Ravia moves forward and fires her hand crossbow at the troll -
Pratap growls fiercely -
The shot misses the cave troll and Pratp mewls in frustration!
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"So what now?" Meshidawg inquires "Clearly we can either advance into the wider room to the north, or we can first go down the stairs." Ravia pauses and thinks a moment. "I think we should finish the level before we go downstairs. After all, the monster we are hunting is very big, I doubt it will be able to go down the stairs." "What do you think?" "Also, Ignis, may I take the amulet and you keep the ring since it has more effect on a wizard." Ravia glances between Meshidawg and Ignis. "Well, if Ignis doesn't want to claim it then maybe I should give it to Pratap - I don't know if it would help him, but it would look very nice on his tail," she adds.
Ravai peers at them. "Let me see..." she says thoughtfully as she first stares at the ring.
Her eyes widen. "This is a very powerful ring," she says. "If a wizard possesses it their natural Defense is automatically raised," she adds "but that's not all. This ring belonged to an ancient Elven Wizard who was also a Mind Healer - on it is written - Túra Incánus which, when rendered in the Common Tongue, means - The Great Mind Master..." She studies it a bit more. "The one who wears this Ring not only gains the bonus of Defense, but they also gain a bonus to their ability to Bargain and Observe - To move the minds of those who would daunt and deceive us and to see those things hidden from the eyes of Elves and Men and finally it lets anyone who can use Mana to be able to better hide from threats; for here it is also written upon it - To veil our form from enemies," she adds, clearly impressed.
Then she studies the Amulet -
"Ah! This amulet was likely used by the person who had the ring, I think... but it was not made for the person, but - I think - whatever beast traveled with the person. For it is made for beasts, not Elves or Men," she adds. "You see? The chain is much larger than we would need, but it would fit well on the Warg or Eagle, though I fear it may be too large for a small animal such as Pratap," she adds. "In any case; it is an Amulet of protection for a beast of battle; if the Warg were to wear it, he should be much better at defending himself and - I deem - more hale, besides," she adds.
Finally the gems -
"Well, there are six gems here. They are all the same sort of stone and cut nearly the same, but they seem to be worth roughly 1,000 gold pieces each," she says, then looks up at you. "I do not mind carrying the gems now, but when we finally leave this cave I should think that we should do our best to split the treasure equally. For now, though, I would guess that Ignis should claim the ring as she is the only wizard among us, and Wayde should claim the Amulet as he is the only one in here who can use it. What do you think?" she asks.
Ravia looks at you both. "Well, I guess we move forward up the hall, right?" she asks.
"Is there anything deeper in the cave, if so, let's go deeper. Ignis, create a light to see anything deeper." Meshidawg suggests Ravia nods her head. "There must be something bigger in here," she says as she peers about. "After all, we tracked a troll to this very location - surely the troll is inside... And if the troll has been robbing people I would wager we may not only defeat the troll but we may find whatever treasures it has taken from other heroes in the past." "Of course, it seems somewhat unethical to take the loot of fallen heroes for ourselves without trying to return it to the rightful owners," she adds. Pratap lets out a horrified little gasp at the prospect of finding treasure and giving it away instead of keeping it for yourselves. Ravia looks at Pratap. "Well, I suppose if we do find any treasure I guess we could just keep it ourselves," she says and Pratap lets out a little sigh of relief. Realizing that Ignis has not cast a spell to light the place, she does so herself.
"Alright, which way shall we go?" she asks the others. Moving forward they found a smaller room with nothing in it but the remains of fallen heroes covered in spider webs. "Should we search the remains to find loot?" she asks the others. Ravia will wait for the others to search the loot.
"One second,"says Ignis, as the exits the cave. When she is outside she calls to her familiar in Ignin. Her eagle gently drifts as low as possible and the fox jumps. Ignis catches him neatly in her arms. She then reenters the cave."Now I am ready." "Wha... wha?" Ravia says with shock at Ignis's sudden uneventful exit through the tunnels as she then summons a giant eagle flying high above in the heavy rainstorm who is carrying a firefox and then encourage the giant eagle to swoop down, drop off the firefox, fly away into the rainstorm and then hover around the entrance to the cave while Ignis is then able to quickly return through the tunnels with no issue whatsoever. Meanwhile, Pratap lays on the ground and puts his paws on his face covering his eyes. Ravia then looks at Ignis. "Sorry, that was pretty surprising was all," she says with a small grin. "Well, now that we have that taken care of - now what?" she asks, curious to see what Meshidawg and Ignis will do next.
Wow, another double damage, I'm the best dice roller of all time!!
Ravia sees you rush to the spider and do 15 Damage. She then takes her attack by raising her hand crossbow and shooting at the spider.
Ravia watches Meshidawg, then she calls out to Ignis. "You must advance so I have a clear shot, but be careful - there could be spider webs in there. Not only could they entangle you, but they burn very quickly anything that they touch - if they catch on fire..."
With the inherent savagery of a true barbarian Meshidawg strides forward and then swings his axe, shattering bone and cleaving joints, the skeleton shattering before him like broken glass. "Well done!" Ravia exclaims with delight as Pratap gives a little sniff and rolls his eyes, as if to say - Meh, I could have done that too, if I wanted to do it... Moving into the room to stand next to Meshidawg her light reveals that leading somewhat forward is a low stair that leads down into a small room with a pool in it. "That must have been a well for the people who guarded here to have water," she says thoughtfully. Then she looks at the skeleton and frowns. "See here? This skeleton has the armor of the same sort of legionaries we fought before... Though there are already dents in it which make me believe he was defeated here before we came... Oh, by that I mean - I don't think he was just summoned by a Doom Healer recently..." "In any case, I would think he was likely caught and brought here - and this makes sense as there were legionaries in the area for the trolls to go after them." "But this is what I don't understand... his armor is on, but his belt with where his sword, sheathe and possibly a pouch to hold coins? That has been removed... Perhaps it was luck, or coincidence, but unless I miss my guess I would wager that someone already took his valuables from him before he became a skeleton monster." She looks around for a brief moment. "If that is true, I would also wager that whoever took his gear may have also taken other treasures... It may be that when we defeat this troll we shall find a pile of loot from other folk he has defeated..." she adds. "Well, which way shall we go next?" she asks.
Ravia looks at Ignis as she moves forward quickly, while Pratap bravely defends the party from any enemies from behind.
"We should just tie up the horses to a tree, I won't save them but it will hold them from running," Meshidawg turns his head and looks closely inside the cave. Do you think there will be anyone or any thing other than troll inside. Ravia looks at the opening. "Maybe, but trolls are normally not very smart and they eat lots of things. I think that the troll would either have other trolls with it, or it would maybe serving some sort of larger creature as a boss... It could have smaller creatures with it, but probably would eat them... I suppose it all depends on how large the cave might be," she says as she studies the opening of the cave.
"Tying them up seems reasonable... fortunately I don't think there will be many creatures near to the cave. After all, if there are many wild creatures near here the troll would probably eat them too... I think most wild creatures would avoid this cave, if cave it is," she adds, studying the stone path leading to the cave. "My warg can be a guard" Ravia nods to Meshidawg. "I didn't think of that, but that sounds like a good strategy, just in case." Quickly the heroes tie the horses to the trees and the warg remains on guard. Meshidawg, Ignis and Ravia advance on the cave.
When you get to the mouth of the cave you pause and study it. "This does not look like a natural cave," Ravia says slowly. "See the sides of the entrance? They look very square, as if this was the opening to a an old room or chamber... Maybe it was a building built long ago into the mountainside and the troll found the ruins and took it over." "If anyone has a light, we can advance inside," she says asking the group.
Ravia glances at Meshidawg. "Perhaps - yet more will be judged when we have first seen this creature." Then, looking at the gray downpour, she pulls her cloak more tightly around her and continues to move forward so she can get a closer look at the terrain and surrounding near the entrance to the creature's lair.
"Well, are either of you going to do something?" she asks, wondering what the strategy the fire wizard and the barbarian will use...
"Ravia, how far do you think the ruins are." Meshidawg suggests. She frowns a bit. "It's difficult to say; after all, I only arrived on your shores a day or so ago... Still, I would think that the stone road we are now on might be connected to the ruins somehow - it is, after all, very old," she says thoughtfully. "If I would guess, I would think that at one point there was a road which led from the ruins to those hills at some point, I would guess that - over time - forests grew up and covered the majority of the road; but there is still the remains of this stone road which we are traveling on." "This makes me think that they are connected..." She looks at the sky and the rain and frowns, clearly upset that it is hard to see very well in the downpour. "Perhaps this road leads to some station or outpost connected to the ruined city... this would make sense - in which case all we should have to do is follow the stone trail the opposite way and we would find the ruined city eventually." "I would also guess that if there is some ruined outpost we are headed to that whatever creature was in the woods came out, walked on the trail, found people on the dirt road we were traveling on, attacked those people, then - after it ate - it went back to its lair." She looks at you both. "When we get to his place, I would think that the creature is likely inside resting, or possibly just avoiding the rain. We should move in cautiously so it does not notice us coming; do some observation to scan whatever defenses it may have, then do our best to go in and defeat the beast and help ourselves to whatever may be in there..." Pratap gives her a stern look. "Oh - of course, Pratap - we must also do our best to make sure we help any survivors there, too - if we find any, of course," she adds as he nods his little head sagely at her comment.
Ravia looks at you both. "Well, you could also probably just adjust your cloaks to cover yourself up a bit better, too," she adds with a shrug. "I mean, it is only some rain, after all..." She will then do her best to follow your lead down the mysterious, ancient, forest trail...
Ravia glances between the two of you. "Well, the stones are clearly some old road or trail - that's why there are no trees growing on them; this means that if we look for the place where there are clearly no trees, we should find the same trail this large creature was using..." She pauses and glances at Ignis. "I don't think Wayde can smell stones, but maybe he could smell the scent of the creature that walked on them... But, given that there's so much rain, I don't know if the smell is still there as the rain has probably washed it away..." She pats Wayde on the head and scratches behind his ears, trusting that the warg is a good hunter. Pratap stares hard at Wayde getting some attention, his little eyes squinting jealously. Meanwhile, Ravia studies you both for a moment. "I'm actually surprised neither of you are bothered by the rain; how are you able to endure it so easily?" she asks.
"Yes, they will. They can scout for the creature from above. But I am worried about the horses. Might they get hurt?"Ignis relays the information to her fox in Ignin. "They could get hurt, but that's only if they rush through the sharp, broken branches - if we lead them through carefully they should be alright; but they cannot rush - if they do, that could be dangerous." "I am glad you can communicate with your fox; can he tell the eagle what to do, though?" she asks as they lead the horses carefully passed the broken branches. As you walk the rain falls on you and the ground is becoming muddy and slippery. Soon you notice something in the mud, and as you notice it, you also notice that the broken branches have divided and there is an actual path through the woods. Ravia peers down in the mud and studies it carefully. "Look here; the mud is washing away, but underneath are some very old stones that are laid out in a flat, orderly trail... there must have been a path or road running through here at one point," she says with a puzzled voice. "I wonder if the path in the mud is as ancient as the ruins we are supposed to explore; if so, the path must lead somewhere... and it seems that so does our trail," she muses. "Shall we continue?" she asks the others.
Ignis immediately answers.”Yes, we should. This tower is the only thing that marks out territory. Also, it might attack the tavern and townsfolk.” Ravia nods. "And what about you?" she says, turning to the barbarian. "I think we should go hunt it down, who knows how many people it may have terrorized" Meshidawg says. "My warg can observe and find the creature." "Very good! Then we must leave this trail for a time and turn to the west; hopefully we shall find the enemy soon," she says as the rain continues pour. Wayde turns and does what he can to observe, but even with his keen senses it is not easy to see much - the tracks are nearly an hour old, or so you think. Still, Wayde does what he can and is ready to rush through the brambly forest - it's clear enough that he can observe the breaks in the trees where he can travel through. However, before he does, Ravia gets off her horse. "There is no path through the woods, except what the creature has made, I am afraid we must lead our horses otherwise they may injure themselves in the rough space," she adds, pulling her cloak tight about her. "Ignis; your firefox is far above on your eagle. Will he be able to find us under the trees now that we're leaving the path?" she asks. She then waits as Pratap makes himself properly comfortable on her saddle and stares imperiously at the woods, eager to advance. As you consider things, you realize that - given the time when the Legionaries came to attack the tavern and given the current time - you would wager the attack on the road might have possibly been against the company of soldiers, or shortly after they passed.
The total is not as good as Wayde's but with his help the two of them are able to discover some information.... "I am not sure as the rains are making it hard to read the signs, but it looks like some things were wandering south down the trail toward your tower... Something came out of the trees, something big..." she adds, pointing to the north west. "There looks like something was attacked on the road here, and whatever attacked them went back to the north west," she says looking through the trees. She looks at you. "There are no remains on the road; whatever was attacked was taken into the woods..." she adds with a frown and sees that to the west is mountains but between here and the mountains are small craggy hills. "This is very bad for you and your town. Whatever came out of the woods must live close enough to the road that it could wait and attack folk - also, given that the branches are freshly broken means it's trying to find more food - there was no path to this road..." "Now that whatever it is has found the road, it will likely return when it is hungry again." "Unless we try to find the lair of this thing..." She shields her eyes under the downpour of the rain and studies you both. "I know it is not part of our original quest, but do you think we should go try to find the lair of this creature? It should be easy to track, even in the rain, but given the size of the foot prints I think it will be very large." She waits for your answer.
“Wait! Ravia, you are an explorer. That means you are both a universal wizard and healer. Do you have a spell to understand other languages? Maybe you can understand the warg. And Pratap, before you protest, this does not mean that Ravia likes Wayde as much as you.” Pratap pokes his little head from under Ravia's cloak and looks aghast at the possibility that anyone could like anything more than him - but he says nothing about it at this time. Ravia purses her lips and thinks a moment. "I do not know if I have such a spell; though I suppose if your Firefox was near you might be able to have him search too..." "Let me see what I can do to aid Wayde; as an explorer I made it a point to learn many different skills that I find useful in the wild..." Ravia dismounts while Pratap manages to sit on the saddle and look properly miffed that he is getting wet in the rain.
"I don't have any survival skill, but I'll try anyways." Ravia pulls her cloak higher around her shoulders to keep out the rain. "If he finds anything can he tell you what he finds?" she asks somewhat skeptically, not sure if Meshidawg can understand the language of wargs...
Meanwhile, Wayde moves the treeline and sniffs in the branches where they seem broken, he moves to the trail and sniffs in it, and his eyes widen. Barking with fierce, wolf-like growls, he encourages you all to move forward and study the terrain. There, in the mud, the small holes in the trail look like they are some sort of footprints... "Whatever made those footprints must have had very large feet," Ravia says slowly as she studies the ground from her horse. "No doubt Wayde could tell us what sort of creature made those tracks, and how long ago they were made so we know if the threat is near or far, but as he is not a Familiar I don't think we'll be able understand what he was to say." "Perhaps he can do some sort of barking signal - ask him what you think it may be and maybe he'll bark if you guess right..." she adds as Pratap rolls his eyes and mews something. "I know Pratap, I can understand you, you're my Familiar, but unfortunately the barbarian and his companion do not have that same magical bond - so yes, though you are small you do have special powers," she adds as the tiger cub gives you both a smug purr while hiding under her cloak.
"Enemies! Ha! I thought we were facing trolls and giants, not small soldiers." Meshidawg assumes. Ravia turns a glance at the brash words of the Barbarian riding upon his fearsome Warg. "I am not an expert in such matters, but I understood that Trolls and Giants make their homes in the wild and do not often assail civilized and well-fortified settlements, except now and again by necessity." "Yet our journey shall take us to the wild lands to the north of your town; in such places it is likely that we shall find things to be far more dangerous then what we might see near your tower and all of your defenses." "Haven't you learned by now that anyone can be an enemy?"Ignis jokes... kind of. Ravia turns a somber eye toward Ignis. "There is only one real enemy..." She glances to the sky, then looks back at Ignis. "Death is the enemy - our first enemy, and our last..." Pratap looks at her from his saddle with a confused look in his eye. "I know - the Enemy always wins; but we still need to fight him." "That's all I know," she says with a thoughtful voice then smiles a little at Pratap who shivers nervously, then snuggles in her cloak as she pets him. A crack of thunder sounds ominously and you continue to ride...
"Ravia, I think we should actually start moving, we have been waiting for pretty long." Meshidawg hollers, wondering where Ravia is. Ravia appears and looks at Meshidawg. "My apologies, I was just checking to see if anyone else wants to come. As they do not seem interested now, I left them a note to indicate where we'd be journeying in case they want to catch up," she adds.
At this point she brings out the horses and saddles them and includes the kit she packed as well. She pauses to call out to Ignis. "We're ready to go; tell us what you've seen and which direction seems best to you and we'll head that way," she says as she sits astride her horse, Patrap also sitting on the horse, albeit in her lap. She pets him behind his ears and he purrs impressively...
"That ferocious 'creature' is my Warg." Meshidawg says a little angry."But anyways, let's move on foot, but since my Warg is smaller than a horse, we can bring him." Ravia's eyes widen in surprise. "My apologies," she says. "Of course I have seen Wargs - but only in the wild - but they were very ferocious indeed," she answers. "I think we should take the horses... No doubt this voyage will lead us to another, an we will soon get tired if we go on foot."Ignis turns to Meshidawg. "And you should reeeeeeeaaaaaaaaly train Wayde. I don't think Master Thorn is going to be very happy with you." Ravia looks at Ignis. "I see you know this "Wayde" as well," she says slowly. "Well, if you will vouch for him then I am sure he is trustworthy," she adds, then looks again at the horses. "Wayde, were you eating the horses." Meshidawg says sanguinely.
Wayde is trained, he was just hungry and saw some food Meshidawg says. "We should probably start moving now. It's is getting a little late. "Oh! I thought that either you or Master Thorn gave him the food," she answers. "Well, in any case, now what?" Ignis chooses a sleek black horse. Her fire fox jumps onto her eagle and they circle overhead. "What are you waiting for?"she asks her comrades. Ravia looks at Ignis in surprise. "Your fox does not ride with you?" she asks, then sees the eagle overhead. "That is a very large eagle," she adds, almost to herself as she sees it flying.
Ravia looks at the others. "I myself came on the ship, I will need to buy a horse. Let me go make the arrangements with Master Thorn," she says, then hurries inside to speak to Master Thorn about buying a horse and some supplies for herself for the journey.
Ravia, realizing that Ignis is in trouble, too, and realizing that the Red Wizard is likely a Fire Wizard, moves to U:11 and raises her hand - "Fulgur percutiens," she calls out. A Lightning Bolt rushes from her finger to strike the target.
The Red Wizard cries out then falls to the ground. The Small Fire Elemental laughs a very sulfuric laugh. Now that the wizard can no longer control him he is free to return to where he was summoned. He vanishes in a puff of smoke. Ravia turns to Ignis. "I only have a short time to help Pratap and I am already badly wounded - please; finish off that last Legionary!" she calls to Ignis.
Razia looks at Ignis. "We must be careful - if that foul wizard is summoning a Fire Elemental then he could do some real damage," she calls out. Razia moves forward to W:9 and lifts her Hand Crossbow and shoots an arrow -
Ravia tries her Observation Check -
Ravia looks between Meshidawg and Ignis. "Pardon me... do you two know each other?" she asks you both curiously. "Also, I should say that as an Explorer I am very interested in tales... How did you both start adventuring and what led you to take up your Staff or your Sword and become heroes?" she asks, curious to learn more of your stories before setting out.
Hello I am Brozo52. Ravia looks at Brozo. "Hello, Brozo..." she says to him. "I am not an expert, but your gear seems to suggest you are a fire wizard. Is that correct?" she asks him.
Ravia looks up at Meshidawg. "So many allies... yet would they be able to come with the Lady Ignis and myself on a quest?" "If they cannot, perhaps you could come; and, perhaps, someone skilled in healing? If you know of such a person, this would help out tremendously for I fear that our mission - while it may lead to fine rewards - may also be very dangerous." "Do you know of a hero can heal, and will you be willing to come with me and the Lady Ignis?" she asks politely.
"Hello my name is Cede, I was the nature healer Ignis was talking about earlier," Cede said politely. Ravia turns from the table and studies Cede thoughtfully. "Ah! So, do you think you would like to join me and Lady Ignis on a quest, then?" she asks him, curious to know his answer. Pratap sniffs at Cede and gives a strange, mewling grunt. "You're right, noble Pratap - he does smell like eagle; but I think he wants to be friends, not a snack," she says as she pets him while Pratap gives a little harumph and then goes back to snacking. "Not that anyone asks my opinion - but I feel that everyone in this room would be doing so many great things if it weren't for having snack all the time," Master Thorn grumbles from his place at the counter.
Ravia thinks a moment. "The barbarian sounds like a worthy ally to fight - but I do not know about the Doom Healer," she muses while Pratap gives a little huff at the idea of traveling with a Doom Healer. "Still, if the ruins are uninhabited then it may be there could be things found there such as skeletons who are lurking about - a Doom Healer could be useful," she adds. "The best plan, I think, is to find those who are interested and then we must ask some questions to prepare ourselves," she adds. Pratap seems to agree with this plan, much to everyone's relief.
No, I do not usually start conversations with fire. I saw your weapons and was afraid you might attack. You seem like you would be a worthy opponent. And what adventure? I am a Hero, and I have many allies. If I cannot come with you, I am sure I will know someone who can.” Razia smiles back, but Pratap looks a bit miffed and Razia notices this. "Well, my weapons are not nearly as powerful as my mighty companion," she says with a nod at Pratap, who looks pleased now that everyone knows he is clearly the greatest, though you can tell that Razia is probably humoring her cub because it makes him happy. Of course, you also know that most tiger cubs are not so smart - at least, not smart enough to understand everything people are saying and want to be included in the conversation.
"As for adventures, I had heard that the tavern of Master Thorn was located near a place where a wizard made a small volcano come from the ground, but this volcano came from a buried artifact." She glances at the counter to see if others were interested, then turns back to Ignis. "Well, I wondered - if the artifact was buried in some sort of underground structure, could there be other structures buried near to this place? After all, over time there is flooding, landslides and other such things - perhaps there may be some other ruins connected to that buried artifact that we may find and explore?" "It may be that folk found those ruins and are living there now, but then again, it may also be that they have not been fully explored for years... Who knows what secrets we may find there?" she adds, clearly excited about the possibility.
Pratap looks shocked you would dare to touch him; but when you begin to scratch his ears his shock turns into happy purrs... "Ah! He was in my homeland, for I come from across the sea. I heard of your tales and adventures there, for you and your companions are well known in my homeland after your work in the arena." "I wanted to visit this land and see you for myself, but it took time to find a ship with a captain who was willing to sail across the sea." She nods at the man by the table. "That man there is captain; the other creature is an Aquan creature - some of them are very dangerous, of course, but you can be allies with them if you are good to them." "The captain did not wish to sail here, but the Aquan creature convinced the captain that your allies can be friendly, for it seems your friend Ben has a good reputation with Aquan creatures..." "In any case, they sailed me here. Their crew is visiting the ship, but before I came into the tavern I wanted to ask some of the people about the tower you have been building." "I must say; it seems to be very impressive!" Then she shakes her head, clearly distracted from her point. "At this time I would like to find only a small group of trusty individuals - I can do some magic and some healing, but a Wizard would be good, and some others that could fight would also be good - and possibly a healer. But I should think no more than four or five of us in total would be needed... And they must be more skilled than most, for my heart warns me that a mission into ancient ruins could be far too challenging for those who are not very skilled..." she adds. "Do you know anyone you would recommend? Also, do you have any other questions for me?" she asks.
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