Chapter 2: South Wind

[Silanon]

At first, it looks as if your attempt to make peace for now would not work out in the end; in fact, after Renna's provocation, the ogre makes a step towards you, seemingly ready to charge you any moment. It takes a call from inside the cave tunnel - the goblin shaman, you'd assume - to stop him from causing more harm for now. Instead, he only makes a rather explicit gesture - one day, he'll trample you down and beat your remains with his giant hammer until nothing is left at all - before ever-so slowly moving backwards, back into the cave tunnel where he came from.

Your healing does close some minor scratches that Veskasdak took during the fight - the refreshing energies restore 5 health, and wash away the little pain that might make its way through his berserking state.

Spoiler: Health totals

Renna (-6), Io (-9), Wren (-14), Baird (-13), Veskassdak (-26 hp), Lenorei at full health

One thing Wren in particular might notice is that the spirit you called seems to have simply disappeared - unlike the previous one, the ghostly skull does not appear anywhere to ask for permission to leave. You cannot tell if the guardian faded away, either, or if he simply decided to stay away. However, other things might catch your attention:

The scouts behind you step out of the woods, and Wren certainly can recognize the emblem on some of their vests. It might be your least favorite in the entire kingdom. "Glad that we made it in time - we feared that we would only find corpses when we arrive. The lord should be here any moment." The old archer points at a few of his men, then towards the cave. "Make sure we don't let any of them escape, at least until we know what the hell happened. Those are - undead, right?"

One of the surviving men of the Forgotten nods - and after a volley of words to thank anyone in sight for saving his life, he finds enough breath to give a brief description of what happened. "We came here last night, were more than careful. The orcs patrolled here rather often, so we figured there'd be something of importance. We found this cave, entered, and were surprised by dozens of orcs. Not everyone made it out of there, and we had to collapse the entrance behind them. Had a few moments of peace after that - then these creatures digged their way through the dirt. A few escaped us, probably to get more of those creatures - at least this cruel goblin appeared shortly after, and an orc patrol right behind him to take him down. Did our best to stay alive, kind of worked out in the end." His companion interupts at this point.

"You forgot the magus, Sam. Appeared shortly after the first unded had left the cave - ran right in there, and sealed off the entrance, without speaking a single word. Looked a bit elven, if you ask me - haven't seen her in the camp thus far, though." "Fyanne, I'd assume - so whatever found her interest is down there, in the cave, right behind a bloody ogre." You haven't seen Io that unhappy for a while - but she already readies her bow.

 

[Sherwood]

When Wren sees the very familiar crest on their uniforms, she flips her hood up over her head to try and conceal her face as much as possible. Upon hearing the story from the scouts, she frowns. It sounds like the person that they were asked to find is now trapped inside the cave. Shit. Not good. Not good at all. It sounds like we are going to have to make a run into that cave through all those orcs and that damn ogre. Renna will like that.

In the meantime, she tries to quietly fade back to help avoid being noticed by the soldiers.

 

[Psychie]

Renna being the ditz that she is, she doesn't notice that Wren is doing a fade into the background. She is still spending much of her time firing off a nasty glare up towards the cave where the orcs and other nasties have gone to ground. Feeling frustrated that the enemy has fled beyond her ability to get to, she turns on the troops that have just arrived. "Good day to you. We have been hunting here for some missing people, possibly the very scouts we were able to save. But there are more inside that cave, and I plan on getting them out of there alive and in one piece. The problem is, we are all injured. Do you by chance have a healer in your ranks? Someone that can help with our wounds and get us ready to go inside that cave and face the villains that hide from our righteous wrath?"

Lay on Hands x5

 

[Dicer]

Watching the large mammal retreat, Veskassdak felt that it was safe to rest for the moment. He let his rage fade and felt the wave of fatigue that always follows engulf him. He nodded to Renna in acknowledgement of the healing touch, but was breathing too hard to answer verbally. Hunching over and placing his hands on his knees, his body returned to his normal form. After a minute, his rapid breathing eased and he was able to speak.
"Big fight ahead ssstill," he commented. "Nasssty one thisss wasss. Hope no more no life mammalsss, cambutren, ssshow. Tassste awful."

Spoiler

Post rage adjustments: AC 17, HP 18, DR 1/-, Fort save +6, Speed 40 ft., Attack bonus +5, bite damage 1d3+3, 2 claws damage 1d4+3, 5 of 11 rage rounds used. After level up AC 17, HP 35, DR 2/-, Fort save +7, Speed 40 ft., Attack bonus +8, bite damage 1d3+4, 2 claws damage 1d4+4, 5 of 13 rage rounds used.

 

[Danchou Tsubomi]

After a long pause, Lenorei finally made an attempt to respond. She wasn't exactly a sociable person, especially since there was yet another strong reaction to the scar on her face...and maybe slightly because of minor damage to her pride from missing a slow target.

"Lenorei. Scarred face. Half-elf. There. Now you know everything about me," the cleric joked dryly. The others went off to do their own things, so the reply was pretty much just received by the male stranger who thanked her. She extended a hand. "With introductions out of the way, we should really deal with your injuries. Don't think it's a good idea to wander off after taking a few hits in a fight without patching them up first..."

Spoiler

Cure Moderate Wounds on Baird

 

[Dicer]

"Have ssscar?" Veskassdak inquired of the pointy-eared mammal. "No tell can me. Mammal fasscesss look like mammal fasscesss me. Hurt fixss me ssso handle large mammal enemy gooder. Me ssspeak mammal tongue not easssy. Pardon if make bad talk you."

 

[Clockwork Syringe]

Baird smiled warmly at her and replied as he clasped his right hand in hers, "Baird Starson," before he was cut off by a sudden sensation flooding through his system with the handshake. As the sensation faded, Baird, still his hand in hers, chuckled. "Oh you're clever all right, but what did you do to me exactly?" Veskassdak made himself known when he spoke to Lenorei, "and this is our big friend Veskassdak, he needs more help than I do in the first place to begin with."
Danchou Tsubomi Dicer

 

[Psychie]

The warrior woman nods over in Lenorei's direction. "Well met, neighbor. I am Renna, a paladin of Iomeade. We are all hurt, but between the two of us and the blessings of our Gods, we should be able to heal the wounds we have. I will tend to Wren here, if you can heal Veskassdak."

With that said, she turns to the rogue and places her hands over the injuries on the other woman and murmurs a brief prayer to her divine patron. "Be at ease. Your pain will soon be past."

OOC Lay on Hands on Wren for 2d6, 4x remaining today.

 

[Silanon]

Spoiler: Rolls for various things

Stealth Check for Wren: 21; Healing by Lenorei: 14; Healing by Renna: 12.

Spoiler: Health Totals

Renna (-6), Io (-9), Wren (-2), Baird at full health, Veskassdak (-26 hp), Lenorei at full health

As Wren does her best to avoid attention, she earns a rather curious look by Io - however, the elf is clever enough to turn around and not raise any suspicion amongst the soldiers. And, confronted with both a good-looking paladin and, in contrast, an unsettling creature that claims to have tasted the undeads' flesh, most of them seem to not care too much about just another fighter amongst their allies. Most of them here means all but one - maybe it's just her anxiety, but the young ranger further back, near the trees, seems to muster Wren longer than the others - and, even more worrisome, she's pretty certain she's seen him before. One of the pages of Lord Petaccio if she recalls correctly - he's grown up over the last few years, but the messy, red brown hair hasn't changed too much.

As Renna proposes to help those in the cave, one of the surviving scouts shakes his head. "Whoever was down there with us isn't alive any longer - they all digged their way out of there, one way or another. Only the magus might have survived - but I mean, the ogre must have passed her." His facial expression clearly shows that he has not too much hope at that point - rather understandable, after barely surviving this fight and seeing his friends turned against himself. His comrade does nod in agreement; much to the indignation of the older scout leading the newly-arrived allies. "If she's in there, we'll get her out of there. Fox, hurry up and get us another healer - don't want to leave it all to the half-elf." The last word almost sounds respectful - maybe ironically, you never know for certain. With that, the suspicious young man turns around and leaves to find the Lord. According to the sounds of a horse, he does not seem to be too far away any more.

At least, Iomadae's response to Renna's prayer is reason for optimism - stronger than ever before, her power flows through her hands into Wren's body, healing most of the deeper wounds that she took during the last fight. Lenorei's healing spell shows similar results - refreshing like a sea breeze, closing all the wounds the sorcerer has taken.

That ostly leaves Veskassdak with major wounds - do you wish to wait for another healer, or would you prefer to fix things yourself and get going right away?

 

[Psychie]

OOC Renna did propose to Lenorei that she would use her healing magics on Veskassdak while she heals Wren.

His comrade does nod in agreement; much to the indignation of the older scout leading the newly-arrived allies. "If she's in there, we'll get her out of there.

Renna nods in agreement at the scout. "If nothing else, we will recover the body for proper burial, and will not leave it here to be despoiled by the ilk in that cave now. The longer we wait, the better prepared the fiends in there will be for us when we do make our move." She turns to look to the cleric. "If you will please ply our friend here with your healing magics, we can make our move sooner rather than later. I would like to save what healing powers I have left for my encounter with that ogre in there as I engage that beast."
Danchou Tsubomi

Lay on Hands remaining: x4

 

[Sherwood]

Wren moves quietly and carefully up to stand behind Baird. In a soft voice, she says, "Baird, would you ask these men if their lord is traveling with them, or if they are here by themselves? I don't want to have them see me if I can avoid it."

 

[Clockwork Syringe]

Baird nods at Lenorei as a way of thanks for healing him and then jumped a little as Wren's soft voice flowed over his neck and into his ear. Baird began to think to himself as to the reason why she didn't want the lord to see her (18 wisdom check). Suddenly it clicked for him as to the reason, that was the lord she was running away from an arraigned marriage with. His face grew hot after recalling the conversation the group had that night as it was now very clear what she said due to the lord's appearance before he trotted off. Clearing his throat and regaining his composure, Baird slightly nods and then addresses the men. "Excuse me gentlemen," Baird begins, "I can't help but notice the crest you all brandish, is your lord among your group on your journeys?"
Silanon Sherwood

 

[Danchou Tsubomi]

Lenorei nodded at Renna's request. "I'll get to it, then." Heading over to the paladin's friend, she shrugged when thinking over his comment on how he talked. "As long as people understand what you're basically trying to say, you're fine. That's the whole point of language anyway, isn't it?" Though she wasn't what one would call apathetic, it wasn't too often that she expressed some degree of sympathy to another when it came to things other than injuries. Usually Lenorei would say some variation of "suck it up". Not this time, however.

Such a thing wouldn't be to noticeable to strangers, so her next statement wouldn't seem noticeably out of the ordinary. "...I knew...someone...at my town who had a hard time picking up Common for a bit, so don't think too much about this stuff."

...Yeah, talking like this wasn't her thing. She offered a hand. "Anyway, let's get you fixed up."

Spoiler

Silanon
Dicer

Cure Moderate Wounds on Veskassdak

 

[Silanon]

The stream of refreshing energies closes a few of the deeper wounds that the lizardman took during the fight - while there are a few more scratches, the most severe pain is certainly gone. The spell restores a total of 10 hp, and additionally offering the tingling sensation of healing magic in general.

Meanwhile, the speaker of the lord's soldiers seems to appreciate Renna's line of thought - asked about his lord, he points backwards, right in the direction where you can hear a single horse. "The lord's on his way, should be here any moment. Think he's the only one who's out here for now, the others idly wait for the mercenaries to do all the work for us." By the way he speaks, you have the feeling that he thinks rather highly of the lord - and that he'd rather fight than trust any kind of mercs.

 

[Dicer]

Veskassdak grimaced and hissed, "Kassta!" as the wave of healing energy washed over him. It felt different from the healing he had received from Renna, almost hotter. It was like the healing energies were purer or stronger somehow. Still his wounds closed rapidly as the healing took effect and he felt ready again for more combat.
"Thanksss," he hissed a little. "Wasss different from Renna'sss touch. Isss normal that? Am now ready fight more."

Spoiler

Pre-rage: AC 17, HP 45, DR 2/-, Fort save +7, Speed 40 ft., Attack bonus +8, bite damage 1d3+4, 2 claws damage 1d4+4, 5 of 13 rage rounds used.

 

[Psychie]

Renna smiles at the large lizard man. "Each god or goddess will have a different 'touch' to their healing, if that makes any sense. Perhaps a better way of relating it to you is how each piece of meat you enjoy will have a different taste. Not necessarily better, just different. I am glad that you are feeling better. Now, the decision needs to be made. Do we go into the cave after the rabble that has run in there now before they have the chance to lick their own wounds and prepare for us, or do we wait, knowing that there might be a prisoner in there to be rescued that is waiting for us? I for one want to move in there now, but I cannot deal with the sheer numbers of enemies in there alone."

 

[Sherwood]

Wren feels a chill go up her back as she hears the news that the lord of these men is on his way. Not good. Not good at all. If he recognizes me, that will make things . . . unpleasant. He will tell daddy, and they will force me into this wedding. I have to keep hidden. In a quiet voice, Wren says, "I will go with you, Renna, and I have the feeling that you can count on all of us to be at your side. Sooner is better than later, right?" Besides, if we are in the cave when Lord Fat Ass shows up, he can't see me, can he?

 

[Psychie]

Renna smiles. "Excellent. What say you, my friends? Shall we bring the fight to the enemy?"

 

[Dicer]

"Rrrr," Veskassdak growled as he stretched and flexed to get his blood flowing. "Attack now better than get attacked later. Go ready I."

 

[Clockwork Syringe]

"And I will be by your sides as well," Baird began, "I haven't tapped into my magical energies as of yet so I'm good in that regard. So lets go inside!"

 

[Psychie]

"Lenorei, care to join our valiant efforts to make the world a safer place? Having an extra hand along couldn't hurt, especially when that hand can heal at a touch!" Renna smiles a her little joke, hoping that the cleric will come with them.

Danchou Tsubomi

 

[Danchou Tsubomi]

She blinked, then replied with a slight smile. One that seems to have a hint of sarcasm - but it didn't seem to be rejecting the offer.

"Well, that is what my profession is for. Alright, I'll come along, though I hope my services aren't needed too much..."

 

[Psychie]

Renna starts on her way through the mass of fallen bodies towards the cave opening. "Lenorei, may I inquire which deity you offer your prayers to? I am understandably curious."

 

[Danchou Tsubomi]

"That would be Shelyn, Goddess of beauty, art, and music," Lenorei replied, already counting how many seconds it would take for someone to notice and point out the irony of such a thing.

 

[Psychie]

Renna nods. "A serviceable Goddess. Not my personal patron, but a worthy master none the less." The fact that she is a follower of a good deity is an important one to the paladin. "I would suggest that you stay behind me and Veskassdak when we enter into the cave. I want to make sure you stay safe, especially when we have an ogre to deal with." She speaks with an earnestness that shows she is quite sincere in her concerns for Lenorei's safety, and seems to have no clue about any irony of being a cleric to a Goddess of beauty with such facial scars.