Any token?
”Let’s rest...to heal these wounds...” He pointed to the gaping wound in his side ”...and to consecrate this place. By the gods that hurt.”
Eirnar points at the already closing wound, and says, " Worry not my friend". It almost completely closes over the next minute. Eirnar recieves reciprocal wounds, but heals those over the next five minutes. After that, Eirnar communes with his ancestors over fifteen minutes to consecrate the altar.
Eirnar prepares and casts Consecrate on the alter. Slowly the frozen arms sticking out of the ground recede and the frantic movements of the nearby soul-orbs slow. They gently drift to the ground and disappear. It's possible the Barrow King would approve though his current state of re-deadification makes it impossible to tell.
A second search of the lifeless body doesn't yield anything new, and it seems unlikely that any of the weapons, armor, or potions are the token you seek.
Kaldwell considered where they were. "Where is the token most likely held?" he muttered out loud, his brow wrinkling even further as he considered the problem. If there wasn't any sign then...the old fighter looked down. "Do you think it was...buried in one of the graves?" Kaldwell didn't look comfortable with that idea. Going into an old tomb was one thing, but digging up the dead was another.
Under the assumption that the token would radiate with some sort of magic, Elthaeron quietly searched the area. He was looking for any place that might stick out, or which looked substantially different from the rest of the area.
Yattle moves along investigating as well, sifting through any disturbed dirt from a distance, but particularly inspecting the sarcophagus with no particular reverence.
Lokhir looks around but can't find anything magical. He then remembers that neither of the two tokens the group had already found radiated magic, so there is really no reason to believe the one he searched for would either.
Inside the sarcophagus, Yattle finds a large ruby molded in the shape of a human heart. Given the name of the token -- the Bard's Heart -- it's reasonable to assume this is the item your looking for. In addition they also find a half-moldered collection of books and scrolls that seem to pertain to the burial rites of various Age of Darkness civilizations.
Other than that, nothing particularly catches anyone's eye.
"Eirnar, you know things. How are we going to use the tokens to get out of this plane once we do have them all? I'd like to leave them behind for Mourning Choir if I can."
The fiercest loves always consume...
Eirnar tries to piece together what they should do.
Kaldwell scratched his beard. "It seems to me that the Bard, Sonorae, had total mastery over this place. If these items are indeed fragments of her as has been hinted then collecting them might grant us enough mastery to leave, at the least. It is but a guess, though."
”We should take nothing from here but the token. The dead do not rest easy, and will likely not react well to unneeded trespass.”
"Reassembling them might hold some significance."
"We should try to learn more in order to avoid any unintended consequences."
Eirnar looks at the tokens, trying to figure out how they work in the large scheme of things. Unfortunately, with less than half of the required items, it seems there are too many pieces still missing to figure out the big picture.
Considering his coffee supply was large, but finite, Kaldwell suggested, "Now we are done here mayhap we should detour and find the bird the serpent spoke of."
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
Agreed Kaldwell
I say something, Delroy says he just needs coffee, a sorrow filled fanciful singing bird says it, we go to do it.
Snake-Birds are more convincing I guess. Wait, can Eirnar hear **my** thoughts?
***
"It's hard to hunt smart things that fly. They don't really leave tracks when they travel, so all you can find them by are their homes. Or, you can make them want to find you. Immortal things that don't eat always have other needs."
"Maybe the snake bird can tell us something more about the bird that supposedly stole my shadow."
"The Choir's got to be first, but once we know a little more, one thing I can do is be our eyes in the sky. Make it so that while we're hunting, they have to stay close to the ground where they can break branches and rub their scent against trees and rocks. Or let them take flight, and I'll follow them from there!"
Well, my people know how to hunt dragons, how much harder can it be to hunt a stupid bird.
Eirnar asks Delroy for permission give him a thorough examination, looking for any signs that may aid them in the search for this creature.
Eirnar then tries to think about where such a creature might make its nest in such an environment. He conveys this information to the group and makes that as a suggestion for where Lokhir could use his scrying techniques.
When they have a lead, Eirnar tries to assist with the tracking
"Yattle, if you can fly up high, then maybe you can see high ground or a big tree where a bird would make a nest."
Eirnar thinks about different places a nesting creature might want to set up their home and believes he may have narrowed down the possible locations in the Demon's Fen that might be useful to search.
Lokhir was not trained in the art of tracking. However, he was keen of eye, and he had his magic. Specifically, he knew the spell Residual Tracking. Therefore, he kept his eyes out. He watched and listened, to get a feel for what birds were native to the area of Demon’s Fen. From there it was a matter of figuring out which tracks belonged to which bird via his magic. It was a grueling process and one which took much note taking, as well as a good memory. But he hoped to narrow it down to the point where they could tell what to look for.
Delroy spends time studying the ground through the marsh looking for sign.
Any large animal that ate, bird or not, would leave scat that showed its passage or tracks where it landed to eat or drink.
Kaldwell considered the thing as a bird. These creatures seemed to obey the storybook version of themselves - bears could ride unicycle like in the stories about a circus - but beyond that they would like act real. And real birds did leave evidence - the remains of claw marks, ideal perches, meals and the like.
After Eirnar narrows down the possible locations, the group heads out, hoping to find the bird who stole Delroy's shadow. Kaldwell tries to discern evidence of a large bird, but gradually realizes that since their quarry isn't a bird, he's looking for the wrong patterns. Delroy looks for scat but quickly discovers that there isn't any large enough to be the prey you seek; it all belongs to your much smaller, typical wildlife. However, with a little aid from Kaldwell, he's able to figure out the birds' patterns and, more specifically, which area of the Demon's Fen the regular creatures seem to be avoiding. As the group approaches the smaller, but still sizable territory where you believe your quarry calls home, the area starts to become more densely populated with outcroppings of bog-wood and trees further along in the fossilization process. Lokhir starts looking around for a nest as Yattle takes to the sky. After some amount of searching the area, while Lokhir's vision is obscured by the mini-petrified forest, Yattle sees off in the distance a tree jutting above the rest. Believing that to be the goal, you all head in that direction, making sure stop far enough away that you're confident any inhabitant has not yet spotted you.
Last time I went in unprepared, I'll not be doing that again
So, magically boosted Eirnar carrying Kaldwell and Delroy to that nest? I only hope there is somewhere to put ya down, because if not, you won't be doing much fighting while I'm still holding on...
Eirnar casts Freedom of movement, barkskin, heightened awareness and heroism on himself.
"I'll just drift up through the trees. Nice and easy, nice and quiet."
”As will I. I am ready.” Lokhir said.
Delroy takes a firm hold on Eirnar's left arm and holds on tight.
Eirnar starts flying his allies towards the nest, keeping pace with Yattle and softly humming something that sounds like this.
The group prepares and starts flying in their various ways towards the tree where hopefully they would be able to return Delroy's shadow to him. Lokhir is forced to slow down to accommodate the slower pace of Yattle and the heavily burdened Eirnar. The five-minute approach is peaceful and quiet. Perhaps a little too peaceful. It takes a moment, but gradually it occurs to you that it's completely silent. Unlike your trek through the rest of this muddy, smell swamp, there's no croak of frogs or chirping of the odd bird. As Delroy had noticed with his attempts to track scat, the mundane creatures of the bog seem to completely avoid this area.
As you get closer, you start to notice details of the tree. Where the other trees are all in varying states of petrification and are often leaning or have actually fallen, this tree seems to have completed the process and turned entirely to stone. It stands tall and proud, ending about 50ft above the ground around it in a jagged break, as though it was once taller but some great force had broken off the top. On top of it is a messy bundle of twigs and mud in some kind of nest, roughly 10ft in diameter.
At first it appears empty, but then you spot some movement. Brown feather matching the mud and twigs surrounding it cover a large, human-sized avian that seems to be facing away from you. When you're about 280 feet away, the head suddenly turns 180 degrees to stare at you, revealing an almost-human face set in the bird's head. The creature blinks slowly at you all as its body slowly swivels around to face you as well as he calls out to you.
"Whooooo are youuuuuu? More hooomans? Have yooooouuuu come to give Embor your shadows? I doooo love them so." He tilts his head almost 90 degrees to one side as he stares at you all.
Kaldwell wished that a human-faced shadow stealing bird thing was the oddest thing he'd seen, or even the oddest thing he'd seen in this strange little world. This was going to make a bard's tale worthy of song, assuming they survived. "Alas, I feel I have a need for my shadow. The grandkids play games where they must avoid it falling on them, and would be sore disappointed if I did not have one to play with. I am Kaldwell, and aye, I'm mostly human. But a question for your question. Do you know why my friend sleeps poorly now? We have heard that you might. Also, you say 'more humans' - can you tell us of the others you have met recently?"
It was unclear if the thing could be reasoned with, but Kaldwell always found it easier to get answers from living people. He didn't have the magic to do otherwise.
Eirnar looks for a spot to out Delroy and Kaldwell down.
My arms... I have got to start coming up with better plans...
Nearly the length of a football field away, Yattle cups their hands as a makeshift lousdpeaker and yells, "WHAT VALUE DO THESE SHADOWS HOLD FOR YOU, ESPECIALLY THOSE ALREADY STOLEN?"
With a slight smile, Lokhir focused on just flying closer. ”We can’t expect the bird to yell back. Race you there?”
Feeling the ache in his arms, Eirnar seems many places he could place his wards. There's the ground, 50 feet below. A number of partially petrified trees nearby, ranging from a squat 10 feet tall to a respectable 30 feet tall.
"Sleep? If he is no good at sleeping, perhaps he needs more practice. Or if he is no good at it, perhaps he should give it up entirely. It does not seem to be that useful of a skill. Unless he likes it. Does it feel good to sleep? Good like shadows? Youuuu should try them." Embor gives a shiver of pleasure at the thought. "Hooman shadows are much better than-" He's cut off by Lokhir suddenly dashing forward. "Wh-what are you doing? Begone!" Embor seems spooked by the sudden movement quickly try to grab a couple of things in his claws as he starts flapping his wings in preparation for takeoff.
Lokhir came to a stop. ”Sorry! We were playing a game. It was hard to hear all the way over there and we were seeing who could get close the fastest. We’ll stop. Here, watch. I’ll sit down on this branch over here.”
Lokhir said all of this in a friendly tone, and kept his hands where they could be seen.
”Sorry to interrupt. Please, as you were.”
"Does anyone have any tattoos of a bird that might help?" Delroy asks as we float towards the nest.
Eirnar slowly follows Lokhir,
I hope that bird has a big nest, if not, I fear hanging onto me is not going to provide much of a platform to fight from. I could perhaps put you on a nearby petrified tree that you could use your bolas from?
Embor seems unconvinced and starts flying away, angling in the direction of the Briar. From one talon you can see dangling a glinting needle and from the other, a floppy, black thing.
Yattle takes off after Embor, shouting after the owl. "HOLD, EMBOR. WE HAVE NOT YET FINISHED OUR DISCUSSION! YOU ARE FASTER, BUT MY EYES ARE KEEN, AND I DO NOT TIRE. HOW LONG WILL YOU RUN BEFORE YOU SPEAK WITH US? ASK MOURNING CHOIR, ASK BRAVE BRAMBLESON - WE ARE NOT BUTCHERS. ASK THE BARROW KING - WE ARE NOT PREY."
”NOR ARE WE SLOW!” Lokhir yelled, as his speed increased. ”HALT TO TALK AND SO SHALL WE.”
Maybe you're not slow... I'm carrying this team, literally!
Eirnar huffs, out of breath, and goes toward the nest.
"You're doing a great job Eirnar." Delroy says, slapping him on the knee.
Yattle plays The Owl. Once more the tattoo fades and they get the impression Embor will be easier to either reason with or intimidate later, if you don't scare him off.
Lokhir casts his spell, rushing off in an attempt to catch up on Embor's sizable lead. However, it quickly becomes clear that either he isn't catching up or he's doing so too slowly to get anywhere near his quarry in the less-than-a-minute he has his additional speed.
Eirnar cautiously moves up to his nest, scans it for hazards, and then finally lands there .
I assume the bird will come back, Any of us good enough at hiding to ambush it?
Kaldwell shook his head. "I don't bend well anyway. Makes it difficult to get into the right place to hide."