"Yes Feraya - we must learn such lessons as come to us, no matter the source. Only then will we be ready for the true perils ahead."
"I will take first watch. Feraya, I'll wake you in two hours. Art, perhaps you should just sleep through tonight."
Ember nervously speaks up, "When should I take my watch?"
She will have summoned up Mage Hand several times, and use it to arrange logs in the campfire. She almost seems to be playing with the fire out of nervous energy.
"Perhaps after Feraya. Hagin, are you happy to take the dawn watch?"
A loud snore fills Art's tent; he has fallen asleep.
Feraya looks over at the dwarf's tent, thinking between casting a spell that would sound like a unit of men bearing down on his tent and if his snores would draw the night's creatures to them.
"That one could wake the dead."
As you setup camp, you start to hear howling in the distance. As the hour grows later and later you start to hear more howls, and they seem to get closer.
As you all sit around the campfire, talking to each other while Art snores and Ember cooks, you begin to reflect on your journey thus far. Where is the road taking you? Are things going to get worse or easier as you go? Only time will tell...
Perception
Having had some training with Arnama, Hagin is familiar with camping and helps the others set up their tents. He reluctantly agrees to the dawn watch as well.
"You are such an optimist, Feraya. I know there will be a cost. I just... I don't know... I'm ready to get on with it I guess."
Feraya ponders what the next day will bring as he waits for the meal to be ready. Some howls draw his attention and they seemed to get closer over time.
"Anyone else hear those wolves, they seem to be getting closer. You dont think they could be headed towards us maybe?"
Perception
"They do seem closer, don't they. Let's make sure we have plenty of wood for the fire."
"Wolves? Surely they wouldn't attack us? Would they?"Ember worries. "Should I wake Art? Will they try to eat us in our sleep?"
"It's probably just another test. I wouldn't worry about it." Hagin sounds disappointed.
Wolf Stealth
Ember - Perception:
Hagin - Perception:
Feraya - Perception:
Gael - Perception:
About a half an hour after the last howl is heard, Gael and Ember think they hear shuffling in the bushes near the camp. But when they get up to investigate they find nothing, no trace of any creature. Returning to the still cooking stew, they share a glance wondering what they heard.
Then, without warning, an hour later as everyone is eating, a howl is heard directly outside of camp. Everyone who is awake spins around to see three wolves skulking into camp. They are malnourished, thin, and feral looking. These creatures stare directly at the party, and then begin to move forward.
Order is:
Feraya does not waste any time and he very much doubted this was a test. Half starved wolves dont give off the right air of danger in his mind. He weaves the words and gustures of his spell, this time starting off strong. A dart of magical power flies thru the air slamming into the wolf.
Magic Missile vs W1
Ember gasps in surprise. "Wolves? Or were they illusions? What should I do? Attack? Protect Art?"
She steps backward, and gathers her magic, wrapping it around herself.
Hagin continues eating and disbelieves the illusion.
Will save
You are pretty sure these are not illusions but are actually wolves
"You three stay back behind the fire," Gail calls to Feraya, Ember, and Hagin. She grabs a blazing brand from the fire in each hand, and takes a large step forwards.
Waving the flaming branches in large circles above her head she yells, "Hai! Hai! Away! Away!"
As the wolves enter the clearing Ember is the first to react, quickly taking a single step back and enchanting herself with protection. As she does this, Hagin simply looks on at the wolves, and continues to eat thinking they are illusions.
Gael however takes the threats more seriously, and quickly grabs a branch from the fire and walks slowly forward, swinging the flaming brand around and shouting. This however does not seem to have any effect on the hungry wolves, who smell the stew and wish to eat. Feraya stands, and quickly speaks an arcane word which causes a single bolt of force to fly out and slam into leftmost wolf. It growls but stays standing, seemingly barely bothered by the missle.
The wolves, completely unfazed by these antics, lope forward quicker then expected. The center wolf charges Gael, attempting to bite her hard and connecting, tearing into her calf muscle. Unfortunatly for Gael, it also manages through the force of the blow to slam her to the ground. The leftmost wolf however, walks quickly around the paladin and her brand and beelines for Ember, sinking its teeth into her leg, and then yanking, dragging Ember to the ground
The final wolf lopes around the side quickly, coming up the Feraya and biting him, although not nearly as badly as Ember, its still bad. However, the wolf surprises the elf and knocks him to the ground.
You are lying in your tent, sleeping off the effects of your ordeal earlier. In your dreams you can hear the savage shouts of the orcs, you can feel the biting blade of the axe slamming into your chest. As the orc cuts you it screams, but instead of the orc you hear Ember's voice! Kitten is screaming loudly, and you awake with a start! Outside of your tent you can see shapes moving, and shouts occurring, and Ember sobbing in pain.
Ember (At 0 HP! Staggered but still conscious)
Hagin
Gael (Down 2 HP, and knocked prone.
Feraya (at 1 HP, prone)
Wolves (Only W1 has been touched)
Art (Awake, prone)
W1 vs Ember - Bite Attack vs AC 17
Bite Damage -
Free Trip vs Ember - Trip vs CMD 11
W2 vs Gael - Charge Bite Attack vs AC 17
Bite Damage -
Free Trip vs Gael - Trip vs CMD 16
W3 vs Feraya - Bite Attack vs AC 12
Bite Damage =
Free Trip vs Feraya - Trip vs CMD 11
Art's Chance to Wake - Perception DC 15
W1 -3
W2 0
W3 0
The realness of the wolves rocks Hagin on his feet even as they knock his allies off of theirs. The shine of the heavens returns to his eyes as he summons forth a bit of the power of the celestial realms that washes over the battlefield and heals friend and foe alike. Hagin grabs up his spear.
Chanel Energy
Kitten!
Art jolts up from his sleep, eyes furrowed with fury. When he sees the silhouettes of the beasts outside threading betwixt the bonfire, he crawls to the entrance of his tent while grabbing both Tremble and Ripple. What's going on!?
Gael roars in surprise and pain as she is knocked to the floor. She surges to her feet, drawing her greatsword in the same motion, and strikes out at the wolf attacking her.
Feraya swore if he died he would become a ghost and haunt Hagin, not to mention kill every wolf in the forest. He does not bother getting up and cast a spell of protection from the ground.
Concentration
Ember screams in pain and shock when the wolf bite her. Hagin's healing surge brings her back to her senses, and she wonders how she got on the ground.
The snarl of the wolf brings her back to her senses. "Its going to eat me!" she panics.
Ember painfully staggers to her feet.
"Have to do something, have to do something! Who that screaming? Oh, its me. Stop, stop screaming. Focus, focus on fire..."
Ember bites her lip, and tries to utter the words she knows. Pointing at the wold, she directs fire at it.
To hit:
Damage:
Ember, still in shock from the pain of the wolf attack, reacts much slower this time around. This however allows Hagin to quickly channel the powers of the divine, its energy washing over everyone in the camp. The wolf that had been harmed is healed, but so is everyone else. Ember slowly staggers to her feet, the wolf snaps at her but misses. Ember fires a bolt of arcane fire directly at the wolf, but the shock to her system from her near death experience is too much and the bolt goes wide.
Gael screams in rage and stands, drawing her sword in a single motion. The wolf however snaps at her as she stands catching her arm in its teeth. However, its joy at biting the paladin is short lived as she slams her sword into the wolf, cutting its head off and leaving it in a pool of blood.
The wolf threatening Ember bites into her again, tearing into her wounded leg again causing much more massive blood loss. She falls to the ground, bleeding out.
The other wolf however, simply grabs on Feraya's clothing and tries to drag him, but fails.
Art spends his time quickly standing and grabbing his weapons.
AoO vs Gael - Bite Attack vs AC 17
Damage -
AoO vs Ember - Bite Attack vs AC 17
Damage -
W1 vs Ember - Bite Attack vs AC 17
Bite Damage -
Free Trip vs Ember - vs CMD 11
Drag Attempt vs Feraya - Drag Maneuver vs CMD 11
W1 -1
W2 Dead
W3
Hagin
Ember (At -1, dying)
Gael (Down 4 HP)
Feraya (at 3 HP, prone and dragged)
Wolves (1 dead)
Art
When Ember falls for the second time, Hagin lunges at the wolf with his longspear. There is a continuous stream of soft words coming from his lips.
Longspear
to hit
damage
"EMBER! GET AWAY FROM HER, YOU MUTT!"
Blind with fury, Art rushes out of the tent with axe and sword in hand.
With all the rage he can muster, he buries his axe into the wolf!
"Ember! Wake up! Stop bleeding! EMBER!"
Ember falls into darkness after the wolf bite her again.
"it doesn't hurt so much now..." she thinks, drifting along the blackness.
A white mist forms before her, and a figure emerges from the mist. The woman's face is beautiful, but sneering and haughty.
"Mother...?" Ember softly asks.
"Worthless, worthless and weak!" No daughter of mine would be like this!" Her words burn Ember. If you become strong, maybe I will see you. But anyone so weak is not my daughter!"
With obvious disgust, whe woman turns and strides off into the mist, leaving Ember alone in the darkness.
Ember feels the harshness of the woman's words. "I'm not going to die here! I will find you!" she screams defiantly into the void. "I won't die..."
Gael ignores her minor wound and flicks wolf blood from her blade. Looking round she sees both Ember and Feraya in trouble. "Art, Hagin, help Ember! I'll help Feraya," she calls. Gael's eyes almost seem to glow with holy wrath in the firelight as she charges the unfortunate wolf that is trying to drag Feraya away.
AoO
Feraya took his chance but was not done yet. He recast his first spell sending another magical dart into the wolf attacking him point blank range. Seemed the fates were unkind as he stumbled over a word and lost the spell due to the wolf's attempted dragging.
Concentration
Magic Missile
As the wolf mauls Ember, Hagin continues to speak in an odd tongue. He mutters to himself and then stabs his long spear forward into the wolf that is worrying the prone figure of Ember. His spear strikes true, slamming into one of the wolves eyes and piercing its brain. As the oracle removes the spear the body falls to the ground twitching, lifeless.
During this time, Ember manages to stop bleeding, while Feraya tries to cast a spell without making the already angry wolf madder. The spell fails however as Feraya can't keep his concentration together with an angry wolf tugging on his robes. He is saved this problem however when Gael comes flying out from the fires to land on the north side of the wolf with a shout , and slams her great sword into the wolfs back, cleaving it in two.
Finally, Art comes running out of the tent with a yell, shouting "Ember! Wake up! Stop bleeding! EMBER!". He sees that all the wolves are dead, but instead of slowing his run he drops his axe and slides on his knees to Ember's side. He begins to quickly patch the wounds as best he can, and manages to finish stopping the bleeding.
Hagin kneals next to Art and Ember and, still speaking in the language of angels, says a prayer over Ember.
Cure Light Wounds
Only after he is sure that the wolves are dead does he channel energy.
Anyone still need healing?
Gael thanks Hagin as the healing energies wash over her. Then she sets to work cleaning up the campsite. She piles the wolf corpses to one side of the clearing, and carefully checks her weapon and armor for damage.
"Well. We were lucky."
Once everything seems to be taken care of Feraya makes for Hagin.
"Would you mind explaining to me what you were doing when the wolves first appeared?"
His voice is even and face plain but there is no mistaking the undertone of his words.
Hagin looks confused for a moment then turns to fully face Feraya. "Eating. Like you were. Why?" He tries to match Feraya's even face and undertone.
Ember wakes with a start, and a yell. "...Liiive!..."
She blinks a bit and looks up at Art. "Art? Did we win? Am I really worthless and weak like Mother said?"
Feraya kept his tone conversational and his face plain. Anger was not something he showed, that gave ideas best not acted upon.
"Oh really because I saw everyone else around the fire react to the wolves that wanted to eat us. While you sat with your dinner as if nothing was happening. If that is not what happened then by all means correct me. I am under the impression that your a fool or slow in the head. So please make it clear for me which one it is."
He did not know if Hagin was trying to avoid responsibility or thought he had done nothing wrong, both in his eyes were very dangerous paths.
When Ember wakes up, Art lets out a heaved sigh of relief as he hugs the girl as tightly as he can. "You're alright, Kitten... thank the gods..."
He checks her wounds and makes sure they're not bleeding, and that she is alright, looking up at Gael checking her armour, and Feraya seemingly confronting Hagin. He gazes down at Ember, taking a deep breath. "Why didn't you wake me?"
His voice is trembling.
To Feraya, "Well, eating stew was at least as effective as my damfool waving fire about. I should've attacked immediately, that would have meant one less wolf snapping at you and Ember. Don't forget that both I and Ember owe our lives to Hagin's quick healing. Once he finished his important meal, of course."
"I didn't think they were so fast... I had just tried a protection spell, and then it was on me..." Ember replies to Art, her eyes begining to fill. "It was happening so fast... I wanted to get you, but the wolf... it gave me no time. I'm sorry. I should have been faster, I should have known better, I'm sorry I didn't wake you in time..."
Tears fill her eyes.
"I didn't want (sob) to be a burden. I really (sob) wanted to help."
"Mother was right," Ember thinks. "Right now I am worthless and weak."
Hagin smiles an empty smile before speaking very loud. "IT SEEMS I OWE EVERYONE HERE AN APOLOGY FOR NOT HAVING FERAYA'S ELVEN QUICKNESS NOR GAEL'S MARTIAL TRAINING." He then says very pointedly at Feraya, "WHILE THEY WERE BATTLING WOLVES ALL I DID WAS KILL ONE WOLF, KEEP EMBER FROM DYING, AND THEN HEAL EVERYONE UP ONCE THE BATTLE WAS DONE. I AM ASHAMED OF WHAT I HAVE DONE AND I HOPE YOU CAN ALL FIND IT IN YOUR HEARTS TO FORGIVE ME." Hagin stands waiting for Feraya's next words.
Feraya gives Hagin a cold look, he was avoiding the issue like a child. He address Geal first.
"Gael I am not concerned with the lack of effect, you tried something and it failed, no more so then my own spell. I am concerned with the lack of action and speed had nothing to do with it. It seemed to me that Hagin purposely choose not to act when he had no reason not to. I would like to know the reason if any. If their is no reason and it was on a whim then he is a danger to everyone here and I for one do not care if he killed an army and healed a village. Someone like that is a child best left back in town, in one day we have had nearly two deaths. That is unacceptable. Art's incident was beyond our control and ability as we can do very little against matters of the mind. Ember's incident was with in our ability to avoid, yet we nearly lost her and I do not make light of that. It only takes one thing in battle to cost someone their life, we are not children anymore and this is no game. It seems to me that not everyone realizes this."
He makes it a point to look at Hagin, remembering well his earlier words. In his mind glory and destiny be damned as history showed that sort of thing was always paid in blood and more. Their own town was a fine example of that legacy, the very tomb they were set to visit a monument to it.
Art places a finger on Ember's lips, staring at the argument unfolding between Feraya and Hagin. "Sssh Kitten, it's not your fault. We're alive. We're okay. You're not useless." He wipes the tears away with rough hands, feeling his chest ache. Kitten...
He lays her down gently so he can stand, his hands clenched. He doesn't speak; he is merely listening, and growing more upset, the further the... conversation goes on.