Ner found that the handle did move under the shadow of his hand. In fact, it felt solid in his palm. Using his shadow hand to turn it, the door swung open with a creak.
Inside was a cross between a pawn shop and a bibliophile's paradise. Tall shelves stacked high with books, scrolls, parchments, and even a stone tablet or two. Everything looked old, expensive, or both. All behind a counter, at which stood a black-bearded, bald Ulfen man. He looked up when the door opened, frowned, then looked down and noticed Ner.
Clearly unsure about what to make of the halfling, he said, "Never seen you round here before," in thickly accented common.
Keld looked impressed with Matheus's offer. "Well, that would be right welcome, it would. Been some time since we've had help of that sort. And this is only my second time all the way through to Whitethrone. Gettin' permission to pass the huts is tricky business, and pricey too. Be right glad of your help, and thanks."
Meanwhile, Signe looked grateful for Petronia's help, and between the two of them, the women finished loading the sled quickly.
Another man joined them; a tall, hulking, hairy man. They couldn't easily determine his ancestry, he was like no man they'd seen before. His face was nearly invisible in the thick, unkempt mat of hair and beard that covered his face, and his clothes were a strange mix of mismatched leathers, hides, and furs.
He loped up to the dogs with long strides, and gave a piercing whistle. The animals immediately quieted down and gathered nearby. He spoke to them in a strange language, low and gutteral, and began sorting them into teams.
Each sled had a central line, with the lead dog harnessed at the front of it. Four other dogs, two on each side, had leads that branched off the main line. Once tied on, the dogs pawed the ground restlessly, as if eager to be off.
Checking that they were ready, the husvagnsmästare said, "Get yourself comfortable, we'll be off in a minute." A young Ulfen woman joined them, introducing herself as the musher. She stood in the front pf the sled with the main line's handle in her hand. Signe sat on a trunk near the back, facing backwards, to better shelter her baby from the wind. There is room for two of you to stand in the front, one on either side of the musher, and the others can sit with Signe, or perch on other equipment on the sled.
Keld looked impressed with Matheus's offer. "Well, that would be right welcome, it would. Been some time since we've had help of that sort. And this is only my second time all the way through to Whitethrone. Gettin' permission to pass the huts is tricky business, and pricey too. Be right glad of your help, and thanks."
"Well, why don't we put our heads together for a bit - you can introduce me to our other new companions for the duration, and I can tell you what I can do to aid our travels," Matheus said, smiling widely.
The amiable druid enjoyed their little tour and introductions as if he was having the time of his life, exchanging jokes and small compliments, ruffling the fur of the hounds that came sniffing at his feet and generally making himself belong as quickly as he could.
A puzzled expression flitted briefly across Koyuki's face as she opened her pack.
"I don't carry much with me, half of this isn't mine, and you seem to have my flint and tinder"
She raised an eyebrow looking at Oksana but as the witch did not react, shrugged and just worked silently to re-pack her kit and move out.
Koyuki was less wrapped up than the others around, leather jerkin, skirt and boots swathed in just her furred cloak, but she didn't seem to mind the cold. Moving carefully and giving the wolves a wide berth, she nodded politely at Keld, before hefting her pack along with the others over to Signe.
Seeing Petronia hefting the gear she briefly deliberated trying to help by pointing out where to place things, but decided against it. She propped her pack out of the way, spare full quivers bound to it as she kept a hold of her bow and listened to the husvagnsmästare.
"I can go to the left of our musher?" she tried a smile that wasn't returned. "I don't really mind where though..."
She was happy to take whatever seat was left as others selected them.
"Well I understand everyone's minds are on the work, on the journey too given where we're going. Lands of witchcraft and superstition. We'll be well I'm sure. "
She watched Matheus as he wandered around, already a part of the 'caravan pack', Koyuki nodded to herself in approval at the druid's acumen.
The dog handler gave a sharp whistle, and they were off. The dogs leapt forward, and with a lurch the sleds started to move. The five enormous canines were more than enough to get the heavy sleds moving at a good clip. Running with obvious joy, the dogs fell into formation. Keld's sled was in front, with Signe's second. The dwarves were behind them, and the other three sleds arranged behind them. The front team broke the trail, though really, there was little breaking to be done. Their giant paws barely broke the snow, and the sled runners were so wide that they glided over all but the fluffiest powder.
The wind was cold but not bitterly so, and they quickly left Trollheim behind. Matheus summoned a tailwind that gave the dogs an extra kilometer per hour of speed. The dog handler ran with the dogs, loping easily along at what had to be 7-8 km an hour. Sometimes he'd run with the front sled, then he'd fall back to encourage the dogs behind, then surge ahead again.
They headed just slightly south of due east, away from the river. Small patches of coniferous forest dotted the landscape, but Keld (or his musher) kept them to the gently rolling, snow-covered plains.
Around mid-day they stopped for lunch, and to feed and water the dogs. As everybody stretched their legs, they realized that the fifth sled was completely devoted to food and water for the animals. The dogs required a huge amount of food to sustain themselves on these long journeys, and the dog master threw what appeared to be entire quarters of some sort of hooved beast to each team.
The dogs required little rest, and after lapping up water and chewing the bones of their lunch, they were yapping and ready to go again. The afternoon slowly darkened to evening, and when the sun was low on the horizon, they stopped again.
"We'll make first camp here," Keld called out, gathering everybody around him. "The border huts are just ahead," he gestured to the west, where a row of small cabins, apparently up on stilts, stood small in the distance. "We'll cross into Irrisen in the light of morning, safer that way."
The leds were moved into a wide circle, and the caravaners moved into action. They set up a cookfire and tents within the circle. The dogs were unhitched and brought away from the circle of people, and fed and watered again.
Twilight lingered long, as it did this far north, and the cloud cover turned brilliant pink and red at the horizon.
Oksana stands in the cold camp dressed as if it were the middle of summer. She moves to the edge of the camp and leans down and seems to be speaking softly to the snow.
"We are almost back where we began...is this the will of winter? You have been quiet for some time my friend...is there no advice you can give me?"
She stands and looks off towards the odd little huts that marked the border to her homeland.
"What will the dolls say this time when I pass, I wonder?"
@Angie
Inside was a cross between a pawn shop and a bibliophile's paradise. Tall shelves stacked high with books, scrolls, parchments, and even a stone tablet or two. Everything looked old, expensive, or both. All behind a counter, at which stood a black-bearded, bald Ulfen man. He looked up when the door opened, frowned, then looked down and noticed Ner.
Clearly unsure about what to make of the halfling, he said, "Never seen you round here before," in thickly accented common.
Ner returned the shop keeper's look with wide eyes and a grin. He walked up to the counter, which was a little over his head, pulled out a couple of belt pouches and emptied his money on the counter . He backwards a couple of steps and preceeded to look through the shop for the particular book which he remembered as "Rage of the Liniment Kings".
Ner notes the colour of the book and starts sorting the shelves, removing books and setting them on the floor, using the books as ladders to reach higher shelves. He takes the book he noticed and sets it on the floor as well, sliding it swiftly under the bookshelf. He took off his backpack and set it on the floor nearby.
He then continued to look for books to sort. If the shop keeper yells at him for comes near Ner will start to run around the shop grabbing books at random and evading the keeper's grasp if he can.
Then Ner spied something ... a strange bauble on the shelf ... he stopped in his tracks and wordlessly pointed at it, took it from the shelf, and placed it on the counter waiting for the shop keeper to take the money he needed from Ner's pile. Ner then took whatever change was left, the new bauble, and grinned his widest grin. He picked up his haversack ... but not before shoving the book inside it.
Not taking a chance that this last move was seen, Ner bolted for the door and hid in the snow until everything was clear. He hadn't said a single word since he came in and he left without putting the books he sorted back.
He snuck back into the room, did some pack sorting, and crawled under the bed with his bow to sleep heavily.
Ner helped load the sleds as best he could, but he was small and he looked like he didn't get any sleep. He barely ate at breakfast. All the time he was muttering tiredly, "Ner is always helping so Ner is always needed." He climbed up onto one of the sleds and even in the cold found sleep By mid-day he was rested and was helping in earnest again, offering help wherever he could but he didn't go near the dogs. He wanted too but they reminded him of wolves and the 'lone-times' and he had never been confident around animals.
He stood on one of the sleds and looked out over the horizon.
When they got started again Ner was all eyes and he climbed all over the sled trying to get a view of the landscape. He was excited. When they got to camp he noticed Oksana standing and talking to ... the snow? He wandered over to her and, missing her first statement, replied to her second. Ner grinned like they were playing a game, "Dolls don't talk. Yer funny." He bobbed his head four times as he thought to himself ba ba ya ga
He went and helped with the cooking. Then he searched for the best places to hide ... but always he kept glancing at Signe ready to offer anything that might help with her child - whom he was finding somehow strangely sympathetic in this environment - he wasn't given to noticing children.
"We'll make first camp here," Keld called out, gathering everybody around him. "The border huts are just ahead," he gestured to the west, where a row of small cabins, apparently up on stilts, stood small in the distance. "We'll cross into Irrisen in the light of morning, safer that way."
Matheus nodded his head, trusting in the caravan master's expertise in these matters and busied himself trying to stretch out the kinks in his muscles from the long hours of sitting in the sledge. As they built their camp the druid made himself useful again, conjuring an endless torrent of water from thin air, raising a low barrier of earth between the camp and the prevailing winds - not long enough to protect the whole camp, more the pity, but still sufficient to at least help the people huddling around the campfire to keep warm. And his magical any-tool was lent freely to anyone who needed to shift snow with a shovel, or cut firewood or do any number of other menial tasks a good tool would make that much easier.
The druid found he enjoyed being on the road in these harsh frozen wastes just as much as he had thought he might - bare-chested despite the freezing temperatures, he drank in the sights and sounds of the snow fields and felt at home. It was only a pity they were not here in during the proper winter - the sight of the stars and the aurora blazing across the heavens would have made things even better, but the long days of summer did have a charm of their very own.
Thanks in part to Matheus's improved fortifications, everybody slept decently in the relatively sheltered camp. The dogs were never all the way quiet - it seemed one or two were always up, barking or howling at something. Signe's baby never made a peep - either it was mute, or exceptionally well behaved.
In the morning, they noticed tiny tracks in the snow on the east side of camp. They were perfectly oval, less than two inches long, and barely imprinted the crust of snow. They led to and from the huts to the west.
After a warm breakfast, they loaded up the sleds and hitched up the dogs. Before they headed out, Keld came around with a necklace for each of them. It consisted of a roughly cut circle of antler hung on a leather thong. Carved into the antler was a strange rune. "It's for safe passage," Keld explained, showing that he was wearing one. Proves you have permission to enter Irrisen. Don't take it off, if you value your life."
Thus protected, they headed off to the east, going at barely more than a walk. As they got closer, they saw that the huts were spaced out at uneven intervals, depending on the lay of the land. From one hut, you could clearly see the huts to the right and left of it. They appeared to be situated such that you couldn't cross the border without being in sight of one.
Keld led them towards one that seemed no different from the others. The huts were barely that. Rough wooden cabins, barely large enough for a single room. They stood about three four feet off the ground, on stilts carved like chicken legs.
The huts had no chimney, and each wall sported a single square window, each shuttered. The fourth wall had a small door, barely three feet high, and a crude carved ladder with the rungs very close together.
Painted on the western facing side of the huts were a series of glyphs that were clearly meant to be warnings. They didn't represent anything particular, yet they sent shivers down the spine.
Halting the caravan, Keld took a large pack from his sled and approached the hut. Reaching up, he knocked softly on the door. Without waiting for an answer, he put the the pack on the snow at the base of the ladder. He then took his belt knife and with a wince, used it to score a shallow cut on his thumb. Squeezing blood from the wound, he dripped it into the snow beside the package.
The caravan master then wiped his knife clean on his coat, stuck the injured thumb in his mouth, and headed back to the sleds. "We'll need blood from everybody," he said, as casually as if asking for a few coppers for the toll. "Except the bairn," he nodded to Signe, who looked relieved. One by one, the others went up and cut themselves, dripping a few drops into the thirsty snow.
[ooc]Ner - I'll respond to your excellent post tomorrow. Thinking about that bauble.... Also, hilarious that he didn't ask for the book!
Ner was confused at this display and he looked to Petronia for guidance.
Koyuki opened one eye and sniffed as she came awake, uncurling from the balled huddle position she had slept in.
She ate alongside Matheus, then tagged along as he made his rounds amongst the group.
She nodded at Keld and took the amulet he offered, hanging it loosely around her neck with plenty of slack.
Jerking her head at the little oval tracks she murmured
"That'll be the dolls come to check us out then..."
As the sleds set off once more and drew near, she watched with interest as the caravan master wnt through the ritual. She pursed her lips but nodded, moving over to the red-stained snow and biting her wrist, allowing a few scarlet drops to fall on the others.
Koyuki moved to stand next to the caravan master as he watched everyone to ensure they complied.
"Why not the babe?" she asked, naught but curiosity in her eyes and tone.
"That'll be the dolls come to check us out then..."
"Dolls? That's damn uncanny," the druid said, shivering with something besides the cold. He had been about to take a closer look at the tracks, to figure out what manner of beast or spirit had left them, but suddenly didn't feel like approaching them. Just in case, he made sure the runestone the caravan master had given him was securely attached, hanging as it was among many other not too dissimilar rune-carved stones decorating his beard and hair.
"We'll need blood from everybody," he said, as casually as if asking for a few coppers for the toll.
"Old magics, those. Of fire and darkness, of blood and bones," the druid muttered, but played along, slicing his palm wit his silver sickle and watched few crimson drops splatter on the snow. He didn't know enough to say if he was taking part in a true ritual binding of some sort, or if the bloodletting was just means of reminding visitors of who held the power here.
"So, ladies, care to share your knowledge," the druid murmured, sucking his wound to stop the bleeding as he moved to stand closer to Oksana and Koyuki. "Is there magic in this ritual, or is it just for show? Do we accept shackles of some sort in exchange of being allowed entry into these lands?"
As the others ready themselves for the crossing, Oksana approaches one of the tiny huts and peaks her head in.
"Sisters, it is I. I am returning home for a time. These with me are in need of passage and so I ask you to allow them to enter our lands. Take their blood and let them pass in peace."
She steps across the invisible line that only she can sense and once again feels the strength, and darkness of her homeland.
Beside her, a bump of snow grows until it is roughly the size and shape of a husky humanoid.
"Welcome home mistress. I hope you know what you are doing!"
Looking at the Druid from across the invisible barrier, Oksana smiles a cold grin.
"I would not try to cross without this ritual. It is real, for sure, and necessary. No one enters the realm of Irrisin without the White Witches knowing...even me."
She ate alongside Matheus, then tagged along as he made his rounds amongst the group.
The jovial druid was more than happy with the company, filling the air with good-natured banter, sharing bits and pieces of his own history - did she know that he had grown up in these far Northern lands while he was certainly no native - yet by no means revolved around his own self but mixed in questions and curious observations to try and make the others get involved in the conversation and share something of themselves. To make people feel they were in this together, none more than the five new additions, true, but even more because he was truly eager to get to know each member of their caravan.
Looking at the Druid from across the invisible barrier, Oksana smiles a cold grin.
"I would not try to cross without this ritual. It is real, for sure, and necessary. No one enters the realm of Irrisin without the White Witches knowing...even me."
"Duly noted," the druid murmured, sounding serious for a chance. "We are not here to challenge the rightful rule of the land, even were we able to do any such tht. So best abide by the rules and customs and save our strength for the fights we might win and should try to fight in the first place."
Petronia stays quiet for the majority of the trip. Some may look at her and think she's brooding but really she's taking in the vastness of the landscape while enjoying watching the wolves run. Part of her longs to run with them. If there hadn't been so many strangers about, she probably would have. In that moment, she missed her family.
She took the antler amulet from Keld with a shrug and hung it around her neck. "Is the rune someone's name giving us permission or does it mean something else?"
The brawler was more used to making others bleed their blood rather than spilling her own. She didn't even have a dagger of her own to use so she had to borrow Ner's. Looking at the halfling reassuringly, she gave him a small nod as she cut herself and spilled her blood onto the snow.
Ner hopped up from the sledge and quickly snatched a utility knife from his haversack to hand to Petronia. He trundled after her to the spot where everyone was bloodletting and watched her, glad for her reassurance. When she returned the knife he took to the meat of his hand under his left pinky, gave it a good gash, and bled on the snow ... he suddenly looked like he forgot something. He searched his pocket, fished out the antler pendant and put it around his neck.
He looked up at Pertonia and smiled, then went back to his pack, anxious to get moving. Greenies and other things could smell the blood in the snow. Best to distance oneself from it. These are feasting lands, he was small, and his survival instincts were making him edgy.
She took the antler amulet from Keld with a shrug and hung it around her neck. "Is the rune someone's name giving us permission or does it mean something else?"
Keld looked at Petronia and shrugged. "Not rightly sure. I didn't ask. But it worked last time."
"Why not the babe?" she asked, naught but curiosity in her eyes and tone.
Again, Keld raised his shoulders. "Mayhap they know that babe is no threat? I wasn't about to argue."
When Oksana peeked into the hut, almost all the other caravaners gasped, turned away, or made various gestures warding against ill luck. When nothing untoward happened to her, there was a communal sigh of relief. A bit later, the woman who was mushing for them sidled up to Oksana and said, "What did you see in there?"
When the ritual had been completed, everybody took their place and they were off. The dogs ran with what seemed like extra energy today, as if eager to be away from the eerie huts.
It was very odd. The sky hadn't changed, the weather seemed the same, but the cold was palpably more bitter as they entered Irrisen. Most everybody pulled up their hoods, or snugged up their collars, made sure their mitts were on tight.
The westernmost province of Irrisen was The Verge, the only province ruled by one of the queen's sons. The sole mandate of the Verge was to harass their Ulfen neighbours, without provoking them into outright war. Despite the caravan's safe conduct through the Verge, Keld was clearly uneasy. The route he led them through was strange and twisted, as if avoiding settlements and people always just over the horizon.
Thanks to Matheus's tailwind, they made good time, and crossed into Wintercrux late afternoon. Keld visibly relaxed, though this province was perhaps more dangerous. However, these dangers were monstrous rather than political.
The land here was sparsely forested, with vast tracks of wind-swept, snowy plains. Once they spotted a vast herd of reindeer to the north, and crows and ravens were often spotted perched in leafless trees, or soaring overhead. Other than that, they saw little life.
It was getting close to nightfall, and Keld had slowed the caravan down, looking for a good place to camp. They were approaching a small "grove" of bent black pines, and due to the lay of the land here, there were several sturdy snow drifts that would make good cover.
The bookseller seemed completely befuddled by Ner. When Ner took the first book down, the man began to say, "Ah, you're interested in the histories of ..." but stopped mid-sentence when Ner dropped the book and went on to the next. "Hey! What are you doing?" For a few moments there was a clumsy game of chase through the stacked shop, but Ner easily avoided the man.
When he realized that Ner wasn't doing any damage, the bookseller sighed and seemed to accept the situation for what it was. He took a closer look at the money on the counter, and his eyes widened. Realizing that the halfling was some sort of wealthy eccentric, he allowed him to browse unimpeded.
When Ner took the bauble from the shelf, the man stopped. Tipping his head to the side, he said, "You are an interesting one, aren't you. That's expensive," he eyed the pile of money on the counter. "It'll cost most of what you have." Seeing Ner undeterred, he swept up 2,500 gold pieces, and pushed the rest back to him. "You have a good day, sir." He didn't notice the halfling steal the book.
The "bauble" Ner got is a strange magical item. About the size of an apple, it appears to be made of thin glass, and has a thick, oozy liquid inside. Actually, it appears to have six differently coloured liquids inside, and they swirl around each other without mixing together.
Studded around the outside of the ball are ten thin, metal buttons. They each sit in a small divot in the glass, and cannot be removed without breaking the device. Four of the buttons have been depressed some time in the past, and are now flush with the glass itself. It would seem that pushing the button breaks the glass underneath it without compromising the integrity of the sphere.
The un-pressed buttons each have a unique symbol, while the pressed ones are blank. The symbols are as follows: two wavey lines, an eye, a book, a key, a hand, and a circle with something sticking out of it. Check out my totally lame drawing.
@Angie
"Hold on for a moment," Matheus called out to the caravan leader eager to start setting up a camp for the night. "Something's not right. See those snow drifts, how they have formed? The prevailing winds are from the South-West at this time of the year, right? So how come there are drifts on the leeward side of yon pines? Now, either the weather has been out of sorts lately, or there's something mighty strange about those things."
Nodding in agreement with the druid, Oksana voices her concern.
"You are correct...and it is much too high. It would never have drifted that high in the position it is in. Something is most assuredly wrong. Let us wait for a moment."
The witch steps forward and kneels down in the snow, where she looks to be speaking to a small lump of ice.
Speaking to her elemental familiar, Oksana sends him forward to examine the weird lump of snow. She tells him not to get too close and stay hidden, but to try and discern what the thing is.
Ner loosened his short sword in it's sheath and walked over so that he was about ten feet in front of Signe and her child and between them and the drift - he hoped he had picked the right drift and wondered how piles of snow were traditionally fought.
It all happens very quickly. Oksana's familiar moves to investigate, and the dogs erupt into wild barking. The suspicious snow drift practically explodes as an ugly, lumpy giant lumbers out of it.
The creature is swinging an oversized club, and its head seems two sizes too large for its body. It wears next to nothing and is covered with sparse but coarse hair.
The dogs go wild with barking, and try to attack. Hitched as they are to the sleds, it causes instant chaos. The two rearmost sleds lurch towards the giant, their occupants screaming or leaping off. The two middle sleds, nearest the giant, tip sideways and are dragged towards the giant. People and contents are scattered into the snow. The lead sleds, including yours, are facing the wrong way, and the dogs get snarled up trying to get to the giant.
At this point, an answering bellow comes from within the copse of black spruce, and a giantess heaves herself to her feet, shaking snow from her pelt, and moves towards the battle.
"Oh my," Matheus murmured as he got away from the tangle of sleds and dogs and people scampering every which way. Despite his prodigious weight, the druid had no trouble finding firm footing on the snow, and he used his nature-blessed ability to get a little distance to what would no doubt soon become a heated melee. "Aren't you a sight for sore eyes? Wouldn't want to gaze at you with healthy ones - that'd be a waste." The words rang to deaf ears, not that he expected any particular reaction - talking was just a good way to relieve stress, he had found.
Matheus raised his hand, open palm towards the giant among them, and called forth a sudden gust of winds, mist and rain to pelt the giant with tiny hailstones and disorient it.
Init:
Standing her ground, Oksana calls out in a strange language as she seems to mould a handful of snow into a ball. She throws the ball of snow at the giant, and it accelerates to an unbelievable speed before striking the beast and covering its body with a rime of hoar frost.
Touch Attack:
Damage: and entangled for 2 rounds
"Ved, these fellows are called, unless I'm mistaken," Matheus added in a conversational tone once the battle was truly joined. "Strong brutes as you might have guessed, and with a gale-force breath. Look out for that, will you?"
Koyuki's eyes go wide as the giant erupts from cover, but that was the extent of the surprise she showed. In a move practiced a thousand times, she brought her bow across even as her hand plucked an arrow from the quiver at her hip, bringing the weapon up as the arrow was nocked, fletching held by her cheek as the tip of the arrow burst in to flame.
She fired by twice at the huge target, trusting her instinct to guide her shots.
As her arrows seemed to strike with no effect she swore.
"Ved? What in the hells are 'Ved' Matheus?" she shouts over the freezing wind.
"Ogres? Giants? Tell me and I can hurt them!"
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"Ved? What in the hells are 'Ved' Matheus?" she shouts over the freezing wind.
"Ogres? Giants? Tell me and I can hurt them!"
"I didn't name them," the druid groaned in obvious mock-anguish. "So don't blame me. And yes, giants they be - thought that one obvious enough from the, you know, size? Though runts of the litter, compared to true titans. And not the sharpest tools of the kit either, if what I remember holds true. But strong and tough as old roots, and with lungs fit for bellows."
"...and with lungs fit for bellows."
Ner stood up tall (for him) and cocked his head to the left. "Whaa ... Bigbiguns? Goblin killers! We run from these ... don't we?" He tried to shake of the shock.
He looked at the babe behind him, huffed a panicked puff-puff-puff, and launched himself forward. He made a wide circle left around the male trying to pay attention to Matheus' warning about it's breath.
The sight of the dogs trying to attack the creature while being hampered by the sleds spurred Petronia to quick action. She puts her new boots to the test by racing up to the giant, at least she thinks that's what she heard Matheus say. She threw two punches at the hairy skin.
The brawler was fairly certain that one of her fists connected but the other just grazed a mat of hair.
The Ved found himself harassed by bad weather and sticky snowballs, and human insects that were unexpectedly fighting back. Grunting in annoyance, it drew in a mighty breath, and blew it out hard at the brawler. What came out of its mouth had a force she couldn't have expected, even with Matheus's warning. The fetid breath was cold rather than warm, and powerful enough to send the dogs tumbling backwards. The gale-force breath washed over Petronia and beyond, in a 30 foot cone, before petering out to a nasty wind. Oksana and Koyuki also found themselves struggling to keep their feet, and Signe tumbled over, twisting to protect her baby.
Behind them, shouts in dwarven told them that the three hunters were holding their own against the Ved's mate.
Koyuki grabbed hold of the sled but her grip was not strong enough and she tumbled down, rolling along the ground and coming to a rest several feet away, encrusted in snow.
Glaring hot knives at the Ved, she pushed off the ground with one hand and adopted a crouch, nocking another arrow and whispering to her bow
"Giantsbane..."
The arrow glowed blue under the dancing flame.
She shouted back to Matheus
"I'm sure it was obvious to you but I didn't know, and the magic must be precise!"
"I'm sure it was obvious to you but I didn't know, and the magic must be precise!"
"I shall hold that lesson close to my heart from this moment on, my Lady," the druid said, chuckling.
The druid winced at the roar of the giant's breath, thankful he had not been in the receiving end of it. Indeed, he had managed to separate himself from the heat of the battle, and thus had time for some proper spellcasting. He took out his Harrow deck, feeling the pull of the eldritch power of the cards, even though he lacked the gift of Reading. No, he had a different purpose for the cards, one he'd be happy to demonstrate at the giants.
"First card: the Avalanche. Disaster, panic that overrules reason. Hardly the best match, but I will take what I can get," he murmured aloud, not needing to look at the cards he drew as part of his summoning to know what they were. "Second, the Beating. Assault from every quarter, the many hands that reach from beyond the Veil. Another grim tiding, but beggars cannot be choosers. Some, then, my winged friends. Princes of the winds, on a better day, but today, by the will of the Deck, harbingers of disaster. Come show these brutes the color of their blood!"
Avian screeches answered the druid's summons and five snow-white eagles soared down from the heavens above, each trailing a multitude of shadows like their very own convocation.
Strength save:
Unprepared for the creatures' galeforce bellow, Oksana is lifted off her feet and thrown to the ground. She struggles to rise and once back on her feet and readies to cast another spell.
Yes, Oksana can cast while prone.
Ner watched as Petronia was pushed back with the dogs and sledge. He worked well in a team but facing off against a giant in hand-to-hand combat alone? But there was nothing for it - he had to become the distraction so that the others could do their work.
Ner rushed the male bigbigun' screaming, "AAAAAAaaaa, and tried to slide in the snow at the end. He ducked as low as the scrawny halfling could manage then popped up and lashed out with his little short sword.
Sitting up after being blown down, Oksana grimaces and let's loose a curse towards the giant.
I know Petronia is busy Tuesday nights, so I'll give her until tonight to post. Otherwise I'll roll for her and move it along.
Petronia almost managed to keep her feet but the putrid wind was a little too strong. She half-stumbled, half-dove onto the snow to her right. Turning it into a controlled tumble, she quickly got to her feet.
Technically, you didn't move hexes, you just ended up prone. So yes, this was your move action, and now you can do a single attack.
Petronia struck out with a vicious jab as soon as she regained her footing.
Ner and Petronia flanked the Ved, delivering punch and stab in almost perfect synchronicity. The giant shook of the witch's spell, but couldn't shake off the flaming arrow that struck it in the shoulder. Swaying a moment in pain, the Ved realized it was too outnumbered. Reaching down, it swiped at their musher, who had been struggling to untangle the dogs. Gripping her leg, he turned and lumbered away towards the snowdrift he'd burst from, dragging the screaming woman behind him. It was only Ner's quick reflexes that prevented him from being stepped on or kicked aside.
At the same moment, an unconscious dwarf came flying through the air, crashing into the snow nearby. A glance told them that the three dwarves were faring less well against their foe. The female Ved had one pinned underfoot, and only one was left wielding a weapon.
Keld was struggling to free himself from a mess of harnesses, to join the melee, and the dog-handler was frantically trying to free the animals from their leads. Nobody else was fighting; they were either backing away from the fight, or trapped in the chaos of the overturned sleds.
Ner leapt wildly at the giants foot trying to drive his short sword deep into the Ved's metatarsals.
"Ommph!", Ner humphed out as the Ved pivoted too quickly and he instead drove his weapon into the crusty permafrost ... but the synergy between Ner and Petronia was too great. His miss showed her a momentary opening on the creatures inner thigh.
"At them, little brothers!" Matheus urged his summoned companions even as he summoned another burst of wild weather to assault the closer enemy. The snow-white birds with their unsettling shadows that mirrored their movements screeched as they dive in to tear at the giants with cruel beaks and talons, opening many and more wounds that alone were insignificant against such large targets, but together amounted to a credible threat to the giants.