Argus stands slowly and tests his limbs. His bones still creak a little, and his fingers on his right hand are cramped horribly. He flexes and unflexes the fingers rhythmically as he inspects their surroundings. "Odd. We are definitely in the Livery outside of town. But... Something feels... off. Do you feel it?"
Bob stands on Ray's face and pecks his forehead. [color=blue]"Hey! Dingleberry! Wake up, dammit!"[/color] The bird seems unusually agitated.
Ray swats irritably at the raven and sits up with a groan, rubbing his neck. [color=blue]"Alright, I'm up. Cripes. What's with you?"[/color]
He sniffs the air. "Is that... dead fish?"
As the familiar flies up and settles on his shoulder, Ray trudges over to the door rubbing sleep from his eyes. "Dellan, can you--?" He stops and sighs. "Right."
He draws psychic energy into his mind and uses it to peel open his magical senses, sweeping across the stable with detect magic. If he sees nothing out of the ordinary, he steps over to the broken door.
"Okay, this is weird. I mean, I expected destruction--something killed the entire town, after all--but I expected big-boom kinda destruction. This looks like..." He shakes his head, flabbergasted.
"Like decay," Argus finishes. He suddenly feels an exhaustion that has nothing to do with his body. "Open the doors, Ray."
Ray suddenly really, really doesn't want to. What if there are bodies out there? What if... what if her body is out there?
But Bob gently nudges him with his beak, and the occultist sighs. Nothing for it, then.
He grabs the door barely hanging on and pulls it open.
The doors open reluctantly, creaking loudly on the old rusted hinges. Now that you can see outside, the greenish-yellow tint of the sunlight is more evident, but from inside the stable, it is still not clear what is causing it.
Argus squints at the strange tint. "I don't understand. What is this strange light?" He steps through the open door and into Roslar's Coffer for the first time in what feels like months.
Ray shakes his head as he starts to follow the paladin outside. "Beats me. Some kind of smog, maybe? If the town was wiped by an alchemical agent of some sort, it might have left vapors that are tinting the air." He glances behind him at Amanteia. "You coming?"
As Argus steps out of the stable, he notices movement to his right. Unfortunately, he notices too late to react to the large, lashing vine whipping its blade-like thorns at him. The thorn catches him on the arm and only barely scratches him , but he immediately feels like the scratch itself might be the least of his worries.
Alas for the weird plant thing, Argus is far too fortitudinous for a silly little poison to bring him down.
Now that Argus is aware, a quick glance around reveals three more of the creatures. He also becomes aware of the ungodly stench that they are exuding.
Although Argus is the first to notice the stench, he is the only one not to succumb to it. Everyone else begins dry heaving .
The bad news keeps coming, as all of the plants have gotten the jump on you. #4 is half-buried in the ground and stays there , but the other three have dislodged themselves from the ground and converge on the half-orc. An absolute mass of tentacles surrounds and slashes at him..
Before he knows it, he is riddled with four more relatively minor cuts , but he feels their poison threaten to weaken him further.
Argus is a paragon of fortitude.
These are known as weedwhips. You've already seen that their attacks are poisonous and their stench can sicken you. Other than that, there isn't much to them, besides their ability to dig in to the ground. While dug in, they are immobile, but gain concealment. They can dig out as a move action (the three that did not attack Argus used their surprise round actions to dig out of the ground).
Also, their tentacles do not threaten and do not get AOOs.
Creature #1 (0 damage)
Creature #2 (0 damage)
Creature #3 (0 damage)
Creature #4 (0 damage, concealment)
Argus (41/52 hp)
Amanteia (35/35 hp, sickened)
Somnius (8/8 hp, sickened)
Ray (33/33 hp, sickened)
Bob (16/16 hp, sickened)
Bold may act.
Argus immediately drops the glaive and pulls out the halberd, then swings at one of the weird stink-plants .
"Ray!" he calls behind him with surprising calm, "What are these things?"
Bob pukes up a berry, considers it momentarily, then f!~*s off well away from the murderous fart flowers.
Ray backpedals a step from the door, drawing his blasting rod and aiming it at one of the plants. "How the Hells should I know?? Dellan was the plant guy!"
He draws in his psychic power and blasts one of the plant-monsters with fire. Plants hate fire, right?
Amanteia covers her mouth and nose against the stench. She is momentarily thankful that they didn't need to eat in the Boneyard, but the painful dry heaving quickly puts that thought out of her head. She cranes her neck to see through the doorway.
Fighting the revulsion, she manages to spit out her basic knowledge of the creatures.
She fires a few missiles at #3.
Argus's halberd nearly takes #2's ... head? ... clean off. Ray's ray slams harmlessly into the ground, but Amanteia's missiles land true (as they do). Leaves and petals burst off of the weedwhip; it looks quite hurt, but it doesn't fall.
Another flurry of tentacles whip around Argus, continuing his ongoing death by a thousand cuts . He feels like maybe he should get out of there as soon as possible.
Despite the dozen or so cuts on his body, Argus still does not succumb to the poison. In immediate contrast to his last thought, he thinks that maybe he is the best person to stand here and distract the plants.
---
Song Riverstar woke in a coffin whose lid had been pushed to the side. She wandered through what turned out to be a weird perversion of Roslar's actual tomb in Roslar's Coffer. She found evidence of others having passed through the tomb recently, most notably the many mite corpses they left in their wake, but she herself was utterly alone.
When she reached the exit to the tomb, she was greeted by two strange beings: a looming skeletal humanoid with large wings and a metallic jackal mask for a head, and a talking crow. The crow seemed very upset and went on at length about how he thought they had 'usherated everyone along'. He told Song that they would take care of her and to simply 'follow the road'.
Next thing she knew, Song was on a strange road flanked by impenetrable mist on either side. She walked for what seemed like hours, until a tall, thin figure with a raven-like head appeared before her. He sighed, and without any explanation, waved his hand.
---
Song's stomach drops as her sight goes blank and she momentarily feels weightless. In the next moment, her feet are on solid ground and her sight returns. She seems to be back in Roslar's Coffer, in the old livery, but something doesn't feel right. For one thing, there are a handful of strangers crowded around an open door across the room, desperately fighting against ... something.
Weedwhip #1 (0 damage)
Weedwhip #2 (11 damage)
Weedwhip #3 (13 damage)
Weedwhip #4 (0 damage, concealment)
Argus (27/52 hp)
Amanteia (35/35 hp, sickened)
Somnius (8/8 hp, sickened)
Ray (33/33 hp, sickened)
Bob (16/16 hp, sickened)
Song (37/37 hp, staggered [2 rounds])
Bold may act.
Argus grumbles at his stupidity for dropping his favored weapon. He should have just backpedaled. He drops the halberd and risks a few swipes in order to pick back up his glaive, then steps back and slashes at #2 to try and finish it off.
He then touches his chest and whispers a quick prayer of grace to Shelyn.
Ray steps back as he pulls out his crossbow and loads it.
"Dammit, Argus, get out of there! They're ripping you apart!"
Song stares woozily at her surroundings, her stomach performing loops up in her esophagus. The last few... days?... hours?... years?... are an absolute blur of dismal gray landscapes, mist, and a moon that haunts her dreams. Not Desna's moon. Something else... something horrifying... Groetus...
Now she's in a stable? It looks vaguely familiar, but her brain is too much in shambles to make heads or tails. Some aggressive-looking strangers are yelling and firing spells and bolts out a doorway. They look familiar too. Faces in crowds...
Song sees a door nearby. Maybe she can get out while they're preoccupied. What are they attacking? Other people? Monsters? If she could get a better look at their opponents, she might have a better idea what's going on. She stumbles toward the other door. The light is weird... green... maybe some fresh air will clear her cobwebbed brain...
Amanteia sees movement in her peripheral vision. She turns to look and barely catches sight of a lithe form ducking between the stables. Who the hells was that? She whispers to Ray, "Someone else is here. Keep your eyes open."
Turning back to the demon plants, she does what she does best: fires magic missiles. She thinks #3 is probably close to dead, so she sends the third missile at #4.
Argus grabs his glaive without worry, knowing these plants can't react to movement that quickly. He cuts #2 in half, a split second before #3 explodes from Amanteia's missiles.
#1 moves to get a better angle on Argus and whips its tentacles at him, hitting him once . #4 tries to swing its tentacles around the door jamb to hit Argus, but the extra cover makes him essentially impossible to hit
Argus's wounds spit the poison back at the weedwhips.
Weedwhip #1 (0 damage)
Weedwhip #2 (17 damage, dead)
Weedwhip #3 (21 damage, dead)
Weedwhip #4 (4 damage, concealment)
Argus (25/52 hp)
Amanteia (35/35 hp, sickened)
Somnius (8/8 hp, sickened)
Ray (33/33 hp, sickened)
Bob (16/16 hp, sickened)
Song (37/37 hp, staggered [1 round])
Bold may act.
Argus spits a little bit of blood and swings at #1, putting more weight behind the swing than normal.
Ray curses under his breath and glances nervously toward the other side of the livery, then steps to the side and fires off his crossbow at #4.
Song stares absently at the wall blocking her way. Was there a wall here? Why does the wall have a knob?
Oh. Not wall. Door.
She groans and shakes her head, but that doesn't clear it--just makes her dizzier. She sluggishly grasps at the door handle and throws it open, stumbling at the sudden thrust of movement from her own body as if she'd suddenly forgotten how doors work. Gods, she felt awful...
Amanteia thinks the others have this in hand, so she dashes to the other side of the room. She reaches the narrow corridor leading to the other door and sees a young woman fumbling with the knob. Nearly weeping (though whether it's from the nausea or seeing another person for the first time in what seems like months, she isn't sure), she calls out, "Wait! Who are you!?"
Argus bifurcates #1 and Ray's bolt pierces one of #4's leaves. #4 pulls itself out of the ground and moves into the doorway... but does not cross into the stable.
Song feels her faculties return to her just as she hears a human voice call out to her.
Weedwhip #1 (16 damage, dead)
Weedwhip #2 (17 damage, dead)
Weedwhip #3 (21 damage, dead)
Weedwhip #4 (5 damage)
Argus (25/52 hp)
Amanteia (35/35 hp, sickened)
Somnius (8/8 hp, sickened)
Ray (33/33 hp, sickened)
Bob (16/16 hp, sickened)
Song (37/37 hp)
Bold may act.
Argus lashes out to try and drop the final Weedwhip.
Ray reloads, then glances over at Amanteia. What is she doing, running off after a stranger by herself? He glances at Argus; the paladin seems to be holding his own now that they're down to one enemy, so he hustles over toward Amanteia.
"Hold up. Maybe don't draw their attention just yet. We don't know if they're friend or foe."
Song hears the voice behind her and panic blooms momentarily. She rushes out of the livery, drawing her bow as she goes, and stops to look around outside, arrow nocked.
She sees three dead plant creatures and a fourth attacking a half-orc in armor. His glaive, his calm stature, the holy symbol around his neck--a paladin? Perhaps a warpriest like her? She knows most of her ilk are more the sword-and-board types. Regardless, it seems like a good sign.
Now that her head isn't quite so woozy, she feels safe taking a shot at the thing.
Amanteia yells dismissively over her shoulder. "It's a person, Ray!" She continues to chase after Song, passing through the doorway just as Song fires her arrow.
The attack could have proven to Amanteia that she was right -- that Song is an ally -- but the arrow was so poorly shot that Amanteia can't tell if she was firing at the plant or at Argus.
"Hey! Are you with us or against?"
Argus, perhaps surprised at the lack of pursuit into the stable, swings high, barely missing the plant.
Drawing her bow immediately returns Song's disorientation to her. Perhaps she is doing too much too fast.
The remaining plant turns and awkwardly pulls itself along the ground toward Song.
Weedwhip #1 (16 damage, dead)
Weedwhip #2 (17 damage, dead)
Weedwhip #3 (21 damage, dead)
Weedwhip #4 (5 damage)
Argus (25/52 hp)
Amanteia (35/35 hp, sickened)
Somnius (8/8 hp, sickened)
Ray (33/33 hp, sickened)
Bob (16/16 hp, sickened)
Song (37/37 hp, staggered [1 round])
Bold may act.
Argus raises his glaive into a defensive posture just as an arrow sails past his head. Admittedly past the plant's head too, but it's hard to say who it was aimed at. He notices a half-elf nearby looking ready to throw up. He frowns and returns his attention to the creature. One problem at a time.
He gives chase as it looks to shuffle its way toward the newcomer and tries to stop its movement by cutting its "legs" out from under it.
Ray grumbles to himself as he hustles to the door and stops behind Amanteia. "Yes," he huffs, slightly out of breath. "I can see she's a person, Amanteia. That doesn't mean she's not dangerous." He keeps his crossbow at the ready in case the woman is dangerous.
Song stares at the oncoming plant for a moment as a wave of dizziness passes over her. She clears her thoughts enough to take aim again, targeting low to avoid shooting the half-orc but high enough to hit a ganglia or... well not the heart, but that little bit of bark there looks important.
Argus ends the final weedwhip just as Song's second shot hits the plant center mass.
Song lowers her bow but doesn't stow it, glancing nervously from the half-orc to the human woman. Her head still hurts, but her thoughts are finally clearing.
"You all... look familiar. Are you from town?"
Argus nods slowly, planting the haft of his glaive in the grass and leaning heavily on it. His fingers tremble ever-so-slightly as the last of the adrenaline runs its course. "Aye," he says. "I'm Argus Coal-heart, servant of the Eternal Maiden. I've been stationed in Roslar's Coffer for near on a decade now. That's Amanteia and Raybin."
Ray steps out of the barn, crossbow still in his hands. He's not quite so ready to drop his guard yet. This woman appearing out of thin air the same time they enter battle leaves him wary, to say the least.
"Just... gods, just Ray. Seriously. And who are you, lady? You just pop in right when we get dropped on our asses in a dead city and are fighting for our lives?"
Song blinks, opens her mouth to speak, then snaps it shut again. Surely she didn't hear that right. This is Roslar's Coffer. She recognizes the livery just outside of town. It's not...
"...d...dead...?"
Argus sighs and feels his heart ache at her realization. He stows his glaive and waves irritably at Raybin to put his weapon away, then moves closer to the archer. "I'm afraid so, miss. I don't know how we survived, but something terrible has happened here. Everyone else in Roslar's Coffer is dead. We helped usher their souls to their Final Judgment in the Boneyard, and traveled the Dead Roads to return here and begin our investigation. We..." He swallows. "We lost someone on the way. He gave his life so we could return."
He finally sees the holy symbol around Song's neck. "You follow the Dreamer? Perhaps you would be willing to help us? Someone has caused a terrible calamity to befall an entire town in a single night, and we must find out who and how. We could use all the help we can get. Even if you don't wish to help, it would be wise to stick together until we find civilization again. Strength in numbers."
Song slowly stows her bow and stares out at the world around her. The whole town...?
"Okay," she says in a small voice.
Song, you are in way over your head.
While her inner monologue wasn't wrong, she knew the paladin spoke the truth. Paladins were notoriously honest folk, and she'd do well to have company, especially after days (weeks? How long was she in that nightmare place?) alone in fog and shadow.
"I'm... I'm Song. Riverstar. H-hi."
Ugh. Where's your voice, woman? You sound like a schoolgirl. Though the crazy guy with the crossbow is kinda hot. But crazy. Why are all the hot ones crazy?
She flushes and clears her throat.
Ray grumbles and puts away the crossbow, then heads back into the livery to retrieve the hammer and blasting rod he dropped in the heat of the moment. With those in hand, he comes back out the door behind Argus. "Okay, well if we're done with the introductions we should head into town. And keep an eye out because we know everybody's dead but I have yet to see a corpse. I dunno, maybe these weed-whatevers ate them? Do plants eat people? What am I saying, of course they do. Plants are objectively horrifying."
Bob flies out of his hiding place under the eaves of the building and lands on Ray's shoulder. [color=blue]"Rude as always, not introducing your best friend. Hi, I'm Bob."[/color]
Ray flicks his beak. [color=blue]"Nobody else speaks Celestial, dummy. Learn to speak Taldane already."[/color]
The bird pecks his head and he flinches away irritably. He grumbles to Song, "This is Bob. He's an a~!#&&%."
Song waves uncertainly at the bird, then looks even more uncertain when the bird waves a wing back.
"Uh. Hi..."
Crazy guy also has a bird that speaks in tongues. Please tell me the other woman is sane, at least.
Amanteia approaches Song, looks at her for a long moment, then pulls her into an awkward embrace. She pulls away but keeps her hands on Song's shoulders and looks her in the eyes again. "I can't tell you what a relief it is to see another person. It's been nothing but psychopomps and sahkils for days." A tear spills down her cheek. "My name is Amanteia. My parents live-- lived-- in Roslar's Coffer. And, yes, I'm sorry, Song. Everyone in the town is dead. We don't know how, and we don't know why we survived." She tells Song what they have learned about the shards in their hearts. "We have returned to get to the bottom of it. Will you join us? You seem to be pretty good with that bow."
Now that you are outside, you can see the extent of the devastation. Freemark Livery seems to have survived the brunt of whatever destroyed the town only by virtue of being on the outskirts. As you look southeast toward the town center, you barely recognize the town you went to sleep peacefully barely a week ago.
What remains of Roslar's Coffer lies before you, but familiar buildings lie in ruins and plants grow wild, as if hundreds of years have passed. Shapes flit by the windows of many homes, and a white glow emanates from the direction of the cemetery on the southeast edge of town. Stranger than all that, however, is the yellowish-green cloud that surrounds the entirety of Roslar's Coffer, arching into the sky and making the sunlight feeble and dim. The withered corpses of several birds and rabbits are visible on the ground just within this greenish fog.
Argus looks like he's going to be sick. "Gods..."
Song doesn't reciprocate the hug, just freezes in place and gives an awkward back pat. Why did people always need to hug? Why couldn't people just stay in their own personal bubbles? Touching was way overrated.
When she finally turns to view the ruined state of the town, she loses all speech for several seconds, before finally taking in a horrified, shuddering breath.
"Yes," Song says in a shaky voice, staring out at the destroyed town, "I think maybe I should stick with you guys. I... suddenly don't like my chances alone."
Ray grumbles to himself, doing his level best to ignore the widespread horror and try to focus on solutions. He channels his psychic power for a moment, pulling out the metamagic rod and siphoning the spell through it to strengthen the weave of magic to make it last longer.
"That fog looks highly acidic. Some variation of a cloudkill, maybe? That's high-level magic, but it wouldn't kill and leave no bodies. Hmm..."
Amanteia concentrates on the fog for a few moments. "This fog is certainly magical. Strong conjuration aura."
She shakes her head. "I don't know what it is, but I don't think I want to enter it to find out."
Ray feels like he has heard about something similar to this in the past, but he can't quite put a finger on exactly what it might be. In any case, it is definitely the cause of the weird greenish tint; looking up, you can all tell where the sun is in the sky, but only because the fog is a slightly brighter green in that spot.