Barshevy looks out across the darkening countryside. He makes a pathetic sound; something in between a sigh and a whimper. "Tramping about at night is not the safest thing to do. But I suppose we have no choice."
Rin grins comfortingly at Barshevy..
"Join me in the lead Father. We can bring light into the darkness together. Besides, it's much more appropriate for you to be holding a censer than me. I don't have the lifestyle for it."
"I .. ah .. thank you?" says the cleric. He holds the censer away from him, as if it would explode at any moment.
"I .. ah .. thank you?" says the cleric. He holds the censer away from him, as if it would explode at any moment.
"Cheer up Father. If the censer was especially dangerous, we'd probably know by now." Rin bounds irrepressibly onwards.
"Hah!" Qadim-sul laughs at Barshevy's nervousness, and Rin's irrepressibility. "How did the poem go?" he asks no one in particular. "'Onward and on they went/through fire and darkness/'til none remained/of the brave Six Hundred'." Qadim-sul looks around at the others' faces. "What, you've never heard 'The Ballad of the Elemental Crossing?'" Qadim-sul shakes his head in disgust. "Heathens," he says under his breath.
Following on, into the darkness, Qadim-sul keeps his eyes peeled for trouble.
Lafiel walks along with the new-made group. Although she's used to acting tough in front of other people, deep down, while she walks alone with her thoughts, her fears and insecurities rise. Usually her jobs were much simpler, such as intercept a courier or deliver a sealed envelope. This job however seems much more complicated and long, and deep down Lafiel has doubts she'll return alive from this. After contemplating about all of this, an idea comes to her, and she remarks : "How can we be sure the censer has stopped working ? When we encountered the ape-creature it seemed the same as it is now, and it managed to put to sleep most of the keep. Is it possible to have a safe circle close to the censer, then a wider, magical circle which puts everyone in it to sleep ?"
"Good point Lafiel. We should have stopped to see if the Sergeant fell asleep ... hold onto this Father, and stand still."
Rin experimentally walks outwards from the censer, hoping to notice any sleepiness before it overtakes him.
"Oh my. I hope we haven't been causing any inconvenience to the people here."
"In the wrong hands, it is a loathsome device," remarks Barshevy. "But it could be very useful for us later on."
"Loathsome? Father, I think you're exaggerating. It puts people to sleep. It doesn't capture their souls and murder their children and steal their livestock. But you're right on the second point - it could indeed be useful to us."
Barshevy nods and smiles at the luminescent genasi.
Lafiel yawns and says "It's after midnight. We should stop and rest, so we can start moving again with dawn. We all had a long day and longer evening and night."
"This is starting to fail. We should find out what the contents are and whether we can relight it before it runs out entirely." He prods the interesting arcane censer.
Rin: Arcana DC25: ** spoiler omitted **
Rin gets a little distracted and can't draw any useful conclusions from the incense.
While on watch with Rin, Qadim-sul tries his hand at inspecting the censer, to no avail either.
Arcana (1d20+9=16)
"Wake me whenever.." Raivek says as he yawns. "I'll take last watch."
"Stop and gather any supplies, but be quick."
"I've got no intention of standing in the front line myself, but healing for those that like that kind of thing is a good idea. What I could usefully use is more ingredients. We got a little side-tracked back at the castle."
Lafiel looks at Drivish, nods and says :"I agree with the dragonborn. I don't need anything either as well."
"I'll just investigate the local shop for a couple of minutes."
Rin's eyes narrow thoughtfully and he jingles the coins in his pockets, contemplating ingredients.
"Sulpher, vinegar, salt, clean sand, one or two other items ... maybe the odd bottle of wine ... Don't worry, I won't be long."
He ambles off cheerfully.
"Eh, I won't be needing anything, don't want to slow the group down and all.." Raivek says to himself mostly.
"We should get some healing potions," Qadim-sul says as Rin looks over his ingredients. "Maybe some extra food and drink as well, and a couple of sunrods, just in case."
Returning to the group, Qadim-sul divides the gear among the group, keeping one of the potions for himself. "Drivish, Raivek, which one of you wants the other potion?"
As a cleric of Pelor would, Barshevy greets the rising sun with devotional prayers and rituals.
He declines to share in any of the newly bought supplies. "I am well equipped as it is, thank you."
|
ooc] What do we know about the Oldwood ? [/ooc]
The Oldwood marks the southern boundary of Lerrith-without-Crown. It is, as the name suggests, ancient. Beyond the Oldwood (nobody is exactly sure how deep it is) is a rather forbidding mountain chain.
There is some logging and hunting under the eaves of the Oldwood, but no logger or hunter travels more than half a day in. It is assumed that those that do not return are the ones who do so.
Rin can find a surprisingly good cask of ale for 2gp.
Rin happily stashes his purchases and straps the cask to the bottom of the pack. He carries the censer like a talisman, still intrigued by its workings.
"How about a toast to our enterprise before we move on?"
It dawns on Barshevy that asking such odd questions could compromise the secrecy of their mission.
"Oh Pelor, I might have gone and done it again."
During the shopping spree in the hamlet, Lafiel examines her forced fellow adventurers. The ranger seems light-minded and talks a lot, but he showed a glimpse of his true value during the fight while stopping that huge creature with his body and weapons. The priest looks like he doesn't belong to all of this sometimes, but there's more to him. Unlike similar people which Lafiel met during her life, she feels sympathy towards him and his altruist cause. Strangely, he also reminds her of her father. The dragonborn is mostly silent and keeps to himself. He seems able, but that's still to be tested. The genasi is an interesting character. Although she still feels uneasy due to his peculiar form, she's ready to trust him enough to guard her when she sleeps (but not much more). The elf is clearly some kind of minor noble. That's usually a negative thing, as Lafiel doesn't like those rich nobles. However, he did prove his worth using diplomacy and tracking this invisible magic trail. That, and the fact that unlike other nobles Lafiel knew he agreed to travel with such a group of vagabonds and mercenaries redeems his value to Lafiel. Pondering all of this, she agrees for a toast.
"Success and Riches to us all !", she calls.
Recognizing the importance of calling on blessings at the outset of the mission, Drivish joins in the toast.
"Success and riches to us all!" he repeats, in an until now unseen show of comraderie from the dragonborn.