"The journey of a thousand miles..." Hagin sets his pack. "Any one need help with their gear?"
"I can carry my own but little more. I think we should head out quick as every moment is lost time. Also from the completed map it seems the terrain will be a problem in some places, but the broken glade and gray lake look like prime camping spots. At least we have a clear path."
Feraya was a bit worried about the gorge, he was not built for that and he could not cast spells that would make things easier for everyone.
"Ready to go," Ember replies, hoping she doesn't slow her friends down too much.
"Maybe I should take off my pack also in combat, like Art says that he'll do," she thinks. "What are tents made of, rocks?"
Holding the lantern carefully, she follows along.
"Best to get going early. I reckon the more distance we cover before sunset will be more time in that tomb. That'll be fun!"
Or it might kill us all. I won't let that happen.
He sets his pace towards the southern gate, gazing up at the skies, eyebrows lowered in determination.
The midday sun is trapped behind the clouds in the sky, and the dreary chilly day continues unabated. After an hour you enter what is known as The Fangwood, an area of trees that are mostly leafless, thus resembling fangs sticking up from the ground. The road is quiet, still, with nary a breeze as you pass under the decript trees.
The narrow path winds through the raking claws of the trees, now bare of their leaves, which crunch loudly underfoot. Up ahead, a fallen tree trunk blocks the path. Suddenly a trio of snarling humanoids leaps up from behind the log, all greenish skin and fearsome tusks, bellowing vulgar challenges!
Feraya brings a spell to his lips, a simple one he could cast at will. As they had numbers on their side he thought it best to test out these beast.
Acid Splash vs C1
A small orb of acid appears in his hand which he tosses at one of the creatures.
Feraya brings a spell to his lips, a simple one he could cast at will. As they had numbers on their side he thought it best to test out these beast.
Acid Splash vs C1
1d20+2
1d3A small orb of acid appears in his hand which he tosses at one of the creatures.
The small orb flies past the far left orc, who turns to watch it land on the road. It turns back and makes a rude gesture at the elf while its friends laugh at the bad throw.
"Orcs!" Art bellows, pulling out his crossbow and a bolt in one sweep. Braggar had told him of how Orcs looked and fought, in excruciating detail, and it was the only lecture on Dwarven history that Art bothered to pay attention to.
I need to thank the old dwarf when we get back. If... no. Don't say if. We'll be back.
"Gael, block them! Take out the middle one, me'n'Elena will handle the right one!"
He raises the crossbow and lines up a shot as best he can before he pulls the trigger. The monotonous, sharp song of the string swoshes past his ears.
The bolt wizzes straight towards the rightmost orc, who ducks under it. It laughs at the ineptitude of the dwarf, and then points to Art and mutters in Orcish the following.
"Get the dwarf! Grind his bones!
The other two orcs glare at Art with renewed hatred.
Ember looks up at the unknown creatures with a mild panic.
"What should I do? Run? But then my friends..."
Clutching the lantern tighter in her left arm, she makes an arcane gesture towards the orc that Art had shot at. The words of power easily rise to her lips, and she casts her spell.
To Hit:
Dam:
She then takes a step backward, edging behind Art.
Ember looks up at the unknown creatures with a mild panic.
"What should I do? Run? But then my friends..."Clutching the lantern tighter in her left arm, she makes an arcane gesture towards the orc that Art had shot at. The words of power easily rise to her lips, and she casts her spell.
To Hit:1d20 + 2
Dam:1d3She then takes a step backward, edging behind Art.
Feraya catches the orcs words, ignoring its insult he speaks out to his friends.
"They are targeting Art, seems they have a thing for dwarves."
Hagin does not understand what the creatures, orcs according to Art, are saying, but their sudden, hostile attention brings a change upon the young man. His eyes become a solid white and he stands with confidence. His deep, rich voice brings forth the beautiful language of the heavenly planes. After a brief intonation, the group's courage is bolstered and their strikes prove more true.
Cast Bless
Hagin does not understand what the creatures, orcs according to Art, are saying, but their sudden, hostile attention brings a change upon the young man. His eyes become a solid white and he stands with confidence. His deep, rich voice brings forth the beautiful language of the heavenly planes. After a brief intonation, the group's courage is bolstered and their strikes prove more true.
Cast Bless
As the monstrous humanoids appear on the road, Gael pauses slightly, looking at her companions. Seeing them all decide to fight, and effectively at that, she decides on her response to this challenge.
"For Kessen! For the ever-flame!" Gael charges forwards to put her steel between friend and foe.
Gael suddenly rushes forward, shouting "For Kessen! For the Ever Flame!" She slams her greatsword into the orc in the center of the line, cleaving it in two. The blood sprays out covering her and the two other orcs.
Will:
You realize that the orc you just killed was in fact an Illusion! In fact, they all must be!
As Gael's mighty blow cleaves her orc in two, Hagin calls out to the gods, blessing the group with divine might.
Finally, Ember lets loose with a bolt of chilly power, slamming it into the Orc that Art tried to shoot. The bolt flies into the eye of the orc who falls down screaming in pain, twitching briefly before going limp.
Will:
You realize that the orcs are an Illusion!
The final orc, the one on the left, growls angrily and mutters in orcish.
"Idiots dying to a pair of pathetic pinkskinned freaks!"
That final orc charges Art however, being out of range of the paladin, and attempts to enact horrible violence upon his person with a Greataxe!
Attack Roll
Damage Roll
Art's Will Save:
The axe bites deep into Arts flesh, causing massive damage. Blood flies into the air as Art falls to the ground, bloody and groaning. The orc yells exurberently as he fells an enemy!
Feraya recast the spell,hoping it would land this time.
Acid Splash vs Touch
Hit
Dmg
Feraya lobs the ball of acid at the final orc, watching as it strikes the creature in its stomach. The beast howls in rage and then glares angrily at the elf, hefting its axe and pointing.
Feraya Will Save
Feraya realizes as the beast howls that it is in fact an illusion!
Feraya saw thru the illusion upon his attack, it was all a ruse.
"Everyone their illusions, their not real."
He would guess it was a spell of some kind, his own mentor could cast such a spell but he was not the only one capable.
Art stumbles forward and drifts unconscious.
Ember drops to her knees over Art, ignoring the illusionary ... whatever it was.
"Art! Art! It isn't real! Art!"
She fumbles at his wound, torn between the unreality and the fact that Art seemed to have been felled by the unreality. She tries to stanch the bleeding (if it is really bleeding).
The attempts at healing Art do nothing, as the wound is false to begin with. However, the shaking and pulling of Ember cause the mind of Art to shudder, subconciously attempting to shake off the illusion.
Art groans, still not conscious.
"Hagin - help Art. He still believes that he's injured. Feraya, Ember, can you see anyone who might have created the illusion?"
Gael will ready an action to charge, or move and attack, the caster of the illusion if she or others can see them.
As Gael looks around she cannot find any indication of the caster of the illusion.
As Gael looks around she cannot find any indication of the caster of the illusion.
Gael, aware that the orc is not real, doesn't yell a battle-cry, doesn't charge. She calmly moves beside the figment and attempts to run it through. Very deliberate and very controlled, to avoid accidentally spitting either Art or Ember.
As Gael's blade passes through the figment there is again a squirt of blood. This time however Gael realizes its not real and can actually see through it, as if looking through stained glass.
The orc falls, and in that instant all of Art's wounds are gone, and a groan is heard as he begins to wake up.
As the orcs vanish, you detect a hint of pipe smoke, very faint. In fact, the only reason you even notice it is due to the fact that any time you were with him, Holgast was smoking a foul pipe! Its obvious that he is the one who created the illusions.
The orcs defeated and vanished, the party looks around and see's, well, nothing.
Art stirs, his stomach revolting in utmost nausea. He sees Ember kneeling in front of him, and he feels stinging pain in his chest. "B...bloody... I didn't mean to let my guard... down?"
He looks down at his chest; he was sure the axe had split his armour and torn into his flesh, but there was no blood to be found on his finger or his clothes. "Kitten, what...?"
Before he manages to finish his sentence, he throws up, clenching his stomach. It...it wasn't real? But... the pain...
Distressed, he sits up, breathing hard and heavy and trying to recover from that shock.
"Rest easy a moment, Art. Safe now." Gael leaves Art to Kitten and Hagin as he recovers.
"Feraya, you have sharper eyes than I. See anything?"
Perception
Feraya looks around at Gael's request.
"Sorry I may be an elf but I am a mage not a scout. I dont pick up anything that stands out."
He cast a spell to detect magic and scans the area around them.
"Lets see if I can pick up any magical aura's. Maybe from an item or the residual traces of the spellcaster."
Ember unlimbers her waterskin and hands it to Art to help him clean up.
"It was an illusion, some kind of spell," she informs Art. "But you have to be careful, or next time it might be real and you might... get hurt."
Her voice sounds a little scared at the end, and her eyes are wet. She wipes them on her sleeve, and tries to look brave.
As Feraya scans the area, he comes across what appears to be a human shaped aura hidden in the bushes. The spell radiates illusion, and then without warning the person shouts a single arcane word and then flies off, the bushes rustling with his passing. However, anyone looking sees nothing.
The spell cast was Fly
"Spot anything, Faraya?"
Gael is keen to move on, and once it is clear that Art is feeling better her mind quickly turns to travel.
Survival
With the battle over, Hagin's eyes return to normal.
Art takes a sip of water from Ember's waterskin, and wipes the few remnants of vomit from his beard. "T...thanks, Kitten. I ... don't feel too well. I'll be fine, just... just nauseus."
He scoots away from the pile of vomit, and closes his eyes, waiting for the turmoil to end.
Spellcraft
Survival
Feraya spotted the human form likely under an invisibility spell and he knew that it had also used a fly spell to escape. Feraya would venture a guess that it was a spellcaster from town, personally he leaned toward his own mentor.
Our guest was cloaked in an illusion to render himself unseen, likely an invisisbility spell of some kind. Also he escaped quickly once I spotted him via a fly spell. My guess is that all this was a test and that spellcaster was from town. Nothing about the whole encounter was directly deadly after all. If that was Holgast I am going to knock the chair right out from under him next time he takes a nap."
He did not mind being tested but the old man had taken it a little far in Art's case. He was used to and capable of resisting such magic but the same could not be said of the others. Just as he could not be expected to keep up with the more hardy bodies among his group.
Ember watches concerned as Art slowly pulls himself together.
Relieved that he seems to be recuperating, she unsteadily gets to her feet (the weight of the backpack still throwing her balance off).
As you continue to make your way through the Fangwood the sky begins to darken, and before long you start to have issues following the trail. Gael however proves to be surprisingly apt at finding and keeping to the trail, with a bit of assistance from Feraya and Ember. After a few hours, just as the sun is setting, you find yourself in a bare clearing that is clearly the one marked "The Broken Glade" as there are several broken trees on the edges of the glade.
You guys begin to scout out where to setup camp in the large glade, hoping you can find some nice even ground.
Ember has been occasionally trailing behind, heavily breathing, for the early part of the hike. It isn't until later in the day that she finally becomes accustomed to the weight, and manages to keep up.
Feraya was doing fine but kept his guard up for anything else, test or otherwise.
Survival
Survival
Hagin, very quiet up to this point speaks to the group. "I'm a little dissappointed in this. I mean I knew that this was a very ritualistic thing, but I thought there would be some danger, some call to destiny. Instead it's just the elders testing us." He sullenly sets his tent.
Thanks to Hagin's skills the group is able to find a large flat area, big enough to setup camp. You all go about your business, setting up tents and digging a firepit, and preparing yourselves for a night of camping in the middle of the Fangwoods.
Art struggles with setting up his tent; he hurled several times during the trip and is visibly upset. After about an hour with the tent, he manages to get it standing and he flops down on his rear. "I think I'll go to sleep right away," he glances at the others. "I... I'll feel better tomorrow morn. Promise."
He crawls into the confines of his tent; it has a lot of space, more than compared to his friends. Pulling out his blanket from his backpack he wraps it around his shoulders and lays down, trying to soothe his mind.
I was useless. And that... terror. This is going to happen again, and next time it won't be a figment. Probably. Magic is frightening. Very much so.
I can't let the others down again.
Ember is more than happy to shrug off her heavy pack. Putting up the tent proves to be a minor adventure, as she had never put one up before. After a few false starts, she finally manages to erect a passable tent.
Ember will then start on the rest of the camping duties. Starting the campfire settles her a bit, as she is happy to put her minor magic to use.
She then works on cooking the evening meal (her experience of having to fix her own meals coming into play).
She glances several times at Art's tent, wondering if he is going to be alright, and her concern is obvious.
Feraya looks over at Hagin with a somber expression.
"So you would have preferred that one of us be fatally wounded or die. I would count my blessings that it was only a test, we are in the wilderness and I think it wise to remember no one controls even half of what they think. Fate will shatter you upon the rocks as much as she would favor you with good fortune. You would be wise not to tempt fate with careless words, you may just get what you ask for at a steep cost."
He was starting to sound like a lecturing old man, but none the less he would be glad to live an uneventful life if it meant none of his friends or fellow townspeople got hurt or died.
Feraya does not so much set up his tent as use it more like a mat. Elves did not sleep like other races, they tranced as it were. They refreshed themselves without losing conscious or awareness, not to mention they did it in less time then other races. Once he is done he gathers firewood for the fire.
"Any idea on the watch order, I only need four hours of rest to be back in tip top shape."