~Sniff~
I never had a chance to grow up ...
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Daetha frowns thoughtfully. "I think the holes are well established," he says. "I don't think they'll open beneath our feet... but maybe having some rope to hand is not a bad idea."
DM: Spoiler: Unmodified roll: 10. Either an Int check and a Survival check will give me +1 to the roll.
“It will be ok … we won’t do anything stupid,” says Daetha to Taya … famous last words? He leads the group out of town and along the northern trail, after thanking Vlad for getting them some food. “Good thinking – it will save us time, not having to forage for stuff to eat.” He’s intending to lead the group to near where his equipment is stashed, then from there on to the sinkholes.
"I've seen it before," the lad nods. "I think I'll know it when I see it. Alright, are we ready? Everyone want to do this?"
Daetha’s face reddens, and he returns the untaken coins to the pouch, seeming somehow upset – maybe angry, maybe embarrassed. But after a while his face grows thoughtful, and he looks up at the sky, then shakes his head and speaks. “It’s probably about a three hour walk out to the sinkholes, along the northern road … If we leave now we won’t make it back to the village before dark. Now, there’s that waymeet I spoke about, not too far away, in the Jebbel wood … we could stay there, if we need to … Lucksy grows in the Jebbels too, so we might be able to get some fresh sprigs if we’re lucky.”
“Now,” he says, when the distribution of equipment is done, “shall we get going? I need to pick up some things, but its on the way to the sinkholes.” He begins to lead the way out, back into the forest, and to the shallow cave where he has hidden some weapons and armour.
Daetha’s eyes widen in surprise as Vlad shows the hand and chain to the old healer. He had thought they were just giving her the herbs and telling her where they were going, not disclosing what they had found under his old home. But he soon relaxes; Old Movomm passes on some useful information about the mummified hand, but does not seem overly curious about why they have it or where it came from. As the old lady falls back into sleep, Daetha gestures everyone back outside, to a quiet corner between the fort wall and the barracks building. They had all been excited by the prospect of an adventure out in the forest. Now, after a trip to the Risper farm and now here back in the village, he wonders if everyone is still wanting to go. He decides to try to get them all excited again. “Alright, well I don’t know anything much about magic, but that hand thing sounds sort of useful,” he says. “Vladimir, do you think you can use it? Or you Taya, or Beth? Now …” He takes out the cloak that he’s had folded under his arm, and unwraps it. “I don’t know if this is special too, but it sort of looks unusual … does anyone want to try it on? If not, I will. A cloak with a hole in it is better than none at all, which is what I have now. As for these coins … well, I don’t know what I would do with so much money! Why don’t we all share them out? I wouldn’t have found them if it wasn’t for all of you … and times are hard, we, or our families could use a little money.” He carefully counts out the silver coins between the seven (? – that’s right, isn’t it?) of them. “Hmmm, seven silver coins each, for seven of us,” he muses. He tucks the pouches, along with the piece of vellum into an old sack that he took from the Risper barn, along with the bread and cheese and waterskin and lantern already within.
“It probably means there’s someone working here,” cautions Daetha, making sure that the lantern he eventually found has a reasonable reservoir of oil in it. “If we don’t want to explain ourselves, we should probably get going… So, we will take the herbs to the healer and then be on our way?”
"Where did you say that lantern was Taya?" asks Daetha, looking around. "I can't see it."
Daetha thinks that the herbs would be best delivered to Palfourd, but he also thinks that Palfourd might try to stop them from going to the sink hole, or organise some adults to go along, so he keeps silent, except to say "We'll need some torches or a lantern if we're going underground."
Daetha looks to the others. He’s both excited and a little scared by the impending adventure - he doesn’t really think it too likely they’ll find any mystical cure at the sinkhole, but after the adrenaline rush caused by the could-be owlbear, he’s looking forward to some action. Although he doesn’t really think they’ll run into anything truly dangerous, there’s always the possibility … and his responsible nature cuts in. “Do you think we should let someone know where we’re going … just in case? Not someone who will try to stop us, just so someone can raise the alarm if … if we get lost or something and aren’t back by nightfall. Also, we should let someone know about these herbs we found – they might be of some help to Nagy.”
“Yes, we should drop this stuff off,” he indicates with a nod of his head the herbs, “before we go traipsing down any holes.” He thinks for a moment as they walk. “I think getting some stuff from Taya’s barn is a good idea. I think I know where those sinkholes are … there’s a Waymeet near there, the Gnarly Rangers keep them stocked with gear, food, sometimes weapons … but I’d be hesitant to take too much from it, in case someone more needy than us is depending on it – so let’s see what we can get from the barn first. Also, I … um, well it might be dangerous down in those holes. I have my bow and my knife, but I also … I have a sword and some armour stashed not far from here.” The youth looks a little hesitant and embarrassed. “Um, if any of you have anything else like that,” and he glances at Stagyar’s sword, “it might be worth getting them. Just in case.”
“I don’t think it’s mine,” says Daetha, a little fearfully, not willing to take the dead hand. “You hang onto it for now. I think it’s a good idea to ask someone about all of this. Now let’s grab some of those useful herbs from the garden and get out of here fast, before that Owlbear comes back!” Daetha will make sure they have all the useful herbs they can carry, as well as the stuff from the hole before they leave. Any further discussion about the items from the hole he tries to forestall until they are somewhere safer.
Daetha, still trying to figure out the meaning behind the artifacts, overhears Korgoth’s question, and considers it a good one. He too racks his brains, trying to think back to Palfourd and Running Fox’s lessons.
With Bethsemane’s help, Daetha moves the box and its contents outside into the sunlight, so that everyone can examine them. “Where is that rhyme from Taya?” he asks, looking up from silently examining the cloak and the bags, whilst Beth pores over the small box. “It sounds somewhat familiar, but I can’t place it … um lucksy, yes, it could help I think … that rhyme seems to describe a recipe or something, doesn’t it … a green slug? Some dew?” He looks back again at the objects from the hole. “I don’t know what this stuff is. My mother … no, she wasn’t a wizard, but …” he seems about to say something else, but trails off unfinished. “It looks like this silver was intended for me and my brothers. I wonder why there was none for Olav? And I didn’t think my mother could afford to hoard that amount of money … we could have used it! “Those words Stagyar? I don’t know … it looks like the writing on Running Fox’s bow, maybe it’s elven. Maybe he or Finwe could decipher it … although I haven’t seen her for some time.”
Daetha reaches the doorway, and looks questioningly at the newcomer, noting the sword belted at his waist … he hasn’t been around town much in the past couple of months, and doesn’t know quite who the newcomer is, but the others seem to vouch for him. “Yes, I think we’ve found about all the herbs we’re going to find inside,” he says. “Can someone give me some help with those things in the hole … I’m not sure what it is … but it might be important, or valuable. “We should check the garden too, see if there’s anything still growing there – and someone should keep watching out for the owlbear, in case it comes back!”
After identifying an old sprig of lucksy (“Lucksy! That’s just the sort of thing that Palfourd will need”), Daetha stares in surprise at the broken, hidden chest, trying dumbly to figure out how it might have gotten there. So engrossed in the chest and its contents is he, that he does not hear whatever the others in the hut react to – but he notices their reaction. He looks up and about wildly. Seeing Bethsemane and Taya looking like they are about ready to fight, he shakes his head and hisses, “No, we need to get out!” , pointing towards the door. But before he takes his own advice, he reaches into the hole for the chest. Just as his hand hovers inches away from it, he realises that trying to get the decaying chest and its contents out of here could be the death of him. Instead, he pulls the plank hastily and roughly back into place over the hole and stands, getting ready to run towards the door.
d20 roll result: 8
Daetha shrugs. “Anything that might be useful in healing. But maybe just grab anything that looks useful.” “We’ll probably go quicker if we work together,” he whispers, moving to help Bethsemane search. [ooc]Search: 10+1 = 11. Knowledge, nature (untrained): 13+1 = 14
Daetha keeps whispering. “I don’t think it could be hiding anywhere in here, but we don’t want to be here when it comes back. I think a few of us should wait outside and keep watch, and yell if it comes back, while a few of us search for herbs and stuff in here … I’ve got pretty sharp eyes … but I probably need to stay and look for the herbs … ” He trails off questioningly.
Daetha kneels to examine the prints and detritus, breathing shallowly to avoid the worst of the smell. At first he can’t quite place the prints … a similarity to bear prints, but not quite … then he recalls Running Fox pointing out a similar spoor to him once, deep in the forest. Oh no … “Owlbear!” he hisses, standing quickly. The sudden movement and the shallow breathing causes his head to swim slightly as he stands, and he tries to steady himself for a moment, whilst beckoning Taya, Korgoth and any of the other kids who have entered the cottage close for a whispered conversation. “I don’t know exactly what they’re capable of, but they’re dangerous – I’ve heard of them killing fully grown men, armed hunters … and even Running Fox seemed wary when he saw their prints. We need to be really careful …” He trails off, thinking.
Daetha sets his jaw. “No, I’m alright,” he says. “I’ll probably recognise the herbs we need, I don’t know if anyone else will. Come, let’s see what’s left inside.” He steps forward warily, making towards the split door into the house. Unless he thinks anything is out of the ordinary, he will enter.
Daetha stands quietly for a few moments, fighting back tears and memories that threaten to overwhelm him, before half turning to throw Bethsemane a quick, dirty look, and Taya a more grateful one. “I’m … not sure what we’ll find,” he says slowly. “It looks like someone may have looted here since …” He takes a moment to pull himself together and then starts again in a business like tone, devoid of emotion. “Anyway, my mum used to keep things all about … Inside in the kitchen and pantry, in the barn – though with the fire I’m not sure if there’ll be much left … there were also usually some useful herbs growing in the garden.”
Daetha nods. "That's what I thought. Yes, come along." The lad also nods in greeting to Korgoth. He's been meaning to speak to him about some dagger sparing pracctice...
Daetha makes a slight detour to the old woodshed at the back of the Risper’s place, where he stowed his bow and arrows on the way here. If he spies any familiar faces on the way there and back, he will invite them along.
“It’s alright,” Daetha shrugs uncomfortably. “Yes, I know where it is kept – or should be, if it’s not gone bad or been taken by drifters or some such.” He looks about for more familiar faces. “I think it would be smart for a few of us to go – it’s not far into the woods but … the woods can be dangerous sometimes.”
Daetha looks about for some familiar faces. He was sitting by Orick earlier, surely the boy can’t have gone far … and there are Taya and Orick’s homely half-sister, looking in his direction. “Palfourd has asked me to go back to … my old home and look for herbs and such that my mother might have hoarded,” he says. “We should gather a few people together … um, there may be a lot to carry.” Truthfully Daetha does not wish to face any lingering ghosts (real or imagined) alone.
Since the outbreak of the disease, Daetha has been spending a lot of time outside of the village, in the company of Running Fox and the Gnarly Rangers. Some might put this down to pragmatism, or even fear of the disease, but the truth is the pain of losing his own family is still raw, and the boy can barely stand to see others, especially those he cares about, suffer in a similar way. It is Palfourd who convinces him to attend the service at the Risper’s ranch. “Nagy is very ill,” he says. “I hope and pray that he will recover, and will do all I can to see that he does … but it is not a certainty. The more prayers and support we can offer, the better.” So Daetha shows up at the farm in his best (third hand, oft patched, river washed) clothes. Recently, he’s taken to wearing his dagger, and the bow given to him by Running Fox. Today though, the bow is left behind, and the dagger is tucked away in its sheath inside his shirt. He takes part in the prayers to Ehlonna, but makes little eye contact with people. The Rispers are the closest he has left to family (whispers in the village suggest that they are his family), but he does not know what to say, and does not want to see them so sad. He keeps an eye on the Tulalls from under his fringe of unruly hair. He knows, better than most, that people look for someone to blame in times like this. He finds himself next to Orick at one point in proceedings. “You know about priests and religion, don’t you?” he quietly asks the other boy. “Do you think this illness is a punishment, sent by the gods? Or maybe … a curse. What if someone in the village worshipped some dark god, and brought this down on us?” He looks about to say more, but grows silent when Palfourd draws near. Spoiler: “I have rarely been back there since … I don’t …” he breaks off, and takes a moment to compose himself, before starting again.
“My mother always had herbs and such about the place, and there were some there still when last I was there. I could look for you, if it will help … if you tell me what to look for.”
Sorry FW, I thought I had updated the training plan in my profile too, but had obviously forgotten. Updated now. I should have a chance to post to the game thread some time today.
Several months pass and the raw sense of loss fades to a constant but dull ache. When other things finally begin to matter again, Daetha is disappointed in himself for not having taken more from Running Fox’s lessons. The subject matter was interesting to him, and with no false modesty he can say that he was not too stupid to grasp the concepts. The problem, he thinks, apart from … the tragedy … was that he never found the time to really try to study what he had learnt. He resolves to apply himself. He asks Running Fox to keep teaching him, and Palfourd to help him study and remember what he has learnt. He will stay up late at nights, writing down what he has learnt, and spend hours checking facts in Palfourd’s books. If he has questions regarding animals, he may also ask Papa Risper
--- He sticks with Running Fox as much as possible for his training, but also seeks out the other woodsmen to see what they can teach him. His survival skills are good, but he would like the elf to teach him how to track as well. Where Fox is not available he seeks pointers from the half elf Horatan Drenadin.
--- Previously, the weaponsmith Vesedanroi had been teaching Daetha the ruminants of defending himself with a dagger, but the man was busy as was the boy, and between the two of them they had little time for lessons or practise. Daetha asks Running Fox to teach him how to throw a dagger, as he was with Finwe a year or two ago. He’ll also seek out Finwe (if she is still around) to practise with her. He remembers Taya’s friend, the boy from the barn, Korgoth, and how he stood up to Jerrid, and took down the bigger boy. He asks Korgoth if he could spar with him from time to time … he fully expects to take a beating, but after what happened with his family … whether the future holds revenge or merely survival, he will need to know how to fight. He really wants to learn how to use a bow … but he knows he needs the basics (and probably improve his strength and coordination) before then.
Oh,and a belated welcome to Elor!
After being ‘rescued’ from the Dryads, and discovering the fate of his family, Daetha’s world crashes. He withdraws from the world for several weeks, ignoring his job at the Forge, his combat lessons and his studies with Running Fox and Palfourd. If his survival skills were not so ingrained, he may well have wasted away and died during this time. But he survived, and eventually began to make tentative contact with the world again, although his studies had irreparably suffered and took him many months to pick them up again. Daetha begs Running Fox to take him out into the woods with him, and teach him how to protect himself and those he loves. He is also taken in somewhat by Palfourd (who, dealing with his own grief, feels some sense of responsibility to the boy) and Mother Risper, whom despite her uneasy relationship with Witchy Tain also feels somewhat responsible for the boy. This is good for him, not only with these adults looking after him as he grows into his manhood, but also that it keeps him in contact with his friends, the Risper kids and the others who hang about at the farm.
All right, so Daetha was kidnapped by Dryads (along with Orick and Vlad presumably) and lost something important to him. I’m thinking that while he was away playing with Dryads, something attacked his home out in the woods, killing his mother and brothers. He loses something important to him (his family) and also possibly gains an inbuilt reason to have a favoured enemy, when he finds out what did it (unless of course he blames the dryads, and chooses fey as his favoured enemy…). Daetha’s d20 rolls for training are: 20 (Survival skill), 5 (Simple Weapon Proficiency: Dagger), 7 (Knowledge, Nature skill). His d4+1 rolls for corresponding ability scores are 1+1 = 2 for Wisdom, 2+1 = 3 for Strength, and 4+1 = 5 for Intelligence.
No worries man, I know how it is. No harm done, it wasn’t really super secret. So, you’re not going to believe this … I just re-rolled my good event, and guess what? I got 17 again. Man, something really wants us to be molested by Dryads. So I re-roll again and I get 11 … which is Orick’s gift, it can only be rolled once (and already has, by Orick). Third re-roll and I finally get something that (I think) is unique, 10 – Mentor redoubles efforts. But I don’t know now, maybe that 17 is telling me something, and I should join the dryad exodus … what do you think? EDIT: also, my bad event, that I lose something important to me; do you want me to throw out some ideas for that, or is that DM territory?
(except if your spoiler shows up!) Frenchwolf: Spoiler: No, I didn’t mind the result (damaged goods via dryad sounds like a good thing!), it just doesn’t sit well with me that three of us got the same (very good) result. Doesn't seem fair to the others. Variety is the spice of life after all…
French Wolf: Spoiler: Well, it looks like three of us (so far) have managed to roll the same good event (17), kidnapped by Dryads … if that stretches credibility / continuity for you, I’m happy to re-roll my good event, or let you do so.
Daetha is uncomfortable taking Jerrid ‘into custody’. If his brother wants to drag him out, he’ll stand aside and let him. If the others want to take Darnis to a healer, Daetha is happy to help (after reporting his layman’s assessment of his condition). Daetha thinks it is a good idea to tell someone what took place here, both to safeguard themselves from getting into trouble, and hopefully help shield Asfer and Korgoth from reprisals from Jerrid’s gang. Daetha will probably tell Palfourd what happened here sooner or later.
“Er … I don’t know if we need to tie him up,” says Daetha, looking a little embarrassed to be holding an article of Taya’s clothing, even if it is only a rope belt. “I think he’s out cold. You two,” he nods at Vlad and Korgoth, “did a good job. I think … we did the right thing here, but we could still get into trouble for it, and I think it looks worse if we tie people up. I guess …” he looks at Orick, by the door, “we weren’t really involved in this. Well, he wasn’t anyway, so he’d be a good witness! And the little girl could tell them what happened, that that guy had a knife.” He thinks for a moment. “Are there any adults that any of you know and trust, who would be in a position that if we go to them and tell them what happened, we’ll be ok? I … my mother needs my help, I can’t afford to get into too much trouble…” He looks a little embarrased, but also worried.
Daetha kneels beside the fallen boy (Darnis) and tries to determine if he is still alive – or how badly hurt he might be. He looks up briefly to nod in respect at Vlad and Korgoth, but otherwise keeps trying to see if the boy is alright.
Daetha nods in silent respect at Nagy as the other boy hits the right command to calm the dog. His eyes are wide – he’s holding himself together well, but he’s clearly scared at what could happen here. A moment later his eyes widen even more as both Taya and Vlad seem to use some sort of … magic? on the bully. The little girl runs towards him, and he kneels down to engulf her in a hug. “It’s alright,” he whispers to her. “You’re safe now. We’ll take care of him. Stay behind us.” Daetha then stands and moves over towards where the other boy fell out of the loft. He considers helping the blonde boy who is attacking the bully ... but those two seem to have a score to settle. It would be better if he didn't need to get involved, now that the girl is safe.
Daetha’s developing muscles bulge and strain trying to hold the dog back, but to no avail – the leash begins to slip from his and Vlad’s grasp.
“Down boy! Stop! Drop!” yells the lad urgently, hoping that the halflings would have taught such a large and potentially dangerous dog to beck down. He then attempts to grab the dog again – either to hold it back (if his effort to get it to stop was unsuccessful) or to try to calm it down (if he was successful), stroking and whispering to it.
Daetha has not, until now, really appreciated the situation that might face them within the barn. Now, seeing Jerrid holding the girl, his face hardens, and he has a sudden, momentary urge to hurt the older boy. For an instant, he considers letting go of the dog in the hopes that it will attack the other boys, but he reigns in that impulse at the same time he attempts to reign in the now excited dog. It suddenly occurs to him that there is something far more important than teaching Jerrid a lesson. “Someone needs to get that girl away,” he says quietly, either to himself or Vlad.
Daetha, concentrating on the dog, misses the signal; but he sees Vlad begin to run, and in an instant is up, running with him towards the barn. He keeps a hold of the dog’s collar, either to get it to come if it does not seem inclined, or perhaps to hold it back if things get out of control.
Daetha scratches the dog behind the ear. “Good boy,” he says. Then, a little doubtfully to Vlad; “He doesn’t look that scary…”
Seeing that Vladimir is trying to get the dog to come with him, Daetha dashes over to help. He likes dogs, although his family has never been able to afford to keep one, so he doesn’t have much experience with them. “Here boy,” he says, patting his leg and trying to get the dog to come. He glances at the other boy. “Do you know who’s dog it is?” he asks.
Daetha hesitates. His first instinct is that if someone is in trouble, and there’s a knife (or more than one) involved, they should go to an adult for help … but then, he and his family are pretty independent, more used to helping themselves than relying on the charity of others. Besides, by the time they actually get an adult to listen to them, something bad might have happened here. “Alright,” he says, “I’ll help. No, I don’t know a way into the barn, except those doors. You try the window and tell us how many there are, we’ll get ready to go in.” He moves to stand with Korgoth and Vlad, nodding at the other two boys, whom he doesn’t know so well. “I don’t think we should try to fight,” he whispers, eyeing the sticks and the dog. “If they’ve got a knife, someone could get seriously hurt. Maybe we can scare them.” Current Campaigns
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