Talia frowns and squats at the riverbank, looking across at the dirty water. "Why is it dirty? There's no mill here, no farms. Maybe a settlement is nearby? Maybe it is magical?" With a waggle of her fingers, Talia scans the river for unnatural emanations. "I don't like it, and I'm not a strong swimmer. I think the rope is a good idea if we cross here. I can conjure a spell to help one of us across. If everyone would prefer, we can look for another place to cross and camp tonight if need be."
Standing, Talia looks up the riverbank towards where the source of the pollution may lie. "Take a couple of minutes to rest. I'll scan the immediate area for tracks." Moving along the riverbank a few minutes in each direction, Talia looks for evidence of creatures passing through the area - or into the river itself.
"Pollution flows downstream, that much is certain. Whatever is causing the river to be so dirty, it's up there way."
Pavo points upstream, then nods towards Talia.
"I'll keep watch son long as I can. Try to keep with eyeshot if possible."
He draws his bow and makes sure his quiver is close to hand.
The river carries faint traces of magic. While not enough to divine any truly specific cause, concentrating on it reveals the foul taint of necromancy.
Talia then searches around the area for tracks for about an hour. She finds no evidence of the movement of any humanoid creatures. Most of the nearby tracks are those of flora and fauna -- obviously hooved like goats or paws like bears. However, it seems like it's been awhile since any forest creature has come near the river.
Returning to the others, Talia shrugs, her brow furrowed in thought. "I couldn't find anything. Literally anything. Nothing seems to be approaching the river at this point. Obviously, this is unusual - creatures should approach it to drink. The water is also tinged with magic - necromancy, specifically."
"Magic pollution that drives away the natural animals? Sounds like that wizard the giant was warning about. If we travel upstream, perhaps we can find his lair. Of course, we may not want to find him just yet, if he's as tough as he seems."
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Leaning on his sword, Wulfgar nods at Talia's and Pavo's observations, but says nothing. As Talia moves up and down the bank looking for tracks, Wulfgar draws his weapon from its spot and finds a tree to lean against. Sitting with the patience of a veteran soldier who's familiar with the phrase "Hurry up and wait,"
When Talia returns with her information, Wulfgar grunts, partially in response to her observations and partially from standing up in armor. Gesturing up river, having a gift for stating the obvious. "We are havink a little daylight left comRades. We could be Marchink up river to be seeink what is causink magical pollutink." His shrug is almost imperceptible in the armor. "If we are findink enemy to powerful for us, withdrawink instead of fightink would be acceptable, dah." He looks to Casamir to see if the quiet warpriest had an opinion.
"Seems a fine plan to me. This pollution is a blot on the land's beauty, and if we can end it I say we take the opportunity."
"So, what kind of magic can you do that will get us across? Make a bridge? Freeze the river solid? I'm ve y curious to see what happens."
Talia gazes across the river, thinking of some of the wilder waterways of her home. "I can grant one person the ability to swim across the river without fear of drowning. But, if we head upstream looking for the source of the pollution, maybe an easier path to ford will also make itself known?"
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Wresting his greatsword on his shoulder as they begin to walk parallel to the river, Wulfgar answers Pavo's question."Prayers that may be helpink, ComRade? Walkink on water and makink raft." He nods towards Talia. "If we are beink able to be gettink one across river with rope end, we could be tyink it off and ferryink ourselves across on raft, dah"
The party decides to investigate the river's pollution rather than crossing it to continue onward to their objective of securing the local resources. The smell from the polluted river is bothersome to the walker, and reminds these adventurers of the smell of corpses.
Walking along the river proves to be a source of danger. Just half an hour after the party has set out from the bend where they encountered the river, a creature that had been sneakily following the party in the water lunges out from the riverbed to strike at the group's rear -- Wulfgar. The creature is a strange, twisted abomination loosely resembling a crocodile. Flesh hangs from its frame loosely in places, exposing the bone underneath.
The 'crocodile' lunges out from the water in a shockingly fast attack. In the blink of an eye, before anyone can react, it's grabbed onto the Gorumite with its huge mouth. Then it twists its entire body and slams Wulfgar to the ground, tearing the wound painfully.
1. Croc #1
2. Pavo, Talia
3. Croc #2
4. Wulfgar, Casamir
Seeing the monster grab Wulfgar, Pavo strides over and strikes down with his halberd.
vs grappled Croc, for ,
free Intimidate vs DC 10+HD+Wis of Beasty, or be shaken (-2 hit/DMG/save/CMB)
"This thing has seen better days! It looks half rotten on the bone."
A look of shock - eyes unfocused, mouth slightly agape - plants itself on Talia's face as the alligators lunge from the water. Alligators? What? How? Forcing questions from her mind, Talia springs into action, moving backwards while summoning an incantation to help Wulfgar get free of the gator's jaws. The priest's armor grows slick with grease, the squirming man more slippery within the beast's grasp.
Pavo walks right up to the creature menacing Wulfgar and slices down into it with his halberd. The creature shows no sign that it even knows the meaning of fear, and it does not give any sort of cry or response to the wound delivered to it by Pavo.
Meanwhile, the second gator marches up onto the shore and lunges at Pavo. The armiger's armor deflects the wound.
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Neither seeing nor hearing the creature that grab him until it was too late. Wulfgar struggles against what appears to be a smelly crocodile, Feeling the things teeth sink into him crunching metal and bone, the cleric hears Pavo saying something about 'better days.' Spitting blood, Wulfgar responds "It is hard to be tellink from this angle comRade."
From the corner of his eye he sees Talia move behind Cassamir, working some form of magic. Seeing the sheen of grease appear on his armor, "I am thankink you comRade Talia." he begins to twist and turn attempting to get loose. Feeling the teeth slip on the greased armor, Wulfgar stands up.
"It'll be easier to see once I part its head from its neck!"
Seeing the sudden ambush, Casamir almost yelps in surprise before shouting at the croc, "Let go of Wulfgar you bastard!"
Casamir takes a step to the north as he places a hand on his holy symbol of Lalaci, calling upon his god to grant him power in the fight.
With that, he hurls a sling bullet at the croc in front of him.
Wriggling against the crocodile's strong grip, Wulfgar manages to free himself as Casamir hurls a sling bullet at the crocodile assaulting Pavo. Casamir's bullet strikes home, but the creature does not respond.
With Wulfgar freed from its jaws, the undead gator circles around the Gorumite. Instead of lashing out physically, it emanates a strange, haunting light from its eyes. The light washes over a cone in front of it and hypnotizes the party.
(+2 if fear based)
Shaking off the weird ray magic stuff, Pavo steps away from Wulfgar in an attempt to avoid the flank from both crocodiles.
"I guess you're mine to deal with, lizard."
He slashes down with his halberd again.
to hit, for damage
to hit, for damage
Seeing Pavo engaged with the other beast, Talia coats his armor with a magical layer of grease, and then skirts along the battleline, drawing her bardiche as she goes.
Pavo steps away from Wulfgar's opponent to attack the second beast. His first attack is fast and powerful and cuts right through the creature's defenses, but his second is repelled by the gator's tough scales.
In response, the undead gator lashes out with a flurry of powerful attacks. It lunges forward with its teeth against him. It manages to penetrate the Hellknight's armor, but Pavo shoves the creature away before it manages to grab on and roll him to the ground. Growling, the lizard claws Pavo and then slams him with its tail painfully.
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Seeing the creepy light shine from the undead crocodiles eyes, Wulfgar freezes for a split second, blinking both eyes, his right eye strangely focused. He bursts into laughter, "Bwa ha ha, undead Lizard is havink glowink eye's Dah!"
Watching as Talia moves to the other side of the undead reptile, drawing it's attention. He lifts his greatsword chopping at the undead things thick neck. "Maybe keepink glowink eyes on necklace Dah comRade."
Casamir powers through the weird light as he murmurs another prayer to Lalaci, imbuing his sling with holy power. As he looses another sling bullet at the croc he had attacked previously, the projectile shining with holy light as it arcs through the air.
Casamir imbues his sling with the holy powers of goodness, still standing at a distance, he gets ready to loose more powerful attacks against the gators.
Wulfgar raises his sword up high and stabs it deep into the undead gator's flesh. Any normal, living creature would have died instantly from such a wound, but this creature is cursed and unliving. It claws at Wulfgar's armor, and then withdraws itself from the sword (entrails dripping from the wound) to swing its tail at Wulfgar. The Ulfen man is able to dodge the tail, and it seems that he will escape any wounds, when the creature lunges forward suddenly and wraps its mouth around the cleric's whole body.
Bones creak and flesh rips as the lizard flips itself, and Wulfgar, over violently.
Pavo unleashes with a massive swing after seeing Wulfgar so thoroughly chomped.
to hit for damage
to hit for damage
No! Nonononono! Talia thrusts her bardiche at the crocodile, hoping that Wulfgar survives the creature's flurry of attacks. Stabbing into the creature, Talia pulls her bardiche from the beast and prepares to stab again, knowing not whether she was hurting the crocodile in the least...
With two strong strikes, Pavo separates the gator that he's fighting into three different pieces -- the head and one leg, two legs and some torso, and one leg with the tail. The three pieces continue to writhe and twist, but deprived of the structure of a body they are too impotent to actually do any harm.
Meanwhile, Talia charges from behind and stabs the other croc through the center, right alongside Wulfgar's sword. The creature turns, its bones creaking and rattling, and opens its mouth in Talia's direction.
"Slay the last one,and we can get out of here! Someone tell me Wulfgar isn't dead!"
Seeing Wulfgar fall, Casamir roars, "No! Dammit!"
He launches a bullet at the crocodile, but seeing a new friend fall in such a brutal way distracts him and his aim is off.
Casamir's magical enchanted rock strikes the croc right in between the eyes. Despite the minimal physical damage, the holy power of Lalaci ends the creature's unholy existence. It slumps to the ground between Talia and Wulfgar's unmoving body.
The polluted river continues to flow nearby, bubbling with potency under the surface. It's not a far walk to the river's spring.
"I don't think we have the strength to deal with another attack like that. And I really think we need to bring Wulfgar back to the fort for a proper interment. My worry is that we'll just have to come back here later, and who knows what kind of monstrosity will climb out of this water then."
Talia kneels, going through Wulfgar's things. She had a wand, but so did the priest. She hated to be so callous, but Pavo was right - that fight was brutal, and they were a long way from the Fort. The priest would be buried with his sword and armor, but they needed to survive long enough to do so.
"If you were healed, would you feel better about checking the spring?"
Removing the wand, Talia taps Pavo with it, again and again, uttering the command word she'd heard Wulfgar speak.
Pavo healed, Talia looks down at Wulfgar's body, the realization that they were a long way from the Fort - and with no horses to carry the hulking priest's body back - clouds Talia's face with a frown.
"Maybe we should bury him here? Sink him into the river with rocks, or build a cairn around him, since we don't have shovels? He had a good death, for his faith as I understand it. He'd probably want to be buried where he met it."
"If we take him back, we'll probably need to build a travois to carry him back."
Casamir sighs heavily. The Gorumite priest was a good man, but he met his end with his blade in his hand against a mighty foe. It was an end that Wulfgar's faith approved of. "If we can build a cairn, I say we do it. If this is any indication of what's at that spring, we may not be able to handle it."
"Thank you, those creatures were quite dangerous. Unfortunately, too dangerous for Wulfgar, it would appear. If needed, I can carry his body back to the fort, but burial here is also acceptable. As for the stream, perhaps we investigate and be prepared to retreat? It is possible we slew the only guardians of... whatever."
Pavo, newly healed, takes up his halberd and looks towards the rivers spring.
"I have some magic left. If we investigate the stream, I can give you each a boost of your abilities."
"Fair enough. Now that we've healed, let's explore a bit further and see if we can eliminate this pollution in the water.Be prepared to withdraw, however, we don't want to lose anyone else today."
"Take his consumables, wands, potions, and the like, and we'll check out the headwaters. Worst comes to worst, we bury him there and stay the night in the woods. Any objections?"
Once the wands and such are accounted for, Pavo kneels down and slings the big man over his shoulder like some might carry a toddler. He does not appear to be overly burdened by the weight.
Talia nods, her mouth set in a grim line. "Agreed." As they move on, the skald tells a tale of duty and loss, and the self-recriminations that come from it following one's duty in the face of known loss, whether it has come, or more poignantly, will come from the completion of duty. It is a tale perfect for her mood, which darkens as the day wanes.
Casamir sighs, "Suppose I'm outvoted here. Onwards, then."
The party presses on to the north after looting Wulfgar's corpse of its useful belongings and slinging it up like a sack of potatoes. Beside them, the river continues to bubble, an the closer one gets to the spring, the more sludge-like the water appears. It flows slowly, and steams lightly as if the river had been transmuted into tar. The wildlife to the sides of the river shows even more evidence of the river's corruption, with plants dead, dying, or changing shape and color into something unnatural.
The river travels upwards into the hills, winding around some bends that must once have been very beautiful and scenic, before the party discovers the river's spring. A mountain spring, the river comes right out of the groundwater. The entire spring is woven through with mats of moss and lichen feeding off of the mineral-rich water from underground, but the moss mats are now still and brown, killed by the spring's pollution. The smell here is strong, and reminds one of the smell of vomit mixed with the smell of dusty bones.
Even though it is still daylight, since the party traveled without delay from their lethal encounter, there seems to be a pall of gloom hovering over the river's spring. The sun's light seems dim, and shadows are long.
"This place is horrible. What kind of nasty monstrosity do we think caused all this ugly?"
Gagging and retching, Pavo sets Wulfgar down and grips his halberd, scanning for dangers.
Talia squints as she stares into the shadows. Her stomach flips; the smell was nauseating, sweet and sickly at once, a smell that takes her back to her childhood, similar to the earthy rot she came across once at her dacha's creekfront, the remains of a donkey rat, killed in the night by a more fearsome predator, strewn about, in the Brevic summer sun for days. The smell was pervasive, and almost assaulting; young Talia had fled the riverbank in a panic. She would not flee this time. "Stop a second," Talia says, bile rising in her throat. A quick incantation, and her companions should be better equipped to handle what comes.
"Anything else we need to do to prepare?"
"Hope and a prayer?! I mean, this is pretty much the extent of what we can do, right? Let's just hope and pray that whatever is here is less nasty than those lizard monsters, or we can run faster than it."
The bog continues to bubble. Life here is either withered or blackened, but nothing big enough to actually threaten a seasoned warrior leaps up to attack. Here and there a small lizard or bird, mutated and twisted, can be seen. Otherwise the spring is eerily quiet, with only the trickling of water and the ooze of sludge making any noise.
Casamir powers through the stench. "Prayer to my lord grants me strength, and drives away the darkness." He touches the holy symbol of Lalaci hanging from his neck and the prism blossoms with light, one that seems to drive back the shadows around him.