[DM Hugh] - "Maybe we can throw stones or use a stick to drop the crystals in front of us..." d100=67 ; Tuesday May 5th, 2015 7:37:03 PM
(OOC: I am posting the link to Eberyon's Tears so that you can review what they do. Please note the bonus conferred only applies to a single unarmed or natural attack per user, so you may want to rethink the everyone gets one strategy unless they have a decent chance of hitting with an unarmed or natural attack...IMHO )
Alleah gather's samples of the fallen glass growth shards and is nimble enough to pluck an intact sample from a low hanging branch.
There is debate among the party as to how to proceed moving through the forest, Bliss suggests that he and Mookie could fly above the trees punching a rock with his monk training and the thunderous tear, Hazel suggests throwing rocks or dropping things from on high on the trees in front of you, Murphy suggests that Sardok could use his bellowing voice to clear a path, but in the end Sardok grabs a pot and pan from the cook kit deciding to save his voice for something else.
Murphy schools Hazel on Eberyon's tears and Shel thinks that everyone should take one. Sardok calls dibs on shock, Shel takes the frost tear, Murphy takes the flame tear and Bliss has the thunderous one.
You start your procession through the crystalline forest with Sardok in the lead banging on his pots and pans, the rest of you not far behind occasionally adding a vocal accompaniment to the percussion. You don't travel too far into the woods when Veseley says, "It appears that some fog is starting to encroach on our parade." Sure enough the wizard's words ring true and the rest of you notice that an oppressive fog has risen. You can just make out the path back out of the forest through the fog, though if you keep going it is possible you may lose sight of it. Do you still press on through the fog to the cemetery or do you head back outside the forest to camp in the hopes that the fog will abate after some rest?
Sardok HP 41/44 AC 21/16/16--Atlas2112 Tuesday May 5th, 2015 8:08:12 PM
As Sardok sees the fog roll in, he calls back to the company following him. "Was it not spoken that we had not too far to travel through this accursed place? If it is not more than a few score leagues, I'd wager 'twould be meat to be quickly though, than brewing 'afore it as a stone in the kettle. 'An none have gain to say, I'd council for keeping to our path. How say you back there?"
Sardok pounds his kitchenware slightly less frequently in case any decide to stop him and turn back.
ShelGerald--AC 15/14/12--CMD 13--HP 34/34 Tuesday May 5th, 2015 8:39:09 PM
Shel casts Detect Magic on the fog, looking around to see if this was a natural occurrence, or if it was something else altogether. "If this fog is natural, we could try and wait it out...I hate to have to turn around and lose all the progress we have made so far. We could always camp down right here as it might disperse quickly."
OOC: dm, the link about the Tears doesn't work for me.
OOC: DM Hugh Edit - Try now...sorry for that
Hazel (Bob Danderfluff LaRue) HP: 47/50 AC: 18/14/15 - Faoil: 20/23 AC 18/13/16 Tuesday May 5th, 2015 11:24:56 PM
Hazel blinks at Murphy's explanation. "But.. wait... ok... oysters? How did these get here? Well, I trust you. And I think they won't do anything for me, anyway. Also, I don't feel like hanging perals from my beard..." OOC: If I understand correctly they won't help Hazel as he uses weapons, but could be used by Faoil, as he bites the bad guys, right? --- Hazel sses the fog and kicks in the ground. "I... HATE... THIS... PLACE!!! Can't we clear some space and camp here?"
(OOC: DM Hugh Edit: Yes, Faoil could use a pearl b/c he bites the bad guys. Email forthcoming regarding what attacks you guys have that can benefit from the pearls)
Alleah -- RobC -- AC 15/14/12 -- CMD 12 -- HP 33/33 Tuesday May 5th, 2015 11:28:10 PM "Er, I think we should probably push on ahead. Knowing our recent luck it is probably the Huntsman and his heralds. If we are being hunted we can't afford to keep stopping"
Murphy - HP 33/36 AC 16/14/14 (Kim) d20+10=21 ; Wednesday May 6th, 2015 3:24:09 AM
"Shel, your pendant. Tell me which way it is pointing." It always points in the direction of the moon Wardd. "Here in Kosche Marr - does it point toward this realm's moon?" He queries.
If it seems to maintain a steadfast direction, then he counsels. "Let us shout down the leaves, and step forward - yet guided by Shel's guidance to continue in a consistent path."
He also uses his own sense of direction, though in a foggy place in so strange a forest, to help the party maintain a reasonably straight pathway through the crystaline trees. [Survival 21]
Bliss (AC20, HP35) & Mookie (AC19, HP17) (Cayzle) d20+1=17 ; Wednesday May 6th, 2015 5:39:17 AM
Bliss does what he can to figure out the deal with this mist. He Detects Magic and Poison. He uses his untrained knowledge (check result is a 17).
Thinking about that mist is making Bliss edgy, and he shivers. Then he casts Endure Elements on himself and on each of his friends. Somehow it dies not seem to help?
Assuming it is not poison or magic ...
"Well, we could run away from the scary mist, or we can be heroes and forge on ahead," says Bliss. "Let's go forward."
Mookie cocks his head and looks at him. "That's what dead heroes say."
Bliss sighs. "Hush Mookie."
Alleah -- RobC -- AC 15/14/12 -- CMD 12 -- HP 33/33 Wednesday May 6th, 2015 7:22:50 AM
Alleah grins. Mookie always had a way of cutting to the heart of things.
ShelGerald--AC 15/14/12--CMD 13--HP 34/34 Wednesday May 6th, 2015 7:29:02 AM
Shel pulls her pendant out from under her clothing. She had doubted it would work in this world, but Murphy was right...she should check and see if it still retained its minor power. Anything that might help with direction sense could be useful.
Alleah -- RobC -- AC 15/14/12 -- CMD 12 -- HP 33/33 Wednesday May 6th, 2015 11:05:36 AM OOC: Fyi friends, a new Woldian quote has been added to the rotation:
"Pray for these demons? Sounds like a good idea. I bet they would hate it!" - Hazel in Humble's Ford
Congratulations Hazel!
DM Steven - Yeah!! Nice one!! Thanks Rob and congrats Hazel!! You'll be up there for eternity!!
Sardok HP 41/44 AC 21/16/16--Atlas2112 Wednesday May 6th, 2015 9:08:02 PM
Sardok manages to chuckle a bit at Mookie's fatalistic philosophy as he pushes on.
"And what would you have us do, oh wise feathered-friend? The only path of surest safety lies a day ago as we stay in bed and ignore the smoke and cries for help. We can not pause where we stand and to retreat is merely to allow the enemy to direct our actions. The path to both victory and safety is, as it most usually is, forward, through the teeth of the foe. As the wisemen say: Victory is the surest path to peace."
Congrats Hazel. =)
Hazel (Bob Danderfluff LaRue) HP: 47/50 AC: 18/14/15 - Faoil: 20/23 AC 18/13/16 Wednesday May 6th, 2015 9:11:59 PM OOC: Thank you all, specially RobC. All is because Alleah praying for them.
[DM Hugh] - "We could run away from the scary mist, or we can be heroes and forge on ahead" Wednesday May 6th, 2015 9:56:07 PM
The party weighs the idea of stopping for a rest to wait out the fog or pressing on. Shel and Bliss cast spells to help determine the nature of the fog. Bliss detects no poison and both he and Shel detect a faint aura emanating from the mist, however this being Koshe Marr there is a certain amount of ambient magical energy and the reading they get from the mist is consistent with the Koshe Marr baseline so the fog is no more magical than anything else in Koshe Marr is.
(OOC: I read the fact that the fog is magic, but not unusually magical for Koshe Marr that we are following the conversation starting with Bliss urging to press on, if this is not true please let me know)
Hazel is of the opinion that the group should stop to rest and vocally declares he hates this place but everyone else is for pressing on. Murphy has an idea to help the group keep in a relative straight path despite the poor visibility and Shel takes out her pendant at Murphy's behest. As Shel holds the pendant aloft, it starts to spin back and forth as if searching for the satellite it is supposed to always point towards. As the minutes tick by the pendant shows no sign of stopping, you come to the realization that whatever that moon is it is not Wardd, that is to say if it is even a moon so once again Koshe Marr has served up the unexpected and bizarre. (OOC: I hope I didn't break the mood, but I couldn't help it)
Bliss casts Endure Elements on his friends as he ponders the fog before advocating that they press on, because after all it is what heroes do.
Mookie offers the sobering thought that that is what dead heroes say.
Alleah just smiles at the familiar's bluntness while Sardok and Bliss each tell the bird to hush in their own ways.
Despite the fact that the pendant of Wardd is of no use as a navigational aid, Murphy is still skilled in woodland lore, which luckily for the party this translates well in the environs of the crystalline forests of Koshe Marr. Although the mist is heavy and visibility is exceedingly poor Murphy manages to guide the party successfully through the forest of shards.
Eventually you reach a clearing in the forest and notice that the fog has lifted a little. Just beyond the clearing you see the wrought iron entrance to the old cemetery piercing the cloud cover like a splinter in one's flesh, beckoning you to enter.
Do you press on to the old cemetery or camp in the clearing just outside it? After all who knows what could be lurking in there? This is Koshe Marr.
Alleah -- RobC -- AC 15/14/12 -- CMD 12 -- HP 33/33 d20+11=23 ; Wednesday May 6th, 2015 10:40:47 PM "Anyone else find it disturbing that Koshe Marr has a cemetary?" Alleash asks the group as she fights the urge to tremble. What in the Wold would be buried here? Hopefully it remains buried.
"Does it mean someone around here respects the dead enough to create a place for them though? I guess that's one way to look at the glass as half-full."
Perception: 23 - Specifically looking at the ground for prints
Hazel (Bob Danderfluff LaRue) HP: 47/50 AC: 18/14/15 - Faoil: 20/23 AC 18/13/16 d20+12=29 ; d20+9=27 ; Thursday May 7th, 2015 12:00:05 AM
Hazel and Faoil looks around for any creatures.... Hazel Perception Roll: 29 Faoil Aid Another Perception Roll: 27 "I think a cemetery is the most "normal" thing we have found in this accursed place so far. I think we should rest before continue..."
ShelGerald--AC 15/14/12--CMD 13--HP 34/34 Thursday May 7th, 2015 7:30:09 AM "I agree with Hazel. We've been walking a long time, and I've used a bunch of my magic back there. Getting a few minutes to try and get a bit of sleep is important for us, I think. There's no telling what is waiting for us in that cemetery."
Sardok HP 41/44 AC 21/16/16--Atlas2112 Thursday May 7th, 2015 8:09:55 AM "I concur. We pushed through past the glass forest and now that we have escaped it, I think a healing rest would be most welcome before we brave the dangers of whatever lies inside those morbid gates."
Sardok pitches camp. Now that he's reached the safety of the other side, he takes a moment to really study the glass forest. Are all the shards that fall tiny? As in, glass shards? Or are some of a large size?
Bliss (AC20, HP35) & Mookie (AC19, HP17) (Cayzle) Thursday May 7th, 2015 8:21:19 AM
"There's no telling what is waiting for us in that cemetery."
Mookie caws in hysterical laughter and says in his deepest voice: "That is not dead which can eternal lie."
Hazel (Bob Danderfluff LaRue) HP: 47/50 AC: 18/14/15 - Faoil: 20/23 AC 18/13/16 Thursday May 7th, 2015 10:10:32 AM OOC: Good one! He could also say: "Nevermore!"
[DM Hugh] - "That is not dead which can eternal lie." d20+16=35 ; d4=1 ; Thursday May 7th, 2015 11:45:30 PM
After making it through the forest of shards the party decides to camp in the clearing before moving to the cemetery.
Hazel maintains his stance that the party should rest and Shel agrees as she needs to recharge her spells.
Alleah asks if anyone else find it disturbing that Koshe Marr has a cemetery and Hazel says it is the most normal thing here, then ever the optimist she looks on the bright side that at least whoever built it has respect for the dead. Alleah then looks for tracks, but doesn't find any. If anyone did pass this way before you it could have been ages since then.
Sardok concurs as well and pitches camp, then turns his attention to the crystalline woods. The shards, before they broke off due to your load noises were composed of a myriad of different sized glass like spikes from fine splinter size ones to stake sized spikes.
Veseley helps with the camp duties summoning an unseen servant, setting up an alarm and producing food and water using his sustaining spoon and decanter of endless water (OOC: As far as I can tell the only way for wizards to create food and water is through the use of magic items, divine spell casters have this niche filled soooo in order to keep continuity with my co-dm Veseley has a sustaining spoon and decanter of endless water) The wizard then turns his attention to Tiana trying to make sure she is comfortable or at least as comfortable as a catatonic person can be.
Bliss points out to the party that there is no telling what is in the cemetery and Mookie once again contributes to ominous mood by cackling and saying in a deep voice, "That is not dead which can eternal lie."
Isra shivers in her blanket and says, "I don't want Rais buried in that cemetery. Promise me you won't bury him there."
Veseley says to the group, "I am glad we have stopped for a rest, but resting will do little good in recovering my arcane power. My spell book was not transported here with us so the only spells I can cast are the ones I previously prepared that I have not cast yet. I will do what I can to aid you, come what may, but a lot of my spells were spent in the tower before you arrived and I have cast a number of my remaining spells already here. I am sorry I cannot be of more help."
The group bed downs for the night or rather a period of rest since with that moon in the sky it is technically always night in Koshe Marr.
Sardok if you succeed a Will Save DC 20 Highlight to display spoiler: {You have been afflicted with the curse of lycanthropy and are now an afflicted were bat, congratulations. After you bed down for the night and fall asleep brown fur sprouts from all over your body and you grow leathery wings. You take to the air and began hunting for the large mosquitos that are native to Koshe Marr. You also suck the blood from some native Koshe Marr goats before returning near camp and hanging upside down in from a depleted branch of the crystalline tree. You will wake hanging upside down in the tree with your feet caught in the crook of the tree. You can post reactions to your transformation b/c you are essentially a passenger in your were bat form but you cannot control the were bat as you are an afflicted lycanthrope. Bat Sardok has a mind of his own.}
Sardok if you fail a Will Save DC 20 Highlight to display spoiler: {Please post a dream sequence after you fall asleep and until you wake up. When you wake up you will find yourself upside down hanging from a tree branch by your feet with no clue how you got there.}
Party members awake on first watch Perception DC 38; Everyone else sleeping DC 48 Highlight to display spoiler: {You notice that Sardok has transformed into a bat and has taken to the air, leaving the area of the camp. If you were sleeping you were awakened by the sounds of his bones shifting to fit his new form and if you were awake you just happened to be looking at his bed roll at the right time to see this transformation take place. Hair sprouts from all over his body and he grows leathery wings while his body makes popping and cracking noises as his insides rearrange for his new shape. }
Party members on 2nd - 4th watch Perception DC 15 Highlight to display spoiler: {You notice that Sardok is not in his bedroll. Wherever could he be?}
Bliss (AC20, HP35) & Mookie (AC19, HP17) (Cayzle) d4=1 ; Friday May 8th, 2015 12:08:43 AM
Hmmm ... what watch is Mookie and Bliss on? Rolling a random d4 ... First watch it is!
Perception check for Mookie and Bliss is only a +12 and a +13, respectively. No need to roll to hit a DC38, since they cannot make that anyway.
The two keep a careful watch during an evidently uneventful night!
(OOC:DM Hugh - sorry about that but I was using a stealth skill and giving favor to it b/c of the fog...did I do something wrong? Input would be appreciated)
Hazel (Bob Danderfluff LaRue) HP: 47/50 AC: 18/14/15 - Faoil: 20/23 AC 18/13/16 d20+12=20 ; d20+9=18 ; d20+7=17 ; Friday May 8th, 2015 12:19:25 AM Hazel and Faoil normally do the last watch... Hazel Perception Roll: 20 (+2 Faoil's Aid Another) = 22 Faoil Aid Another Perception Roll: 18 OOC: This is in case he is the first noticing Sardok is not around, or if he is waken up by others. Hazel looks around for Sardok. After seeing for a minute he is not around, he ask Faoil to track him. "Smell his bedroll Faoil! Now, find!" Faoil Survival (Tracking - Scent) roll: 17
Murphy - HP 34/36 AC 16/14/14 (Kim) d20+14=21 ; Friday May 8th, 2015 1:07:53 AM
Murphy's sleep was troubled by images of frosted knives swarming toward himself and his friends, and of shapechanging monsters offering bowls of hot oatmeal filled with worms. A figure looms in the distance, fletched arrows visible in the quiver on his back.
He notes a party member's absence shortly after he awakens for his morning devotions to Eberyon. "Did Sardok dig a hole wherein to relieve himself?" he asks innocently.
Since most of his food is back with his ponies in Humble's Ford, the towhead druid opens his pouch of jerky. "A stick of this should satisfy your hunger for the day," he tells his friends, offering a stick to each, including Faoil. He considers Bliss's companion/counselor. "Uh, would you fancy a piece of jerked venison, Mookie? If not, feel free to come up with a suitable remark for me having made such an inappropriate offer," he says with a wry smile.
Alleah -- RobC -- AC 15/14/12 -- CMD 12 -- HP 33/33 d20+11=25 ; Friday May 8th, 2015 3:31:02 AM
Before settling in for the evening Alleah cautions the others about the possible hazards of sleeping in the forest "We don't know how quickly the crystal leaves grow. We could find ourselves in trouble if they magically reappear around us. Also, let's be careful of the rising sun. It's rays could be focused by the crystals and we could find ourselves burning very very quickly"
With all that cheerful stuff out of the way, she settles down for the night cuddled up next to Isra "Don't worry. I haven't given up hope of bringing him back to you yet" she says of Rais. Alleah stays by the girls side until she is sure the girl has gone to sleep.
Alleah is usually on the same watch as Bliss (first) and notices nothing at all unusual. When her time comes, she sleeps quite soundly until awoken by others.
"What is it? Is it .. him again?" she whispers, rising from a disturbing dream. Murphy draws her attention to Sardok's bedroll. Could the huntsman have found them already? Did he snatch Sardok right out of their midst?
Perception: 25
ShelGerald--AC 15/14/12--CMD 13--HP 34/34 d20+3=23 ; Friday May 8th, 2015 10:14:32 AM
Shel takes third watch.
OOC: Perception roll 23. Natural 20!
She wakes up for her turn, and notices Sardok wasn't around. She didn't want to bother that others as for the first time in a bit, a few of them actually seemed to be sleeping well, but she felt she had no choice. "Everyone wake up...Sardok isn't here! We need to see who has taken him. It looks like another Huntsman trick!"
Sardok HP 41/44 AC 21/16/16--Atlas2112 d20+2=13 ; Friday May 8th, 2015 12:05:02 PM
Will save = 13
Sardok falls heavily into his bedroll. The day's events, from the over-matched fight to the death of the goblin, to the trudge through the unholy murder-forest, had taken a toll on his energy reserves. Though he did the best he could to put on a brave face as the 'tough' of the group, not since that time that he fought a week-long running battle, hunting the last of an IronHand raiding party with Monpezat, did he ever remember being this tired. Sardok collapses into as soon as he's fully prone, and can barely manage to pull up the blanket before he's under.
He has many dreams that night. Of the battle, of the Hunter, of fighting bats both larger and faster than him. At last his unconscious mind changes gears and he dreams of himself floating, flying, rising up up up, past clouds and fog and stars. Up up up until he breaks through the dome of night and finds himself in an illuminate room of infinite dimension. Before him stands a being of unreal brightness, cloaked in a many-layered robe of white that shines with the fury of a thousand suns. To him, the being speaks: "SARDOK. I AM IMRAEL, ANGEL OF CONFRONTATION, BANE OF CORRUPTION AND MESSENGER OF PROPOKET, THE HERALD OF GARGUL. UNTO YOU IS GIVEN THE QUEST TO END THE EVIL THAT STANDS BEFORE YOU, AND SO BRING ONE OF GARGUL'S MOST HATED FOES LOW. THE STRENGTH TO DO SO YOU HAVE ALREADY BEEN GIVEN. FAIL ME NOT."
AS Sardok opens his mouth to ask one of the countless questions that come to his tongue, the room disintegrates and falls falls falls an infinity downward, and comes to an abrupt halt. He is instantly awake, and reaches up to grab the branch he seems to have fallen into, so he can lower himself to the ground.
Such a dream seems...unrealistic? But if it didn't happen, how was he in the tree?
"Hello?" he calls out, anxious to make his way back to camp and friends. "Can anyone hear me?"
If he sees a sign of them, he jogs forward to make sure they know he's okay. Unsure of what just happened, if any ask him how he got in a tree, he simply says he was 'out for a walk'.
LOG ON