The councilwoman dips her head slightly. I'm sure that Theodora would understand, and there are more than one women in town well versed in childbirth and herbal treatments - I could speak to them about pitching in while you're away.
To be clear, I'm not sure you're best suited to this task, no. But, you are the most readily available solution that we have.
She looks to Ana and nods. I'm sure we can work that out, though I'm not really sure what you'll need. Being in the south, this is a situation we're not too familiar with. Can you get a list together and I'll work with Miss Steranus to get the materials. Will anyone else be going?
She looks to Arsiel. And you, stranger?
Garland considers everything that the councilwoman has said, "You can count on me. I just need to head back to my house to get my gear and fetch Wanda. Is there someplace that we should all meet?"
Ana looks a little crestfallen as the councilwoman deems their motley group less than sufficient. She brightens at the mention of a list.
"I literally have no idea what we will require, but HE might!" she says, pointing to the as yet unnamed Ulfen.
"Please gather whatever he thinks we need. We'll reconvene at the Stoat." Ana says, inordinately pleased she could use such official sounding words.
|
With a cheery grin Ques asks, "Sounds good. When shall we meet? It won't take me long but if I know mom, it won't be long enough once she finds out what I'm up to."
"Say, my boss has some stuff for cold weather. We had a cold snap a while back but now the stuff is just sitting there. She'd probably love to get rid of it. Check out the general store."
Neshen see me through this one...
Bowing to the Councilwoman, Arsiel begins: "My name is Arsiel Duskwalker, I am a scout and apprentice tracker. I serve my lord, Sir Karek the Tall. He sent me south to work on my skills operating in the woods and to keep an eye on behalf of the Church of Neshen. I have a familiarity with arms and with scouting on behalf of those more encumbered by their armor. Also to see about the hops imported into the area, as we are both brewers... " Arsiel finishes sheepishly.
"Depending on how deep the snow is, I'll be fine in a medium cloak, and I suspect Ques will be as well given our shared heritage. The rest of you may need heavy layers and perhaps snowshoes? I've never tried them, but in reading about the north it seems like they would help if the snow is that deep. Actually yes, snowshoes would likely benefit us all should the drifts be as big as implied."
Considering Ques' words, Arsiel thinks a minute, "Ques the idea isn't to go look for a fight, but to have something in case we need to fight. I'd happily prefer to be in, look around, rescue the lady, and get out without having to fight through anything."
Arsiel looks to the others in the room, gauging their response to his words.
"Snowshoes might be a good idea. Luckily, I already have my own cold gear at home. I'll stop by the store and pick up some snowshoes, then off to talk with Theodora about getting some coverage for my responsibilities. I'm not expecting this to take long and will meet back at the Stoat. One last brew before we head out."
Garland knows what she has to do and leaves the apothecary to get to business. As she stated, she heads to the general store and picks up a pair of sturdy snowshoes. She then heads over to Old Mother Theodora's house and speaks with her. Although she does seem a little perturbed with Garland, as Ionnia had thought, she understood the need and stated that the the Scipios and Cads would be covered.
From there she headed back to her place and grabbed her gear. This stuff really hadn't been touched since she arrived in town, except to move into this house. Garland also retrieved her lemming friend, Wanda, from her normal perch, "I'm not sure if I could leave you here. Not really sure how long I will be gone, afterall." Garland senses a feeling of understanding and respect from Wanda and decides that is good enough for her.
After one last check of her place, she closes the door and heads for the tavern to await the others.
Arsiel heads to the general store, purchasing the items he thinks he'll need for the journey before seeking a bed for the evening, or at least a piece of floor in the Stoat.
We should only be out one day, I don't think we'll need to carry tents, or the like. Just snowshoes and heavier clothing should help...
|
|
Ques heads home to break the news to his parents. Good old dad outright gives him his old soldiering equipment and a magical scroll of healing with a warning to be careful. Mom is teary eyed and regretting her decision to make Ques leave, but the men are firm. He also asks his parents about the cold. He HAD noticed that he could tolerate the winters a lot better than the other races, but the whole bitter cold deep winter thing will be new. Though everyone thinks they are going to need snowshoes, there is no way he's going to drop 5 gp on a pair, so he heads right back to the stout after a long goodbye. 5 gp for a stupid pair of webbed shoes? Dang.
Ques returns to the bar with an explorer's outfit, a longspear attached by a weapon cord, a suit of lamelar armor, a pack full of rations, and a gallon of ale. So many rations, in fact, that he is sagging under the weight. Moms!
Teppen dips her head to Arsiel in thanks, then nods to everyone. She glances over at the Ulfen warrior then back. We appreciate your help, mister Duskwalker. I'm sure we can send you back to your lord with a detailed report, as well as an abundance of our finest hops. Perhaps Kale would even part with a recipe or two. She grins in spite of herself as she casts a sidelong glance at Ana, no doubt knowing what the response to that would be from the mistress of the Silver Stoat.
We will happily forward you this gear; Ques if you could arrange that through your store, that would be much appreciated. She doesn't seem to know what sort of position Ques holds at the store, almost implying that he owned the joint.
I wish you all the best of luck; we can only guess at the implications of this invasion of cold into the south. Whatever it is, we need to get a handle on it before we are all within its grips.
You gather later at the Silver Stoat, loaded up and ready to travel to the gates of...well, somewhere very cold.
Ana pays the balance of, and gathers what is offered - the outlandish snowshoes seem a little hard to use and the clothes will play havoc with her burgeoning sense of style, but if it all keeps her moving and alive, who is she to complain?
The Stoat is a chorus of good cheer, and Ana needs to muscle her way back through many of the same folk who were crowding the apothecarist's. The ganzi explains to her parents in her haphazard fashion the apparent mission - they nod and smile exasperatedly, and although they might worry, they have four other children and a commercial concern to manage - put simply, losing Ana for a few days would do little but lighten the load.
Ana packs her adventuring possessions and waits for her friends and Arsiel.
|
|
"Thank-you very much, Councilwoman. I will most certainly help arrange things and make sure everyone gets some snowshoes. Anyone know how to use the things? They look pretty awkward."
Ques plays with his spring-loaded wrist sheath, causing a scroll to pop out and then shoving it back inside.
"This thing is pretty cool."
Smirking at Ques' enthusiasm for the project and his wonder at his gear. Arsiel stands ready to embark with the three friends, hopefully not on an overly dangerous fool's errand.
"I think the snow shoes are complicated at first, but from what I've read they are pretty quick to figure out the use of them. I think if we play our cards right we should be able to return by sunset here, we'll be pushing hard on foot, but it should be doable for us." Adjusting his gear on his pack Arsiel seems ready to set out, and looks over the three friends, offering to assist with straps or adjusting packs as needed.
"We're not warriors and we're not soldiers, so the best thing for us to do is be cautious and safe. Overall we just need to stick together, I'm pretty good in the woods, and from the description I think I can get us there, especially if any of you know any of the landmarks described. "
After making last minute preparations and giving last minute good-bye's, you head out on your way, walking out of Heldren to the south along the wide road.
You take your time heading to the south, and arrive just after midday, at the area noted by the Ulfen guard. The air has grown noticeably cooler the closer you come to the edge of the Border Wood forest, which lies just west and south of the road.
The road ahead to the south is littered with debris and the corpses of slain humans and horses. A carriage stands in the roadway, its team of horses missing or cut free, while another overturned carriage lies sprawled and broken next to the tree line. To the south, more bodies have fallen around what appears to be a statue of ice. A snowy trail leads deeper into the forest.
The temperature here hovers just above freezing, and a light dusting of snow covers the ground.
"Well, that's unpleasant..." Arsiel remarks, surveying the damage to the people and carriages.
Turning to Garland, "You work with the midwife, correct? Can you help us figure out what happened to these poor souls? I know it is unpleasant but it could help us understand what happened here." Arsiel asks, trying to convince himself as much as her.
Arsiel begins poking around looking for any tracks heading down that snowy path into the forest.
"I suppose they went down the snowy path?"
Garland carefully looks at the carriage in the road as she bypasses it to get to the carnage beyond.
"I knew there was a battle, but I can't say I expected this." Garland approaches the first body they come to and bands over to examine it, at Arsiel's suggestion. "Not sure what I can figure out here, but I'll give it a look."
|
|
As soon as the party pauses away from the town, Ques spends several minutes concentrating and summons his eidolan. As he does so, his shadow disappears and the eidolan appears. The creature is a smokey worm or snake like creature, low to the ground and not a very swift traveller (20' move speed), but long and sinewy. It is very hard to make out what it looks like as it is shrouded in shadow and tendrils of smoke constantly twist away from it like temporary tentacles that vanish after a moment. It does not say much, but when it does, it speaks in Aklo.
Ques is a bit surprised by the destruction and carnage too. Whatever did this did not do it for meat which suggests a dark purpose. Or twisted purpose if fey are involved.
"I can send Grey on ahead with you. From what I understand if he is killed he is not actually killed. He is sort of a representation or presence of some being from the astral plane and will eventually come back. He's also fairly sneaky."
Ana has never seen such death. She stifles a pnnurge to vomit, and steps with great trepidation through the area, trying not to make “eye contact” with any of the dead souls. The “statue” seems strange, so she goes a little closer to examine it.
Arsiel walks into the site, scratching his head and looking around at debris, bodies, and frozen blood. Luckily, Garland follows along, offering her more practiced eye.
Grey is summoned alongside Garland, and the eidolon looks back at Ques with mild distaste. He hisses out speech, though in Aklo. Really, young Ques...cannot be killed? I do say that I still can feel pain...I hope for both our sake you can understand that. With what looks like a sniff of disdain, the serpent creature follows alongside Garland obediently.
Garland inspects the site, finding that the bodies are mostly pierced with tiny needles and shards of ice. the blood has a thin layer of frost over at this point, and the bodies have been stripped of armor and weapons.
Looking into the wrecked carriage, you see two bodies, most likely handmaidens of Lady Argentea. There are broken chests and boxes strewn across the ground, containing three courtier's outfits.
Arsiel and Ana head towards the south where there's an obvious trail, the icy statue at its entrance. The gruesome statue is a man, his slain body encased in ice. The body is not fully intact, as pieces of it have been carved away and now lie in blocks of slowly melting ice at the poor man's feet. You can see that one of the chunks of ice still contains the man's arm, holding a fancy longsword, and he still wears his breastplate, emblazoned with Taldan heraldry.
Garland relays her findings to the spread out group, "It looks like these poor folks were slain by a combination of magic and small needles. I'm not sure what that means, yet."
She proceeds to the still-standing carriage, keeping a watchful eye out.
Arsiel bends to inspect the sword, moving toward the frozen man. He will pick it up and see if there are marks or blazons on it which would help to identify the owner. Also peering at the breastplate to see if there are identifying marks on it without disturbing the body too much out of respect for the dead.
"Nasty business all this, anyone have ideas about what happened, other than the obvious?" Looking over the blade in hand he tests the balance and weight of it, considering it. "We should try to return this to his family, if he had one."
Considering the cold and the state of the poor man frozen in ice, Arsiel adds, "I guess we should put on our warm clothes now, might help against this supernatural weather. If the snow piles up as the guard said we'll need our snowshoes before too long."
|
|
Defensively, Ques responds, "Of course you can feel pain, but that is a far cry from losing your life. Surely you can see that?"
In spite of his suggestion, Ques is unable to suppress his curiosity and starts poking around the downed wagon nearest to him. He keeps his distance from any of the corpses, not trusting himself to keep his gorge down. It also serves to occupy his wandering eyes on something other than the carnage.
Under his breath he keeps murmuring the words, "Well, damn," occasionally glancing up in spite of himself.
Ana displays no interest in the clothing, sword or armor. She is still trying to comprehend the violence. The chunks of man leave her cold, not the cold of winter, but the cold of dread.
"Well, there's no sign of the noble lady. What now?" she asks despondently.
|
|
Unlike Ana, Ques is quite interested in the armor. His aged lamelar suit, though comfortable and sevicable, pales before the sparkly breastplate with the cool Taldan emblem.
Too bad the thing is encased in ice. And on a dead person. Besides, I may need to do some running soon and it would slow me down.
Though Arsiel doesn't seem to find a family name, he does identify that this breastplate belonged to a decorated captain. It's return to an appropriate post would be well received, or perhaps rewarded.
When Garland nears the standing carriage, she hears muffled sounds from within. It seems as if someone is caught within, banging on the doors to get out. You note that the doors are indeed barred from the outside, if crudely so.
Sighing, Arsiel begins to work the breastplate off the man's corpse. "We really should return this ceremonial armor and probably this sword if we can. Only the right thing to do, maybe the Ulfen survivor can point us in the right direction for who this man was?"
Hearing noise from the wagon, Ana turns and saunters over by Garland.
"Want me to blast it open?"
Hearing the noises in the carriage, Garland's hands appear from beneath her cloak, exposing her claws. "Umm. I think we might have something here guys," she says as she gestures to the carriage, "What do you think we should do?"
"Huh? I didn't hear anything. Guess I was distracted trying not to be sick at this mess around us... Well, I guess we should open it right?" Arsiel moves by Garland and Ana, his ranseur in hand.
"Ques, you wanna bring Grey over here? Something stirs in this wagon."
Ana kneels by the makshift barrier, calling over her shoulder.
"I'll blast it open, you guys get ready to deal with...whatever emerges..."
|
|
Ques motions Grey over by the wagon.
"Sure thing. Grey, help them with the wagon. Though I don't know why you want Grey's help. You know he doesn't have any hands and he's not all that strong."
With a trace of bitterness, Ques thinks, In fact he is not all that useful for anything but scaring my friends.
"Are you afraid you might get attacked? It sure doesn't sound like whoever is in there is going to be dangerous."
Grey looks back to Ques, as if to argue with it's summoner, but then seems to inflate and then deflate as if heaving a sigh. He moves over to sit near Garland and Arsiel.
Ana hunkers down, and motions for everyone to avert their eyes, and then let's fly with her power. . The blast forces the bar just out of position, and it's enough to allow the poor victims inside to push out and exit into the cold air.
What comes from the carriage is unnatural and wholly gruesome. Once a woman in finery, she looks to have been a handmaiden at one time. Her dress is torn and stained with dried and frozen blood, and ripped in many places. Her skin is pale and bloodless, eyes sunken, and lower jaw completely missing. She lets out a horrendous, gurgling moan as she lurches towards Garland!
"Ahh, what is that!?!" Arsiel yells, stabbing viciously forward with his ranseur.
Garland lets out a bit of a shriek and slashes at the creature with both claws.
Garland moves quickly, even caught unawares. She slashes across one way and then the other, opening the poor woman's dress and pallid skin alike. No blood flows from the very obvious corpse. It still stands, and staggers forward. As it does, you can see another form emerging behind it.
Even from her crouched position, Ana is shocked and scared by the eruption of the weird, jawless woman...thing. The ganzi holds her hands out in front of her and concentrates hard. Then, as if every mote of dust and dirt chose to fly into the air Ana throws it outward in a spray of forceful detritus...
[+2 Dex, +1 Weapon Focus]
[+1 Physical Blast, +3 Con]
Ana lets loose with her blast, and it slams into the creature, slamming its bluish, rubbery skin with power. It obviously absorbs the majority of the damage, but still seems hurt by the strike. It lunges forward again at Garland, as Grey misses it with its natural attacks. However, it rushes into the edge of Arsiel's sword, which promptly removes its head.
A second zombie stumbles out, and stands atop its fallen comrade. Ignoring the nonliving flesh at its feet, it slams down with two think but supernaturally strong arms at Garland!
Ana
Ques
Arsiel
Creature
Gasping in terror, Ana is galvanised by the suddenness of death. She decides blasting these things is sub-optimal, so she draws and with both hands wildly attempts to slash her dagger across the standing lady...thing. She misses terribly.
Move Action: Draw dagger
Standard Action: Attack
[+2 Str]
[+3 THF]
Garland struggles against the injuries that she sustained from the zombie but continues to fail.
Focusing on the creature in front of him Arsiel's eyes narrow.
"Hang in there Garland!" Arsiel shouts attacking the creature again.
Grey moves in and begins to destroy the zombie, Arsiel coming in just after to finish it with a wicked chop.
Ques touches Garland, and within a few seconds, she groggily awakes. Immediately, the feeling of something dark and unwholesome can be felt inside her. Though her wounds heal, her soul feels the strain.
Grey lets out a shadowy cough, then turns to look at Ques, a look of distaste on his odd face. Those were...foul...young Ques. They were not of my plane, but borne of some dark magics that I'd care not to see again.
As Garland feels the dark healing course through her, she remarks, "Thanks for the assist, Ques. There's something... familiar about that feeling. Not really sure what I think of it."
She stands up, gingerly feeling the area where she was slashed, "If it's all the same to you guys," she adds, looking at the rest of the group, "I don't think I'll try that tactic again."
With a bit of added caution, she approaches the bodies that her comrades had put down, looking to see what may have happened to them prior to today.
You can see that these poor women also show the small puncture wounds. If Arsiel's finishing blows hadn't removed both their heads, there may be more evidence.
Ana laughs nervously at Garland’s comments.
”I’m sorry Gar, they got past me and my blast was useless against them. I think I need a blade bigger than my dagger....”
The young ganzi peers into the interior of the wagon to see if she can gain any more insight as to what has happened here.
”But good work Arsiel, and Ques on the healing. Not to mention you Grey. Hate to meet you in a dark alley...” Ana’s words come from inside the wagon.