After that is finished, he looks over each member of the group for wounds, and offers healing to those in need.
Durant backs away from the unconcious gnoll his ice rimed hand held to the still bleeding axe wound in his shoulder.
"I survive but that axe has left it's mark. Perhaps some clean water and bandages."
Dm.
Dm.
"Thank you for keeping that one off me," Gil says to Durant. "Let me help you with those wounds."
An illusion of a perfectly-healed shoulder appears over the wound - an illusion which quickly becomes real.
"Thank you for keeping that one off me," Gil says to Durant. "Let me help you with those wounds."
1d8+1
An illusion of a perfectly-healed shoulder appears over the wound - an illusion which quickly becomes real.
"I thank you Mr. Fezziwig. You are a living lesson in the power of illusion in this ephermeal world."
DM: That kind of slip up you can make anyday. I am sure the uncharged Gilfoy agrees. :7)
Garavel nods in approval as Llathander beheads the gnolls. "Very well, if you are finished checking the rest of the oasis, we should head north for an hour or two before setting camp. Gnolls this far from the mountains are not a good sign."
Garavel nods in approval as Llathander beheads the gnolls. "Very well, if you are finished checking the rest of the oasis, we should head north for an hour or two before setting camp. Gnolls this far from the mountains are not a good sign."
Abbas climbs back on the camel and follows Garavel to the new campsite. "Make sure that I fill you water skins in the morning, since we will not be filling them up here."
-- Abbas Garshta
Now that his shoulder fels better Durant will check the rest of the Oasis. Taking this oppertunity to enjoy the sunset and the cool fragrent air. He is saddened by the pointless butchery behind him, he had hoped for better things.
"Clouds come from time to time -
and bring to men a chance to rest
from looking at the moon."
~Basho
Garavel nods at Abbas as you set north - the next two hours cast a chill that runs through your bones; it isn't colder, yet the battle has taken its toll. You reach another oasis, this one untouched, and you all go through the routine of setting up the pavilion.
Garavel nods at Abbas as you set north - the next two hours cast a chill that runs through your bones; it isn't colder, yet the battle has taken its toll. You reach another oasis, this one untouched, and you all go through the routine of setting up the pavilion.
Searching the remnants of the cart and the dead horses, you find seventy pieces of silver in one of the saddlebags. By the fire you find a half-scorched note that looks like a contract - or the middle of it. No names are mentioned, burnt away. On the torso next to the bonfire you find a journal. Several of the pages are missing.
** spoiler omitted **
Durant returns from checking the oasis. His skin and clothing soaked. He stops well away from the battle sight and strips to his unmentionables.
No longer concerned about ruining his clothes he proceeds to gather the severed heads and place them in the fire along with all the firewood the gnolls have collected. He then strips the bodies and places them in the fire as well. The remains of the captives will also be carefully burned.
He will keep the silver, the journal and contract fragment. They will be important to someone. If any articles of the captives clothing, even rags or shoes, survive it will be gathered, washed and placed along with the journal, the contract note and the silver into one of the dead camels saddlebags. The bag would of course be washed first if it is still salvageable.
This dark work done. Durant walks again into the oasis and washes his body free of gore. He dresses and returns to the caravan.
"Master Garavel there was little to indicate who these poor people were. I have preserved what I can. There is some silver, fragments of a journal and what appears to be part of a contract. Perhaps tonight we could go over them. A man of business might see enough in this fragment to identify a place to start. Perhaps efforts could be made in the nearby cities and villages to find those close to these victims."
At camp that night, Gil asks, "Master Garavel, you mentioned that finding gnolls this far from the mountains was bad news. What sort of things could drive them, or lure them, out? Could they be seeking the answers of this town as we do?"
As Durant presents the remnants of the deceased, he asks to see them and sifts through them rather hurriedly. He glances up at the young man. "A noble goal, though not in our best interest. When our expedition is finished and Kelmarane has been liberated, then you may do as you please, but for now I ask that you keep to our mission."
There is a cool in his voice. When Gilfroy speaks up, Garavel runs a finger through his black goatee. "They could have been raiders. Or exiles. What is worrysome is that caravans and traders and travellers are easily ambushed and killed. I couldn't tell how long the bodies have been dead for, however. Something is not right."
The man sighs. He seems weary for the day. "We will hold watches tonight. I will take the first watch. Llathander, you will take second watch, and Bahram will take the dawn watch."
Grimacing at the dirty work, Badi will help out as best he can to set up camp for the night. If he wasn;t to take watch, then the least he could do was help out when he was still awake.
"Master Garavel, it is good to allow Badi to sleep, as wizards need all the rest they can get, but the rest of us can share watches. Gilfroy and Bahram can take the first watch, Llathander with his good vision the second watch, with Durant and I taking the dawn watch. If you wish, you could join either the first or dawn watch.
The man sighs. He seems weary for the day. "We will hold watches tonight. I will take the first watch. Llathander, you will take second watch, and Bahram will take the dawn watch."
As Durant presents the remnants of the deceased, he asks to see them and sifts through them rather hurriedly. He glances up at the young man. "A noble goal, though not in our best interest. When our expedition is finished and Kelmarane has been liberated, then you may do as you please, but for now I ask that you keep to our mission."
To Garavel. "Your dedication is to be commended." Durant reverently returns the artifacts to the saddle bag. He will study the journal and contract fragment tonight to see what if anything can be gleaned from them.
Stuff
Stuff
A worried look is given to Bahram as he gleefully assist in the grave duty of beheading. He looks back at the lifeless bodies and says I am sorry your light has been extinguished but it was so other light may shine.
To garavel he states I will do as commanded.
Just before leaving the battle oasis.
"The gnoll's axes and leathers are salvageable. Can anyone turn them to good purpose? Perhaps in the main expedition?"
If there are no takers and Garavel does not claim them. Durant will toss the armor on the fire and leave the axes near the best/usual campsite for others to find. The weather will render them less than effective fighting axes but they should remain effective wood axes for some time.
He will retain the best of the 3 suits if no one claims them. He plans to cut the leather into strips as 2 to 5 foot lengths of leather are always useful.
Bahram makes sure to have coup de graced every single one of those creatures and then help set up camp, remaining silent and somewhat seems ashamed of his bow.
"Master Garavel, it is good to allow Badi to sleep, as wizards need all the rest they can get, but the rest of us can share watches. Gilfroy and Bahram can take the first watch, Llathander with his good vision the second watch, with Durant and I taking the dawn watch. If you wish, you could join either the first or dawn watch.
The man sighs. He seems weary for the day. "We will hold watches tonight. I will take the first watch. Llathander, you will take second watch, and Bahram will take the dawn watch."
The night goes by without any incident; Garavel permits Abbas' suggestion for watch order. When morning comes everyone is a little weary compared to the other night. After Priest Abbas' hour of prayer, the breakfast, and the dismantling of the pavilion, Garavel pushes on north - almost a bit forcefully, as the pace is faster than the previous days.
As the sun begins its descent down into the horizon, you finally seem to have found an end of the desert - some thousand feet ahead the bronze sea crashes into scrubland. "At last - the expedition is a couple of hours into the scrublands, so we will set camp soon and arrive tomorrow."
Upon waking the next morning, Gilfroy is getting himself ready when the rest of the group hears him shout out, almost a squeal of delight. He's holding his mirror as he comes up to the closest PC and exclaims, "Look! Look at it! What colour is that?" he seems to be showing you a single blue hair amongst his head of white.
He barely waits for you to start responding before continuing in his excited chatter. "Blue! Exactly, blue! Not white. Don't you get it? There's hope. Hope, I say. I've got to find myself more of those battles. Garavel, any chance of finding more gnolls today?"
Gil is quite disappointed when you start setting up camp that evening without having encountered any gnolls.
Despite Llathander's highly trained sword arm and honed instincts it brings a smile to his face when he doesn't have to shed blood this day.
When Gil comes to him and shows him the blue hair heresponds, Yeah, I see it. Do you want me to pluck it for you?
"Pluck it out?", Gil asks, making it sound like the paladin just offered to murder babies. "Not unless you want to die the death of a thousand... well, deaths!"
After another couple of hours, the sand has vanished from under your feet. The sea of dull colours is still less monotonous than the bronze sea, with variation of what can be seen - and once you arrive by what appears to be a small lake, Garavel stops the caravan. The camels immediately set off to drink water, and it's wordlessly that you all resume routine and construct camp.
As the evening meal commences, Garavel glances at all of you. "You fought well yesterday. We will reach the expedition tomorrow - Princess Almah will be pleased to know you are worthy of battle. Remember, once we arrive, she is your employer. She will give the orders."
He looks at you, almost with expectations, though he resumes to eat shortly after.
Once the camp is set Durant will find some shade and set about reading through the journal. Even if it is in a language he does not understand he will carefully look through every page so that he at the very least have a chance to recognize the hand or the language if he runs across it again.
While doing this he will start to rip open the seams of the leather armor before cutting it into useful strips.
"Pluck it out?", Gil asks, making it sound like the paladin just offered to murder babies. "Not unless you want to die the death of a thousand... well, deaths!"
"Ah, Gilfroy. There is hope yet for you. And as far as gnolls are concerned, we will be redeeming many of them in Sarenrae's eyes I suspect, before we are done" Abbas tells his friend, as he looks with interest at the blue hair.
As the evening meal commences, Garavel glances at all of you. "You fought well yesterday. We will reach the expedition tomorrow - Princess Almah will be pleased to know you are worthy of battle. Remember, once we arrive, she is your employer. She will give the orders."
"Yes, Garavel. We understand. What kind of woman is Princess Almah?" asks Abbas.
-- Abbas Garshta
"She is tough and determined, and will have expectations." Garavel looks up from his meal to glance at the Priest. "Yet she will treat you as hirelings and equals, not as slaves."
The night goes by rather quietly tonight - you are all exhausted from the increased pace, and the rough ground of the scrublands does little good for your backs when you attempt to sleep.
When morning does come, Garavel is already awake and breaking his fast outside of the tent - as routine sets in motion, Priest Abbas prays as he does every morn while the pavilion is dismantled. Shortly after, you head on north once more.
After four hours of travel, you come to a hill, where on the very top a great, bare grey tree stretches up to the very skies. Five leafless branches spread upwards, almost like talons. The bark is withered and gnarly. "The Sultan's Claw," Garavel announced. "We will be there shortly."
You see a whiff of smoke between the great branches of the Sultan's Claw - black smoke. Something appears to be aflame in the distance.
Perception:
"Is the Sultan's Claw supposed to be on fire?" Gil asks, peering into the distance.
"The Sultan's Claw," Garavel announced. "We will be there shortly."
** spoiler omitted **
"Master Fezziwig is corect. There is smoke rising from behind the claw. For it to show in this light there must be a good deal of it. I suggest haste Master Garavel."
Garavel glances at Gilfroy with a bit of doubt, and is about to question him when Durant confirms. "We must!" he bellows as he spurs his camel on, rushing up the hill.
In less than a minute you make it to the top: it is a large plaza, with the tree in the middle. Half a dozen wagons are all scattered around the great monument, and next to the tree is a large tent. About a dozen men and women are rushing around on the site, with pails of water in their hands - and there is shouting and screaming; a wagon is on fire.
Red flames carpet the wagon, whose painted features are difficult to discern through the flames - it appears to be a sun and moon. As your camels approach closer, a gust of wind blows past the wagon - through it - and cards, all lit on fire, come flying in your direction. A singed card lands on Gilfroy's chest, in a burst of orange cinders. Momentarily afterwards, the wagon's flames grow stronger, roaring up into the sky.
The flap of the tent bursts open, and a dark-skinned lady steps out, dressed in white silk robes. "Douse the flame!" she barks at the men and women rushing around the campsite - this is definitely Princess Almah - and she throws a glance in your direction. "Ah, Garavel. And just a moment later than the nick of time, as usual!"
Garavel has no response as he jumps off of his camel and rushes to aid the men in the dousing. The Princess turns to you. "Find some way to help!"
She rushes to help Garavel and the others.
There is a huge barrel of water by the great tree - several pails of water have been filled and placed by it. Six people, Almah and Garavel included, are carrying these pails to the burning wagon attempting to douse the flame. The barrel itself would be able to douse the flames in one go - yet it is full of water, and heavy...
A couple of feet away from the burning wagon are another lot of people, desperately trying to push away another wagon from the flames; they seem to be struggling immensely. Strong arms would certainly help...
Nearby the burning wagon, a red-headed halfling is kneeling over two heavily burnt people. While the halfling is busy tending to one of the victims, the other one seems to slip into the cold embrace of death...
A middle-aged couple attempts to wrangle the expedition's animals back into their pens - there are quite a few of them, and the fire has caused a great panic betwixt them...
"Brothers, the water barrel!" Durant leaps off the camel and sprints towards the water supply.
Llathander will rush to the Barrell and position himself to lift as he rushes by some others standin around he takes up an air of authority rarely seen in him and says you men there pull the wagon away so that it doesn't catch anything else on fire. And do it quickly
Diplomacy
Gil leaps down from his camel and rushes towards the burnt men. He casts a healing spell and practically dives onto the untended one, desperate to get the magic there as quickly as possible.
He'll slap a healing spell on the other guy too, to at least stabilize him, then leaps up to start throwing create water spells over the burning wagon.
"Yes, something is seriously aflame" Abbas notices.
Running to the red-headed halfling, Abbas casts a healing burst as soon as he is within 30 feet of the group.
"Sarenrae's blessings be upon you all" Abbas prays hold his hands up to the sky.
After the burst he quickly runs to the downed one that was not being tended and ascertains whether the person is alive or not.
-- Abbas Garshta
Your attempt to salvage the leather armour failed rather horribly - you figure it must be the stench and the poor quality of the armour that made it irrecoverable.
As Llathander and Durant rush over to the barrel, Llathander's commands leaves the others curiously confused. Princess Almah glares at you, but turns to her guard and gestures to the other wagon. "You heard him, get the other wagon out of the way!"
Garavel surrounds the water barrel with you, with a bit of anger in his eyes. "That might not have been a wise move, Llathander."
As Gilfroy rushes over to the woman who is unattended, his healing magic flows through her and she opens her eyes with half a scream. The halfling turns to you abruptly, with an expression of horror. "Who in the blazes...Kallien!"
"F...Father Zastoran, what...it aches..." In view of you now, the woman is horribly burnt. The halfling puts a finger to his mouth, and hushes her.
"It's alright girl, we have a saviour." As Abbas runs up behind them and channels the wave of healing, the severity of the wounds is lessened and the man Father Zastoran is tending to wakes up as well - very much confused.
"You saved them," the halfling says gratefully. "I know not who you are, but the Dawnflower has blessed us all with your arrival."
To garavel, My apologizes but it needs to be done. I will attempt to make amends later
"All in a day's work in the life of a gnome that isn't dying!" he shouts over his shoulder as he makes a beeline for the burning wagon. He takes a leap over a very short cactus, turning it into a diving roll, (Acrobatics , spits out the mouthful of sand he got, and intones a create water spell over the flames. His hair is spread crazily in the wind, and his eyes are even wilder with excitement.
"You saved them," the halfling says gratefully. "I know not who you are, but the Dawnflower has blessed us all with your arrival."
Noting that the two downed people are at least awake, Abbas says to the halfling "we will return in moments. Still have a fire to put out" and he runs over to Gilfroy. "Good idea my friend" as he also calls to Sarenrae for water to douse the fire.
-- Abbas Garshta
Straining Durant, Garavel, Llathander, (and Barham? Could you give us a hand brother?) try to lift the water barrel.
with llathander, durant and garavel that is at least an 18. Would that be enough to lift the water barrell or can we try again?
Bahram decides to help his brothers, seeing nothing else to do at the moment and heavs with all his strength, putting his back into it and just managing to lift it.
strength check:
As Abbas and Gilfroy begin dousing the flames with their spells, Bahram hurries over to the barrel and almost single-handedly manages to lift it - Garavel is taken aback by the surge of strength and steps away. With Durant and Llathander's assistance, you all manage to bring the barrel over to the burning wagon, and douse the entirety of the flames.
Almah looks relieved. The men trying to drag the other wagon away end their efforts when the threat of the flames is no longer, yet the animals are still panicking around the camp. A goat almost runs over Gilfroy; two pigs crash into Bahram and Llathander, causing the almost-empty barrel of water to crash to the ground - Durant manages to leap away. "For the love of... Hadrod! Hadrah! Garavel, help them get the animals under control!"
She glances at you. "Well, don't just stand there! If you have a way to aid them, get to it!"