First Blood - Round 1
26 Katze
23 Snake
7 Elise
Before the snake can strike, Katze acts too quickly to be believed.
Katze burst into a exciting song about two ships that fought amongst a raging storm. She then uncoiled her massive chain and swung it at the snake.
First Blood - Round 1 - concluded
Without any hesitation at all, Katze breaks into a sea shanty and brings her iron chain around to smash the viper's skull in one quick, powerful blow. Just like that, the threat is ended.
End of Combat
"Thank the waves! What was that monstrousity?" asks Katze as she lets the refrain from her song die down.
"I'm glad your reflexes are faster than a snake's!" says Elise as the threat is dealt with before she can even respond. "Still not sure where the footprints came from, but maybe that's enough adventure for one day?" Elise sees if she can extract venom from the snake for some beneficial purpose.
Otherwise, she's eager to continue along the main path once more.
"What's a snake? this thing?" Katze gives it a tap with the toe of her shoe.
Elise is surprised by the question. "Yes! That's a snake. They slither about and bite, their fangs usually have poison. Have you never seen snakes before, or do you just have another name for them?"
"No, we don't get these....snakes on ships. It is a pretty color though!"
"You've never seen snakes on a plane ship?" asks Elise in surprise.
"Well, if you see another one, best to kill it. They can be quite deadly."
"Seems like sage advice. Did you still want to see this creature? I don't believe it is the thing that left the tracks we were following."
Elise considers trying to milk the venom from the mangled viper, but she finds the remains are just too obliterated for that to be practical. As Elise considers the bi-pedal and hoofed tracks again, Katze's sharp eyes catch something glinting on the ground near the base of the snake's tree.
Looking closer the sea-wolf finds the skeletal remains of an arm half-buried in the detritus of leaves and soil around the bole of the tree. The bony and brittle arm and fingers are still attached, and around the ring finger of the hand, which appears to be a right hand, is a silver ring with a small emerald inset with an overlay of a fox's head, such that the fox eyes appear green in the light. It is possible more of the skeleton lies just under the surface, but no other bones are visible from where you stand.
Spotting the arm, Katze will dig up the rest of the body.
"Oh dear, is that a body?: says a worried Elise. She searches for magic in case there was more to this scene than meets the eye.
"You scared of a dead body? it's not like it can hurt you." chuckles Katze.
Neither the ring, the skeleton, nor anything else in the grove appears to radiate magic as Elise tries to discern any auras here. Digging around the skeletal arm reveals more disconnected bones and soon a nearly complete anatomical structure is recovered, along with a rusty dagger and a notched longsword. (These are both mundane as well). The knife has a hilt with a fox's face also carved into the metal there.
Elise wasn't as sure as Katze about how dead bodies worked. As Katze digs up the remains, Elise looks around warily. "I don't know why there's a dead body here, but we shouldn't stay. Grab whatever you want and let's keep going!"
"I think I shall." chuckled Katze as she pocketed the dagger and the ring.
"Sounds like you just want to head to the manor and clear it out, right?"
"Well, I wanted to see what was here, but I don't like what I see."
Katze shrugged and said "Fair enough. let's head on towards the manor then." and turned to head back towards the road.
Leaving the goat tracks behind and with no questions about the corpse and the gear answered, the pair heads back on the track to the manor, making a beeline as due east as they can.
The trip across towards the coast is uneventful and eventually the sun westers and begins to set. The pair realize they must make camp out in the wilderness, so they begin to look for a safe, protected spot.
A small hillock covered a lone tree looks like the most protected spot amid a sea of waist=high grassland. As darkness creeps on, camp is set up and a small fire made.
Elise goes on the hunt . . . oh how she wish she had the foresight to purchase food. She'd gotten too used to hunting.
She does manage to find enough for the day, anyway. "Makes me wish I had convinced that elf to come with us," she says, with regret. If Katze doesn't have any food, Elise would share.
Sitting by the campfire, Elise chats as she eats. "Have you thought about what you might do if we succeed in our quest? That sure is a lot of gold we'd get if so!"
"Probably ale, maybe a new whip. You know, the simple things. Did you have something you're eyeing?"
"I've had to strike out on my own recently. Want enough to start a new life, maybe in Ionian lands. I guess I want to learn more magic too, but I've never exactly learned magic by training. It just sort of happens. What about your own magic, how does it work?"
Katze shrugged "Dunno, it just...happens. I think about what I want to happen and it does, but I think it has something to do with music or dance. I tend to think about music a good deal, since on my ho....mother's ship, we would always be singing. It helps to pass the time."
The pair find enough berries and small game to make a decent meal on the road. They sit and discuss things past and future while sitting at the campfire. Come nightfall, the fire is banked, and the adventurers take turns sleeping and watching. Come morning, no one is quite rested, but better than no sleep at all.
They set back out again, following the rising sun towards the Novan coast. About mid morning, the sharp cries of a wounded small animal can be heard from just over the next wooded hillside.
Katze gives a sidelong glance towards Elise to see what she wants to do.
Elise comes to a stop, draws her bow, and listens carefully, waiting for a moment to see if the cries continue or if they come to an end. And also if any other dangerous creature was the cause of such cries.
Katze unlimbered her massive chain and tried to pinpoint where the sounds were coming from exactly.
The sounds are not hard to hear, and they are continual with short pauses, perhaps, between them. Over the next rise, is where the sound comes from. As the pair top that small hill and look down, they see a valley spreading out before them, with a small creek running through it. A line of trees runs along the far-side of the creek, which is about 500 feet away. Between the creek and where they stand, the two ladies spy a small red fox caught in a steel trap, mewling for all its worth as it tries to escape.
"What a wierd looking cat." said Katze.
"Oh, don't tell me you haven't seen a fox before, either? They're more similar to dogs, really, and are valued for their fur. Poor thing, fell into someone's trap. I feel bad for it, but mother would chide me and say hunting is no different than trapping. Just part of the circle of life." Elise sighs. "So I guess we might just move on? What do you think?"
"I can't stand the noise it's making, and using something like that to catch a creature is not hunting." said Katze as she moved over and freed the little creature.
"We should keep our eyes out for more of these." said Katze as she indicated the trap.
Feeling bad for the critter herself, Elise can hardly complain when Katze chooses to set the fox free. She watches it run off. "We definitely wouldn't want to get ourselves caught in one of these traps!"
As Katze moves to the trap, the raucous cry of a pair of hunting falcons arises from the tree line and the birds swoop forward to attack the pair of travelers. Each dive bombs one of the ladies. Katze is able to get an arm up and protect herself, but Elise takes a raking claw across the cheek. Simultaneously, black-feathered arrow grazes the shoulder of Katze, surprising and wounding her slightly.
Baited Trap - Round 1
26 Hawk 2
17 Katze
15 Hawk 1
13 Elise
10 Hunter
The hawk that was attacking Elise tries again, diving down with talons and beak. This time Elise is able to avoid the sharp attacks by the bird companion and takes no damage.
Katze again unlimbered her chain, then began a song about the battle between a dragon and three warriors, one of them a fierce archer. Finally, she prepared to swing her chain when one of them got within range.
Baited Trap - Round 1 - continued
Katze starts up another sea-chant as all hell breaks lose around her. Ignoring the pain from the arrow, she unlimbers her massive chain and whirls it around her head, and loosing it at one of the flying hawks. The bone-shattering crunch it makes destroys the raptor in one attempt, keeping her perfect record intact.
"No, get away from me!" cries Elise. She flails wildly at the hawk above her and as she does so, sparks shoot from her hands.
Getting her wits again, she fires an arrow at either the hawk or the hunter.
;
Baited Trap - Round 1 - concluded
Elise discharges an arc of electricity that hits the remaining bird. The bird of prey avoids most of the shock but still get sizzled a bit. Elise follows up her magical attack with a bowshot, but it misses the flying target.
From the woods, another pair of arrows flies into the melee scrum. One flies past the heroes, but the second strikes Katze damaging her a bit.
End of Round 1
Baited Trap - Round 2
17 Katze (6hp dmg)
15 Hawk 1 (2hp dmg)
13 Elise (4hp dmg)
10 Hunter
Katze continued her song with the next stanza and then went charging after the archer.
Baited Trap - Round 2 - continued
The treeline from which the arrows are being fired is 100' away. Katze turns and sprints towards the trees, but can't quite make it there. She can see that the archer is in a tree stand about 10' off the ground. He is a well armed and armored humanoid with grey, ashen skin: a hobgoblin.
Back at the traps, the second hawk turns and races for Katze trying to keep her from its master. The bird dives with talons outstretched, raking the back of the mariner's neck.
Elise hurries forward 50 feet to get closer, and then fires an arrow at the hawk still harassing Katze.
;
She looks up where the arrows are coming from. Does she make out this hobgoblin?
Baited Trap- Round 2 -concluded
Even as the target races away, Elise takes aim, leading the raptor just enough. When she looses her arrow, it flies true and takes the bird in mid-swoop, skewering it and killing it. The priestess then advances toward the tree, where she can make out a humanoid figure in the branches, but cannot tell who or what it is.
That same figure takes aim at Katze, firing his bow at her from point-blank range and hitting her a third time. It is still a survivable wound, but they are starting to mount up on the Sea Wolf. The hobgoblin above casts down his bow, and draws a longsword, ready to repel boarders, if someone tries to climb up.
End of Round 2
Baited Trap - Round 3
17 Katze (11hp dmg)
13 Elise (4hp dmg)
10 Hunter