Sorry its taken me so long to post. i completely forgot. I am glad to see I am not disappointed by the level of hilarity so far. I mean a panther around the neck? Someone else needs a rock dropped on them.
Alton shakes his head slightly stepping out of an early morning daze. His crossbow is loaded, his small mace hangs from his waist, and his dagger is hidden deep within his leather boot. He listens to his fellow raiders and ponders the situation. “Cants you speaks in your heads to the cat? wouldn’ts it be better to have our cats friend watch the outsides of the castle. I means it seems better then climbing up a rope with a cat with teeth and claws sitting on you. But ize got no trouble going up first. With that the little halfling slings the crossbow over his shoulder and pulls out his dagger. He clenches it firmly in his teeth and then begins his climb.
(Rob I’m just going to take a 20 on the roll because really…its not like i am not going to stop trying until i fail. If you want me to roll when i get to the top or something to make sure i don’t fall I will. Also I want to peek up and over the top before i pull myself all the way up.)
Nathan looks around at the group, focusing for a second on the 80 pound panther and the little halfling. “I can easily get to this rope so we just have to focus on getting all of you up into shipping area. What are we going to do with the panther? Perhaps I can carry it? Kalika, can you talk with Nailo and tell it not to use claws on my shoulders?” With the plan haphazardly laid out Nathan folds his hands together offering a step to his companions. Assuming the group agrees, Alton will go first in case there are people up there… Then we’ll send Kalika, Gabe and then Nathan will try and jump up with the panther clawing into its back… Nathan has a natural jumping ability (Skill lvl 7 Jump. With a d20 roll Nathan jumps (13 +his 7 skill level)) and uses it to get up onto the rope and then proceed to climb into the shipping area of the keep with the panther wrapped around his neck…
a chunk of stone wall suddenly breaks away from the castle above and falls squarely atop kalika, crushing her frail body into the rocky beach stones with a small spray of blood to mark her passing on her companions faces. fortunatly for her, the world has conspired to fulfil her deepest druidic wish. That there be balance in the world. this wish is fulfilled when nailo pads quietly over to her corpse and begins to dine on the crushed flesh, thus the circle of life continues.
Hows THAT for stepping it up? just kidding, kalika doesnt die… yet
My post on the 2nd of December states that the vines “hang convieniently down from the archway above”
the rope dangles about 10’ above the beach, but if you could climb the rocky wall of the island then you might be able to reach it more easily from there.
how close is the bottom of the rope to any other surrounding surface? Also, the vines in the front were just vines..where did the lead? Was there windows? did the vines go all the way up? some more detail please. Laurie says she can tell your half assing your posts. She wants you to pick it up!!
The ruined fort looms above you as you replace your footwear and begin to encircle the island. About halfway around the island, in the full light of the moon, you notice a small structure jutting out into the air from the castle. a small opening can be seen in the floor of the structure directly over your head and a rope hangs down with the end dangling at about 10’ above the ground. you quickly surmise that this small room was used to bring supplies directly into the fort from a ship without having to unload them onto wagons on land, instead hoisting the supplies from the ship, straight into the castle.
your choices are now weather you want to try and reach the rope or continue around the island back to the drawbridge and attempt to climb the vines that lead to the front of the structure.
As she laces her boots back up, Kalika examines the castle in front of them. Nathan begins to walk around -looking for an entrance, Kalika assumes. She grabs her scimitar and clutches her bag of bullets as she follows him around the building, hoping they aren’t walking into an ambush…
Nathan, afraid to make a sound, looks towards the other companions and motions to the left. “Its best to check around for a guard or something at the base of the tower and at least look for an entrance” he thinks to himself. He waits for his companions to acknowledge or make a motion of their own as he pulls his swords from their sheaths. He grips their handles in his sweaty palms and feels their cold hard metal against his skin… His nerves tingle in excitement and he grips harder in anticipation for that first piece of treasure or the face of the first person his blades meet… He then proceeds to the his left around the castle on the beach, listening for any signs of movement or of any person or being nearby. While going around the island he tries to keep his eyes peels for any signs of an entrance or doorway into the castle as well…
The night is winding down as the red glow grows steadily wider along the horizon. the castle looms above you as you scramble down the rocky cliff face and move towards the shallow water between the mainland and the island. as you look up at the keep, you notice a slight glow originating within one of the arrow slits of the tallest tower. you see nothing else, but that small glow assures you that there is something within the castle. hopefully the hostages remain within as well. the warm waters of the bay reach to your thighs as you wade across to the island and soon you find yourself at the base of the castle under what is left of the stone bridge. The vines still hang down conveniently from the archway above and the beach is narrow but walkable in both direction encircling the castle. your choice now lies in what to do next. (your spot checks let you see the light so now you are sure that someone is still here and they have not fled by boat yet.)
Kalika’s meditation comes to an end as she senses the approaching dawn. She gets up, stretches and walks around the clearing. As the others begin to wake and gather their belongings, she checks her bag to make sure she still has everything. She counts her bullets, checks her sling, confirms the dagger is still secured to her thigh, and then eats a couple bites of bread and cheese. Once the others are ready to head toward the island, she grabs her bag and, sheathing her scimitar, follows Nathan along the coast. She points out to the others the waters that appear to be shallow enough to wade across, using her keen low-light vision to identify the area again. She unlaces her boots and places them in her bag to cross to the island barefoot. Before stepping into the foamy water, she scans the coastline of the island: spot check ( +6= ). Assuming the coast is clear (haha) she begins to cross the waters, being careful not to slip on the rocks.
Nathan gathers his things as he readies himself to embark towards the castle. He waits for the others near the front of the covered wagon and says a few things to Jack, his donkey. With a few light snaps of his fingers and a nod of his head he singles the rest of the group to move towards the castle. As he makes his way out of the woods, he pauses and surveys the scene, checking for any movement or watching eyes. (spot check =3+ regular bonuses. I dont have char sheet in front of me so youll have to look back at what my bonus usually is). He pauses a minute to make sure he hasnt missed anything and then begins his walk over towards the area Kalika pointed out as the shallow area to cross over to the ruins, all the while staying hunched over and keeping his eyes and ears peeled for any sounds of movement. Assuming he sees/hears nothing he makes his way straight towards the crossing area and then waits for the others. Once the group is all together at the crossing area, he again makes eye contact with each member assuring himself silently that they are ready to proceed. He does another scan of the ruins and water crossing in front of him (spot check= 16 + bonuses) He then removes him boots and rolls up his pant legs to assure that his clothes stay dry. He slowly creeps into the luke warm water of the bay, that makes its way under the former bridge and passes over to the island where the entrance of the ruins most likely can be found. Assuming everything goes as planned, Nathan plans to search for the entrance and get into the ruins before dawn breaks…
the large red moon is low in the sky by the time kalika gets back and everyone is ready to go. the forest is very dark now, despite the small reddening of the horizon from teh comming sunrise. you surmise that it will be dawn in an hour. listening for possible enemies, you creep towards the castle. soon you find yourself in the scrub alongside the covered up wagon looking towards the broken drawbridge. you are about to move into the open when you think you hear a sound comming from the castle.
(morning actions and id like to know where everybody is.)
Nathan stirs under his blanket as the dawn nears. He peaks out from his slumber and sees Kalika meditating near by. Shocked that the evening passed quietly he pushes himself up off the ground and rubs the kink in his neck. “Sleeping against a wagon wheel was a bad idea” he says under his breath. He looks around to make sure that nothing other than the usual is around. He quickly begins packing his stuff and looks around for Alton.
“We should be on our way if we are to cross to the ruins before the sun rises!” He throws his backpack over this shoulder along with his weapons which hang from his belt. He pats Jack a few times before heading out towards the ruins under the cover of the night just before dawn…
“Well be back…keep quiet..and keep safe.” He motions towards Alton and Kalika in an effort to get the party underway.
After receiving consent from the group that she should be the one to go, Kalika silently left the group and began to creep along the edge of the cliff. Except for the faint glow of the moons above, dimmed by the cloud cover and the trees, she is traveling in darkness. Every so often she hears a cry off in the distance, or a rustling in the trees, but nothing that she detects to be a threat and she continues moving along the coast toward the island. As she approaches the coast closest to the castle, she stops to listen and watch closely for any signs that the island is occupied. She looks up at the castle and feels chills, suddenly very thankful that her steps aren’t traceable and that they decided to wait until daybreak to approach the island. The castle, clearly in ruins and falling into decay, is still an imposing structure and Kalika wonders at how majestic it must have looked in its full glory. She can also sense a lot of negative energy radiating from that castle and the island itself. “Some terrible things must have happened here in the past,” she thinks, and its easy to tell how the legend of the haunted castle on the island and the wicked witch came to be.
Returning her thoughts to the task at hand, she looks around the coastline for the best place to cross to the island. There is a stretch of water where she can clearly see the ground below and she figures this must be shallow enough to wade across. From her height on the cliff, she’s unable to see if there’s other shallow places to cross that might be better, as the one she sees would lead them directly to the front of the castle. Looking again at the castle, she notices that the drawbridge has been destroyed. She made a mental note to make sure the group finds a way to cross the moat, or brings along a plank that they can walk across. Closer examination of the vines and shurbbery overgrowth that surround the castle reveals the cart that the kidnappers used, crudely hidden under a pile of saplings and various vegetation.
Now certain that they’re on the right track to find the kidnappers and the stolen servants, Kalika returns to camp to share her findings with the group. She creeps back along the coastline, again keeping an eye out for anyone who might present a threat, or anyone who might be keeping watch for those on the island. When she returns to camp, she answers the questions of her awake companions and then sits against a tree to mediate for a couple of hours.
Night falls quickly around you and a quick cold dinner sits in your belly. you think about how a fire would be so nice as the clouds begin to roll in from the east. Hopefully the rain will hold off for the night. The moons are still slightly visible through the haze of the cloud cover but the night is dark and perfect for scouting around the area.
(i’ll send private messages to the scouter to talk about what is seen.)
“Okies Elf ladies, you goes.” Alton sits down on the side of the wagon and sharpens his weapons while watching the half-elf and the young boy fall asleep.
gabe spend a few minutes looking around the immediate area of the cliff and clearing. he is confidant after leading the party so close to the ruins instead of finding the shoreline and then following it to the castle. he seems content to let the party choose how best to scout out the ruins, being a scout and not an experienced fighter.
Nathan doesn’t stir under his blanket and seems to be in a some state of sleep already. Apparently last nights activities and long day of travel have taken their toll, leaving Kalika and Alton to sort it out themselves…
“Not so fast,” Kalika says. “I agree that we should have a look around, and definately we need to scout out the shoreline to find the best way to the island… But, Alton, do you think you’re the best person for the job? I mean, I’m sure you’re highly skilled at navigating sewers and hiding in dark alleys, but these are unfamiliar woodlands – and doesn’t it come back to the same points: you can’t see in the dark. Now while you’re always keen and willing to offer yourself to go off on your own, I think maybe I should go. Being an elf, and a druid, I leave no trail and my steps cannot be tracked, I can easily move through thorny and overgrown areas, and I can see in the dark. All I’ll need once I return is about 4 hours to meditate and work on some new spells and I’ll be good to go in the morning. You all can get some rest, take turns on watch, and I can be back soon. What do you guys think?”
“Nots being able to see in the dark works twos ways me thinks. Crossing the waters during the night may be difficult, but remaining unnoticed fors as long as possible is a lot more importants. Perhaps wes should send someone up the tree lines to search fors a ways over that doesn’ts require swimming? I means Is could do it and be back in a jiffs. No one would would know I’m gones or I am hears.”
Seeing that Kalika makes some good points, Nathan nods in agreement. “Perhaps we can try to sneak in before dawn? Besides, I think we would be more prepared if we were all well rested.”
Nathan continues his work to covering the wagon with branches after finding an area out of sight from the path to stash the wagon, all the meanwhile deeply hoping that no one or thing finds their stash and his faithful donkey Jack. Nathan decides to leave the feed for Jack open in the back of the wagon along with his canvas and bedroll (dont expect to do alot of sleeping inside the ruins). He mulls over a few other things as he places them into his backpack and places a long length of rope into the wagon along side the feed. He then holds up a nice shiny bottle of wine and admires it.
“Well have to save this for the celebration!” he says after he stuffs it under the rope next to the feed.
“That should be enough to lighten the load” Nathan mutters to himself as he places his backpack on his back. He then pulls out his swords and spins them around in his hands. He feels their weight, their balance. He spins and thrusts them in unison, feeling the weight of the pack. “hmm seems to feel ok”. He pulls out a blanket and sits down aside the wagon, leaning his back against the wheel.
“I am going to get some shuteye for a little bit. When you all are ready and rested we can be on our way” With that Nathan shuts his eyes and breaths a long sigh as his body relaxes and slumps against the wheel.
As the last rays of sunlight slowly disappear behind the horizon, the group comes to a stop. Kalika hears Gabe celebrating his success as a guide and smiles slightly to herself. She hops off the back of the wagon before Nathan guides Jack into the brush and looks out over the edge of the cliff. The castle has clearly been destroyed by time and neglect, but it is still an imposing structure. Her keen eyes search through the darkness looking for any signs of life or movement on the island. Then her attention turns back to the group and the rocky clearing they were standing around. Her elven eyes, aptly tuned for seeing in the dark, search the surrounding forest and look down over the edge of the cliff (Spot Check: Roll 17 + 6 = 23). Then she focuses her mind and does the Detect Magic Spell to detect any magical auras that might be present and if the creator of them is still nearby.
“I really don’t think we should start off toward the island tonight,” she said to the group. “Half our party can’t see in the dark and the waves and rocks look rough. Also, we’ve been traveling all day. We should maybe explore around this area a little bit for signs that anyone has been by here recently and then rest for a couple of hours. We can start at daybreak toward the island. What do you guys think?”
Nathan eyes to end of the road as it approaches and quickly turns Jack and the wagon into the forest hoping to avoid watching eyes. He jumps down from the wagon and ties Jack up to the nearest tree once they are deep enough into the brush that most sentries will not hear or see Jack. “Sorry buddy, you can’t come with us.” “BuHHH!” snorts Jack. “I know you can swim! its the rocks and everything I am worried about. You stay here and guard the wagon.” Nathan pats Jack on the top of his head and then walks around to the back of the wagon. “well lets get ready for anything” Nathan sorts through his backpack and saddle bags and starts to get all the items he might need while away from the wagon.
“Talls trolls you say? In that case, we better setup a watchs as soons as possible. I don’ts want to be suprised by trolls or buy our quarry. Perhaps ones of us should watch the castle from the trees lines while the others watch the wagons?”
Nathan turns his attention back to the path towards the ruins of Eramathan. He gives Jack a quick whip of the reigns and Jack turns south at a brisk pace. As the wagon wheels turn and squeak under the weight of the load Nathan calmly navigates the path and tries to strike up conversation…
“You know my father used to sail the coast here down to Eramathan from our home to the North in Willow Bay. Some of the best fishing can be found in the Mercian Bay to our West. Beyond the bay to the South is the Wild Sea which he never ventured into because of the perils. Eramathan lies right on the southern point of Mercia though. He told me many a tale of the things he saw upon the shore from his fishing ship. Supposedly TROLLS live near this parts. My fathers ship was down here near the ruins and ran aground when coming too close to the shore. It was near here that he and his fellow crewmen were forced to fight for their lives and then, upon escaping from the trolls, he became lost within one of the great Mercian forests. He eventually collapsed from exhaustion and was taken in by a local group of elves. This is where he supposedly met my mother. Father is quite the story teller though and every time he tells the story the escape to freedom was longer from larger and larger trolls. At first it was a troll or two of 6 feet high. Years later I seem to remember overhearing the story again and him mentioning 15 trolls each measuring 8 feet in height. Haha! What a crazy guy my old man is.” With that Nathan waits for reactions from his traveling companions and hopes that they enjoyed his tale to pass the time.
Gabe marches on along the overgrown cart path. He seems to have forgotten Altons accusations as he is concentrating on maintaining his bearings and leading the party along the correct path.
Soon you can hear the crashing of waves and smell the salt on the air. The sensory inputs stir various memories from their hiding places in your distant past. Gabe pushes through a low growing shrub of some sort and lets out a little shout. “woo hoo! i told you i could find the stupid thing!”
You follow him out of the scrub forest and emerge on a rocky clearing at the edge of a cliff about 10 or 15 feet above a pebbled beach below. the beach can be reached but only by climbing down the steep incline among the eroded cliff face. You are just thinking of finding another way down to the beach when another sight derails your train of thought.
Barely visible around the curve of the coastline lies a small island a bit off the coast. the entire top of the island is occupied by the crumbling ruins of an abandoned castle. Its gray stone seems to have been hewn from the living rock or thrust up from the gods of the earth. Even in its ruined state, you can see that this fortification was once a mighty stronghold. a few of the castles spires rise stubbornly into the sky, slowly being humbled by time. the remains of a stone bridge and drawbridge system grow towards the coastline where a bit of the bridge can be seen clinging to a cliff much like the one you are on. waves lap idly around the bottom of the island, a strange offset to the imposing visage of the ancient structure.
Gabe breathes a sigh of relief and hurrys back to the front of the column to lead the way to the coastline. he doesnt say a word, probably out of embaressment. hopefully this mood will pass soon and the coastline will appear as well.
“Okies lets go, buts wes stop well before the ruins so that we can sneak up and have a looks first!” Alton hops back into the wagon and sits down pulling his hood over his head.
Gabe looks around with a worried look on his face.
“I told you I dont come here. The witch thing is just a story that sailors tell! I was only supposed to lead you to the place… which i’ve done. I never said i’ve been on the island. but i have seen it before. the island is about 40 yards from the shore anyway. we could swim to the thing if we need to!”
Gabe has a look on his face that says he is chastising himself on the inside about not speaking up about the details of the ruins before now.
“Tells me about this witch you speak of!” Alton is obviously angry and with each minute he seems to get a little bit more aggitated. “Also, you have never been here before? This is likes the blinds leading the blinds then isn’t it. Approaching a set of ruins inhabited by a witch of evils including her men and our prisoners, that none of us have ever beens to. This is a terribles plans. You tells me more about this witch and I’lls tell hows we gets in.”
Gabe stammers at the verbal assult from the fiercly armed halfling. despite being of equal size, gabe feels as though he is being looked down upon by the sternest of constables.
“I… I… I wasnt evesdropping for bad back in the city! I was just looking for work! I need the money real bad is all. The landlord is going to take the farm away from pop and I if I dont come up with some loot fast. That why i wanted you to stay at my house too. The landlord said he would be comming by tonight and i thought with you there he might be intimidated into giving us a little more time. I wasnt going to rob you if you were worried about that. My father always told me to keep your honor above all else… even you life.”
Gabe lifts his gaze from his feet, where he looked midway through his explanation.
“And the island thing just slipped my mind. It’s not like I spend my summers at these ruins you know. If the bandits use the ruins then there has to be a bridge or a boat or something that they use to get across. You guys are adventurers anyway right? I’m sure you can think of something!”
With that, Gabe looks to each of the three of you with a look in his eye that says ‘you believe me right?’ except of course for Nailo… who he takes a small step away from as she licks her wet black nose.
Nathan pulls back on the reigns at the sound of a disagreement. Jack slows his gait to a slow stroll and then stops in accordance to his masters direction. The cart rocks back and forth and Alton stands a few paces behind the stationary cart. Nathan looks from Alton to Gabe and waits to see what information comes from their discussion.
“An islands! No one mentioned it was an islands before. Not even yous!” Alton points his finger at the young boy. “You didn’t say it was an island, government didn’t say it was an island! Hows in the world are wes suppose to get across water to an Island! You let us bring a wagons when what we neededs was a boat! I’m not getting pay enoughs for this at alls. At Alls.” With that Alton hops to his feet and jumps off the wagon. “I’m nots moving forward until you tell me everything you knows human boy! You were eavesdropping in the city, now you just happens to remember its an island, and you keep pushing us to stays at yous house. You’ves need to tell us everything…everything!”
“Eramathan is what the sailors call these ruins. It used to be an island fort but it fell into ruin. My father told me that a witch used to like there with her dark minions… but he could never tell me where get got this information. i think its just a story to scare children.”
You suddenly have a thought. how are you going to get to this island?! hopefully there is some sort of boat or raft present to cross you to the island.
“Gabe, do you know the name of these such ruins? My father frequently traveled the sea in this area and I believe I know a tale or two of these lands. Perhaps they are the same ruins that my father told me about.”
The small cart path winds through the forests of the mercian inlands taking gradual curves into and out of numerous valleys and gulleys. the forests soon give way to the scrub plains you encountered the day before and as the sun begins its dip towards the horizon, you can smell the sea air as the southern coastline approaches.
Gabe stops chatting so idlely with you about your past adventures and begins to keep an eye on his surroundings more and more. “i’ve never been this far south… my dad always said it was dangerous down here. Anyway, we should be reaching your ruins by nightfall.”
You begin to wonder what sort of situation you have been getting yourself into, and if it may get worse very soon.
“You make a good point wise Kalika. They could be days away!” Lets try and get closer. If we come across the wagon train then surely we can dart off into the brush and sneak up for a closer look. Let us continue!”
With that Nathan snaps the reigns of Jack and the cart begins to roll at a walking pace down the southern road towards the ruins.
Kalika listens to Nathan intently, nodding as he speaks. “You bring up an interesting point,” she says “We were reluctant to have a wagon to start with for this very same reason, yet we ended up bringing it along because we knew we would need it to carry the captives back home. If we knew they were right around the corner we could leave the wagon and come back for it, but they could be several days ahead of us. So we can either have someone take the wagon and follow along behind, or we continue on all together as before.”
“Perhaps this mission requires a bit more stealth than strength. I say we leave the wagon and proceed on foot. How far is it to the ruins from here? A wagon, donkey, and small boy will give away are position. All of us are skilled travelers and it should be easy to sneak up on a wagon train full of people!” Nathan suggests as he sits waiting for the groups decision…
Alton sits down after taking the look around. He listens to Nathan’s suggestion and nods. “Okies, the other path we shall take. I think it best that wes be ready fors anything.” After speaking he cocks his crossbow and lays a bolt gently down. He then sets it down on the wagon next to him. He pulls out a dagger and set to work polishing and sharpening it with a whet stone in his backpack. He then quickly puts the sharpened blade in his boot, sheathing it in a specially made pocket within his boot.
Kalika walks along beside Nailo following the wagon, quietly reflecting on the night’s events and trying to regain some of the strength that performing all that magic took out of her. She’s drawn out of her silence when she’s addressed by Alton. Suppressing a giggle, she responds “No, I can’t speak cat. We have a strong mental connection and can communicate concepts and emotions, but we don’t use words.” They continued walking along for awhile with Kalika listening to the others talk and discuss which path to take. When they stop at the fork in the road, Nathan tells them what the tracks show. Kalika, glad for a good reason to avoid the city says, “I think we should take the country path. It makes sense that the kidnappers would avoid the city, so its unlikely that there would be any witnesses if we went there. And time is of the utmost importance. We need to get to them as quickly as possible, so I think we need to make a decision and get on the road. If we encounter more trouble again tonight, we’ll be better prepared. I’ll meditate on a couple more defensive spells, as well.” With that, she climbed onto the wagon and motioned for Nalio to come up beside her to get some sleep.
“There are some fresh ruts here headed towards the ruins!. Looks to be a few wagons and some men. there are a number of horse prints as well from the wagons and one set runs parallel. So probably another spare horse or rider. I think these may be the men we are looking for! I believe we should follow the path to the ruins and avoid the city. Lets head out quickly before the eve is upon us!” With that Nathan grabs a bit to eat out of one of his rations and takes up his position on top of the wagon.
“Sos Nathans what do you sees with your eyes? Did they go to the city or the other way? Alsos, me not to worried about being caught by the undead. I mean a living and movings forest couldn’ts catch me, how could slow zombies ever catch me. I can just runs me thinks. But if yous don’t want to go to the city then its fine. I just thinks there is more zombies outside cities then ins one.” With that he hops up and decides to peer around the area while they are sitting around and deciding. Alton decides that this would be the perfect place to leave a guard to see if individuals were trailing him if he were a kidnapper. (Spot Check = 19 total)
Gabe chuckles a little bit and mimics the motion he made while piercing the zombies neck.
“yea, that was more than a little fucked up I’d say.”
He quickly shoots a glance at Kalika,
“pardon my language ma’am.”
Turning your attention to the paths before you you observe any tracks you might find. The main path which leads towards the village of three points and the city of three docks is well traveled with both foot traffic and wagon ruts. and the trail cutting across country is less traveled but you can see that there have been a few passers-by in the past few days. At least since the last rain there has been 3 wagons and about 6 men on foot. there is also one horse that is not attached to a wagon. you surmise that a small wagon train, heavily guarded, passed this way not 48 hours ago. perhaps it is your bandits trying to keep off the main roads while transporting their new slaves.
“Based on the recent trouble we had with ZOMBIES! I think we should probably stick together. We barely managed to deal with thanks to Kalika’s amazing magic. I am sure that kind of magic took a lot of energy. Thats at least what I think. Gabe, what do you make of these tracks? (I will use my Track feat. I rolled a 14. That may do it depending on conditions outside and ground condition. Track feat is on page 85 of the PHB in the Feat chapter)
Alton looks at his new friends. “I’ze could goes to this city and looks around and then meet you all at the ruins! I mean I know lots about finding information and also lots about getting arounds in a city!. This way we could cover more areas and get more informations.”
Nathan rides atop the wagon as the future travel plan is laid out. He leads Jack on as Alton and Gabe discuss the possible routes towards their destination. “Speaking of these ruins, we don’t know that thats where the captives were taken. The bandits were seen on the way to Three Docks and could be heading anywhere south from here. Theres no telling if we will find them amongst these ruins…” With that Nathan continues to monitor the surroundings as he looks for would be threats along the road. Upon arriving at the forks in the road he pulled the reins of the wagon and slows to a stop. He hops down and looks down each of the roads. Nathan tries to deduce what vehicles or people might have traveled down the paths, checking the size of the footprints, their approximate age, depth, etc. “which one of these lead to Three Docks again and which one to the ruins? I just want to see if anyone headed towards these ruins recently and if so how many? Then again we don’t know where these people are. If we went to Three Docks we can ask around if anyone has been seen or any people have been kidnapped from there…” (after i see what tracks are on the ground I will make my decision)
Gabe glances around, taking in his surroundings. he breathes deep and exhales slowly, savoring the air of his homeland. he looks down into the small brook and spots a crayfish walking slowly along the bottom of the lazy stream and under a rock.
The sun is past its zenith already and the afternoon is warm and comfortable. Gabe look to you and says,
“yea, three docks is a pretty good sized city. Not as big as Freeport mind you, but big enough to make your woodlands friends uncomfortable after a time. I’m thinking that you’ll want to cut across country on this path to reach your ruins faster.”
He points to the southern branch and nods. You can see that the path is slightly narrower that the one you are on but the wagon should still fit through without any problems. this is apparently the middle of the road of the three paths you have been offered. the first would have been far too rough for the wagon and the last would have taken too much time through the city and village ahead. but this path is clear and straight south making travel fast and easy enough for rough and tumble adventurers such as yourselves.
Assuming you take the path offered, Gabe attempts to pass the afternoon walk by munching on an apple and asking you three about any adventurers you may have been on.
Alton looks at the young guide. “There lots of peoples in this city? I always like the cities myself, buts it alsos depends on which is quicker me thinks. You know which way is quicker to our destination?” His legs kick back and forth as his sits on the back of the wagon.
1 – http://www.dndadventure.com/dnda_character_sheets.html This website has a great program that can be downloaded and used to keep track of your character sheet and also it updates itself based on input. We can all use it to send copies to Bob that will easily allow him to update his records. The name of the program is: Computer calculated 3.5 character sheet by Matt Schraeder ZIP 690 Kb
2 – Thanks to this program, it informed me that I was ignoring two rules for my character that i apologize for. First, I wasn’t using the correct damage for my size category. Second, I had too many ranks in certain skills against the Max Rank rule. All has been fixed and I apologize. Bob you can find the new info in my new character sheet that can be viewed with the above mentioned program.
3- I leveled as well:
Base Attack: +2
Will Base: +1
Reflex Base: +3
Fortitude Base: +1
Hp: 17 Total
9 more Skill Ranks
Feat: Combat Reflexes
Sneak Attack +2d6
Trap Sense +1
Gabe walks along briskly in front of the wagon looking from side to side. he uses his spear as a walking stick and maintains a brisk pace. the roads is well traveled and the sun quickly rises towards its noonday height. a quick lunch on-the-go of fruit and bread is eaten while walking and the autumn sun warms your skin. the sea breeze is gone now and the coastal scrub forests give way to large pine barren forests cleared of undergrowth by seasonal fires. the ground is sandy and soft under your feat, preventing you from becoming too tired very quickly. sometime in the early afternoon gabe stops at a small wooden bridge crossing a meandering brook. the path splits into two branches here and gabe looks down each one.
“we can skip both the upcoming village and city if we take the left path but then we would be sleeping out in the wild again tonight. its up to you guys which one we take.”
Alton quickly finds a comfortable spot on the back of the wagon. His feet lazily kick back and forth as they dangle off the back over the moving ground. He quickly becomes interested in watching the lady elf and her panther interact as they continue their travels. “Can yous speak cat? I’m just wonderings is all. Seems to know what yous want to do all the time. Makes me wonder in Nathans can speak donkey.” He peeks over at Nathan with a little grin.
Ok this is going to sounds silly but: In my recent move to North Jersey I lost my character sheet. So Bob, I know I mailed you a copy. I need a copy if you could mail it to me that would be swell!
Nathan nods in agreement to Kalika and Alton’s general course of action. “You guys are right! The “stolen property” of the nobles must be returned and that should be our priority.” He gathers his things and begins to pull Jack out onto the road along side the wagon, leaving the decaying undead and their tracks for the wolves. He begins to walk down the path in a southernly direction as he listens to Gabe’s directions. Upon hearing the options he casts a quick look as his donkey and his heavy burden and responds, “Perhaps we should stick to the road for now. It will be as fast and from the sound of it much easier to navigate! Surely it will be faster with the wagon we borrowed to stay on the road…Wagons do not fair well in the woods” With that he begins to trek south on the road towards the next village, trying to put the horrid thoughts of the battle that happened minutes before. As the hours pass he begins to wonder where and why zombies might be walking in the forest so close to Freeport. This journey is already becoming more interesting than expected…
Gabe occasionally glances at the smoldering corpses and the charred hole in the earth where the thoqqua burrowed into the earth. he holds his spear with both hands, leaning on it like a cane or walking stick. He seems to be taking the fight with animated corpses and magical forest plants quite well. maybe he has seen or heard of this sort of thing before.
“well the quickest way to the ruins is to head down the eastern coast until you reach the ruins. but that path is less traveled and could have obstacles on it, like clifs and rocky beaches. I’ve never been that way myself but i heard this its still passable this time of year. the safer path to take it to keep on the road and cut across country when we get to the southern road out of three-paths, the village where i live. we could stay at my house tonight if we go that way. either way, there is some cross country hiking to be done and either way it will still be tomorrow morning by the time we get to the ruins. its up to you guys to decide which way to go.” he looks at the three of you and calmly waits for your decision.
Alton watches everyone interact. He spends time making sure that his weapons remain in working order. He walks carefully, and kicks the bodies every once in a while. He checks himself for wounds and then pulls himself together and stands a little bit off. His nibble hands easily grab the coin out of the air and he shoves it in is pocket quickly. He scoffs a bit and mutters something, but shrugs his shoulders and quickly lets his thoughts go. “Wes should gets moving me thinks. The prisoners aren’t goings to be rescuing themselves me thinks. Which ways we go now Kid?”
Kalika surveys the scene in front of her: large, ashen, mounds of torn flesh that stink of rotting and decay; trees brought alive through her magical influence returning to their original state; a trail of ash and smoldering brush where the Thoqqua touched and passed by; and her companions, all of whom seem to be uninjured from the attack. “Was anyone injured?” she asks just to be sure. “I have a spell that can cure light wounds if anyone needs it, better to be 100% healed in case tonight brings another battle” she says. She reached down to touch Nailo’s head, as the panther approaches her side. “Good girl,” she told Nailo, “Thanks for jumping in like that; it looks like you’re going to be valuable to more than just me on this journey.” With that, she reached down and picked up two gold coins, tossed one to Alton and the other to Gabe; then she picked up the other two and put them in her pocket. “Nathan,” she called, “Here, let me have a look at the key.” Assuming he hands it over to her, she closes her fist around the key, closes her eyes and concentrates on a Detect Magic Spell to see if the key has any magical properties. (Since the spell has a range of 60 feet, it also enables her to see if there are any other magical items/ persons in that distance).
“Well, I think we had better get on the road. Whoever sent those zombies after us might have more tricks in mind. We should push on and get as far from this place as we can before we stop for the night.”
daybreak is coming and already the suns are peeking out from beyond the horizon. your body has been cleansed of any grogginess by the nights combat. the burning bodies of the zombies no longer twitch and now lie still. danger is no longer a problem for the moment but a choice now confronts your party. do you continue on your way to the southern tip of the country in pursuit of the kidnappers? or do you follow the zombies clear trail through the scrub and forest to god knows where? just remember, time is not on your side.
“(sorry guys the last post was from my phone so i wanted to embellish)
Nathan surveys the scene and sheaths his swords as no further threat can be seen. (maybe do a listen check/spot check)(no dice at work roll it for me) After finding the key in the body of one of the zombies he shows it to Alton, Gabe, and Kalika. “Does this look familiar to anyone? Obviously not Elven made since none of these zombies appear to be elves (I assumed they were all human bodies). Hmmm I wonder where they came from and where they got these weapons? We should try and track these walking corpses. I doubt they were careful enough to cover their tracks. How far was that house that you knew of Gabe? Take a closer look at the bodies and see if you recognize any of these folks….Poor souls….(he pauses, closing his eyes as if in prayer or disbelief) We should leave this tainted ground before more evil springs up before us.” With that he turns and rolls up his bed mat, gathers his backpack and other items. He takes a brisk walk away from the group to check on his pack mule, Jack. Assuming Jack is Ok he fastens his usual gear to the animal and feeds it some grain as a nice break from the grass found on the side of the road. He checks the road for signs of morning travelers to see if anyone passed in the night. After checking the road he walks back with Jack to the camp, collects 1 of the gold coins from the cash found on the bodies and then tries his best to find heavy footprints from the zombies.”
(everyone gets 1000 exp for this encounter. this includes the 500 from the zombies plus 500 each for Kalika using spells, Alton using thief abilities, and Nathan nobly defending Gabe instead of fending for himself.)
The zombie corpses are badly burned and mangled from being resurected. the bodies are practically in pieces. the only things of value that are found on the corpses are a small brass key and 5 gold coins that are found on the tongues of the zombies. Gabe recoils from the corpses and eyes the key curiously. while you are cleaning up after the battle, the thoqqua noisily borrows back into the fiery depths of the earth, apprently released from the spell that summoned it. the vines and branches of the forest clearing twitch oddly as you walk around, still saturated with a small portion of the magical energy that caused it to entangle the zombies.
The horizon begins to glow a deep red by the time you have finished searching the corpses and the dawn will be close behind. A long day of travel awaits you.
Alton quickly places his light mace back in its sling and set out to collect the usable bolts and his throw dagger. After he gets his equipment, he walks up to Gabe and slaps him on the back has high as he can reach. ” Pretty Good with that spears, for a kid! That deader didn’t know what hit him, but then mes guess he didn’t know much to begins with if he was dead.” Alton’s face then switches from a grin to a more serious face as he turns his attention, to examining and searching the bodies. He first goes through any pockets looking for valuables that may have been left behind and then looks for symbols or anything else that might be useful to the group. While he is searching for the symbols and information, he turns his voice to the group, “You guys see a finger waggler. I mean the forest was alive, the deaders were alives, and Fire moved like a water snake. We better be carefuls me think? Yes?”
Nathan surveys the scene. Seeing that all the zombies now lie on the ground in a pile of old blood and burnt clothing, he turns to check on gabe and then searchs the bodies for clues/booty.
Nailo, swiftly bounces back from her first attack and lunges at the zombie again. She jumps at him with her paws landing on his chest and her teeth taking a large bite out of his neck. The zombie let out a horrendous scream that was quickly muffled and replaced with a gurgling sound as he fell to the ground and died. Nailo licks her chops, then looks around to see if anyone else is in need of help. Meanwhile, the Thoqqua coils itself up and springs through the air like a ball of fire. It lands squarely in the chest of the already flaming zombie, causing the zombie to lose balance and topple over. The zombie tries to roll around to put out the flames, but its flesh is already too far gone. Pieces of melted skin and hair fly into the air as the burning zombie thrashes around on the ground, and eventually the thrashing becomes less violent as the flames consume the zombie. Soon all that’s left of him is a burned mass of ash and charred bones. Kalika surveys the scene from her perch in the tree and, noticing that all of the zombies have been killed, jumps down to check on her companions.
nailo hits with her bite but not her claws but it doesnt matter because both remaining zombies die. the thoqqua kills the healthier one and kalika and nailo kill the other. GO! ill give out exp and tell you what you find after laurie posts.
I never posted my next actions, so here they are, before I post…
The Thoqqua is going to attack one of the remaining two zombies, preferably the one that’s already on fire. Attack roll for Thoqqua is 15, Damage is 9+7(fire damage) (1d6+3 plus 2d6 fire).
Nailo is going to attack the same zombie she’s been attacking. I can’t remember what her damage is.
Kalika is going to use her sling and aim at the zombie Nailo’s attacking. Attack=12+1+4=17, Damage = 3.
Gabe is initially shocked when the Thoqqua bursts forth from the fiery depths of the earth but upon seeing the glowing worm launch itself at the zombies he takes the opportunity to attack the zombie in front of him who is hopelessly distracted and wounded. He lunges hard with his wooden spear and belts out a fierce scream.
“RAHHH!!!”
The sturdy wooden shaft catches the startled zombie squarely under the chin and the pole penetrates the creatures’ neck, severing the spine right below the head. The beast looses the unnatural glow in its eye as the magic forces powering the abomination flee the animated corpse. It crumples on the spot and Gabe attempts to wrench his spear from the corpse.
Meanwhile, one of the two remaining zombies attempts to move away from the thoqqua and begins to shamble towards Alton. He will be well within arms reach next round but the move obviously indicates the beings stupidity as it is lit on fire as it disengages from the melee.
Everyone can post in the adventure log. Laurie has the whole story up to current in a word doc and we’ll post it all to get it up to date. Then we’ll continue the story there.
Can we all post in the Adventure log.? I was reading the entire thing and I think it flows together quite nicely. It’s actually starting out to be an engrossing story as you read it and each person is doing a very good job with their responses. Perhaps we should use the comments section for rolls and what not, but use the adventure log to continue the stor.
ITS EASY, WHEN I GET AROUND TO IT AFTER MY TERM PAPER, ILL POST A MAP AND SOME INFO ON NPC’S AND THEN INSTEAD OF SENDING EVERYONE E-MAIL’S, ILL POST ON THE ADVENTURE LOG AND YOU ALL CAN READ IT. WE CAN DO COMBAT WITH THE COMMENTS OR SOMETHING SO YOULL KNOW WHEN ITS YOUR TURN. I ONLY WISH THERE WAS SOME SORT OF ONLINE SYSTEM FOR COMBAT… LIKE I COULD SET THE PARAMETERS AND YOU GUYS COULD RUN THE COMBAT. THAT WOULD ROCK.
lol
Sorry its taken me so long to post. i completely forgot. I am glad to see I am not disappointed by the level of hilarity so far. I mean a panther around the neck? Someone else needs a rock dropped on them.
Alton shakes his head slightly stepping out of an early morning daze. His crossbow is loaded, his small mace hangs from his waist, and his dagger is hidden deep within his leather boot. He listens to his fellow raiders and ponders the situation. “Cants you speaks in your heads to the cat? wouldn’ts it be better to have our cats friend watch the outsides of the castle. I means it seems better then climbing up a rope with a cat with teeth and claws sitting on you. But ize got no trouble going up first. With that the little halfling slings the crossbow over his shoulder and pulls out his dagger. He clenches it firmly in his teeth and then begins his climb.
(Rob I’m just going to take a 20 on the roll because really…its not like i am not going to stop trying until i fail. If you want me to roll when i get to the top or something to make sure i don’t fall I will. Also I want to peek up and over the top before i pull myself all the way up.)
Nathan looks around at the group, focusing for a second on the 80 pound panther and the little halfling. “I can easily get to this rope so we just have to focus on getting all of you up into shipping area. What are we going to do with the panther? Perhaps I can carry it? Kalika, can you talk with Nailo and tell it not to use claws on my shoulders?” With the plan haphazardly laid out Nathan folds his hands together offering a step to his companions. Assuming the group agrees, Alton will go first in case there are people up there… Then we’ll send Kalika, Gabe and then Nathan will try and jump up with the panther clawing into its back… Nathan has a natural jumping ability (Skill lvl 7 Jump. With a d20 roll Nathan jumps (13 +his 7 skill level)) and uses it to get up onto the rope and then proceed to climb into the shipping area of the keep with the panther wrapped around his neck…
a chunk of stone wall suddenly breaks away from the castle above and falls squarely atop kalika, crushing her frail body into the rocky beach stones with a small spray of blood to mark her passing on her companions faces. fortunatly for her, the world has conspired to fulfil her deepest druidic wish. That there be balance in the world. this wish is fulfilled when nailo pads quietly over to her corpse and begins to dine on the crushed flesh, thus the circle of life continues.
Hows THAT for stepping it up? just kidding, kalika doesnt die… yet
My post on the 2nd of December states that the vines “hang convieniently down from the archway above”
the rope dangles about 10’ above the beach, but if you could climb the rocky wall of the island then you might be able to reach it more easily from there.
how close is the bottom of the rope to any other surrounding surface? Also, the vines in the front were just vines..where did the lead? Was there windows? did the vines go all the way up? some more detail please. Laurie says she can tell your half assing your posts. She wants you to pick it up!!
The ruined fort looms above you as you replace your footwear and begin to encircle the island. About halfway around the island, in the full light of the moon, you notice a small structure jutting out into the air from the castle. a small opening can be seen in the floor of the structure directly over your head and a rope hangs down with the end dangling at about 10’ above the ground. you quickly surmise that this small room was used to bring supplies directly into the fort from a ship without having to unload them onto wagons on land, instead hoisting the supplies from the ship, straight into the castle.
your choices are now weather you want to try and reach the rope or continue around the island back to the drawbridge and attempt to climb the vines that lead to the front of the structure.
As she laces her boots back up, Kalika examines the castle in front of them. Nathan begins to walk around -looking for an entrance, Kalika assumes. She grabs her scimitar and clutches her bag of bullets as she follows him around the building, hoping they aren’t walking into an ambush…
Nathan, afraid to make a sound, looks towards the other companions and motions to the left. “Its best to check around for a guard or something at the base of the tower and at least look for an entrance” he thinks to himself. He waits for his companions to acknowledge or make a motion of their own as he pulls his swords from their sheaths. He grips their handles in his sweaty palms and feels their cold hard metal against his skin… His nerves tingle in excitement and he grips harder in anticipation for that first piece of treasure or the face of the first person his blades meet… He then proceeds to the his left around the castle on the beach, listening for any signs of movement or of any person or being nearby. While going around the island he tries to keep his eyes peels for any signs of an entrance or doorway into the castle as well…
The night is winding down as the red glow grows steadily wider along the horizon. the castle looms above you as you scramble down the rocky cliff face and move towards the shallow water between the mainland and the island. as you look up at the keep, you notice a slight glow originating within one of the arrow slits of the tallest tower. you see nothing else, but that small glow assures you that there is something within the castle. hopefully the hostages remain within as well. the warm waters of the bay reach to your thighs as you wade across to the island and soon you find yourself at the base of the castle under what is left of the stone bridge. The vines still hang down conveniently from the archway above and the beach is narrow but walkable in both direction encircling the castle. your choice now lies in what to do next. (your spot checks let you see the light so now you are sure that someone is still here and they have not fled by boat yet.)
I’m double retarted. Those last two posts from Ben’s account were by me…
I’m retarted. I posted before I rolled the dice. My spot check = roll 14 + 6 = 20
Also, Nathan’s modifier for spot checks is +5. (I have the sheets)
Kalika’s meditation comes to an end as she senses the approaching dawn. She gets up, stretches and walks around the clearing. As the others begin to wake and gather their belongings, she checks her bag to make sure she still has everything. She counts her bullets, checks her sling, confirms the dagger is still secured to her thigh, and then eats a couple bites of bread and cheese. Once the others are ready to head toward the island, she grabs her bag and, sheathing her scimitar, follows Nathan along the coast. She points out to the others the waters that appear to be shallow enough to wade across, using her keen low-light vision to identify the area again. She unlaces her boots and places them in her bag to cross to the island barefoot. Before stepping into the foamy water, she scans the coastline of the island: spot check ( +6= ). Assuming the coast is clear (haha) she begins to cross the waters, being careful not to slip on the rocks.
Nathan gathers his things as he readies himself to embark towards the castle. He waits for the others near the front of the covered wagon and says a few things to Jack, his donkey. With a few light snaps of his fingers and a nod of his head he singles the rest of the group to move towards the castle. As he makes his way out of the woods, he pauses and surveys the scene, checking for any movement or watching eyes. (spot check =3+ regular bonuses. I dont have char sheet in front of me so youll have to look back at what my bonus usually is). He pauses a minute to make sure he hasnt missed anything and then begins his walk over towards the area Kalika pointed out as the shallow area to cross over to the ruins, all the while staying hunched over and keeping his eyes and ears peeled for any sounds of movement. Assuming he sees/hears nothing he makes his way straight towards the crossing area and then waits for the others. Once the group is all together at the crossing area, he again makes eye contact with each member assuring himself silently that they are ready to proceed. He does another scan of the ruins and water crossing in front of him (spot check= 16 + bonuses) He then removes him boots and rolls up his pant legs to assure that his clothes stay dry. He slowly creeps into the luke warm water of the bay, that makes its way under the former bridge and passes over to the island where the entrance of the ruins most likely can be found. Assuming everything goes as planned, Nathan plans to search for the entrance and get into the ruins before dawn breaks…
LOL sounds like thats where Nathan is too!
Alton is in the scrub alongside the covered-up wagon!
the large red moon is low in the sky by the time kalika gets back and everyone is ready to go. the forest is very dark now, despite the small reddening of the horizon from teh comming sunrise. you surmise that it will be dawn in an hour. listening for possible enemies, you creep towards the castle. soon you find yourself in the scrub alongside the covered up wagon looking towards the broken drawbridge. you are about to move into the open when you think you hear a sound comming from the castle.
(morning actions and id like to know where everybody is.)
Nathan stirs under his blanket as the dawn nears. He peaks out from his slumber and sees Kalika meditating near by. Shocked that the evening passed quietly he pushes himself up off the ground and rubs the kink in his neck. “Sleeping against a wagon wheel was a bad idea” he says under his breath. He looks around to make sure that nothing other than the usual is around. He quickly begins packing his stuff and looks around for Alton.
“We should be on our way if we are to cross to the ruins before the sun rises!” He throws his backpack over this shoulder along with his weapons which hang from his belt. He pats Jack a few times before heading out towards the ruins under the cover of the night just before dawn…
“Well be back…keep quiet..and keep safe.” He motions towards Alton and Kalika in an effort to get the party underway.
After receiving consent from the group that she should be the one to go, Kalika silently left the group and began to creep along the edge of the cliff. Except for the faint glow of the moons above, dimmed by the cloud cover and the trees, she is traveling in darkness. Every so often she hears a cry off in the distance, or a rustling in the trees, but nothing that she detects to be a threat and she continues moving along the coast toward the island. As she approaches the coast closest to the castle, she stops to listen and watch closely for any signs that the island is occupied. She looks up at the castle and feels chills, suddenly very thankful that her steps aren’t traceable and that they decided to wait until daybreak to approach the island. The castle, clearly in ruins and falling into decay, is still an imposing structure and Kalika wonders at how majestic it must have looked in its full glory. She can also sense a lot of negative energy radiating from that castle and the island itself. “Some terrible things must have happened here in the past,” she thinks, and its easy to tell how the legend of the haunted castle on the island and the wicked witch came to be. Returning her thoughts to the task at hand, she looks around the coastline for the best place to cross to the island. There is a stretch of water where she can clearly see the ground below and she figures this must be shallow enough to wade across. From her height on the cliff, she’s unable to see if there’s other shallow places to cross that might be better, as the one she sees would lead them directly to the front of the castle. Looking again at the castle, she notices that the drawbridge has been destroyed. She made a mental note to make sure the group finds a way to cross the moat, or brings along a plank that they can walk across. Closer examination of the vines and shurbbery overgrowth that surround the castle reveals the cart that the kidnappers used, crudely hidden under a pile of saplings and various vegetation. Now certain that they’re on the right track to find the kidnappers and the stolen servants, Kalika returns to camp to share her findings with the group. She creeps back along the coastline, again keeping an eye out for anyone who might present a threat, or anyone who might be keeping watch for those on the island. When she returns to camp, she answers the questions of her awake companions and then sits against a tree to mediate for a couple of hours.
Night falls quickly around you and a quick cold dinner sits in your belly. you think about how a fire would be so nice as the clouds begin to roll in from the east. Hopefully the rain will hold off for the night. The moons are still slightly visible through the haze of the cloud cover but the night is dark and perfect for scouting around the area.
(i’ll send private messages to the scouter to talk about what is seen.)
“Okies Elf ladies, you goes.” Alton sits down on the side of the wagon and sharpens his weapons while watching the half-elf and the young boy fall asleep.
gabe spend a few minutes looking around the immediate area of the cliff and clearing. he is confidant after leading the party so close to the ruins instead of finding the shoreline and then following it to the castle. he seems content to let the party choose how best to scout out the ruins, being a scout and not an experienced fighter.
Nathan doesn’t stir under his blanket and seems to be in a some state of sleep already. Apparently last nights activities and long day of travel have taken their toll, leaving Kalika and Alton to sort it out themselves…
“Not so fast,” Kalika says. “I agree that we should have a look around, and definately we need to scout out the shoreline to find the best way to the island… But, Alton, do you think you’re the best person for the job? I mean, I’m sure you’re highly skilled at navigating sewers and hiding in dark alleys, but these are unfamiliar woodlands – and doesn’t it come back to the same points: you can’t see in the dark. Now while you’re always keen and willing to offer yourself to go off on your own, I think maybe I should go. Being an elf, and a druid, I leave no trail and my steps cannot be tracked, I can easily move through thorny and overgrown areas, and I can see in the dark. All I’ll need once I return is about 4 hours to meditate and work on some new spells and I’ll be good to go in the morning. You all can get some rest, take turns on watch, and I can be back soon. What do you guys think?”
Nathan stirs a little and mumbles with his eyes shut, “sure sure, scout it out for us and come back soon…”
“Nots being able to see in the dark works twos ways me thinks. Crossing the waters during the night may be difficult, but remaining unnoticed fors as long as possible is a lot more importants. Perhaps wes should send someone up the tree lines to search fors a ways over that doesn’ts require swimming? I means Is could do it and be back in a jiffs. No one would would know I’m gones or I am hears.”
Seeing that Kalika makes some good points, Nathan nods in agreement. “Perhaps we can try to sneak in before dawn? Besides, I think we would be more prepared if we were all well rested.”
Nathan continues his work to covering the wagon with branches after finding an area out of sight from the path to stash the wagon, all the meanwhile deeply hoping that no one or thing finds their stash and his faithful donkey Jack. Nathan decides to leave the feed for Jack open in the back of the wagon along with his canvas and bedroll (dont expect to do alot of sleeping inside the ruins). He mulls over a few other things as he places them into his backpack and places a long length of rope into the wagon along side the feed. He then holds up a nice shiny bottle of wine and admires it.
“Well have to save this for the celebration!” he says after he stuffs it under the rope next to the feed.
“That should be enough to lighten the load” Nathan mutters to himself as he places his backpack on his back. He then pulls out his swords and spins them around in his hands. He feels their weight, their balance. He spins and thrusts them in unison, feeling the weight of the pack. “hmm seems to feel ok”. He pulls out a blanket and sits down aside the wagon, leaning his back against the wheel.
“I am going to get some shuteye for a little bit. When you all are ready and rested we can be on our way” With that Nathan shuts his eyes and breaths a long sigh as his body relaxes and slumps against the wheel.
As the last rays of sunlight slowly disappear behind the horizon, the group comes to a stop. Kalika hears Gabe celebrating his success as a guide and smiles slightly to herself. She hops off the back of the wagon before Nathan guides Jack into the brush and looks out over the edge of the cliff. The castle has clearly been destroyed by time and neglect, but it is still an imposing structure. Her keen eyes search through the darkness looking for any signs of life or movement on the island. Then her attention turns back to the group and the rocky clearing they were standing around. Her elven eyes, aptly tuned for seeing in the dark, search the surrounding forest and look down over the edge of the cliff (Spot Check: Roll 17 + 6 = 23). Then she focuses her mind and does the Detect Magic Spell to detect any magical auras that might be present and if the creator of them is still nearby. “I really don’t think we should start off toward the island tonight,” she said to the group. “Half our party can’t see in the dark and the waves and rocks look rough. Also, we’ve been traveling all day. We should maybe explore around this area a little bit for signs that anyone has been by here recently and then rest for a couple of hours. We can start at daybreak toward the island. What do you guys think?”
its a little after dinnertime. like 8pm… not quite nighttime yet.
yeah i asked rob also…not night yet
Before I post, What time of day is it? Seems like we got to the ruins very quickly… so is it nighttime?
Nathan eyes to end of the road as it approaches and quickly turns Jack and the wagon into the forest hoping to avoid watching eyes. He jumps down from the wagon and ties Jack up to the nearest tree once they are deep enough into the brush that most sentries will not hear or see Jack. “Sorry buddy, you can’t come with us.” “BuHHH!” snorts Jack. “I know you can swim! its the rocks and everything I am worried about. You stay here and guard the wagon.” Nathan pats Jack on the top of his head and then walks around to the back of the wagon. “well lets get ready for anything” Nathan sorts through his backpack and saddle bags and starts to get all the items he might need while away from the wagon.
“Talls trolls you say? In that case, we better setup a watchs as soons as possible. I don’ts want to be suprised by trolls or buy our quarry. Perhaps ones of us should watch the castle from the trees lines while the others watch the wagons?”
Nathan turns his attention back to the path towards the ruins of Eramathan. He gives Jack a quick whip of the reigns and Jack turns south at a brisk pace. As the wagon wheels turn and squeak under the weight of the load Nathan calmly navigates the path and tries to strike up conversation…
“You know my father used to sail the coast here down to Eramathan from our home to the North in Willow Bay. Some of the best fishing can be found in the Mercian Bay to our West. Beyond the bay to the South is the Wild Sea which he never ventured into because of the perils. Eramathan lies right on the southern point of Mercia though. He told me many a tale of the things he saw upon the shore from his fishing ship. Supposedly TROLLS live near this parts. My fathers ship was down here near the ruins and ran aground when coming too close to the shore. It was near here that he and his fellow crewmen were forced to fight for their lives and then, upon escaping from the trolls, he became lost within one of the great Mercian forests. He eventually collapsed from exhaustion and was taken in by a local group of elves. This is where he supposedly met my mother. Father is quite the story teller though and every time he tells the story the escape to freedom was longer from larger and larger trolls. At first it was a troll or two of 6 feet high. Years later I seem to remember overhearing the story again and him mentioning 15 trolls each measuring 8 feet in height. Haha! What a crazy guy my old man is.” With that Nathan waits for reactions from his traveling companions and hopes that they enjoyed his tale to pass the time.
“I’ms waiting to nights before I looks any further. We camps a bit in the woods…no fire.” Alton says as he slips back into the tree line.
Gabe marches on along the overgrown cart path. He seems to have forgotten Altons accusations as he is concentrating on maintaining his bearings and leading the party along the correct path.
Soon you can hear the crashing of waves and smell the salt on the air. The sensory inputs stir various memories from their hiding places in your distant past. Gabe pushes through a low growing shrub of some sort and lets out a little shout. “woo hoo! i told you i could find the stupid thing!”
You follow him out of the scrub forest and emerge on a rocky clearing at the edge of a cliff about 10 or 15 feet above a pebbled beach below. the beach can be reached but only by climbing down the steep incline among the eroded cliff face. You are just thinking of finding another way down to the beach when another sight derails your train of thought.
Barely visible around the curve of the coastline lies a small island a bit off the coast. the entire top of the island is occupied by the crumbling ruins of an abandoned castle. Its gray stone seems to have been hewn from the living rock or thrust up from the gods of the earth. Even in its ruined state, you can see that this fortification was once a mighty stronghold. a few of the castles spires rise stubbornly into the sky, slowly being humbled by time. the remains of a stone bridge and drawbridge system grow towards the coastline where a bit of the bridge can be seen clinging to a cliff much like the one you are on. waves lap idly around the bottom of the island, a strange offset to the imposing visage of the ancient structure.
Gabe breathes a sigh of relief and hurrys back to the front of the column to lead the way to the coastline. he doesnt say a word, probably out of embaressment. hopefully this mood will pass soon and the coastline will appear as well.
“Okies lets go, buts wes stop well before the ruins so that we can sneak up and have a looks first!” Alton hops back into the wagon and sits down pulling his hood over his head.
Gabe looks around with a worried look on his face.
“I told you I dont come here. The witch thing is just a story that sailors tell! I was only supposed to lead you to the place… which i’ve done. I never said i’ve been on the island. but i have seen it before. the island is about 40 yards from the shore anyway. we could swim to the thing if we need to!”
Gabe has a look on his face that says he is chastising himself on the inside about not speaking up about the details of the ruins before now.
“Tells me about this witch you speak of!” Alton is obviously angry and with each minute he seems to get a little bit more aggitated. “Also, you have never been here before? This is likes the blinds leading the blinds then isn’t it. Approaching a set of ruins inhabited by a witch of evils including her men and our prisoners, that none of us have ever beens to. This is a terribles plans. You tells me more about this witch and I’lls tell hows we gets in.”
Gabe stammers at the verbal assult from the fiercly armed halfling. despite being of equal size, gabe feels as though he is being looked down upon by the sternest of constables.
“I… I… I wasnt evesdropping for bad back in the city! I was just looking for work! I need the money real bad is all. The landlord is going to take the farm away from pop and I if I dont come up with some loot fast. That why i wanted you to stay at my house too. The landlord said he would be comming by tonight and i thought with you there he might be intimidated into giving us a little more time. I wasnt going to rob you if you were worried about that. My father always told me to keep your honor above all else… even you life.”
Gabe lifts his gaze from his feet, where he looked midway through his explanation.
“And the island thing just slipped my mind. It’s not like I spend my summers at these ruins you know. If the bandits use the ruins then there has to be a bridge or a boat or something that they use to get across. You guys are adventurers anyway right? I’m sure you can think of something!”
With that, Gabe looks to each of the three of you with a look in his eye that says ‘you believe me right?’ except of course for Nailo… who he takes a small step away from as she licks her wet black nose.
Nathan pulls back on the reigns at the sound of a disagreement. Jack slows his gait to a slow stroll and then stops in accordance to his masters direction. The cart rocks back and forth and Alton stands a few paces behind the stationary cart. Nathan looks from Alton to Gabe and waits to see what information comes from their discussion.
“An islands! No one mentioned it was an islands before. Not even yous!” Alton points his finger at the young boy. “You didn’t say it was an island, government didn’t say it was an island! Hows in the world are wes suppose to get across water to an Island! You let us bring a wagons when what we neededs was a boat! I’m not getting pay enoughs for this at alls. At Alls.” With that Alton hops to his feet and jumps off the wagon. “I’m nots moving forward until you tell me everything you knows human boy! You were eavesdropping in the city, now you just happens to remember its an island, and you keep pushing us to stays at yous house. You’ves need to tell us everything…everything!”
“Eramathan is what the sailors call these ruins. It used to be an island fort but it fell into ruin. My father told me that a witch used to like there with her dark minions… but he could never tell me where get got this information. i think its just a story to scare children.”
You suddenly have a thought. how are you going to get to this island?! hopefully there is some sort of boat or raft present to cross you to the island.
“Gabe, do you know the name of these such ruins? My father frequently traveled the sea in this area and I believe I know a tale or two of these lands. Perhaps they are the same ruins that my father told me about.”
The small cart path winds through the forests of the mercian inlands taking gradual curves into and out of numerous valleys and gulleys. the forests soon give way to the scrub plains you encountered the day before and as the sun begins its dip towards the horizon, you can smell the sea air as the southern coastline approaches.
Gabe stops chatting so idlely with you about your past adventures and begins to keep an eye on his surroundings more and more. “i’ve never been this far south… my dad always said it was dangerous down here. Anyway, we should be reaching your ruins by nightfall.”
You begin to wonder what sort of situation you have been getting yourself into, and if it may get worse very soon.
“You make a good point wise Kalika. They could be days away!” Lets try and get closer. If we come across the wagon train then surely we can dart off into the brush and sneak up for a closer look. Let us continue!”
With that Nathan snaps the reigns of Jack and the cart begins to roll at a walking pace down the southern road towards the ruins.
Kalika listens to Nathan intently, nodding as he speaks. “You bring up an interesting point,” she says “We were reluctant to have a wagon to start with for this very same reason, yet we ended up bringing it along because we knew we would need it to carry the captives back home. If we knew they were right around the corner we could leave the wagon and come back for it, but they could be several days ahead of us. So we can either have someone take the wagon and follow along behind, or we continue on all together as before.”
“Perhaps this mission requires a bit more stealth than strength. I say we leave the wagon and proceed on foot. How far is it to the ruins from here? A wagon, donkey, and small boy will give away are position. All of us are skilled travelers and it should be easy to sneak up on a wagon train full of people!” Nathan suggests as he sits waiting for the groups decision…
Alton sits down after taking the look around. He listens to Nathan’s suggestion and nods. “Okies, the other path we shall take. I think it best that wes be ready fors anything.” After speaking he cocks his crossbow and lays a bolt gently down. He then sets it down on the wagon next to him. He pulls out a dagger and set to work polishing and sharpening it with a whet stone in his backpack. He then quickly puts the sharpened blade in his boot, sheathing it in a specially made pocket within his boot.
Kalika walks along beside Nailo following the wagon, quietly reflecting on the night’s events and trying to regain some of the strength that performing all that magic took out of her. She’s drawn out of her silence when she’s addressed by Alton. Suppressing a giggle, she responds “No, I can’t speak cat. We have a strong mental connection and can communicate concepts and emotions, but we don’t use words.” They continued walking along for awhile with Kalika listening to the others talk and discuss which path to take. When they stop at the fork in the road, Nathan tells them what the tracks show. Kalika, glad for a good reason to avoid the city says, “I think we should take the country path. It makes sense that the kidnappers would avoid the city, so its unlikely that there would be any witnesses if we went there. And time is of the utmost importance. We need to get to them as quickly as possible, so I think we need to make a decision and get on the road. If we encounter more trouble again tonight, we’ll be better prepared. I’ll meditate on a couple more defensive spells, as well.” With that, she climbed onto the wagon and motioned for Nalio to come up beside her to get some sleep.
“There are some fresh ruts here headed towards the ruins!. Looks to be a few wagons and some men. there are a number of horse prints as well from the wagons and one set runs parallel. So probably another spare horse or rider. I think these may be the men we are looking for! I believe we should follow the path to the ruins and avoid the city. Lets head out quickly before the eve is upon us!” With that Nathan grabs a bit to eat out of one of his rations and takes up his position on top of the wagon.
“so what do you guys think??”
“Sos Nathans what do you sees with your eyes? Did they go to the city or the other way? Alsos, me not to worried about being caught by the undead. I mean a living and movings forest couldn’ts catch me, how could slow zombies ever catch me. I can just runs me thinks. But if yous don’t want to go to the city then its fine. I just thinks there is more zombies outside cities then ins one.” With that he hops up and decides to peer around the area while they are sitting around and deciding. Alton decides that this would be the perfect place to leave a guard to see if individuals were trailing him if he were a kidnapper. (Spot Check = 19 total)
Gabe chuckles a little bit and mimics the motion he made while piercing the zombies neck.
“yea, that was more than a little fucked up I’d say.”
He quickly shoots a glance at Kalika,
“pardon my language ma’am.”
Turning your attention to the paths before you you observe any tracks you might find. The main path which leads towards the village of three points and the city of three docks is well traveled with both foot traffic and wagon ruts. and the trail cutting across country is less traveled but you can see that there have been a few passers-by in the past few days. At least since the last rain there has been 3 wagons and about 6 men on foot. there is also one horse that is not attached to a wagon. you surmise that a small wagon train, heavily guarded, passed this way not 48 hours ago. perhaps it is your bandits trying to keep off the main roads while transporting their new slaves.
“Based on the recent trouble we had with ZOMBIES! I think we should probably stick together. We barely managed to deal with thanks to Kalika’s amazing magic. I am sure that kind of magic took a lot of energy. Thats at least what I think. Gabe, what do you make of these tracks? (I will use my Track feat. I rolled a 14. That may do it depending on conditions outside and ground condition. Track feat is on page 85 of the PHB in the Feat chapter)
Alton looks at his new friends. “I’ze could goes to this city and looks around and then meet you all at the ruins! I mean I know lots about finding information and also lots about getting arounds in a city!. This way we could cover more areas and get more informations.”
Nathan rides atop the wagon as the future travel plan is laid out. He leads Jack on as Alton and Gabe discuss the possible routes towards their destination. “Speaking of these ruins, we don’t know that thats where the captives were taken. The bandits were seen on the way to Three Docks and could be heading anywhere south from here. Theres no telling if we will find them amongst these ruins…” With that Nathan continues to monitor the surroundings as he looks for would be threats along the road. Upon arriving at the forks in the road he pulled the reins of the wagon and slows to a stop. He hops down and looks down each of the roads. Nathan tries to deduce what vehicles or people might have traveled down the paths, checking the size of the footprints, their approximate age, depth, etc. “which one of these lead to Three Docks again and which one to the ruins? I just want to see if anyone headed towards these ruins recently and if so how many? Then again we don’t know where these people are. If we went to Three Docks we can ask around if anyone has been seen or any people have been kidnapped from there…” (after i see what tracks are on the ground I will make my decision)
Gabe glances around, taking in his surroundings. he breathes deep and exhales slowly, savoring the air of his homeland. he looks down into the small brook and spots a crayfish walking slowly along the bottom of the lazy stream and under a rock.
The sun is past its zenith already and the afternoon is warm and comfortable. Gabe look to you and says,
“yea, three docks is a pretty good sized city. Not as big as Freeport mind you, but big enough to make your woodlands friends uncomfortable after a time. I’m thinking that you’ll want to cut across country on this path to reach your ruins faster.”
He points to the southern branch and nods. You can see that the path is slightly narrower that the one you are on but the wagon should still fit through without any problems. this is apparently the middle of the road of the three paths you have been offered. the first would have been far too rough for the wagon and the last would have taken too much time through the city and village ahead. but this path is clear and straight south making travel fast and easy enough for rough and tumble adventurers such as yourselves.
Assuming you take the path offered, Gabe attempts to pass the afternoon walk by munching on an apple and asking you three about any adventurers you may have been on.
Alton looks at the young guide. “There lots of peoples in this city? I always like the cities myself, buts it alsos depends on which is quicker me thinks. You know which way is quicker to our destination?” His legs kick back and forth as his sits on the back of the wagon.
Ok a few things:
1 – http://www.dndadventure.com/dnda_character_sheets.html This website has a great program that can be downloaded and used to keep track of your character sheet and also it updates itself based on input. We can all use it to send copies to Bob that will easily allow him to update his records. The name of the program is: Computer calculated 3.5 character sheet by Matt Schraeder ZIP 690 Kb
2 – Thanks to this program, it informed me that I was ignoring two rules for my character that i apologize for. First, I wasn’t using the correct damage for my size category. Second, I had too many ranks in certain skills against the Max Rank rule. All has been fixed and I apologize. Bob you can find the new info in my new character sheet that can be viewed with the above mentioned program.
3- I leveled as well:
Base Attack: +2 Will Base: +1 Reflex Base: +3 Fortitude Base: +1 Hp: 17 Total 9 more Skill Ranks Feat: Combat Reflexes Sneak Attack +2d6 Trap Sense +1
4 – Let’s get this show on the road!
Gabe walks along briskly in front of the wagon looking from side to side. he uses his spear as a walking stick and maintains a brisk pace. the roads is well traveled and the sun quickly rises towards its noonday height. a quick lunch on-the-go of fruit and bread is eaten while walking and the autumn sun warms your skin. the sea breeze is gone now and the coastal scrub forests give way to large pine barren forests cleared of undergrowth by seasonal fires. the ground is sandy and soft under your feat, preventing you from becoming too tired very quickly. sometime in the early afternoon gabe stops at a small wooden bridge crossing a meandering brook. the path splits into two branches here and gabe looks down each one.
“we can skip both the upcoming village and city if we take the left path but then we would be sleeping out in the wild again tonight. its up to you guys which one we take.”
Alton quickly finds a comfortable spot on the back of the wagon. His feet lazily kick back and forth as they dangle off the back over the moving ground. He quickly becomes interested in watching the lady elf and her panther interact as they continue their travels. “Can yous speak cat? I’m just wonderings is all. Seems to know what yous want to do all the time. Makes me wonder in Nathans can speak donkey.” He peeks over at Nathan with a little grin.
Ok this is going to sounds silly but: In my recent move to North Jersey I lost my character sheet. So Bob, I know I mailed you a copy. I need a copy if you could mail it to me that would be swell!
Nathan nods in agreement to Kalika and Alton’s general course of action. “You guys are right! The “stolen property” of the nobles must be returned and that should be our priority.” He gathers his things and begins to pull Jack out onto the road along side the wagon, leaving the decaying undead and their tracks for the wolves. He begins to walk down the path in a southernly direction as he listens to Gabe’s directions. Upon hearing the options he casts a quick look as his donkey and his heavy burden and responds, “Perhaps we should stick to the road for now. It will be as fast and from the sound of it much easier to navigate! Surely it will be faster with the wagon we borrowed to stay on the road…Wagons do not fair well in the woods” With that he begins to trek south on the road towards the next village, trying to put the horrid thoughts of the battle that happened minutes before. As the hours pass he begins to wonder where and why zombies might be walking in the forest so close to Freeport. This journey is already becoming more interesting than expected…
I added 1k XP. Added 2 gold.
Leveled up to level 3.
based attack bonus went up 1 to +2, reflex went up +1 to 5.
added one rank to diplomacy (7), search (3), and spot(6).
added point blank shot as my new feat.
Gained 1 second level spell, and 8 hit points (now 20).
whoops, forgot to add my HP. rolled a 7.
Hey, I wanted to updated my character based on the new XP
I added 1k XP. Added 1 gold.
Leveled up to level 3.
based attack bonus went up 1 to +3, reflex and will went up to +1
added one rank to jump, listen and move silently skills
added power attack as my new feat.
Gabe occasionally glances at the smoldering corpses and the charred hole in the earth where the thoqqua burrowed into the earth. he holds his spear with both hands, leaning on it like a cane or walking stick. He seems to be taking the fight with animated corpses and magical forest plants quite well. maybe he has seen or heard of this sort of thing before.
“well the quickest way to the ruins is to head down the eastern coast until you reach the ruins. but that path is less traveled and could have obstacles on it, like clifs and rocky beaches. I’ve never been that way myself but i heard this its still passable this time of year. the safer path to take it to keep on the road and cut across country when we get to the southern road out of three-paths, the village where i live. we could stay at my house tonight if we go that way. either way, there is some cross country hiking to be done and either way it will still be tomorrow morning by the time we get to the ruins. its up to you guys to decide which way to go.” he looks at the three of you and calmly waits for your decision.
Alton watches everyone interact. He spends time making sure that his weapons remain in working order. He walks carefully, and kicks the bodies every once in a while. He checks himself for wounds and then pulls himself together and stands a little bit off. His nibble hands easily grab the coin out of the air and he shoves it in is pocket quickly. He scoffs a bit and mutters something, but shrugs his shoulders and quickly lets his thoughts go. “Wes should gets moving me thinks. The prisoners aren’t goings to be rescuing themselves me thinks. Which ways we go now Kid?”
Kalika surveys the scene in front of her: large, ashen, mounds of torn flesh that stink of rotting and decay; trees brought alive through her magical influence returning to their original state; a trail of ash and smoldering brush where the Thoqqua touched and passed by; and her companions, all of whom seem to be uninjured from the attack. “Was anyone injured?” she asks just to be sure. “I have a spell that can cure light wounds if anyone needs it, better to be 100% healed in case tonight brings another battle” she says. She reached down to touch Nailo’s head, as the panther approaches her side. “Good girl,” she told Nailo, “Thanks for jumping in like that; it looks like you’re going to be valuable to more than just me on this journey.” With that, she reached down and picked up two gold coins, tossed one to Alton and the other to Gabe; then she picked up the other two and put them in her pocket. “Nathan,” she called, “Here, let me have a look at the key.” Assuming he hands it over to her, she closes her fist around the key, closes her eyes and concentrates on a Detect Magic Spell to see if the key has any magical properties. (Since the spell has a range of 60 feet, it also enables her to see if there are any other magical items/ persons in that distance). “Well, I think we had better get on the road. Whoever sent those zombies after us might have more tricks in mind. We should push on and get as far from this place as we can before we stop for the night.”
daybreak is coming and already the suns are peeking out from beyond the horizon. your body has been cleansed of any grogginess by the nights combat. the burning bodies of the zombies no longer twitch and now lie still. danger is no longer a problem for the moment but a choice now confronts your party. do you continue on your way to the southern tip of the country in pursuit of the kidnappers? or do you follow the zombies clear trail through the scrub and forest to god knows where? just remember, time is not on your side.
“(sorry guys the last post was from my phone so i wanted to embellish)
Nathan surveys the scene and sheaths his swords as no further threat can be seen. (maybe do a listen check/spot check)(no dice at work roll it for me) After finding the key in the body of one of the zombies he shows it to Alton, Gabe, and Kalika. “Does this look familiar to anyone? Obviously not Elven made since none of these zombies appear to be elves (I assumed they were all human bodies). Hmmm I wonder where they came from and where they got these weapons? We should try and track these walking corpses. I doubt they were careful enough to cover their tracks. How far was that house that you knew of Gabe? Take a closer look at the bodies and see if you recognize any of these folks….Poor souls….(he pauses, closing his eyes as if in prayer or disbelief) We should leave this tainted ground before more evil springs up before us.” With that he turns and rolls up his bed mat, gathers his backpack and other items. He takes a brisk walk away from the group to check on his pack mule, Jack. Assuming Jack is Ok he fastens his usual gear to the animal and feeds it some grain as a nice break from the grass found on the side of the road. He checks the road for signs of morning travelers to see if anyone passed in the night. After checking the road he walks back with Jack to the camp, collects 1 of the gold coins from the cash found on the bodies and then tries his best to find heavy footprints from the zombies.”
(everyone gets 1000 exp for this encounter. this includes the 500 from the zombies plus 500 each for Kalika using spells, Alton using thief abilities, and Nathan nobly defending Gabe instead of fending for himself.)
The zombie corpses are badly burned and mangled from being resurected. the bodies are practically in pieces. the only things of value that are found on the corpses are a small brass key and 5 gold coins that are found on the tongues of the zombies. Gabe recoils from the corpses and eyes the key curiously. while you are cleaning up after the battle, the thoqqua noisily borrows back into the fiery depths of the earth, apprently released from the spell that summoned it. the vines and branches of the forest clearing twitch oddly as you walk around, still saturated with a small portion of the magical energy that caused it to entangle the zombies.
The horizon begins to glow a deep red by the time you have finished searching the corpses and the dawn will be close behind. A long day of travel awaits you.
Alton quickly places his light mace back in its sling and set out to collect the usable bolts and his throw dagger. After he gets his equipment, he walks up to Gabe and slaps him on the back has high as he can reach. ” Pretty Good with that spears, for a kid! That deader didn’t know what hit him, but then mes guess he didn’t know much to begins with if he was dead.” Alton’s face then switches from a grin to a more serious face as he turns his attention, to examining and searching the bodies. He first goes through any pockets looking for valuables that may have been left behind and then looks for symbols or anything else that might be useful to the group. While he is searching for the symbols and information, he turns his voice to the group, “You guys see a finger waggler. I mean the forest was alive, the deaders were alives, and Fire moved like a water snake. We better be carefuls me think? Yes?”
Nathan surveys the scene. Seeing that all the zombies now lie on the ground in a pile of old blood and burnt clothing, he turns to check on gabe and then searchs the bodies for clues/booty.
Nailo, swiftly bounces back from her first attack and lunges at the zombie again. She jumps at him with her paws landing on his chest and her teeth taking a large bite out of his neck. The zombie let out a horrendous scream that was quickly muffled and replaced with a gurgling sound as he fell to the ground and died. Nailo licks her chops, then looks around to see if anyone else is in need of help. Meanwhile, the Thoqqua coils itself up and springs through the air like a ball of fire. It lands squarely in the chest of the already flaming zombie, causing the zombie to lose balance and topple over. The zombie tries to roll around to put out the flames, but its flesh is already too far gone. Pieces of melted skin and hair fly into the air as the burning zombie thrashes around on the ground, and eventually the thrashing becomes less violent as the flames consume the zombie. Soon all that’s left of him is a burned mass of ash and charred bones. Kalika surveys the scene from her perch in the tree and, noticing that all of the zombies have been killed, jumps down to check on her companions.
nailo hits with her bite but not her claws but it doesnt matter because both remaining zombies die. the thoqqua kills the healthier one and kalika and nailo kill the other. GO! ill give out exp and tell you what you find after laurie posts.
Nailo’s rolls a 7 for attack.
I never posted my next actions, so here they are, before I post… The Thoqqua is going to attack one of the remaining two zombies, preferably the one that’s already on fire. Attack roll for Thoqqua is 15, Damage is 9+7(fire damage) (1d6+3 plus 2d6 fire). Nailo is going to attack the same zombie she’s been attacking. I can’t remember what her damage is. Kalika is going to use her sling and aim at the zombie Nailo’s attacking. Attack=12+1+4=17, Damage = 3.
Yes, that is a new post. it is not lauries turn with Nailo and her summoned Thoqqua.
Rob is that a new post?
Gabe is initially shocked when the Thoqqua bursts forth from the fiery depths of the earth but upon seeing the glowing worm launch itself at the zombies he takes the opportunity to attack the zombie in front of him who is hopelessly distracted and wounded. He lunges hard with his wooden spear and belts out a fierce scream.
“RAHHH!!!”
The sturdy wooden shaft catches the startled zombie squarely under the chin and the pole penetrates the creatures’ neck, severing the spine right below the head. The beast looses the unnatural glow in its eye as the magic forces powering the abomination flee the animated corpse. It crumples on the spot and Gabe attempts to wrench his spear from the corpse.
Meanwhile, one of the two remaining zombies attempts to move away from the thoqqua and begins to shamble towards Alton. He will be well within arms reach next round but the move obviously indicates the beings stupidity as it is lit on fire as it disengages from the melee.
Everyone can post in the adventure log. Laurie has the whole story up to current in a word doc and we’ll post it all to get it up to date. Then we’ll continue the story there.
Can we all post in the Adventure log.? I was reading the entire thing and I think it flows together quite nicely. It’s actually starting out to be an engrossing story as you read it and each person is doing a very good job with their responses. Perhaps we should use the comments section for rolls and what not, but use the adventure log to continue the stor.
ITS EASY, WHEN I GET AROUND TO IT AFTER MY TERM PAPER, ILL POST A MAP AND SOME INFO ON NPC’S AND THEN INSTEAD OF SENDING EVERYONE E-MAIL’S, ILL POST ON THE ADVENTURE LOG AND YOU ALL CAN READ IT. WE CAN DO COMBAT WITH THE COMMENTS OR SOMETHING SO YOULL KNOW WHEN ITS YOUR TURN. I ONLY WISH THERE WAS SOME SORT OF ONLINE SYSTEM FOR COMBAT… LIKE I COULD SET THE PARAMETERS AND YOU GUYS COULD RUN THE COMBAT. THAT WOULD ROCK.
Looks good to me. Its actually fun to read the entire adventure so far from begining to end. Just not too sure how to use this.
Dude this is awesome. Get alot of information up here!
i will be updating this site in the next few days so just bear with me… this site should help everyone play the game. i hope it works out!