Astoria nods at the offer. "Thank you, I'm not exactly flush with coin at the moment so that would be a great help." As she notices dusk begin to creep into Daedran she asks. "How much further is this Inn anyway?"
Kelda nods solemnly at his description of what the town had turned into, "This is the first time I've been here since I was a child. I had heard that things were getting a little rough, but I had no idea it was that bad. I'm sorry to hear what has happened to your city, and for the people that have to still live here. I'm glad that we made it in time to ride with you, and we really appreciate you waiting for us. I'm sorry we didn't get back sooner. I sure wouldn't want to be walking through this city now."
Looking up at Lysithia as she casts her spell to light their way, she gives her a smile before looking back at the driver, "We'll do our best to make sure we all arrive safely at the Inn, or my name isn't Kelda Highcliff." She tries giving the driver a reassuring smile as she calmly holds her hammer in her lap.
Looking over at Lup she adds, "I'm sure between the three of us, we can handle a problem if one should come up. Right Lup?"
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That's when it hit Celanna. Giving her forehead a light smack, "Gods dammit, how can I be so stupid. S**t, I forgot to get directions." She looked around for someone to ask directions from.
1 = helpful
2 = not helpful
3 = hostile
4 = insane (roll again)
After a fair bit of wandering, Celanna and Astoria see that the roads have fallen into disrepair and are littered with trash and offal. Most of the buildings are dilapidated, except for a small house with several patched holes in the roof. An old woman with a hunched back emerges from the house with a bucket of filthy "water", which she promptly tosses into the street. She gives the two half-elves a dirty look before heading back toward the house.
---
"It's quite alright, I also neglected to ask for directions." Astoria says patting Celanna on the shoulder.
Recognizing their situation, Celanna and Astoria catch a glimpse of someone walking down a side street wearing a soldier's uniform.
Kelda hears the crack and the thud of a tree falling, but Lysithia is the one who sees the massive object fall across the track about fifty feet ahead. The driver seems unaware as he keeps the horse's pace up.
Astoria calls out to the stranger in uniform. "Hello there! Could you help us, we seem to be a bit lost."
The soldier stops and peers at the half-elf who called out. "Well, where are you trying to go?"
"Hold on!" Lysithia calls out, urgently. "A tree just fell across the road!"
Celanna piped in, "We're looking for tha Queen's Goblet."
The driver pulls back on the reins. "Whoa! You three, throw the sandbags off the back."
The other passengers cry out in alarm.
---
The soldier takes a few steps back and takes off her cap, shaking out her chestnut hair while talking to Celanna. "That's across the city. You won't make it there in time. Why didn't you get a ride with the wagons?"
"It must have slipped our minds at the time." Astoria answers upon hearing the bad news.
Looking to her companions, Lysithia proceeds to begin shoving sandbags off the back of the wagon.
The soldier sighs. "You might be able to make it back to the square before it's too dark."
Kelda nods and throws out a sandbag as well.
Looking over at Lup she adds, "I'm sure between the three of us, we can handle a problem if one should come up. Right Lup?"
"Quite Right," he responds as he eyes wander around, taking in the city at night.
When Lysithia calls out the fallen tree-do Druids admonish fallen tress?-his eyes and thoughts snap back to the present and he finds himself following the driver's order a split second before he processes it.
The driver manages to get the horse and wagon stopped before colliding with the tree. He lets out a heavy sigh. "Why'd this happen tonight?"
He grabs the lantern off the hook on the wagon and goes to collect the sandbags. He looks to Kelda, Lup and Lysithia. "Do you mind seeing how big that tree is and if we can get around it?"
Kelda nods as she jumps down from the wagon and hefts her hammer over her shoulder, "Sure."
"Then we had better hurry. Would you mind pointing the way?" Astoria asks.
Lup nods and starts walking towards the tree.
Climbing down from the back of the wagon, Lysithia moves toward the fallen tree, the head of her staff shining light in the area
The soldier puts her cap back on. "I'll go ahead and walk you back to the square. Follow me."
She approaches the half-elves and motions to the main road.
Kelda heads to the front of the wagon with Lysithia and Lup to see if there is a way around the tree.
"Much appreciated ma'am," Celanna said as she silently berrated herself for getting her and her new acquaintance into this mess.
Astoria follows along with Celanna back to the square. "So sorry to trouble you."
Approaching the tree, Lysithia notices that it is a good twenty-foot high tree that fell. It covers the track completely, leaving the uneven and trash-littered road as the only option, unless the tree could be moved.
---
"It's no trouble" the soldier says. "While I'm there, I can see if there are any leftovers from the feast. I didn't get to eat earlier."
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[b]"There's no wind though, trees just don't fall over like that,"[/b[ Lup thinks aloud as he looks at where the tree snapped.
Seemingly distracted by something, Kelda looks up at the sound of his voice, "What was that about the tree?"
"Big. Fallen. Blocking our path. Druids like them." he replies on instinct while observing the tree. "There's not storm or heavy winds to make it fall right now, and trees don't just lie down for the night like people do."
Kelda can't help but laugh at his humorous reply. Once she has herself under control, "Okay, I get it. Sooo...if it didn't fall on it's own, then that must mean that someone, or something made it fall. Which could mean trouble for us." Kelda looks around warily, as the notion of someone possibly setting a trap for them sinks in.
"Lot of time, trouble, and noise for highwaymen to chop down a tree for one carriage. What are carrying?" Lup thinks aloud incredulously as he looks over everyone. "Could also be something big wandered into town. Owlbear? Manticore? Ogre?"
"Something like that wouldn't be likely to drop a tree in the way, though the festival would give bandits all the time in the world to saw a tree almost all the way through." Lysithia says, holding her staff aloft and looking into the woods in the direction the tree would have fallen from.
"There's no wind though, trees just don't fall over like that," Lup thinks aloud as he looks at where the tree snapped.
[dice=Perception]1d20+6
"We might be able to move it out of the way. A part of my magic allows me to tap into the...the life and growth energy of everything around me, and for a breief moment I can be a lot bigger, which allows me to carry or lift a lot more." Lysithia says, looking at her companions.
"I have a spell that would allow me to make one of you two larger as well for about a minute."
"So since you're offering that I guess that means you can't ask the tree nicely to stand back up or summon and army of beavers?" Lup asks as he looks at the Druid before scratching his head. "Yeah I guess we expend your magic unless anyone else has any other ideas?"
"It was nice a feast overall, though I'm not used to such large groups of people."
Kelda shakes her head, "I'm pretty sure her magic doesn't work that way, and I don't have any better ideas that don't involve taking that obviously gross road that's probably loaded with bandits and all sorts of desperate miscreants." She looks at Lysythia, "If we're going to do this enlarging thing though, I think I should be the other one you enlarge. I might be a little safer than Lup, with my armor and such. I can also smash anything that looks at us crosseyed with my hammer." She pats her hammer as she tells them her thoughts.
Lysithia smiles a bit once Kelda mentions smashing any potential attackers. "Okay, this will feel a bit weird"
Gently resting her hand on Kelda's shoulder, she utters a brief chant in the ancient druidic tongue, filling her with the energy of growth, the power flowing through all living things, to temporarily exceed her normal limitations.
Kelda's eyes get a little big as she feels the magic take hold, but she quickly adjusts to her increased size. Securing her hammer to her back, Kelda takes her position in front of the tree.
"Should we just try to push it out of the way enough to get by, or completely off of the road?" Kelda asks Lysithia, as they prepare to move the tree.
"It might not last long enough to completely clear it, but definitely enough to clear the path." Lysithia says as she secures her staff across her back, maintaining her light spell.
"Keep an eye out for whoever might have done this." she says to Lup, before drawing upon her own innate magic.
"We'll have to be quick, here goes." she says reaching to take hold of the fallen tree even as her body doubles in size and mass, drawing upon the power of growth.
Lup nods before drawing his rhomphaia.
"Not from around here, then?" the soldier asks Astoria as they walk along the main road.
As soon as Lysithia is ready, Kelda starts pushing the fallen tree out of their way.