also jumps a little as Eladorn suddenly shifts into a giant black-armored figure and back. Responding to Paldo, she says, "Well, from what the Rider said, the hut itself is on display in the capital. So a bit less needle in a haystack, and more stealing the crown of the Grand Prince...but no less difficult, of course."
"I agree with you, Garran; we should definitely outfit ourselves for the winter weather." Eladorn's appearance shifts a couple more times as he speaks; it seems he's exploring the magic of the cloak. "Once we go through that portal, the weather will be unforgiving. If you think that we can find good winter clothes, snowshoes, and the like... well, we should." He tugs the cloak tight around his shoulders, examining it for its warming qualities. Unfortunately, whatever he does actually causes the air to grow briefly colder to all nearby!
"We'll definitely be able to purchase such things in Waldsby once we go through, but that's still a hike, and we'd be better to have it now than later."
”How much of a hike?” Garran asks Eladorn. ”I assume they would have better winter gear in the north county, than we can get here.”
"Our outfits already provide some protection against the cold," Linge replies thoughtfully. "Though if the temperature drops on the other side of the portal, I guess we could make something out of what we found at a bandits' lair nearby."
"The bandit's lair might be a good place to check. I don't think it'd be useful going back to town, though. Strange as it may seem, we are still in sunny southern Taldor. Wasn't much use for cold protection here before the portal opened."
Paldo reached in to his pack pulling out some warm gloves and a hat. "My magic has been keeping me warm since I was young. I have some warm clothes as a backup, I hate the cold." Paldo snarled "I'd share my outfit... but it might be bit snug." Paldo added showing the small halfling sized gloves.
Looking around Paldo added "The lodge we encountered might be the best bet for finding anything we need to survive this extreme weather."
"Let's visit this lodge then, get what we can that's useful, and hurry back." Eladorn looks at the portal, with its whipping wind and snow. "I have a feeling there's no time to waste."
"It was this way", Linge starts retracing her steps in the snow, opting for the shortest way possible to the Lodge.
The group trudges back through the snow towards the bandit lodge. the weather is steadily bad, not noticeably better or worse as time goes on. Even for Eladorn who is used to the cold of the north it seems like this is more snow at a steadier pace than would be natural, completely aside form the fact that you are in the South where it shouldn't be snowing at all.
on your way you spot some fresh tracks, but you do not encounter any other creatures. the tracks are large and bipedal, but look more like claws than toed feet.
these tracks look like nothing you would normally see in the south. it looks like a creature known as a Yeti left these tracks. best avoid it if you can
At the lodge you're able to gather some food and supplies, and enough blankets and layers of clothing left behind by the defeated bandits that you can fashion a makeshift version of cold weather gear for anyone who did not buy some already.
Eladorn mentioned snowshoes, and finds there is plenty of wood cut for building fires, but it would take some effort to create usable pairs of snowshoes. if you wish to make them, you would need to make craft checks, but there is plenty of wood around and a shed full of mundane tools in the back of the lodge.
Eladorn looks over the supplies and tools, but shakes his head. "We could probably fashion some snowshoes from this... but I'm no craftsman, so unless one of you are, probably best to make do until we can get to Waldsby and buy some of our own."
Linge identifies the tracks as those of a yeti's, and is thoroughly relieved when the party arrives at the lodge without meeting the dreadful creature. Still, to think of a yeti in Taldor...
I hope Heldren will be alright.
"I don't know how to make snowshoes," she admits. "Garran?"
Paldo looks at his soft fingers, thinking of how they had never seen a day of work and suddenly wondering how his brother was fairing back in town. "Most of my time has been spent convincing others to do the work for me and I have no idea how to craft such a device."
”Make snow shoes?” Garran shakes his head in negation. ”No, I don’t know how to do that.” Garran finds a couple of wool blankets in the store room. He cuts one down with his dagger to make a sort of vest. He forms the other blanket into a mantle, with a sliver of wood as a brooch to hold it in place.
”There, that should do me. Ready when you are.”
"I can't make a thing with wood, either." Sigrun shrugs and watches as Garran improvises himself some protection. "Let's head back, and hopefully we don't see any more scary creatures out."
it is getting late, so the group spends the night in the lodge. there is plenty of firewood and even some dried food supplies.
in the morning they make their way back to the winter portal. evidence of the fight here is all covered in heavy snow now.
"Everyone's ready?" Bracing herself against the drop in temperature that she expects on the other side of the portal, Linge grips her spear and cautiously steps through the magical gate.
Linge is the first through the gateway. on the other side the land is covered in thick snow, but it is not coming down as heavily. something about the magic of the portal is pushing the snow through, but it is much more peaceful on this side. it is very cold, however, and looks to be nearing evening.
the trees are sparse, but you are in a small wood of some kind. the trees are significantly different than those in the border wood.
you hear sounds of people shouting not far from you (on Linge's side of the portal)
Garran follows Linge through the portal, ready with drawn sword and shield.
He pauses to take it all in, then hears the shouts. "People over there. Shouting, of course. I suppose we'd better see what's the matter." Garran puts word to deed, making his way toward the commotion. He does pause to sheath his sword. Best not to seem hostile.
Eladorn, swiftly through the portal, instantly raises his bow on hearing the shouting.
As she follows Garran slowly, Linge tries to listen as closely as she can, while Horn sniffs around in the snow, distrustful of those loud, unseen humans.
Before stepping through the portal, Sigrun fiddles with her shield, making sure it's strapped on properly. By the time she's done and looks up, she's all alone. Quickly stepping through to join the others, she glances around at the surprisingly calm scene before turning her ears to the shouting.
once you ar eall through the portal, you strain to hear the voices. you cannot make out words, but it sounds like at least 3 or 4 voices yelling at each other, a mix of female and male speakers. you hear one voice yell out in extreme pain.
moving just a little further from the portal you see that you are on the top of a small hill, giving you good vantage of the area around you. down the hill slightly you find the source of the yelling. 3 men and a woman are fighting with a giant mantis! it looks incredibly out of place with a vibrant green shell standing out in contrast to a land covered in white.
one man has just been stabbed by the pincers of the mantis and lies on the snow dripping blood.
"Looks like some folks could use our help!" Eladorn whispers to his companions. He studies the group to be sure that they wouldn't otherwise be obvious foes.
Unless he hears an objection from his new companions, or sees evidence that the humanoids are obviously aligned with the winter witches, he raises his bow and fires at the mantis.
Linge's hand brushes Horn's back as she casts one of her spells.
The bear cub then lurches forward to engage the mantis in melee.
Garran charges at the mantis, drawing his sword as he goes.
Seeing the rest of the party rushing to engage the giant bug, Sigrun instead moves up cautiously towards the downed man to see if she can help him in any way, shield at the ready to intercept any attacks.
the group moves forward to engage, but they are still pretty far off. horn gets a spell cast on him and rushes forward, followed closely by Garran. Sigrun stays back a bit slower, and Eladorn fires a few shots from his bow at long range, hitting once.
the battle in front of you continues. the humans are fanning out to try not to all be attacked at once, but moving and attacking is making them less accurate. they are either missing with their bows or doing very little real damage. it appears they are not very experienced fighters, as their weapons and armor look pretty simple and low quality.
the whole party may act!
Paldo follows his companions trudging through the snow and charging as best he can.
It doesn't take long for Horn to reach the monster, and he lashes brutally at the mantis, sinking his teeth and claws in the cracks of its exoskeleton.
Linge heads towards the fight, albeit a lot slower.
Eladorn motions Shael towards the mantis, ending with a half-moon sweep that indicates the elk should find a flanking position. Shael bounds down the ridge and around some trees to find a position to engage the mantis from. Eladorn keeps sending arrows towards the enormous insect.
Garran hurries toward the out of place mantis creature, and gives it a good slask once he is close enough. "Iomedae!" He shouts.
Sigrun continues to move up carefully towards the giant creature, shield at the ready.
[ooc]same as last round, can't reach the thing yet[ooc]
the group moves in to attack. Horn leads the charge, but as he moves in the mantis lashes out with a claw. luckily the little bear slips in right under the attack and bites down hard!
Garran and Eladorn attack but both miss! the rest of the group moves up slowly.
the Mantis lashes out again at Horn and Garran with its claws
both are hit, but Horn is snatched up in one of the big pincers! the mantis tries to pull the bear in to bite him, but can't get through the bear's thick skin.
the whole party may act!
Global Condition: None |
Global Condition:
Garran HP: 15/23 - AC: 16/11/15 Status:
Eladorn HP: 21/21 - AC 17/13/14 Status:
Linge: HP: 20/20- AC: 15/13/12 Status:
Horn: HP: 16/23 - AC: 21/19/13 Status:
Paldo HP: 17/17 - AC: 14/14/11 Status:
Sigrun HP: 21/24 - AC: 17/11/16 Status:NPCS:
Mantis HP: - 15 | AC: ???
Eladorn fires another pair of arrows towards the mantis, but he doesn't seem to be honoring his patron well, as both veer wide in the wind.
Shael approaches the mantis wide, coming in opposite the front line attackers. She lowers her horns and gores at the main thorax of the strange creature.
Garran let’s out a gasp of pain as the claw rips his flesh. He slashes at the giant insect again.
Sigrun stumbles up through the snow and swats at the mantis's claw with a heavy blow from her shield, hoping to get it to drop Horn.