Chapter 2: South Wind

[Dicer]

With the small magic mammal downed, Veskassdak released his rage and immediately fell to the ground breathing heavily. His body shrank from its enraged form to his everyday form. Blood started to drip from the wounds he had taken, even though most of the wounds were healed, but that was only superficially. He decided that his interest would best be served by recovering from his rage rather than trying to see what was happening. His companions and the other mammals could do the searching for answers. Also, he needed to eat. His rages always left him hungry. After he could control his breathing, he said only one word. He said, "Ow."

Spoiler

Post rage adjustments: AC 17 (16 while fatigued), HP 17, DR 2/-, Fort save +7, Speed 40 ft., Attack bonus +8 (+7 while fatigued), bite damage 1d3+4 (+3 while fatigued), 2 claws damage 1d4+4 (+3 while fatigued), fatigued for 6 rounds (-2 Strength and Dexterity, cannot run or charge). 8 of 13 rage rounds used. Note: Veskassdak has taken a total of 44 hit points damage between the two combats.

 

[Psychie]

Renna takes a few deep breaths of her own as she sees the remaining enemies routed before them. She then holds up her sword and kisses the pommel, and murmurs a prayer of thanks to Iomeade for her assistance in the fight. With that done, she turns her attention to the fallen woman. Stepping forward, Renna says, "If she still has life in her, I can try a healing. Iomeade willing, she will recover." Kneeling down, she places her hands upon the worst of the wounds on the woman and once more murmurs a prayer. "Dear Iomeade, please grant your servant the strength to heal this fallen woman. Let her live in your light once more."

Spoiler

Trying a Lay on Hands, leaving me x2 left for the day. If she is not Fatigued, it will heal 3d6 hit points; only 2d6 if she has that status effect on her.

 

[Sherwood]

Wren has seen Veskassdak go through his battle rages enough times to know that for the next few moments, he will be very fatigued, and with Renna tending to the wounded woman, she decides to keep close watch out for a sudden rush of the enemy coming to try to finish them. Keeping her guard up, Wren slowly moves about the room, keeping a watchful eye on the magic portal that the shaman was working on.

 

[Silanon]

Spoiler: Rolls

Healing for Renna: 2+1. Wren Perception: 20+13 - ALL THE LOOT! Wren Knowledge local: 11+4, Baird Perception 8+12, Baird Knowledge Arcana 4+9.

While Veskassdak does his best to recover and shake off the fatigue of the battle, the others try to either help or find out more about what exactly just happened. Starting with Renna and Io, the elf makes a step backwards to let the paladin do her work. However, compared to the last few times, the stream of healing energies that rush through your veins are rather limited - almost as if Iomadae is reluctant to offer her aid in this particular cause. The bit of power you manage to manifest seems to vaporize like a single raindrop in the desert, way too little to make a difference. At least, there seems to be some remains of life in her. though not much.

As Baird searches through the shaman's remains, he can notice a number of potions and scrolls - the kind of thing you'd usually use if you expect your foes to be truly a threat. One potion seems to reduce the user's size, two others appear to heal lighter wounds. There are four scrolls in total: One shows a spell that, on first glance, seems to levitate a person up and down, one charms a person, and the third one calls lightning to strike against your foes. The forth one is of way darker nature - even if you tried, you are quite certain that its knowledge is only accessible for those who follow darker paths than yours. Apart from that, you find half a dozen rather rare gems that might be worth about 200 gold coins. Examining the portal further, you quickly have to acknowledge that its magic is too complex to understand it within a few moments. What you can say is that is seems to not depend on the shaman as its power source - after all, the creature is dead. It might be older, more powerful magic that only needs a bit of energy to get activated.

As Wren looks around, she notices two different things. For once, the landscaoe shown on the other side of the portal - it's certainly not very similar to the region around Kazragun. No swamps, but mountains instead; a bit of snow as far as you can tell, and several caves in to either side of the portal. Noone seems to be there, for now - or you just can't see them. The second thing you notice is an open chest further back in the cave; different from the usual ones, as if someone had collected all the things that were left over at some point. You see some examples of human weaponry - a mastercrafted quarterstaff, steel shield, and falchion as well as a lance with the Order's symbols on it. Apart from that, two unlabelled potions, and another bunch of coins and gems, about 150 gold in total.

Meanwhile, Bjarni seems to have finished his rather short interrogation of the ratling. "Knew nuffin'", is all the young dwarf says, before sitting down closer to Veskassdak. Certainly don't want to face ya in the dark, big one. Was a bit worried about ya, y'know, but seems like nuffin's gonna kill ya that easily."

 

[Psychie]

Renna leans back on her heels, looking troubled. "She is stable, but far from out of danger. This one will need someone with more skill in the healing arts than I have, but at least she won't die from her wounds. Perhaps the clerics will be able to do something for her where I cannot." She stands, then moves over to be next to Veskassdak. "My friend, your help against the ogre was very much appreciated. Now, let me return the favor by easing your pain." If he has no objection, Renna will perform a Lay on Hands of the large lizard man.

Spoiler

Lay on Hands x1
Removes the Fatigued status of our barbarian, and heals 2d6 damage.

 

[Clockwork Syringe]

Baird, upon finding the items, will attempt to identify them
((long day at work, my creative muse is running a bit dry currently))

 

[Dicer]

Veskassdak acknowledged the furfaced mammal's compliment with a grim grin. "Wasss hard fighting ssso sssoon to lassst fight, but ssstill breathing." Seeing Renna approaching, he suspected she was about to heal him with her touch. When she spoke of easing his pain, he simply nodded. He felt the healing energies flow into him and his breathing slowed down to a less frantic pace. Assessing his remaining wounds, he hoped combat was done for a while.

 

[Silanon]

Spoiler: OOC

Has been a busy week for me - thus no post until now. Also, I had planned to just list off the items for Baird, but somehow forgot to copy it over.

Spoiler: Rolls

Renna Healing: 4

The healing, while removing the fatigue, does only close a few deeper scratches - it seems as if the paladin has called for quite a lot of Iomadae's help already. Luckily, it does not seem as if there would be another fight immediately; while the portal is still open, you cannot see any waiting threat on the other side for now.

The sorcerer gets a decent look at all the items he found: Potion of Reduce Person, two potions of cure light wounds, scroll of Levitation, scroll of charm person, scroll of lightning bolt. The forth one is unknown, evil magic. If you look at Wren's potions, you can identify one as a potion of restoration, but you can't identify the other one.

With not much else to look at and the cave seemingly being secured, the assembled soldiers and ranger slowly gather around the portal - not gettign too close to it while doing their best to get a look. "Certainly not close to the swamps - maybe somewhere further west?" A first guess by Garry, answered by Bjarni shaking his head. "Northern Isles, if I'm not totally off. See that big mountain in the back? Think that's the "Ocean Dome" as they call it - didn't know the orcs live there."

"Doesn't matter right now", Io interrupts, "we'll have to get her back to the camp" - she nods in direction of the wounded woman - "and somehow close that portal before we leave."

 

[Dicer]

With his fatigue abated, Veskassdak spoke as he bent to pick up the wounded female mammal, "Can carry her." He added as he stood back up, "Not know how ssshut magic door."

 

[Psychie]

Renna takes a cloth from her pouch to clean off her blade as she ponders the portal. "The question that comes to my mind is, was this portal an escape attempt, a new location to invade, or were the orcs looking for reinforcements to come through to this side of the gateway to aid them? Perhaps it doesn't really matter, but I am curious. Now, the important thing to ask is, does anyone have a way to close this? We should not leave it unattended, but we cannot stay here with this woman being so grievously wounded as she is."

 

[Sherwood]

As the paladin ponders the meaning and purpose of the portal, Wren goes over to investigate the chest that she saw earlier. Before opening it up, she will check it for traps to make sure that there are no surprises waiting for her.

 

[Silanon]

Spoiler: Roll for Wren

18+15

The chest, half-opened as if noone expected anyone to ever get here, has most of the items described earlier in it - as well as a sneaky mechanism that includes multiple blades and other troubles for anyone incautious enough to grab right into it. Once detected, it is no task to get rid of it, though, at least for someone as proficient as Wren. You have full access to all the things in there.

In the meantime, Bjarni watches as Veskassdak lifts the wounded woman and does his best to help you. "Y'are wounded mate, lemme lend ya a hand." Not that his help is needed - despite her armor and your wounds, the weight is almost negligible. Io makes sure to grab her weapon - a sword unlike anything you've likely seen before, merging the elegant design of elven steel with darker, brutal twists. As you lift her up, something else falls out of her hand, a whitely gleaming stone that might remind you of the goblin commander's protection way earlier, before Renna joined you.

"Whatever they planned, these bats came through it" - Garry points towards the beasts that split up everywhere close to the cave's ceiling - "so there might be more to come. If there's support coming, they already took their sweet time; if they planned to escape, they were damn slow." The ranger spits out. "In either case, we can't let them teleport behind our lines when we attack - we'd be caught between Kazragun and their forces."
His sister, Lya Swansea, shows less concern, slowly getting closer. "Not much to see on the other side - no guards, nothing. I wonder if they'd simply let us step through it, to the other side."

 

[Dicer]

Veskassdak rumbled relatively quietly, "No need sssee what on otherssside. Am taking thisss one to camp for help. Follow if want, but me leaving now." Looking down at the furfaced mammal, Bjarni, "Ssshe heavy not. Thanksss anyway." With that Veskassdak started walking out of the cavern system.

 

[Psychie]

Renna turns to look at her scaly friend. "You won't be going by yourself. You are still injured, and there are many challenges out there that will try and test you if you are alone. Everyone, gather up what loot you wish to and head for the surface. We all leave in five minutes. We will have to let the wizards in the camp know about this portal and let the wiser minds deal with it." With that said, the paladin turns to leave.

Spoiler

Lay on Hands x1 left

 

[Sherwood]

Wren grabs up the gems and coins first, then carefully takes the two unlabeled potions and tucks them into her pouch. With luck, between me and Baird we should be able to figure out what these are. I wonder what kind of price we can get for them? Damn. I need a Bag of Holding for all the stuff I want to bring out. "Guys, there are some quality weapons over here that I think would bring a good price. Can I have a hand in carrying them all out?"

 

[Dicer]

With a little chagrin, Veskassdak said, "Handsss full. Sssorry or would help."

 

[Silanon]

Bjarni, hearing that his help is not needed to get the wounded woman to safety, turns around towards the rogue. "If ma friend here doesn't need any help, I'll surely help ya with tha weapons. Looks like fine steel to me, gotta say that much - a friend of mine might be interested." With that, he grabs whatever he can carry - with his help, you'll surely be able to get everything out of here.

Renna's decision to leave causes some indecisive looks from both Io and the other scouts - while Io finally nods, Fox shakes his head, and points towards the portal. "Won't turn away while this can spit out foes right behind the lord's soldiers - get the others back to safety and find some mage to close that thing, we'll stay here and watch it in the meantime." With that, you'll slowly make your way back to the surface, wounded and likely exhausted. A look to the sun shows that some time has passed; you can either force yourself to hurry back, or take a slightly slower approach and risk spending the night in the open.

 

[Dicer]

While traveling back to the camp, Veskassdak pondered about the portal. He knew that even though the war here was vital to the survival of the region, his participation in it would have minimal effect at best. His need to grow would be stunted fighting a war that only benefits these mammals. The other side of the portal may hold secrets that he could bring back to his tribe for his tribe's benefit. He then remembered his time in the goblin swamp camp and those pictures on the wall of warbringer and the others. He realized he had no desire to learn more about them. Getting involved with ancient forces can only lead to disaster.
He decided that once they have a chance to talk, he would let his companions know how he would like to proceed in his travels.
He also hoped that he would have gained enough coin to get better armor. A stronger defense may help with not getting hurt so much. He does like the lightness of his mithral chain shirt, but maybe he could get something stronger and just as easy to move in.

 

[Psychie]

Once they get clear of the caves, Renna takes a moment to look around at the open sky. "Praise be to Iomeade for being our sword and shield in that fight, and if I never see another cave again, I'll be fine with that. I am concerned with the portal we left behind in there. I have a feeling in my heart that there are secrets that we need to unravel on the other side. Let us move with haste to get back to the camp and get our injured charge to a dedicated cleric for healing. Once that is done, we should stock up on our supplies and consider our options, but as I said, I would vote to go back and investigate that opening, and I hope you will all agree with the need to do so."

 

[Sherwood]

Wren is also glad to be out of the cave, but says nothing about it. Instead, she is starting to think about how much trouble she will be in if her fat windbag of a fiancé spots her out here. Then, the nimble rogue hears Renna talking about investigating the portal, and her ears perk up. Anywhere away from here is a good place to be for me right now. Speaking up, she says, "Sure. I'm game for going to investigate the opening. We'll just have to remember that we may not be coming back here for quite some time once we go through it, and we should pack accordingly." I wonder how much gold we can get for this gear and other stuff that we've found? Hopefully, it will be enough to get some magic swords, or maybe some better armor.

 

[Silanon]

"I agree that someone will need to take a closer look at the portal - though others might be more qualified to do so than we are. When we are back, I will see if I can manage to find Whitehair somewhere; If he is not too busy with the attack, he would surely want to make sure that nothing comes through these portals to cause even more trouble." Io, once more leading the way to find the shortest way back to the camp, seems certainly worried about the threat - but also has something else in mind, as she reveals about two hours later during a short rest to take a breath and make sure that the condition of the wounded woman has not worsened. "Something else I meant to mention: That man, Fox or whatever he calls himself, asked a few question when we were alone - about you specifically, Wren. I don't know what he was hoping to hear, so I doubt I said anything stupid - but you might want to watch out if it's something to worry about."

 

[Dicer]

Hearing his companions talking about the portal and other options when they rested, Veskassdak interjected, "Effortsss usss here, think me, will sssmall help give to main fight. No want look into warbringer thingsss. Bad isss that. Remember ssswamp sssmall green mammal camp? No want warbringer look. Would like to sssee what find through magic door and maybe ssstop thossse there from helping enemiesss here. Ssscout there likely gooder for here than here guard magic door. Ssstrike better than defend. Maybe find thingsss help tribe mine. Alssso want heal drinksss for when healsss Renna no have. Maybe other magic drinksss to help fight gooder."
Indicating his armor, he continued, "Thisss good, but know ssstronger handy. Want to get hurt lessss then heal maybe lessss needed. Maybe find ssstronger with metal thisss. What think?"

 

[Sherwood]

Wren is slightly distracted by the cold chill going down her spine with the news that one of the fat windbag's people was asking questions about her. She looks over to Io. "Um, thank you for telling me. So, just what exactly did he ask you, and what did you say to him? Nevermind. It doesn't matter." In a louder voice to the others, "I am really liking the idea of exploring the portal. Veskassdak, I'll help you look for better armor. You were looking pretty ragged out there against that ogre, and I would really hate to lose you, big guy. Lets get an early start and get our wounded woman to the clerics of the camp, make our transactions to sell our loot, and see what kind of pay we have to work with getting better gear for ourselves."

 

[Silanon]

It takes a few more hours for you to finally return to the camp - as you arrive, the sky already darkens, but at least you manage to return safely. On the last few meters, the condition of your patient seems to worsen - while she still does not awake, it seems as if a fever would plague her, and even Renna's remaining energies are barely enough to keep her stable. Thus, you immediately head towards the round area where the healers of both Forgotten and Third Princes have gathered, trying to get help as soon as you can. Even though the fight for Kazragun has just started, you can already see more wounded men than the clerics and healers of half a dozen races could usually hope to handle. However, they are not alone - amongst them, you can see five beings, apparently made of pure, white light. Immitating the form of gorgeous, elven women, they hover a few feet above the ground, radiating refreshing energies as they, seemingly at random, move between the different, larger tents. The moment you get closer enough to get noticed, one of them immediately turns on the spot, quickly getting closer to you. Her sorrow-filled eyes muster each one of you as a warm, tingling sensation fills your minds; you can feel how your wounds close up within seconds, and even your fatigue seems to fade away.

Veskassdak can then feel the burden of his load go away as the weight of the wounded magus is lifted from your shoulders - magical energies let her hover towards one of the smaller tents, where a dwarven cleric hastily prepares a bed to take care of whatever remains to be done. For the first time, the being seems to speak, melodic sounds that flow in quick succession. Those of you who understand Celestrial will understand the words: "Her wounds shall be healed, and her pain shall be forgotten."

With that, your most important concern is taken care of. Veskassdak and Wren already indicated that Dalim, the dwarven merchant, might be their next target, and Bjarni will likely come along - do the others wish to accompany them, or would you like to split up and look for other things and information as they get you whatever you might need?

 

[Psychie]

After her trails, Renna feels compelled to go forth to find some words of wisdom from a priest of her Goddess. If there are clerics from Iomeade here, they will probably be tending to the injured. My own skills in the healing arts are not the best, but I can help with some of the heavy lifting and other busy work. Before she goes off, she makes sure to arrange a place and time to meet up with the rest of the party. "Ms. Wren, I will entrust you with haggling with the merchants for the best prices on our captured gear. If anyone can get a good price from them, it will be done by someone more crafty than I am. In the meantime, I shall go aid the healers with what little help I can offer." Looking to Veskassdak, she places a friendly hand upon his shoulder. "Keep an eye on our little rogue, and make sure she stays out of trouble. Please protect her and make sure you both return in safety. Baird, Io, I will see the two of you later. Also, be safe. May Iomeade watch over you all."