Barge Battle - Round 3 - concluded
Miriani unleashes more arcane energy, sending an electrical jolt from one foe to the others. The shock drops the Blue Leader convulsing on the deck before lying still. The other takes a minor shock, but is still standing.
The fury of the dragon is still on him, and perhaps is making a bad decision, but Hurik advances on the remaining foe, swinging his axe in a murderous arc in front of him. Unfortunately, his rage drives him to be wild, and those attacks he proffers both miss.
Still seeing spots from the Color Spray, Yellow slaver tries to return attacks on Hurik. But he cannot clear his vision, and no attacks are forthcoming.
The other leader puts all his weight into the barge-pole, groaning audibly as he shoves the craft off its mooring. The barge moves, but only slightly, the current tugging at it as its a bit farther into the flow.
End of round 3
Fail
Success
Barge Battle - Round 4
22 Diurn/Wolf
21 Kheyji
20 Hurik (26/38hp remaining, raging 3 round)
19 Miriani
12 Red Dulasi Leader (15hp dmg)
5 Yellow Dulasi deckhand (dazzled 8 rds; 4dmg taken)
Diurn again tries to make his song linger again.
Then flings a discordant song at the barge hand.
Wolf moves next to the deckhand staying away from the boss.
Guided by Dirun's battle song, Hurik hammers at the already wounded deckhand with his Maul
[ooc]If that hit AND killed yellow. His next action is to stride towards Red Leader and strike Redleader. If that doesn't finish yellow off, then the second strike goes towards Yellow again...then will stride towards red AFTER
(+4 more rage cold)
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Miriani will make another magical leap onto the bow of the boat. After all, somebody has to keep Hurik focused. Durin would also probably be sad about losing his dog.
From there she continues to hurl lightning at the foes.
Barge Battle - Round 4 - concluded
Diurn continues to rock on his flute, inspiring the troops with a lingering performance once again.
Then he finishes his battle shout from before, affecting the deckhand who roars in pain from the ear-splitting sonic attack. Wolf moves up to threaten the target, should he survive long enough.
Continuing his battle-frenzy, Hurik smashes the crewman into jelly with an overhead attack that kills the man. He then rushes across the deck of the slowly moving barge, and hammers the leader, who also succumbs to his powerful blow.
End of Combat
Diurn retrieves a rope from his pack and wraps an end around himself to help get the boat back. He will try without affixing a grappling hook first.
"Nice teamwork--that could have gone badly. If necessary, I guess Miriani, you could grab an end and jump."
Knowing the first cast is important, Diurn gets a running start to the edge and heaves the coil to the boat and braces himself.
The cold rage leaves Hurik, and he comes to, "Aye, Dirun, your rainbow strike made all the difference." He moves to steer the ship back to the shore or throw a rope to the shore if that won't work.
Diurn's first cast successfully gets his rope looped aboard, and it's not hard for the, now calmer, Hurik to fasten an end to the gunwale and the boat gets pulled to the bank once again.
”Now the store is open. All goods are priced to sell. Let’s see if we can question these slavers.”
Diurn helps go through the goods on the barge.
Once the small barge is moored again to the shore, Diurn boards and starts looking through the crates, barrels, and boxes around the central tent on the deck. Unfortunately, most of this is filled with food and other means of survival on the boat, and is not trade-goods at all. A few of the barrels are empty, and there is nothing of any real value found in this area.
Pushing inside the tent, the bard is surprised to see a prisoner! A small female halfling is bound hand and foot and a gag is stuffed inside her mouth. Her eyes seem to call out to Diurn urgently, and the message is clear! CUT ME LOOSE!
Diurn, despite his vow to never trust strangers again, quickly forgets that vow in an instant and cuts the halfling loose and helps her to her feet.
He smiles at her and quickly tries to reassure her.
"You are safe now!! Looks like if things had ended differently, some or all of us would have been with you in this tent."
He spits on the ground "I hate slavers!!"
"Free whoever it is. Perhaps it's another damned trick, but I will not give into the dragon that tells me all are enemies or prey. Besides, slavers disgust me as well."
Only to see Dirun is already doing that. He chuckles and nods. He could get a liking for Dirun.
Then he looks at the others, "Can we use this barge somehow to speed the travel of our own people? Or break it down for sleds and the like?"
"An any case we have additional supplies for the group. Always a good thing." she says as she comes down from the cliff.
When she gets down she intro duces herself to the halfling, [b]"Hi, I'm Miriani.
"Yes, less harvest all useful things from this slave barge and put it to good use. I like how you think."
Diurn looks to Mirani: "Nice jumping there. We were a little too trusting there, thankfully Kheyji warned us in time!"
The halfling woman is dressed in bright colors and scarves and speaks with slight Varisian accent. She talks very quickly, barely pausing for a breath here and there. "Thank you for rescuing me! My name is Harbinna Farbottom. Well met indeed!. No I am not really hurt. Well, a little. They used a snare and trapped me. The slavers are Dulasi aren't they I have read about them but never met. Well until now, at least. I heard them calling to you, and hoped you wouldn't get tricked like I did. What following are you from? Where is the rest of your camp? I am explorer and map-maker, and very excited to meet you. You must tell me all about it. Now where are my things?"
She stands, favoring one leg slightly, and shuffles to where a small but stuffed oack lies inside the tent. She begins rummaging through it lost in whatever she is looking for, at least for a moment.
Diurn helps her further search the barge. "What are we looking for? As you will be traveling with us, our story can wait. Tell us more about yourself. How does a mapmaker and explorer make their way alone through such dangerous territory? We would like any information about the way east where we are headed."
The trusting bard is still a little cautious after the slavers, but how much a threat could a small, female halfling be? Diurn is hoping to find her things first so he can check them out.
"I really just wanted my pack, which I found. It has my notes and maps." She digs in and shows you a tattered journal that is written cover to cover in tiny but neat script and in some kind of shorthand, which you cannot read. "Here it is. A few months ago, I stumbled on a map of the Gornok Plain, where we are now, that belonged to a spiritualist from northern Avistan. The spiritualist wrote notes on the map as he explored the region, traveling eastward." She shows you a yellowed and torn map, which shows the standing stones of Rockloom, the Gornok plains, and the Gornok River. To the east, there is a sketch of a cat-shaped cave mouth and one word "tiger?". No further notes. Any notes seem to stop near where you are by Gleaming Sun Lake.
Harbinna says, "I think something must have happened to the spiritualist at the Lake. The Dulasi told me about the guardian there, a kelpie. I don't know what that is, but it sounds bad. I am convinced my map-maker ran afoul of that killer. The map was folded around some umber colored nettles." She shrugs. "Mostly I am just curious and trying to solve what happened to the man who made this map. Now, tell me why are you here in the plains?"
Diurn is suspicious of the story and looks the halfling carefully in the eyes as she tells her story.
"Your map provides us some useful information, and it appears that we are all traveling east. I think you should join us for now. We will share our story over a campfire as is a well-known tradition."
I better consult with the others before I get us in another jam by being too friendly and oversharing.
Hurik is looting, but then looks up, "Harbinna, was there anything in this wise one's notes of a ..sacred flame of sorts?"
At the mention of a 'kelpie' he ponders if that's the beast that tricked him and nearly killed him.
Harbinna looks at the map and notes more closely. "There is nothing here about a sacred flame, sorry. Is that what you seek? That sounds fascinating. Tell me more about it."
When Diurn invites her to join the group she excitedly accepts. "I'd love to join up with you. I can work on completing this map and taking notes about your people." She does not seem to notice that Diurn, and perhaps others, view her with an air of suspicion.
Your search reveals 35gp worth of coins on the slavers and the barge. Harbinna does not ask or expect any share.
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Diurn says to Harbinna: "Well I am glad they stopped. If they hadn't, you would still be on that boat!"
Seeing her show them her map and notes, Diurn believes her story and seems to loosen up. He even plays a jaunty flute song for the group.
Pussy Willow
In the half-tone light of a young morning
She sighs and shifts on the pillow.
And across her face dancing, the first shadows fly
To kiss the Pussy Willow.
In her fairy-tale world she's a lost soul singing
In a sad voice nobody hears.
She waits in her castle of make-believe
For her white knight to appear.
Pussy Willow down fur-lined avenue
Brushing the sleep from her young woman eyes.
Runs for the barge, see the slavers coming
Cutting dreams down to size again.
Pussy Willow down fur-lined avenue,
Brushing the sleep from her young woman eyes.
Runs from the barge. Hear her small voice screaming,
Cutting dreams down to size again.
She longs for the East and a lost land mapped
A cave with a large cat totem.
Or to fish the lake, spinning the first run of Spring
Or to die for a cause somewhere.
The group spends some time tearing down the barge, even untying the ropes that hold the boards together. Anything that can be carried is scavenged, and those things that can't easily be carried are piled together for the following to come and pick up later.
Harbinna follows you back to camp, and in the Broken Tusks style is easily accepted as a member of the following. Eventually night falls again, and the camp settles down for the night.
The scouts continuing leading the following across the easy grass of the plains, avoiding the hilly terrain which they know will slow down the camp. They make up a little ground, distancing themselves from the Burning Mammoths, as they go. The spires of the mountains becomes visible in the distant east, a promise of where they need to be to find Red Cat Cave.
On the third day, the scouts go out like usual. Across the path, is a large stream, the only real water source in the area. Stopping to fill up your water bladders, you notice that there is a terribly foul smell coming from the normally fresh water, and that several dead fish are floating top the gentle stream, or washed up along the bank. All evidence of the noisome trouble points upstream.
Diurn attempts to befriend the traveling halfling, eager for stories of her travels.
"I was a mammoth herder until recently. I wish I traveled as much as you did and welcome you into our tribe!!"
Diurn tends to make sure he happens to be around her as much as possible, and hopes to engage her in conversation where possible. Unfortunately he is incredibly friendly, but being naive, he assumes everyone is amused by his wit and charm.
As they approach the stream he immediately avoids filling his waterskin at the sign of the third dead fish. "Bad things happen in threes."
As the fourth through tenth dead fish float by he adds "Maybe worse things happen in tens. Let's see what causes this and get water above this source of dead fish."
Diurn wants to impress his new group and begins to look around for sources of threats and call out if he spots something first.
For his part, while glad to make allies with Harbinna, he is reluctant to share stories of the fire with her... at first. After a day he will reveal a bit more information, but he won't break a trust.
He also spends a lot of time making sure the elderly or the very young , or those feeling out of sorts with their packs. Indeeed, one may see him walking with a small child on his shoulders or pulling an old man by litter, but he keeps his dignity doing so! Always dignity!
Then they come to the dead fish, and he frowns, "No one partake of the fish or the water..." He passes word back. It should be obvious but some need practical advice.
And he looks about for animals that have eaten the fish, to see how lethal it is second hand.
Story is getting better and better.
I like the sandbox -- reminds be somewhat of Kingmaker!!
Hurik does not see any dead or dying animals on teh shores of the lake, so he feels whatever has made the water corrupted has only recently happened. While he looks about, Kheyji's sharp ears hear the sound of low voices coming from upstream. A copse of bushes screens whoever is speaking, but there seems to be more than two.
Hurik does try to sneak closer if told about the voices by Kheyji.
Diurn continues scouting for the group
Miriani ducks low and moves forward with catlike tread.
Moving up as quietly as they can Hurik, Diurn and Miriani are able to spy below them a group of Burning Mammoth hunters and one longshield who are working on chopping something into small pieces and dropping into the gently flowing water. At first they don't see you, but Hurik steps in the wrong place, and a scree of river pebbles loosens and falls down the slope, alerting the leader of the group to your presence. "Get them! Now!" shouts the leader, and the others go for their weapons, as fight breaks out.
Poison Bringers - Round 1
26 Diurn/Wolf
24 Hurik
24 Blue Hunter
24 Yellow Leader
23 Miriani
21 Kheyji
17 Red Hunter
8 Green Hunter
Three Burning Mammoth hunters, their facial features scarred with ritual branding, carry spears and slings. The leader seems to have a shield and spear. A travois at the water's edge holds a large cage, from which the tribal foes seems to be taking the chunks of foulness they are leaving in the stream.
Diurn is surprised his scouting was successful. He joined this team and always wanted to be a scout. He begins to inspire his friends to action after his performance lingers in the air.
He moves into the trees > and takes cover>
Hurik does not linger on his mistake. It is done. Rather he draws a javelin and breaks into a run along the south side of the wood trying not to stumble. The scant cover the trees should provide will work against him as well as for him, but he risks a throw anyway. Hurling the javelin at the target who seems to have the least cover.
Poison Bringers - Round 1 - continued
Acting first, Diurn uses his flute to create a compelling song for his allies, inspiring there actions while he goes and hides behind the brush.
Seeing the distance to the foes, Hurik draws out one of his javelin and hurls it through the air at the shield-bearing leader of the war party. The throw is a bit far for a javelin but he hurls it anyway, a little disappointed when it glances off the tribesman without any effect.
The Blue Hunter draws out his sling and a bullet and advances on Hurik, stopping to launch one stone at the dragon-blood. The missile misses by al wide margin, clattering on the sand behind.
The leader grunts to direct the attacks of others, drops something fleshy to the ground and moves forward, drawing out a spear, and raising his shield as he readies for a fight.
Miritani moves up behind the brush and targets the One in red and the one in blue, leaping lighting between them.
Hurik grunts "My thanks, Godsmouth Kheyji. Better they hit me than they hit you though."