Satu jams her spear into the weasel, skewering it cleanly through. It begins to thrash, only to be met by Kishai's swiping claw, which opens its throat wide. Then, the dying creature is scorched to a crisp by Cnut. It releases Garrasay and falls, quite dead.
The unexpected ferocity of the beast took Garassay completely by surprise. Unable to effectively defend himself, the gnoll is laid low in a frenzy of slashing claws and gnashing teeth.
Satu huffs and puffs, visibly fatigued for a moment, and still heavily battered.
Are you allright Garrasay?
Kishai rushes over to the unconscious gnoll. "I have not studied their physiology much, but hopefully I can help him out a bit"
Kishai is able to tend to Garrasay and stabilize him. In so doing she is able to staunch the flow of blood from worsening the situation. It should start to clot soon enough.
Mordred tries to stop the bleeding on himself by getting some extra cloth out of his backpack. Even though he has no training he knows its a bad enough wound to possibly kill him. He believes he stanches to blood with a little effort, and wrapping the bandage tight around the ghastly wound.
" Kishai? is Garrsay ok? "
Mordred is able to stem the flow of blood and wrap his wounds enough to allow them to clot.
" We need to try to find something to protect us while we rest, I don't think we should go back, Does anyone have any ideas? Garrasay is in no condition to travel. I'll be happy to scout to try to find a warm place."
Mordred finds nothing but swirling snow and large drifts. The wind whips through this small valley with vengeance. If you want to find a good camp, it will be onward, which you're not sure of, or backtracking.
let's look for something here, although I doubt this baked has much to offer. If we don't find something we need to go back to the lodge or sleep in that creepy hut. Wouldn't like that a bit. Something was off there
Satu doesn't look all too pleased about the options and looks for something to sleep.
Alas, there's nowhere good here, you have to move on, or back. Satu is able to tell that the way ahead is just as forbidding. If you move on, you're not sure when you'd find a good place to rest.
Now that i can confirm that we most likely won't find a good spot to rest, let's throw a coin wether we take the hut or the lodge. The lodge is pretty far back and the hut would make a lot more sense, but ... it's really creepy. I mean, why is it even there? I'll throw a coin and fate can decide. Number is the hut.
Satu takes out a coin from her purse and throws it into the air, snatching it with her left hand and then placing it onto her right wrist without looking before.
Heads! Back to the lodge it is. I guess even fate thinks the hut is creepy. Any objections?
"None at all. We need to prepare better; it might have been too impulsive to set out without a good night's rest."
You head back along the way you came, cursing the biting snow and deep drifts. With Satu and Mordred lending their skills at surviving in the wild, you're able to make an impromptu sled to drag Garrasay along in his injured state. The snow is a blessing in this regard, as he slides over the slick surface fairly easily.
Surprisingly, you make it back to the lodge without mishap, and find it empty.
When they arrive at the lodge, Kishai immediately gets Garrasay situated before the fire to keep him warm. Even after regaining consciousness he is in need of rest and attention.
"Does anyone else have any healing ability? We are torn up enough that I recommend we rest for a full day to get everyone back on their feet."
As she putters about getting things set up, she looks towards the door.
"We also should make sure that we set up a guard. I am happy to take any shift that is needed"
"I'll be willing to watch, After all we might be here a few days, we lost our healer at this place. I cant believe we had to head back here. By the gods I wish we had one, I'll even take one of those crazy Groteus worshippers." he says after pounding his fist on the table to emphasize.
Garrasay lapses in and out of consciousness as he is dragged back to the lodge. He sits by the fire where he was propped up growling quietly to himself. Petal rustles about worriedly, keeping watch over him and tending to little tasks to help keep him comfortable.
"I'll take second watch tonight and tomorrow. The highly injured should rest and not be asked to guard."
In the morning, Sisu creates two infusions and gives them to Garrasay and Mordred, and spends the day keeping an eye on the wounded gnoll.
During the first night, you are all quite weary as you take your watches. Mordred hears some odd noises during his watch - perhaps a young girl crying...but you attribute it to his extreme weariness and recent injuries.
As you rest during the day, silence blankets the area around the lodge just as thickly as the still gathering snow. The day passes without mishap and you set up for your watches into the night.
Cnut passes the days helping where he can, largely minding the fireplace, keeping a blaze going all day.
“everyone get out here , we got company!” Mordred bangs on the door loudly before taking few steps out into the cold night, he yells “show yourselves”
Mordred hurries everyone out and into the stinging cold. You each see a light, like that of a torch, to the northwest, inside or just behind a small bush.
As if in answer to Mordred's call, you hear whispered voices to the north, near the north face of the lodge. You can't make out what the voices are saying, however.
Satu stays near the fireplace, enjoying Cnuts work there, and generaly just relaxes herself.
As Mordred calls out she gets up quickly.
What? What kind of company?
Satu follows Mordreds call, getting her sling ready, but tries to stay in cover.
Sisu, taking a short nap after tending to the gnoll during the day, hears Mordred's call and staggers to her feet and out the door.
She tries to stay out of view as she stares towards the quiet sounds.
Kishai is able to help Mordred and Garrasay as they heal, but her bandages just don't seem to take on Satu, and her wounds heal a bit more slowly than the others
She blinks the sleep out of her eyes and watches the north, but after a few dozen seconds, the voices cut off abruptly. There's nothing visible where the voices can be heard, save for the hated snow.
Cnut follows the others outside, looking around.
“ I have no idea who it is , Satu. I don’t think anyone should be going out any further though. If it’s friendly they will show themselves. If not , there is no reason to go looking for trouble. To be cautious Someone should stay with me to finish my watch. The rest can go back to bed and keep your weapons close. “ taking a deep breath Morde yells out one more time “SHOW YOURSELVES! Or come into light otherwise Leave us in peace! with that if they don’t come out more heads back to his position on the porch,
Mordred's call is answered by silence, but then something happens. At the southern end of the area, howling wind begins to whip up, circling about and rising up into the air as a potent spinning vortex. This would be bad enough if the area weren't covered in snow and ice, which gets whipped up and hurled about, creating a blinding blizzard.
You could be wrong...but it seems to be coming your way.
" Everyone inside, I tire of the foolishness's of this." Morderd looks around to see if anyone heard him.
Satu is surprised by the sudden storm and slow.
Back inside? Wasn't there someone out there? Where's that storm coming from?
Your hurry back into the lodge as the wind whips about outside. Shutting the doors keeps the worst of it out, but the doors rattle and shake at the buffeting gusts. As you tensely watch the pair of doors leading out to the porch, a muffled tap, tap, tap comes from the eastern doors on the other side of the common room.
Cnut follows the others back inside. When the tapping begins, he looks around, somewhat nervously, then casts Mage Armor, just in case.
For the last day or two he had confined himself to bed. Not only was his body battered, but his ego was bruised by being defeated so easily by a beast. All of his martial and arcane prowess and he was felled by a moment of foolishness and overconfidence.
During this time Petal tended to him, rustling about, bringing him whatever he needed. He only emerged to tend to those things Petal could not.
The sudden noise did rouse him however. With the shouted warning and the sudden wind whipping up he drew himself out of bed and proceeded to don his armour. "Ggrrrggrrrrrr. What is going on out there? RrrrRRrg" he growled out.
Hearing the weather outside getting worse Mordred decides to get some assistance with the door, taking one of the couches he props it against the door with a little help. " I don't think we should go out til morning just in case magic is afoot. Also if you don't mind I think we should all stay in the main room for rest. " Sitting down near the fire, morde keeps his trusty axe ready across his legs.
@garrsay- "There might be a magical beast outside my friend. Soon we might need your help if something does break though the door."
Kishai nods at Mordred. "I agree. It makes more sense to stay together here in the warmth and ignore whatever that is unless we get more information or it breaks in."
Garrasay finishes putting on his armour before peeking outside. It takes a moment for his vision to adjust to the darkness, but as it does everything becomes clear, though rendered without colours.
Garrasay looks out the window, but can see little through the swirling winds and blinding snow. It's as if a small storm has taken over just the area about the lodge.
You retreat into the lodge, having no desire to brave the storm outside and whatever horrors it may bring. Throughout the night, you hear branches banging, wind whistling, and the glass-like tinkle of ice shards as they pelt your windows. But...the night passes. The next day greets you with a similar grey sky, but the storm has retreated, and winds are...manageable.
You've rested and recovered, and are ready to begin anew.
[ooc]Back to where you fought the weasel?[/b]
"Let's head out. Looks like that was just a storm. We should continue to follow the trail from where we had to stop before."
Satu gets up from the rather uncomfortable position she spent all night in near the fireplace.
Yes we should continue the trail. Let's get some food and then head out.
She yawns and stretches.
Garrasay is wary about the ambush spot, though his wounds are mended they still throb with the memory of the savage beast.
Cnut shakes his head at the weather. "These storms, they remind me of my father's tales of the cold northlands."
You continue on into the snow, moving through the natural valleys that provide the only possible route through the area. Though you are now well versed and well equipped to deal with this weather, the blinding snow and deep drifts are still a constant nuisance.
As you continue along, the sides of the valley become more rocky, with steep shelves of ice-capped stone to the north and slowly rising slopes to the south and west. As you enter this narrow pass, a sound echoes through it, sounding much like the laughter of a little girl. Due to the acoustics herein, its nearly impossible to tell from where it comes.
The cold still cut through Garrasay's clothes and shaggy fur, but he managed to keep the chill at bay, at least for now.
As he approached the snowy pass he eyed the tops of the cliffs warily, alert for dangers.
"Rrrggrggrr. What now, another ghostly girl lost in the woods? Grgrrgggg" he muttered as the sound of laughter echoed around the group.
"Might be another, or perhaps the same one following us. Be wary, we've had enough surprises it would be nice to have warning of the next danger."
Kishai doesn't seem to sense that the sound is of a fey nature, and neither her nor Garrasay can see or hear anything beyond the echoing laughter.
Garrasay squinted through the gently falling snow. "This is probably another trap" he thought to himself. "But what if it isn't and there really is someone that needs our help"
Petal gave an agitated rustle, sensing Garrasay's conflict.
"Was it worse to walk into yet another ambush, or to play it safe and leave someone in need to their fate." He involuntarily growled as he mulled over the options before finally speaking.
"rrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr. I suspect this is another ambush, but I don't feel right just walking away from someone who might actually be in peril." He sighed in resignation, gesturing towards the sound. "We should probably go check it out. grrgergrrgrrggg."
Cnut puts a hand on Garrasay's shoulder....not the one with Petal...and hisses. No, wait...that sound isn't natural, it's arcane. Someone is using a spell to make that sound.