Zhandar raises an eyebrow, and looks like she is about to laugh but respectfully holds back. "You do?" is all she says.
There is something very motherly about her stern expression, though her glare might not have the same force behind it that Mila is familiar with.
Mila listens to Park, her head still hung a bit, but before she answers all of his explanations, it's Zhandar's mere two words that must be responded to first. She takes a breath and lifts her head to meet Zhandar's eyes.
"I do. For bein' rude."
The half-elf bites her lip then continues. "I don't mean just now. --I mean, that WAS rude, so I'm sorry for that. But I mean for like... when we met. I treated you different and all and... I was a little scared of you I think, but I'd never met a... a tiefling before, and all I'd heard was stories... 's not an excuse though. I treated you different enough that Park could tell. I thought I was bein' polite then, but I wasn't. And 'm sorry."
Mila runs a hand through her dark hair, pulling it back with the gesture and displaying her own ears. "I oughta know better, is the thing. I mean, growin' up, other kids'd tease me about my ears, and they made all sorts of stupid lies up about my pa. And I know it's not the same. Cuz I still look basically like most people, and just cuz I got ears a bit different ain't nothin' like whatever you had to deal with from folk who don't know better. But I shoulda. I shoulda known that stories are usually stupid and you can't go bein' scared of folk for how they look. And it don't mean anything anyway, because-- well, I mean, that town we were in, everything looked real sweet and fair on the surface, but it was rotten in the core. And mayhap you, um, you don't fit most folk's idea of pretty, but... but when we was in that fight against the mayor, all of us was sick as dogs and you were there still fightin' and buyin' us all a few breaths of time. I reckon if you were just a 'fiendish devilspawn' you wouldn't be putting your skin on the line for all of us. You, um... I think you're a good person, Zhandar. I think you've proved that, 'n 'm sorry you had to prove it. To me or anyone."
In the wake of this little speech, Mila looks very self-conscious. She lets her hair fall back down over her ears and clears her throat a few times.
"....um, that's neat about touchin' candles," she appends, very awkwardly, to Park. "Uh."
Park is obviously relieved at Mila's reaction, or lack of such when he told her of his parentage. He smiles at her sweet face. "The candle trick? Thank you. I was worried that you'd be upset. That's really why I delayed. I like you!"
He glances over to Zhandar. "And if your question, 'You do?' was directed at me? Yes! Your skin is scaly looking and reddish, your horns are easily visible and your teeth are obviously not human. That would make idiots either fear you or think of you as some sort of monster. I find it very nice that you are you and you don't hide yourself from us. Like Mila said, you saved us in that last fight! You are special to all of us, and should know that! But I find it very special that you are different. Unique! Stick with us and maybe we'll get this whole area to know how unique and good you are...."
Zhandar purses her lips and thinks about what Mila is saying. She looks at what is passing between the young lady and Park and shrugs again. It is clearly going to take her some time to process Mila's genuine outburst, and she does not have the tools to deflect attention with humor or sincerity. So, she kind of wordlessly nods and stares off into space, giving them space without leaving the immediate area, apparently grateful that Park can fill the silence. She moves to try and help Raj with whatever it is that he is doing-- anything else!
As Raj is unsure if he should even be listening to these conversations, he tries to busy himself with watching the trail for threats or things of interest. He periodically throws a glance at Kendra trying to ferret out her emotional state. She seemed pretty shaky earlier. Nearly being sacrificed will do that to a person… He decides against mentioning that the mosquito-mayor seemed keen to cannibalize her and sort of invited them to join in.
As he watches her guide the wagon, he says, ”How ya doin’, Ms. Lorrimor? I could drive... if you want to get some sleep in the back. Or maybe Zhandar could drive, if my rusty skills worry ya. I am likely to find every pothole.” He tacks on a smile, trying to inject a little humor.
”How ya doin’, Ms. Lorrimor? I could drive... if you want to get some sleep in the back.
Kendra looks over at you, her eyes showing clear signs of a lack of sleep and certainly exhaustion. "I...I think that might be for the best, yeah. I'm gonna go carve out a spot for myself amongst all of my belongings and see if I can't get some sleep. I definitely don't want to be here a second longer than necessary." she says, shuddering in the cold of the morning. "i trust the four of you not to destroy my wagon in the meantime."
She does exactly that, finding a little crook in the midst of her blankets and clothes and beginning her attempt to sleep.
The ferry opens soon enough and you are on your way out of Shadowbrook without any other issues. The road ahead is long, but somehow you feel as if a huge weight is off your shoulders as you leave the now-cleansed village. You made it out.
Raj climbs up into the wagon’s seat and does his best to keep the rig on the path as he encourages the horses into a slow walk. He offers his hand to Zhandar to give her a lift up. ”I wouldn’t mind a bit of help. This is outside my skills.”
Park laughs as Rajuna asks for help, while showing a good understanding of driving the wagon. "Hey, You at least know which way the horses need to go. Maybe Zhandar can use magic and speak to them?"
Settling back he digs his tambourine out of his pack and thinks. "I wonder though. Can my performance speed up horses?" He starts with the now somewhat familiar beating on the instrument while channeling magic to the beat. It slowly speeds up as he plays for a minute.
Zhandar looks dubious. "I usually avoid the animals if we want them to cooperate. Beasts do not like me, I cannot think why." She smirks. "I think you would have better luck coaxing them, my friend, and I think your idea of performing to inspire them is promising."
Raj looks genuinely surprised at this news. "Huh. Alright. Well, if we need to scare'em to get them moving, I'll call on ya." He flips the reins lightly to have the animals pick up the pace.
The horses are in fact sped up by Park's song, meaning that you'll likely reach within sight distance of Lepidstadt before the night is over with even a handful of hours of using it. Should you push through the night towards the end of today you might even make it inside the city by midnight, depending on other factors.
Kendra sleeps for nearly a full 8 hours as you make your way towards Lepidstadt, but awakens thereafter. She is shaken, mentioning nightmares of stirges and other awful cult happenings, but appears to be fine considering the circumstances. "Don't you worry about me, I'm resilient. I'll make it." she answers to any questions of her status.
The road is long and slow (but not as slow thanks to Park's magic) and takes you through the marshy bogs of Ustalav's northwest corner. As dusk falls and you come within a handful of hours of Lepidstadt, the group spots the light of a campfire around a bend in the road. Hard to make out who is around it at this distance with the fog and trees, but a large semicircle of covered wagons surrounds the fire.
"So... pass'em by or see if we can camp there, too?" Raj asks.
"Let's slow the horses down to a normal walk and approach. They might be friendly and I'm not sure I want to ride into the city at midnight."
As the wagon approaches the fires Park pulls out the flute and plays a quiet tune urging Birdie to sing along with him.
Mila contents herself with merely head-bobbing at first to Park's lively tune on the tambourine, but the infectious nature of the music leads her to shyly clear her throat at the blond man after a few minutes. "Um, can I try addin' a little somethin'?"
Mila starts to sing, quietly, not terribly confident in her singing voice, which is untrained to say the least. But she is singing in Elven, which is hard to make sound totally terrible (at least to human ears) and there is a blessing in her song all the same, divinely granted by Erastil.
The terrain seems to melt by, with their magic bolstering the steeds. All the same Mila is glad enough when they start winding things down, as her throat is getting a little sore from the sustained soft Elven singing. She lets the spell die away as they debate what to do over the campfire ahead.
"Yeah, let's go see who it is! If they're friendly, great, if not, well, I think we can handle ourselves." A bit of braggadacio as Mila feels much more confident in their collective abilities now.
As you approach the circle of wagons you see that they are all painted in all sorts of gaudy colors, yellows and pinks and purples. Each one has one thing in common, however: they all have a stylized logo on the sides with gold emblazoned lettering, “The Crooked Kin—Ustalav’s Greatest Traveling Cabinet of Curiosities!”. Some sort of troupe maybe?
Whatever the case may be, even at a quick glance you can tell the atmosphere is tense. There are about a dozen people milling about anxiously in between the wagons, with hushed whispers being exchanged every few seconds. Once you get within sight of the caravan, a man breaks away and walks towards you. The man is an albino with red eyes and long, white hair that hangs below his knees, and is wearing a tall red top hat, a long red coat with gold buckles, and striped trousers.
"Ah, greetings!" the strange man calls out, his voice echoing through the near-darkness towards you. His voice is strained, as if he were forcing himself to be more joyous than he feels. "I'm Kaleb, ringmaster and de facto leader of the Crooked Kin." he says as way of introduction, his eyes taking in the sight of your group.
Park hops down from the wagon and bows with an entertainer's flourish reaching up and letting Birdie land on his fingers of his left hand. "Greetings Kaleb. I am Park. My friends and I are heading to Lepidstadt but don't really want to arrive in the middle of the night. Might we pull up to your caravan and meet and greet with your people? I don't remember ever hearing of the 'Crooked Kin'? Sounds like an interesting story?"
"And if you can excuse my curiosity, I sense unease with your people. Is there trouble? Maybe we can help."
Zhandar very self-consciously follows the others as they approach the caravan, trying to stay out of sight of the various animals and people that might become alarmed at the sight of her. She pulls her hood over her horns and keeps her cloak about her, looking down to keep her eyes from glinting in the firelight.
Rajuna gauges the troupe, keeping his eyes and ears open to the exchange with the ringmaster and their surroundings.
Kaleb is extremely nervous about something, anxious maybe? Whatever it is, it isn't you. He seems almost relieved that someone like you has shown up at this exact moment and in this situation.
"Uh, yeah, good to meet you." he says, his facade cracking as Park asks about his people. "I'm more than willing to introduce you all to the gang but one of our pinheads, Aleece is missing. She's one of three sisters, they all have microcephaly and the crowds love it."
"We heard a lot about the Beast's trial and wanted to take advantage of the people that would undoubtedly be drawn to such a spectacle, but now she's been gone in an unfamiliar and dangerous place. I asked around, and her two sisters say that she mentioned some strange sounds in the woods off the trail and decided to investigate but she hasn't been seen since."
"Do you think...that maybe you guys could take a look and see if you could find her? We are really just performers, charlatans and showmen at best. You seem the more...adventurous type, and several travelers have already passed us by. Please, you have to help us, I have some gold and a magical dagger if you can find her for us, or at least discover what happened to her."
On one hand, Rajuna was inclined to help. On the other, he knew that some Varisians were swindlers. Sending a group of do-gooders off on a snipe hunt in a forest to give the charlatans a chance to pick their wagon clean was certainly a possibility. He had a method to discourage that… after getting the particulars.
The scarred Varisian takes an active interest in the conversation. ”Where off the trail was it? And what sort of ‘sounds’?”
Park starts to respond but Rajuna beats him to it. Hearing the concern in his voice he understands and nods. "Performers? My kind of people then." He tucks his flute away and adds, "Yes, the more details you have the better the chance that we can help!" He bites his tongue to stop himself from saying 'No payment needed'. A magical dagger might be nice. His dagger is really good, but not magical. Maybe he could save the cost of getting it enchanted?
Zhandar is naturally suspicious of the garishly-dressed man, her own freakish appearance notwithstanding. But she is moved somewhat by his heartfelt plea, and she looks to the others to see if they are also willing to help.
"Well, I wish I had more details than that, but I wasn't with her when she broke off from the group. We had stopped for dinner and were going to continue quickly thereafter when she disappeared." he says, taking a seat on a nearby wagon before leaning against its wall, looking extremely exhausted.
"Talking to her two sisters might be useful, they can show you where she went in. That'd be the start of the trail anyway, at least." he says, shrugging. "If we had any adventuring or tracking types I could be of more help, but we don't. We're just circus people."
Park nods. "Sure then. We can leave Ms. Lorrimer here with the wagon." He glances over to Rajuna, "And Birdie can stay with her, like last time."
He directs Birdie to stay with Kendra, and heads to the sisters. "We're going to try and find your sister. Can you show us where she went off trail?"
Rajuna waits for Park to leave before continuing the conversation with the ringmaster. ”The Beast’s trial will be a show, that's certain. Have you ever been to Lepidstadt before?”
"We're going to try and find your sister. Can you show us where she went off trail?"
The other two sisters are quite shy, though Park can't tell whether that is a result of their normal personality or the recent situation. One of them, Lettie, nods gently before grabbing onto Park's hand and walking towards the edge of the caravan and pointing into the marshy forest. "Here." she whispers.
”The Beast’s trial will be a show, that's certain. Have you ever been to Lepidstadt before?”
Rajuna's question seems to let some pressure off of the man, who relaxes a bit and smiles.
"Oh, absolutely! I eagerly await our arrival in the city, both for the performances we'll be able to put on and the spectacle the trial will be. As soon as we heard the news, I put us on the track to be here just in time for the entire shenanigan. Our line of business has brought us to all corners of Ustalav, and we've spent many a night and month in Ustalav. I have a pint waiting for me in the Crimson Chalice, I assure you of that much!" he finishes before laughing heartily, but Rajuna can hear an undertone of stress and worry.
Raj nods and smiles warmly, ”That’s good. That’s good. Hey, you might find this interesting…” He pulls open his pack revealing to the ringmaster Kyle’s fine mace emblazoned with the symbol of Lepidstadt on it. He says quietly, ”You’ve been to Lepidstadt, so I bet you have some idea who I’m working for, eh? Park is a friendly and trusting entertainer. Me, not so much.” He touches the scars eating up half his face, ”It’s a matter of life experiences, you understand.” He closes the pack. ”We Varisians come in all sorts… the good ones and the bad. Some might think it’s funny sending a bunch of do-gooders on a snipe hunt just to get a chance to steal from their wagon. I understand that. But it’s kind of like fishing in the ocean… You hook the wrong beast and you go from fisherman to bait real quick as it smashes the hell out of your boat and drags half your crew down. So, you know, some fish are best left alone. Understand?” Raj’s tone is friendly as he lightly pats his backpack to indicate the ‘teeth’ on this particular fish. Raj is trying to convey a friendly warning but he wouldn't be surprised if it comes across as a threat.
Giving the ringmaster a chance to mull that for a moment, he shifts topics, ”A reward is nice and all. But I’m going to need some information as well. I’m on the trail of a man that murdered innocents and a Lepidstadt official as part of a cult of Urgathoa. Bloody business, it was. I doubt he’s using his real name but he may be calling himself Leonard Andretti. He’s surly and…” . ”You may have crossed paths with him in the last day or so. If you ran into any stranger that set your teeth on edge, tell me. If a stranger is being sheltered in your caravan, tell me now.” He waits on the ringmaster’s reaction.
Mila does her best not to gawk rudely at some of the more... visually impactful members of the circus, her recent embarrassment over her own reaction to Zhandar still fresh in her mind. People are just people and nobody wants to be stared at... right? Though she supposes her mama would say that these folk make a living being stared at. Well, anyway.
"I'm a decent tracker!" she volunteers earnestly when the ringmaster points out their lack of such. She tags along with Park to find where the trail starts, doing her best not to gaze overlong at Lettie's undersized head and instead focusing on the terrain.
Stagfather, grant me your eyes to find a lost soul...
Muttering under her breath, she calls on Erastil to improve her tracking, then starts hunting for prints in earnest.
Park smiles at Mila's comment. "Excellent. Maybe we can find her quick and bring her back."
He expects that it won't be that simple, but who knows? Sometimes the Gods smile. ??
Mila easily follows the tracks to the edge of the swampy forest, where they run for about half a mile as they head down into a boggy river valley, and then into a densely vegetated, midge-infested marsh. The marsh is a shallow bog, with high reeds between 6 and 8 feet high that affect abilities and movement in the same way as heavy undergrowth in dense forest. Aleece’s tracks soon all but vanish under water as they continue for another hundred yards or so, but Mila is able to follow them to a cramped clearing filled with dismal-looking gray flowers.
As you start to enter the clearing, the sound of a single scream echoes across the bog. The yell is strained, and female. Seems as if you've found Aleece.
24- ?
19- Zhandar
16- Mila
9- Park
6- Rajuna
Zhandar listens carefully.
Park scans the area, focusing on the direction of the scream. Thinking that there is possibly something dangerous for the team he starts his bardic performance to give everyone a boost, then draws his mithril dagger. He calls out, "Aleece? Where are you? Your sisters are worried. We're here to help."
Mila swats annoyedly at the clouds of midges, grimacing as the trail gets very wet here and there. Without the grace of Erastil she'd no doubt have serious trouble following the tracks through the bog, but they make it to the clearing at any rate. The half-elf wrinkles her nose at the gray flowers-- what depressing things, and how they gonna draw any pollinators lookin' like dirty laundry, anyway?
Before she can put voice to that thought, a scream cuts through the gloomy air.
Mila freezes, holding out a hand to the others. "Don't go running towards that!" she hisses in a whisper. "That's not no human. That's somethin' tryin' to lure us closer. Somethin' out here's nasty. Raj, maybe we better do that armorin' thing?"
She mutters a few words and her skin takes on the consistency of barkskin.
Zhandar stops in mid-step, frowning. With Mia's warning, instead of readying an attack, she concentrates and transforms herself, shrinking her body down to the size of a halfling or goblin.
Raj stops at Mila’s warning, not that he was dumb enough to go racing off into a bog because of a scream. ”Yeah… you’re right. Bet this thing lured Aleece in the same way.” With a flick of his wrist , the wand drops into his palm and he touches the archer with it before advancing cautiously, peering into the gloom.
Stunning Fist (4):
Ki Pool (4):
Shuriken (16): xxx
MW Shuriken (12):
Scabbard of Vigor (1):
Wand of Mage Armor (50): xxx
Pot of Invisibility (1):
Pot of Mage Armor (2):
Pot of CLW (1):
Pot of CMW (1):
Tanglefoot Bag (2):
Effects:
AoOs (6/rnd) – Constant
*Uncanny Dodge – Constant
Mage Armor – 1 hour
Is it okay if I retcon that she would have cast her scouting spells on herself and the others when they started following the tracks?
Since you rested in the wagon on the way here and have everything, yeah that's fine. Any long term buffs you wanna cast you can have up.[/ooc]
As you prepare for combat, with any buffing being done, the chilling scream echoes from the top right of the map for a couple of seconds before suddenly being cut off again. Mila can again point out that it isn't actually human, but instead something moving around in the bog to try and confuse you.
Round 2
24- ?
19- Zhandar
16- Mila
9- Park
6- Rajuna
Raj gauges the distances and directions. ”So, it’s either very fast and invisible, there are two of them, or it’s throwing its voice. Form up. Stick together.” Not taking the bait from either voice, Raj moves cautiously forward.
Seeing nothing but hearing the fake scream from a different direction Park switches his dagger to his off hand and readies a chakram. "Back to back. Watch in all directions."
He calls out,
Mila nocks an arrow to her bow. She moves cautiously after Rajuna, wishing she had a prayer to see through the reeds and other plants that make it hard to get a good view of anything. The closest prayer she knows to that would take a full minute of petitioning Erastil.
Zhandar, now small, carefully advances and does her best to stay with the group (behind Raj). She readies a potion of magic missile to throw if she or one of her allies is attacked.
Fortunately for Zhandar, hiding behind Rajuna is a good idea for her. Unfortunately for Rajuna, it isn't a good idea for him.
A large spider with the head of a redheaded elf appears as if from thin air and takes a bite at Rajuna.
It connects with its unusual method of just biting him with its elf mouth on his shoulder, and instantly he feels an awful burning in the bite. Luckily he is able to resist whatever nasty poison the thing put into him.
Before Rajuna can even think about striking back, however, the spider disappears back out of sight directly in front of you.
Round 3
24- giant elf spider thing
19- Zhandar
16- Mila
9- Park
6- Rajuna
Zhandar readies another vaporous potion of magic missile.
A hiss of pain explodes from Raj at the vicious bite. He glances at the wound in his shoulder, rather surprised a chunk of him isn’t missing giving how badly it hurts. ”Found her.” He observes drily through clenched teeth.
The thief adopts a weaving, defensive stance and uses all his senses to attempt to detect the invisible foe. Then he steps forward gingerly to see if the monster is waiting where it vanished. His readies himself to deliver a snap kick to the creature if he feels it or if it suddenly appears.
Stunning Fist (4): x
Ki Pool (4):
Shuriken (16): xxx
MW Shuriken (12):
Scabbard of Vigor (1):
Wand of Mage Armor (50): xxx
Pot of Invisibility (1):
Pot of Mage Armor (2):
Pot of CLW (1):
Pot of CMW (1):
Tanglefoot Bag (2):
Effects:
AoOs (6/rnd) – Constant
*Uncanny Dodge – Constant
Mage Armor – 4 hour
Tears to Wine – 40 mins time (+2 on INT and WIS skill checks)
Ashen Path – time
"Raj, move slow. Everybody stay close. If you see it appear attack immediately. Birdie. Hide and Courage."
"Does anyone recognize that thing?"
"Crap!" Mila yelps as the apparition appears-- bites-- and then vanishes again. On reflex, she looses an arrow into the thin air where the creature was, but far too late.
She looks around a bit frantically, not sure how they can fight an enemy that can disappear. Raj just took a severe bite, so she figures she ought to address that. She whispers words, steps close to him, and heals him.
Zhandar can't quite identify what it is, unfortunately, but it seems as if it's something more than just invisibility.
The spider repeats its tactic once again, avoiding Rajuna's retribution strike but triggering both Park's dagger strike and Zhandar's second magic missile.
It launches out of its strange teleportation (?) with a bite directly at Park this time. It connects, and Park feels the same burning venom in his veins that Rajuna managed to fight off. Park, however, does fall victim to the poison. Before anyone else can react, the spider vanishes off to wherever it's going once more.
Round 4
24- giant elf spider thing (33 damage inflicted)
19- Zhandar
16- Mila
9- Park
6- Rajuna
Raj looks for any advantage. He doesn’t have the slightest clue how this monster moves like it does. But it seems like it hasn’t landed in water yet. Maybe water would give it away? Maybe, if they could put Mila’s and Zhandar’s backs to water and have Park and himself in front, the ranged folks could do what they do best and the melee fighters could as well. They’d need to move as a tight pack. In the meantime, Zhandar was away from the group, a ripe target.
The thief does a diving leap over the bard, trying to cover the bard and the magus until the group forms up. He pulls and brandishes a shuriken as if preparing to throw it.
Stunning Fist (4): ?
Ki Pool (4):
Shuriken (16): xxx
MW Shuriken (12):
Scabbard of Vigor (1):
Wand of Mage Armor (50): xxx
Pot of Invisibility (1):
Pot of Mage Armor (2):
Pot of CLW (1):
Pot of CMW (1):
Tanglefoot Bag (2):
Effects:
AoOs (6/rnd) – Constant
*Uncanny Dodge – Constant
Mage Armor – 4 hour
Tears to Wine – 40 mins time (+2 on INT and WIS skill checks)
Ashen Path – time
"Ouch! That thing has poison." He thinks about the attacks and what he knows about magic. "Move away. It's teleporting back and forth. Rajuna was attacked. We moved a little and it attacked me. Move away from this spot. Maybe it will have to appear and then move to attack us. Gives us missile attacks!"