"Exactly! Thank you!", she says clapping her hands together and winking back at Orla. With your assurances, Jaldan heads back to Mishkar with you in tow.
"So, here’s the story. Over the last few months, something really weird has happened to the local forest spirits. They’ve always been a little cranky, but now they’ve gone from ‘Auntie Kaana before she has her morning tea’ to ‘We will bake bread from your bones’. They’re not talking to the druids or the shamans, and when Cenenviel tried to do a big ritual to ask them what’s wrong, a tree animated and tried to kill him."
"So that’s bad. Worse, the spirits have started making bodies for themselves. You know leshys, right? Well, normally, only druids can make one. They grow a little plant or mushroom body, nicely ask a spirit to come inside, and poof, leshy. Except now the spirits are making their own bodies, and they’re really creepy, and also violent. I had to smash something that looked like a dead skunk crossed with a thornbush when it tried to eat my face last night."
"These things have been attacking people, starting fires, and trying to burn down the forest. I don’t think anyone’s gotten killed yet, but it’s probably going to happen sooner rather than later."
"Anyway, that’s what Cenenviel, Kaana, and your Urwal are trying to figure out now at the Redpine camp. They seem to think you can help. So! Get your stuff and let’s get going!"
Jaldan opens up the drawstring bag hanging on her neck and gives you five gold pieces. "The journey to the Redpine camp should take about a day and as 'Auntie' Kaana says, best to prepare for any trouble".
"Oh, take these, too", she says handing you an elixir and an owlbear claw. "If you need to fetch supplies, now is the time."
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" ...they’ve gone from ‘Auntie Kaana before she has her morning tea’ to ‘We will bake bread from your bones’."
Inzo's eyes turn wide. Witch is watching... The wordss seem to fall out of his mouth.
Suddenly inquisitive, Inzo inquires "None of 'em have doll faces, wood, or porcelain?"
Do I really need this job? ...yes. yes I do. I already had to pay recompense for Amsu. Well, if we're going, we're gonna burn this forest o' dolls down. No one else needs Baba's eyes. Do you think she can hear my thoughts? Best stop thinking about it.
"Alright Bert, this Owlbear Claw is best affixed to your axe. I've seen 'em before. Erutaki tribes have 'em for good luck."
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"How are leshys setting things on fire, Jaldan? I've not had much to do with the plant-folk, but I wouldn't think that they'd be prone to lighting fires, right?"
Orla goes ahead and purchases two lesser frost vials if she can find them (she'll spend her own gold if no one else is going to use the 5gp offered by Jaldan, but will use the funds on offer otherwise).
"What does a cheetah's elixir do, Jaldan?" Orla asks.
"Uhm, no, none of them have doll faces. That would be so creepy!", she shudders at Inzo's comment. "I mean, if they had doll's faces... I think I'd stamp them hard with my hooves out of fright!"
The young centaur blushes at Hammick's comment. "Oh, master Hammick, I'm not a master yet. Only an apprentice, but thank you. You're very polite. We did have a fire here a year ago, but I wasn't here at the time. Auntie Kaanan was here though. She was here for everything!" She stops and covers her mouth. "Wait no, I'm not saying she's old, not at all! Only that she was here before, okay?"
Orla's question visibly unsettles her, as she unconsciously stamps her right front hoof against the ground. "I know, right? Leshys are a spirits of nature given a physical form, so they would avoid fire, but not these. These want everything to burn and it's making us all nervous because, well, it's not how they usually act at all! They're usually very curious and peaceful." She blows a stray lock of hair from her face.
"Now, this elixir here makes you run faster," she says tapping it with a finger. "It's not long, only for about a minute, but it gives you that extra burst of speed you might need to close the gap. We, uhm, use it on our, well, I haven't because I'm not... the point is, it makes you really fast, okay?"
CHEETAH’S ELIXIR ITEM 1+
ALCHEMICAL | CONSUMABLE | ELIXIR
Usage held in 1 hand; Bulk L
Activate: Interact
Enzymatic compounds in this elixir strengthen and excite the muscles in your legs. You gain a +5 status bonus to your Speed for 1 minute.
Type lesser; Level 1; Price 3 gp.
"Oh, uhm. I'm coming with you. I am your guide after all!", she says as she clops in her place and puts a fist to her chest swelling with pride.
"Oh, uhm, I shouldn't be calling her that. That's our chief, Kaana Korag of the Redpine Clan." Her voice gets really excited and full of admiration. She’s the best warrior in the clan, and the wisest leader! Uhm, she’s not really my aunt, but she and my mom were war buddies way back when and she's nice... was nice? It was different before she became my chief, you know. Now she's more bossy, but I guess she's just trying to do right for my mom."
"Cenenviel, well, he's my master. He's an elven druid who watches over the forest nearby. He's a really nice old guy, lives in the woods and has a pet wolverine named Berry-Eater. She's like the cutest wolverine you've ever seen! My master been teaching me a little magic, so I can be a great shaman later and be helpful to the tribe!", she says almost cantering.
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Orla makes sure she understands things clearly.
"So, respectfully, your master druid colleague and the chief of your tribe can't figure out what's going on with these possessed leshies and they brought us in because we offer.....what is it, exactly? Blood sacrifice?"
Orla laughs, but directs a concerned gaze at her colleagues.
"I don't mean to be offensive. What can we do that a master druid and the chief of the Redpine Clan cannot?"
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"I don't mean to be offensive. What can we do that a master druid and the chief of the Redpine Clan cannot?"
Bert - finally having removed all the remaining apple pips and debris from his hair - buts in: "We bring a certain Pathfindery-ness problem-solvin' that master druids an' chiefs lack. We been all over Avistan, seen a bunch o' craziness, have big axes an' ain't afraid to use 'em. An' Desna's on our side, right Orla?"
"Damn kids," he grumbles, seeing an apple seed he missed. "Didn't their mother teach 'em some lessons like she oughta?"
"Are all these plants doin' is settin' fires and trying to gnaw faces, or do they got other powers too? How big are they anyhow? Better not be swarms of the damn things..."
Jaldan grows flusttered and turns a beet red by Orla's sharp observation and mumbles while stamping her hooves "I-I-I don't know! Uhm, I was just asked to come for you...", but regains just a bit of her composure with Bert's comment. "Uhm, yes. I mean, there was a reason why Urwal asked for you, right?", she says mostly to herself as if assuring she is saying the right thing.
"Well, uh, the one that attacked me was the size of a skunk? But Master Cenenviel says you can even make them as big as one of you! Some of them can even use magic, Master said! There are many types of leshys and some can attack with poison, others with vines and leaves, they're quite varied depending on what was used as the physical vessel, you know."
"Anyway, if, uhm, you're all ready to go, onwards!"
The bruorsivi make it an odd sort of forest, largely indistinguishable from a typical evergreen wood except for the fact that everything is in
shades of red. The branches overhead are crimson, and scarlet needles crunch underfoot. Jaldan is an enthusiastic traveling companion, spending the trip peppering you with questions about the world outside of Finadar Forest. For her, the trip to Urwal’s camp is the equivalent of a summer stroll in the park...
"This is called the brursivi or blood pine", she says excitedly, "as you can tell it gets that name from its deep burgundy color. The dried sap of a bruorsivi tree is very highly flammable and long lasting. The locals soak seedcones in bruorsivi sap and place them atop of a twig to create wind-resistant torches. It can also be used for carpentry as the wood becomes brighter when polished, but most of the locals use them as firewood", she shrugs while shaking her head.
"Oh! Oh! Did you know that this wood gets its name from Finadar, the ulfen explorer? I didn't know that until a cleric of Erastil told me when visiting Mishkar. Uhm... do you smell something burn- oh no!", she stops mid-sentence and gallops off ahead of you! I imagine you all chase after her.
Less than a minute later you arrive to a small clearing in the woods. A band of absolutely bizarre creatures crawls from the forest, chirping and hooting as they go. A moss-covered human skull scuttles along six branches like a spider. A dead raccoon slinks along on a fungal mat that bleeds sap from a hundred crimson ‘eyes’. A twisted mass of weeds topped with pulsing flowers staggers forward, leaving trails of burning sap.
At this point, the creatures spot you, and the oozing plants give out a plaintive shriek in some otherworldly tongue.
As the tiny monsters approach, something odd happens. One dreadful creature, a rotten gourd walking on three rabbit feet, lunges toward Jaldan, only to trip and smash itself against an upraised root. Some kind of hot sap splashes around it, and in seconds the bruorsivi needles catch light and begin to burn. "Spirits of woe and weal", Jaldan swears softly, watching in horrified fascination. "They’re going to set the whole forest aflame."
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The weedlike leshys move in front of their friends and a burst of choking weeds and vines sprout around them! They laugh malevolently and chitter at you, the sound similar to the grinding of bones.
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Orla looks on in horror as the fire goes up, not at all sure what is going on.
"Jaldan, what is this? Why is that leshy speaking Abyssal?"
Orla prays to Desna, targeting the creature that spoke in Hell's tongue.
Orla then races towards the fire.
"Come on, y'all! We gotta get that fire under control. And here I didn't pray to Desna for the capacity to make water..."
Hammick readies his crossbow as Gabros takes position and takes a shot, his aim and draw inspired by the frostfur's tune. The arrow flies and finds its target! The hogwood leshy says something in really unkind in Abyssal, the shaft sticking out of it like an additional appendage. While Nazgub's tune fills the forest, the leshys shake their leaves in anger, waving their misshapen limbs at the goblin as he disappears behind a bruorsivi tree.
At Orla calling her, Jaldan snaps out of it. "I don't know!", she says surprised. "Uhm, I know magic. Well, only one magic!"
Orla strides forward and calls upon Desna's pale moon light. The light burns at the creature and it releases a deep, rumblely laugh as it endures the pain.
The fire rages and consumes more of the forest floor and by the look of it, will easily consume the forest if not stopped.
The plum leshys position themselves and pelt the party with rotten fruit!
Bert is struck by a hard, rotten fruit that explodes on contact with his hard noggin! Orla has the chance to see the disgusting fruit fly high, arc itself towards her and smacks her in the face!
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"Quick Amsu, time for action!" Inzo roars, as he rushes towards the fire. "Buckets! Water! Any magic Orla?" Fire Marshalling is one of the few jobs Inzo really loved in his lumberjack days. Initially drawn to the prospect of seeing more fire, he really did enjoy using his climbing prowess to rescue precious equipment and even more precious friends.
Action 1: Command Amsu to move forward
Action 2: Stride
Action 3: Hunt Prey on Green leshy 2
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Looking repeatedly at the goblin for instructions, Amsu leaps majestically over the fallen tree, and is finding no trouble navigating the foreign forest climate.
Despite it being colder in the north, Amsu has shown no sign of trouble, because she's her own heat source.
Naturally Amsu begins circling the prey, the party as her pack for the hunt.
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"Ugh, stupid little critters tossin' fruit at me better not be a theme for today!" Bert yelps in annoyance. He drags out his shield to better protect himself from any further projectiles before striding forward to get closer to both enemies and fire.
"C'mere yeh bastards, I'm feelin' like a bloody grumplepuss an' am gonna take it out on yeh heads."
Bert strides towards the smouldering forest fire, the leshys screeching angrily as he approaches. The hogwood leshy steps up towards Bert, the human skull covered in weeds giving a wicked grin as it clacks its jaw open and shut. Confidently it whips its vines twice against the pragmatical dwarf. The first stalk slams past the shield's rim and cracks against his arm (-4 hp Blungeoning) while the second one (Crit. -10 hp Blungeoning) fully whips behind the shield and slams into his kidney! As the stalk hits his leathers, sap bleeds out of the stalk and Bert suddenly finds himself on fire!
The other hogwood leshy, seeing Bert far in closes the trap, moving behind the dwarf and sprouting more weeds behind him to make sure you can't easily save your friend. They laugh, they all laugh hideously at the thought of burning the dwarf to a crisp.
Jaldan, gallops forward, muttering to herself, "create water, create water, create water, c'mon!" She calls back to you, "Keep them busy, I'll try to stop the fire!"
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Jaldan lands on the other side, her hoof tearing clumps of plants and grass as she skids to a halt. She rears herself, wide-eyed at the forest fire. The leshys speak in Abyssal, pointing at her. "This is so such a bad idea."
Hammick's crossbow gives the previous leshy a new appendage! It breaks away some of the rotted elements of its form by the sheer force behind the impact leaving it really worse for wear . It says something in Abyssal to the others "Ο θάνατος φέρνει ζωή!" and they cheer in response.
Hammick's crossbow falls onto a clump of bruorsivi leaves as he gets his axes ready.
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Initiative Order - The bold may act!
Round 2 - Active Conditions: Inspire Courage (4 rounds left)[/ooc]
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Uncle peers thoughtfully at the tree-ish creatures and then Hammick's axes. He smiles, steps around the tree to next to Hammick, and then plays a little ditty on the gnomophone.
Reaching out with his tail he taps on the head of one of the axes and it starts to resonate with a gentle humming vibration.
"Go, cut them down, so we can get to Bert."
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Orla races through the forest towards the fire.
"Come on, Jaldan, let's handle these flames and let my friends battle these blighted leshys!"
Reaching the edge of the flames, Orla whips her cloak nimbly about her, trying to smother the flames.
Orla kicks dirt furiously at the spreading fire, successfully burying a small area of the flames.
Gabros takes aim and slams another arrow at the leshy. It speaks in Abyssal, the same words you heard the other one say: "Ο θάνατος φέρνει ζωή!" As Gabros approaches the stench hits him as they have a sweet cloying smell of rot to them. Meanwhile, to the east, Jalden seems out of sorts as she stamps around unsure of her footing. "I'm coming!", Jaldan replies nervously as Orla manages to cover some of the fire with dirt, yet the fire keeps spreading. The leshys, seeing their fun being ruined are not amused and prepare their attacks.
They all take position and pummel the party with more rotten plums!
Orla gets gobsmacked over her body, the rotten juices flowing into her mouth ; Amsu fares no better as the fruit tossed at him also hid a hard rock that struck them on the side of the head . Bert fares better as he raises his shield to protect himself from the rain of fruit. Gabros is taken aback as he fails to dodge the first hail of fruit . Perhaps raising his arm, he protects himself from the second hail as the fruit fall around him. The leshys laugh mischievously as the forest burns.
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Inzo's shuriken strikes the hogwood leshy and it screams out in Abyssal "θάνατος!" before exploding in a burst of toxic natural energy!
Amsu doesn't look so good, . It just manages to bite into the plum leshy , and it screams in ecstasy "θάνατος!" before exploding as well into a burst of toxic natural energy!
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Bert catches the leshy's first strike on his shield (reaction: Shield Block), but leaning into the blow leaves him vulnerable for the following strike.
"Agh that burns. How does it burn? Yer a stupid plant thing."
Given space by the leshy in his face, Bert uses the opportunity to grab a potion from his things and chug it down.
"Hmm, cinnamon-y."
He raises his shield to prepare for the next assault of rotten fruit barrages.
Bert's movements as he readies his shield cause the fire on his back to blaze for a bit, if he's not careful, it might crawl up his neck and head.
The last hogwood leshy screams in Abyssal as it rushes towards Inzo "Εκτροπή! Ξεκίνησε!", vines growing out of the dead animal skull. They shake and slam themselves against the frostfur, the first one curling around his leg, its touch wet and clammy as it trips the goblin onto the forest mulch! Its second stalk slams into his body, but Inzo is made of hardy stuff (probably from falling down all those trees) and at most gets the air beaten out of him.
Jaldan, coughs and wheezes as the poison burst strikes her twice with the death of the leshys . Bracing herself, she gallops over towards Orla and screams out: "Water!" as from her cupped hands a small torrent gushes forth and douses some of the flames in front of her. She turns to Orla giddy with excitement, "I did it!", her face sweaty as the heat from the flames lick her flank.
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