Battle for Kazragun

[Dicer]

Veskassdak halted his progress on this small area of land and pointed at the thorny bushes if front of them.


"Sssee ssshiny sssomething there," he said. "Sssee cloth pile, too. Sssign maybe of pointy ear mammalsss. Want check?"

 

[Ritzy]

"Smells like a trap to me." Aeon muttered. "I don't suppose we have anyone with skills in looking for that sort of thing? I'll admit my former master left that out of my training."

 

[Sherwood]

Wren laughs.  "I'm pretty good with traps.  Give me a moment to look it over."  She takes a moment to pop her neck, then her knuckles to loosen up.  Moving slowly, she approaches the object and pulls out her toolkit, observing it carefully.

Spoiler

Perception roll to Locate Traps is +7, and Disable Device is a +9, with another +2 from my Masterwork thieves tools

 

[Silanon]

Carefully moving forward, her tools at the ready, Wren takes a closer look at the shiny object. From closer distance, it looks like a blade of some sort - rather primitive, more for hacking than for precise fighting; and different from the weaponry the human is familiar with. Clearly, it was not dropped arbitrarily, instead carefully stuck into the ground, as if inviting anyone getting closer to pull it out. Wren's sharp eyes can make out that it's placed in a wider hole, as if blocking it. There is no sign what might be inside there as of now, but the simplest way to avoid finding out is to just not touch the sword.


Getting so close, Wren's nose also can distinguish the smell of rotting flesh from the pile close to it - seems like someone was not as careful as you are.

 

[Sherwood]

Moving slowly, Wren begins to examine everything, looking for a trap mechanism to disarm.

 

[Silanon]

The more Wren looks around, the more certain she is that there is no hidden mechanism to disarm - just a hole with the sword plunged into it to keep whatever is in there inside. Quite a primitive trap, really, if you even want to call it one - certainly built to catch less intelligent people than humans. Indeed, as Wren musters the pile next to it closer, she realizes it is the corpse of a rather small, ugly-looking creature that she might recognize as a goblin if she ever has seen one. Its skin is covered with hundreds of what appears to be wasp stings, apparently even underneath its thin clothing.


While Wren searches the surrounding, what do the others do? Are you just waiting for her to get to a conclusion, or do you wish to move up and take a look for yourself, seeing that the rogue apparently can move rather freely? The carrion birds, who have set down on the trees and eyed you rather interested, seem to lose their curiosity, one by one leaving southwards - probably to have alligator for dinner. Speaking of daytimes: You probably have around two hours of sunlight left to work with.

 

[Ritzy]

Aeon hovers behind her. "That's a goblin...fairly standard gruntmen for orcs. Never actually fought an orc, but these things...yeah I've seen a few. What do you suppose the stings are about? Do you think they pop out of the hole the second one yanks on the sword? Does anyone have any lantern oil? I can pour it down the hole, yank on the sword and if the damned things pop out, I'll set them ablaze. Unless anyone else has an idea. It's going to get rather dark soon." He says after examining the situation.

 

[Sherwood]

Wren shudders. "That looks icky. Not a pleasant way to go out. It doesn't seem to be a trap, at least, not that I can see. So, do you think it's a hive of bugs that this is in the middle of? If hate to share the goblins demise."

 

[Dicer]

Veskassdak approached the area once the mammal called Wren indicated it was safe.  Seeing the creatures body and hearing Aeon identify it as a goblin, Veskassdak spoke, "If hive with sssword, no disssturb. Ssswamp protect itssself thisss way. We go on. Want find ssspot sssafe camp. Here not sssafe."


With that, he started to pass the dead body and move further down the improving path.

 

[Clockwork Syringe]

Baird watched as Wren went about her business identifying and coming to the conclusion that the item in question was more than likely not a trap, but that there was something that killed whatever was down there, he didn't quite catch what it was. After hearing Veskassdak's judgement call, he was in agreement, Baird trusted his assessment of what was going on since he was more experienced than everyone else here in swamps. "I'm in agreement Veskassdak, let's get going," Baird said as he began to follow him as he started to leave.

 

[Sherwood]

After carefully cleaning and packing away her tools, Wren stands up and brushes away some dirt from her hands. "Agreed. Let's move on. After all, we are running out of daylight to fund a dry spot to make camp for the night."

 

[Ritzy]

"Yes. I'd rather not get stung today. Let's not push our luck." Aeon said cheerfully and followed the others at a quickstep.

 

[Silanon]

You decide to leave sword and potential hive behind - if it kills goblins, it can't be half bad, after all; and the sooner you leave, the less likely it is that you share the ugly one's destiny. Trying to head as directly as possible in direction of the "island", you choose the path that seems most promising to get you there. At first, things go alright - while the grass turns greyish again, you move in a reasonable pace, almost managing to surpass half of the remaining distance until things get worse rapidly. Without forewarning, the ground gets muddier than ever before, almost grabbing for your feet and pulling them down. Not only that, but after fighting against the new conditions for a few moments, you reach a point where the path just vanishes - clearly, it continues on the other side of that two-step wide gap where a stronger water flow seems to have washed away the narrow land briges you're travelling on by now; but that's not much of a help if you cannot make it there.


If you trust your luck, you can try to jump the gap, swim or wade through it - otherwise, you might have to turn around and try to pass by somewhere else. From here, the water current seems to be relevant for quite a while to your left and right, so you may have to accept taking a longer detour.

 

[Dicer]

Veskassdak looked at the flowing water. While he felt certain that he could swim across with ease, he wasn't quite as certain that the mammals would be as able. They could try to leap over it, but that also was just as hazardous. Especially for the small mammal.


"Ssswim me could do, but you maybe not," Veskassdak commented. "Jump no good, too."


Looking up at the sky he estimated that there wasn't much daylight left.


"We go back and maybe no sssee too good. Me could ssswim and ussse rope to pull all you acrosss," he suggested.

 

[Sherwood]

Wren looks around for something to possibly be used to make a temporary bridge across so they don't have to worry about going around.  The other option might be to have Veskassdak toss her across to tie a couple of ropes to have the others walk across with.

 

[Silanon]

Apart from the things you brought, there is not all that much to work with. Some rotten wood lies around, but it is likely to just break apart even if only the halfling steps on it. On the other side, there are some marvelous dead trees just a few steps ahead - you almost certainly would be able to secure the end of a rope there. Your side, however, lacks such features - you might be able to tie it around the remains of a young pin oak, but it's really not much more than a stump. It might be too weak to withstand any burden, and it's certainly not high enough that someone could makes his way along the rope without getting wet feet.

 

[Sherwood]

Wren looks around, then lets out a snort.  "I guess that there is no choice for it then."  With that, she takes a running leap across the running water.

 

[Ritzy]

"Well, I'll just have to trust in Arete." Aeon mutters. As he starts to wade, trusting on the weight of his armor to keep his solid and hoping he could hold his breath if the water got too deep. 

 

[Dicer]

Seeing Wren try to leap across and Aeon wade into the water, Veskassdak said, "Foolisssh mammalsss," and dove into the water. He swam near them in case they were swept away by the current. He was in his element and knew he could save these mammals from their impetuous actions if something went wrong. They did not know how dangerous the swamp could be, but he did. Once all of them were across, then he could relax. Until then, he would be the last to leave the water. He hoped Wren cleared the jump, but he also hoped those still standing would wait for the ropes to be strung for an easier crossing.

 

[Silanon]

Usually, such a distance is no problem for Wren to jump across - with the ground being soaked with water and no real possibility to gain speed in the mud, things are more difficult. She still manages to cross the gap, even though she almost falls backwards when her feet hit the equally soaked ground on the other side. Veskassdak has less trouble - swimming, he avoids the troubles of losing his footing althogether, even helping the others as good as he can. In Bairds case, that works out rather well - the moment the man struggles, the reptile can support him good enough to cross over rather safely.


That is not the case for the other two: Wearing heavier armor than the others, the swamps are eager to swallow them right away. In Aeons case, he is too far forward for the lizardman to react properly - struggling as soon as his feet enter the water, he falls over, plunging into the sludge. However, before he can sink, something from underneath comes to his rescue - firm and sturdy does it grab for him, for want of a better word. It only holds for a short moment - as soon as Veskassdak grabs his shoulder, the snake-like things wrapped around his chest vanish instantly, not leaving the water as the cleric stands back up, managing to cross over without further trouble. Findil is the last one to switch sides - supported by the lizardman, he manages to finish two thirds of the way before he loses hold as well, witnessing the same experience as Aeon did - only that in this case, Baird and Wren manage to pull him out of the water.


With Veskassdak leaving the water last, all of you manage to get to the other side - some of you almost dry-footed, others more or less drenched. A cold breeze causes small waves to dance on the swamps' surface, dirty enough to still show no reflexion despite the sun breaking through the clouds deep in the west.

 

[Clockwork Syringe]

Baird had crossed the swamps with Veskassdak's help when he lost his footing, "Thanks for that" he replied when Veskassdak came to the rescue. Baird watched as he went back to go for Aeon and as Findil began to make the trek over. Sure enough Veskassdak came to the rescue once more and ended up pulling Aeon out of the muck. Findil was not so lucky as to have the lizard man's help though. When it looked as though he was going to make it, he fell the same way Aeon did, but for some reason, once he was in the muck, he stopped sinking for some odd reason. Not wanting to chance this, he went to go and help Findil and with the surprise assistance that Wren gave, the two of them were able to pull him out of the water. "Well then, seeing as though a few of us are quite literally soaked to the bone, we ought to make camp and regain our warmth. Any objections?"


@Silanon @Ritzy @Dicer @Sherwood @Orikanyo

 

[Dicer]

Veskassdak left the water when all his mammalian companions were across. Having helped the mammal Baird at one point, he was surprised by the unexpected help that both Aeon and the mammal Findil received. It was as if the water itself did not want those two to drown. He had heard stories of water spirits aiding travellers, but those stories also told of a price that was paid as well.


Hearing the mammal Baird suggest they make camp, he said, "Here not sssafe camp good. Water too clossse."


Looking up again, he estimated that there was still enough light for them to reach better ground. "Time ssstill have before dark. We go. Find better camp plassse."

 

[Ritzy]

Aeon looked amazed at what just happened. He knelt and offered his thanks to Arete, convinced it was her helping hand that kept him steady. Arete favored the brave after all. "My friends. I think I just witnessed a miricale. Thank you for your help, Veskassdak." He said, nodding to the Lizardman. 

 

[Sherwood]

Wren goes to the side of the cleric, concern in her face.  "Are you ok?  You took a nasty spill there."  When he shows that he's ok, the young rouge nods.  "Indeed, thanks to your Arete and to Veskassdak.  I'll take all the help I can get!"

 

[Clockwork Syringe]

"I trust your judgement Veskassdak, I'll be right behind you in a moment" Baird said before walking over to Wren and Aeon. "You guys all right? More importantly Aeon, what exactly happened back there? It looked as though you were frozen in the water for a moment.