Falling Leaves...

[Beast Master]

**********

Falling Leaves…

Part I…

Incursion Bonus Generator-

Result
20 (Avg: 20.0)

(Total avg: 20.0)

20) A Bad Day for the Good Guys:[/b] The ultimate roll. If rolled, attacking party receives FIVE bonuses AT THE START OF THE THREAD! If the PC’s can defeat them, the attacking party loses all five bonuses and get a x5 multiplier for their end of thread XP bonus. Good luck! If rolling another roll modifier (I.E. Double Trouble, Triple Threat), don’t count that roll and roll again.

• Result 14 (Avg: 14.0) (Total avg: 14.0)
  14) Weapon of Mass Destruction: Attacking party gains a WMD with the capability to do EXTREME damage when used in a populated area. If other than attacking party, a dice will be rolled to determine who receives WMD.
  • Added The Canopy to Flowering Deaths inventory (description pending)
  
  
• Result 7 (Avg: 7.0) (Total avg: 7.0)
  7) Minor Magical Ability: All members of attacking party learn a minor magical ability. If other than attacking party, a dice will be rolled to determine who receives minor magical ability.
  • Added Sap Spray to Flowering Death AND Podlings abilities (description pending)
  
  
• Result 4 (Avg: 4.0) (Total avg: 4.0)
  4) Innate Magical Ability: All members of attacking party learn an innate magical ability. If other than attacking party, a dice will be rolled to determine who receives innate ability.
  • Added Limb Reconfiguration to Flowering Death and Podlings abilities (description pending)
  
  
• Result 17 (Avg: 17.0) (Total avg: 17.0)
  17) Force Multiplier x3: If attacking party is not successfully repelled during the course of the thread, their forces will TRIPLE. Permanent modification.
  • Podlings increased from 6 to 18
  
  
• Result 1 (Avg: 1.0) (Total avg: 1.0)
  1) Coin Purse: Add +1 XP to your thread gains.
  • Added +1 XP to Flowering Deaths inventory…

**********

9th Day of Ories, AoS 4010
The North Western edge of the Forest of Eire, Aesterholm

[/b]

Three Days Prior…

The road was well trodden for one that led to and from the Forest of Eire, with its cobblestone pathway kept clean by the many hooves and boots that had beat the vegetation down that tried to reclaim it. Today was no different. A caravan, marching from the south eastern coast near the islands of the Irasa to the pass near the north western side of the Tsond Mountains was making its way through the jungle, a series of guards in the front of the column cutting their way through the dense undergrowth with swords and machetes. The cargo; the high Priestess of the Temple of Ishana, having made her peace keeping trip from the northern most oasis of Korobos to her allies in the Irasan isles. Her handmaid sat at her side in the central cart of the three buggy caravan, each drawn by two camels and escorted by a contingent of six guards.

Ahead the road opened into a great clearing, many hundreds of feet clear in all directions, even up. Vines hung down in all directions, and the warriors thought, at first, thought that it was odd that the clearing, as beautiful as it was, was nearly perfectly silent. Birds didn’t sing. Crickets didn’t chirp. Frogs didn’t call. It was as if they had wondered where life had ceased.

They were soon to find out.

As if they had engaged a booby trap, the forest around them came to life in a falling rain of pollen and leaves. One guard sneezed. A horse whinnied and bucked, throwing another guard to the ground before it shot into the forest. The guards took up defensive stances, waiting for the attack they thought was for sure encircling them even as they spoke.

That was until the first vine ensnared the Guard Commander atop his horse at the front of the caravan and pulled him into the trees, his life snuffing out with the guttural, pained cries high overhead. All the soldiers swarmed to create a defensive perimeter…but that is when the forest around them started to distort and turn into something that made little or no sense… Trees took on unfamiliar shapes and colors.

Then the creatures came down upon them.

The fighting, for all intents and purposes, was over quickly. Sticky sap covered faces, stuck men in place, and over all made a bad situation worse as the monsters killed their foes easily, one by one. Wagons were overturned, animals killed, and then the Priestess and her handmaiden were dragged high into the canopy for a fate far worse than death…

**********[/color]

The word had traveled fast and the rescue team had assembled quickly and had dispatched from Korobos within a day. The small caravan of warriors, looking to bring back the Priestess or at least news of her whereabouts, had reached the outskirts of the forest by the morning of the 9th of Ories. By the afternoon, they had plunged deep into the forest, following the same cobblestone route the Priestess’ caravan had been directed to take on their way home. That was the thing about Aesterholm; it was all about caravan travel.

As the day wore on, the warriors happened across a clearing that seemed remote…desolate…

Lifeless…

Where they found the bodies of the warriors and the destroyed remains of the caravan…

But no Priestess.

**********

OOC: I’ll be adding Jericho to this party as well. Sign ups will be ongoing. I’m looking for four other members to participate OR whoever has posted by Friday evening, depending on what fills up first. Jericho does not affect those numbers.

Good luck!

**********

Flowering Death Incursion Combat Simulator

**********[/color]

As each incursion progresses it will be up to the Incursion Combat Simulator to determine which side is winning; the NPC’s and their party, or the PC’s and their party.

1) PC Win (Minor):[/b] The lowest man on the NPC totem pole is removed / killed. A dice will be rolled to determine who removes said NPC from play.

2) Stalemate:[/b] The battle continues with no loses on either side.

3) NPC Win (Minor):[/b] A PC takes a minor injury. This does not mean your character is killed! A dice will be rolled to determine who is injured.

4) Stalemate:[/b] The battle continues with no loses on either side.

5) PC Win (Moderate):[/b] Two NPCs are killed. A dice will be rolled to determine who removes said NPCs from play.

6) Stalemate:[/b] The battle continues with no loses on either side.

7) NPC Win (Moderate):[/b] NPC’s begin to beat back their attackers. Either…

• 1) 1 PC temporarily removed from combat after getting coated in Sap Spray (has to skip one post)
  
• 2) 1 PC is moderately injured!
  
• 3) 2 PC’s lose weapons / armor assets in combat. (Assets can be recovered at the end of the battle)
  
• 4) 1 PC gets a Basic Epic Item removed from battle. (Assets can be recovered at the end of the battle). Similiarly, a magic using character can instead begin losing energy instead of a Basic Epic. Minor Magical Abilities are neutralized for three more posts. Major Magical Abilities now have a cool down time of 3 posts instead of 2.
  
• 5) One PC gets sprayed with Hallucinogenic Pollen. Will start to hallucinate shortly thereafter.
  
• 6) One Podling gets cut in half and becomes TWO Podlings thanks to Limb Reconfiguration

A dice will be rolled to determine who is affected / loses what.

8) Stalemate:[/b] The battle continues with no loses on either side.

9) PC Win (Major):[/b] 3 NPC’s are removed from combat / killed. A dice will be rolled to determine who gets autokills in their posts.

10) Stalemate:[/b] The battle continues with no loses on either side.

11) NPC Win (Major):[/b] NPC’s beat the PC’s back. Resulting with…

• 1) 1 PC forced out of thread (NOT KILLED)
  
• 2) 1 PC SEVERELY INJURED (Chosen by dice roll)
  
• 3) 2 PC lose Basic Epic Items
  
• 4) 1 PC loses Advanced Epic Item
  
• 5) The Canopy releases a shower of Hallucinogenic Pollen on the entire defending party
  
• 6) 1 PC takes MAJOR loss to magical energy and is unable to continue the battle using magic (if applicable)

12) Stalemate:[/b] The battle continues with no loses on either side.

13) Hallucinogenic Pollen:[/b] Bad news! Either

• 1) One PC takes a direct hit from Hallucinogenic Pollen or…
  
• 2) Entire party gets showered by Hallucinogenic Pollen

A dice roll will determine the effects of this roll.

14) Stalemate:[/b] The battle continues with no loses on either side.

15) Sap Storm:[/b] NPCs begin to throw the course of the battle by using copious amounts of Sap Spray from either the Podlings AND Flowering Death OR from The Canopy.

16) Stalemate:[/b] The battle continues with no loses on either side.

17) PC Reinforcements:[/b] Each PC is allowed to control 2 NPC reinforcements who arrive to fight along their side! PC’s are then allowed to force their NPC reinforcements from combat instead of themselves if selected to be removed from thread. Likewise, NPCs take damage instead of PCs if rolls determine such.

18) Surprise Incursion Bonus Generator Roll:[/b] A surprise roll of the Bonus Incursion Generator. This only provides a bonus at the end of the thread, per the rules of the bonus rolled.

19) NPC Reinforcements:[/b] The NPC Force adds 200% forces to their cause. For example, a force of 3 NPC’s would receive a reinforcement of 6, boosting the NPC force to 9 total NPC’s.

20) NPC Jackpot:[/b] Another surprise roll of the Incursion Bonus Generator. The catch: Whatever is rolled is automatically awarded to the NPC’s to fight you with… (Only applicable bonuses count.)

**********[/color]

[Lorryn]

Maybe she hadn't been eating as well as she should. Or drinking too much wine. Something had to be causing her recent bouts of tiredness that seemed to always hit her midday. Lorryn knew she was sleeping well enough at night, she was often out cold by the time her head hit her pillow and on more than one occasion Jericho had to wake her at daybreak. Whatever the reason, she shook her head a bit violently and rubbed at her eyes as she sat straighter in Driscoll's saddle, trying to rouse herself before she did more than wake from her chin hitting her chest, like fall off the horse.


The warmth didn't help. Once deep enough in the forest for most of the harsh Aesterholm sunlight to be blocked by the rich canopy above, she had shed her desert cloak and tucked it into a saddlebag, only her usual traveling dress, mail, and leather armor left on. The continent wasn't her favorite, especially after the two 'adventures' earlier that year, but it also wasn't her least favorite either. Had she been traveling on her own she wouldn't have come back so soon, but then there were a lot of things she didn't do unless Jericho was involved. Like hunt sandworms. The memory of that fun little outing caused her to chuckle to herself a moment, forgetful of her present company and their task, which sobered her up quickly.


Driscoll's shoes were loud against the old cobbles, but also unfortunately made a lulling sound that was making it hard for her to not feel her eyes grow heavy. That was it... no wine tonight, more meat, and less cheese; maybe that would do it. Probably the worst thing about the length of the Priestess' journey was all the time one had to themself with their thoughts when a silence fell over the group. "Surely we've gone at least halfway by now," she remarked, if only to add to her efforts to wake the hell up. No sooner than she had said this a clearing came into view ahead and the hair on the back of her neck stood on end. Something wasn't right there, it was too... wrong. Lorryn strained to hear the usual sounds of life, of birds, of crickets and soon realized there were none to hear. 


At first one might miss the broken pieces of the caravan, of the torn bits of cloth or twisted metal, but once one noticed one piece, the rest seemed to jump out of the green overgrowth like a child wanting attention. And then there were the bodies, or rather, what was left of them...


Lorryn felt her stomach flip and without a word to anyone, quickly dismounted and took the three steps she needed to reach a tree along the path, a hand grabbing her thick brown hair and holding it back from her face as she held the trunk with one hand, spitting the sudden excess saliva from her mouth into the brush at its base. She'd choke back vomit at all costs, she hated the sensation so badly, and with an effort, managed to stave the urge off. When she turned back, her face was a bit flushed and she apologized softly, not use to reacting like that especially in front of others. Reaching her horse, she dug out her water skin and took several sips to help calm her stomach further and looked over at Jericho. "I suppose we best look to see if the Priestess is among them?"

[Deleted]

Asterhold had never been his favorite country to visit, and Sancraid sincerely doubted he'd ever have any fondness for it. It either had sweltering deserts with heat that he couldn't stand, or he was stuck in a hot and humid jungle from hell that he never felt the least bit comfortable in. The Soolari and Imperians always told him that Sunderbran had toughened the Winterborn up, but it sure hadn't ever done anything for him when it came to hot and humid. Asterhold's only saving grace as far as he was concerned were its mountains, and even those had never been nearly as cool and comfortable as even the flatlands of Sunderbran.

He normally wouldn't have been here, but his last contract had been with some no name Soolari merchant that had lost his Soolari bodyguard in Sunderbran to an untimely bout of respiratory infection without a healer in sight. The poor man had immediately hired him in the hopes of not dying on the long route back to the Eremes Oasis. They had both gotten through that whole journey without much incident, and as soon as Sancraid had gotten paid and restocked his supplies, he had hitched a ride with the next caravan to Contobur in hopes of getting some better work in before paying for a boat ride back to Sunderbran. Otherwise, this whole trip would only end up paying him as much as it cost to get back, and that was just a waste of everyone's time, especially his. Luckily, this whole "rescue team" thing had come up almost as soon as he got into the city, and he went along for the ride, as well as the reward.

Cù Sìth's ears perked up, and Sancraid wondered what the massive hound was listening to, before he realized he could hear it himself; absolutely nothing. Other than the clopping sounds that the horse were making as they rode along the well-traveled path, and the wind blowing through the trees, nothing at all was making a sound. Sancraid may have spent most of his life in a rather barren landscape, but even he knew what it meant when there's only silence in an area that's normally full of birds. Something large and carnivorous was lurking about. Of course, birds had still been chirping in the area they had just passed, so it obviously wasn't the barrow hound that they were afraid of...

"Surely we've gone at least halfway by now,"

Immediately after she said that, I got a whiff of what Cù must have been smelling for some time before we had gotten anywhere near the clearing. It was a very familiar scent, and this was far from the first time anyone here had smelt it. Everyone learns the smell with the first tooth they lose, it gets seared into memory with the first taste. Metallic and somehow sticky, blood has a truly overwhelming smell when in large quantities. As a professional mercenary, this was far from the first time he had been exposed to slaughters such as this, but it still triggered instinctive revulsion.

It seemed the lass with them hadn't been exposed to it as many times, because she was fighting the urge to vomit with all her might, whereas he had been through it enough to fight it down with a simple swallow. Sancraid dismounted from Cù Sìth, patted the giant dog on the head, and started to walk over to Lorryn.

"I suppose we best look to see if the Priestess is among them?"

"Aye. I have a hunch we won't find her though."

This whole thing just gave off the wrong feeling for a random attack. The Priestess had most likely been a special target for something, considering this whole caravan was about her.

"...It gets easier, lass. Disgusting as it may be, you'll get used to it after a year or two."

Sancraid was not particularly good at comforting people. Nevertheless, he had to have tried, at the very least.

[Deleted]

Unbeknownst to the small search band of warriors, a shimmering shape stalked them from afar, quite on accidental terms as a matter of fact after coming across the familiar visages of two in their company, never having seen the man riding the gargantuan dog before. Yes, on the golden sands Kothro recalled Jericho and Lorryn's involvement, and decided that whatever business they were involved in would prove eventful to say the least. And if nothing came of this venture, he toyed with the idea of hunting them for some much needed sport.

Aesterholm was a place to be avoided when possible, and this was doubly true for the dread Forest of Eire. Only on rare occasion had Kothro taken time from his hunts to explore this ancient overgrowth and found little good reason to ever return, lest he felt the desire to find excessive quantities of trouble worth little compared to the effort involved trying to survive. An entrance to the underworld awaited the foolish survivors who braved it's deepest reaches, and the Proliaos hunter truly pitied whomever had been attacked during their travels underneath the expansive canopy of trees overhead, blotting out the sun and casting shadows around them.

Kothro maintained the powerful enchantment bound to his battle armor, bending what light there was around his giant imposing form so that he but shimmered among the safety of the trees surrounding the clearing where the caravan was apparently ambushed and its people slaughtered. He quickly realized that this was what they were searching for, or more accurately where the priestess was supposed to be. He had a rudimentary understanding of the titles importance but the details were superfluous and not necessary to gain his interest.

Anything to set his mind from the humid heat and sometimes extreme temperatures of Aesterholm was a welcome distraction, and the drama playing out before him was entertaining enough, fighting back a bemused chuckle as the archer woman sickened at the bloody sight, as well as the strange owner of a stranger pet's less than comforting words.

He wasn't a conversationalist himself, and detested extended exposure to the denizens of Solabren unless he was earning points for the great Scorekeeper, and yet there was something wrong in the Forest, more than usual, instinct urging him to find strength in numbers. He revolted against the notion and remained invisible in the comfort of the trees, waiting and watching.

[Deleted]

Quietly, as odd as it seemed because of her size, Alakaia made her way through the grasses. Of the people assembled, she could have been one of the more aloof. She had been growing more silent as they’d made the journey from Korobos. Any bit of conversation coming from the tall woman had dissolved into mainly monosyllabic responses. Under other circumstances, she would have been in a better mood. After all, she was near her mother’s birthplace. Even though she would never know the woman, the fact alone that she was near her uncle as well usually made her happy.

None of this year, especially the last few months, had given her reason to be in a joyful mood. She was wearing more of her fur lined garments, not seeming to be affected too much by the heat of the forest. Her eyes scanned the landscape as they traveled. Every step placed with her furred lined boots was measured. They were approaching the site of an ambush and there was no way to determine if any traps had been set between then and their arrival. Keeping close to Lorryn, Alakaia’s long legs easily ate up the distance. To her left, Sancraid rode alongside on a massive hound. She did not walk between the two for the company. Moreso, she was keeping an eye on the other woman, who was looking utterly exhausted in the saddle.

Nostrils quivering, Alakaia’s senses reeled at the stench of old blood. Normally she would not have been able to pick it up so well…but there was so much of it. The silence was disconcerting as well. Rubbing one of her ears, she lightly shook her head and listened again. Nothing, except the sounds of the horse’s hooves and their own breathing. Birds should have been chirping and insects buzzing. The entire area was bereft of sound though. Surely they would have taken this as a sign to go around… As young as she was, Alakaia was a trained hunter and tracker. She knew that places that lacked sound like this had numerous reasons, none of them good.

Her nape rose then, and she looked around. Something was out there. The tall woman did not know where it was or what it wanted, but she knew that something or someone was slowly surrounding them. She was about to voice her reservations, the words on the tip of her tongue when Lorryn dismounted and headed over to a tree. The woman was obviously sick for some reason and her positioning against the tree and the familiar sight of this woman trying to hold back her gorge struck a very familiar and painful chord.

Fighting the alarms beginning to ring in her head, Alakaia swallowed down the words. No need to cause any undue alarm just yet. She prayed she was making the right decision. “I doubt we will be finding this priestess’ body.” Alakaia turned in a full circle slowly, looking at the carnage and the surrounding area. They were on assignment to locate the priestess. The tall woman, unaffected by the stench and smell of death moved closer to the caravan’s final resting place. Her eyes took in the twisted bodies, noting a curious shiny and sticky looking substance attached to them.

She was looking for unarmored forms. Some of those she surveyed had their heads separated from the shoulders. She found a few intact torso’s as well. To get a better idea, the woman was going to need to get closer. This was not going to be an easy job at all. “We need to look for people without armor on.”

[Deleted]

**********

”Lovely.”[/color] Jericho said, watching Lorryn lean up against the tree and puke her guts out. Perhaps the recent addition to their “family” had left her feeling more fragile than usual, because bodies, blood, and the associated carnage had never bothered her before. Now, however, she was showing obvious signs that her stomach was turned from battle, and while that didn’t necessarily bother him, this wasn’t exactly the time to find all that out. Having walked up on the signs of what must have been the caravan, the group halted and set about their business. Jericho surveyed their surroundings from his vantage point on Vakr’s back before dismounting. It was grizzly; the location was perfect for an ambush. No doubt the caravan had just walked right into it. But by who?

Lorryn suggested looking for the body of the priestess, and Jericho could only nod as Sancraid agreed. The bodies were already in a poor state after having been left to the elements of the Eire for days, but it should be easy to tell a priestess from the guards based on what she would be wearing. Or should have been wearing, at least. You never know what she might have put on while on the highway. Almost on cue, Alakaia confirmed what he was thinking, and Jericho nodded again, dismounting Vakr and pulling his pick axe from his back. He used it to manipulate the bodies on the forest floor, turning them over or whatever without actually having to get his hands in the funk.

”I don’t see anyone who doesn’t look like caravan guard on the ground.”[/color] He said, moving about the carnage. ”Either highway men care enough about their casualties to pick up their dead or they didn’t take any serious losses. Definitely not the work of trolls or the undead. No bodies.”[/color]

Jericho didn’t speak to anyone in particular; instead he talked solely to himself as he moved about the pos as if he were taking notes. He flipped another corpse and looked. The body was covered in a sticky black tar substance but without any visible stab or slash wounds. First he poked at the tar with his pick axe, looking at the way it clung to the metal and how hard it seemed to be. Jericho puzzled, knowing other warriors in his group were finding the tar as well. It was a very peculiar part of the whole equation. He had never seen anyone or anything use a weapon quite like it. Further inspection of the body showed burns around the mans throat, and so Jericho reach down with his gloved hand and felt of the bodies neck. The innards felt crushed.

”This man has been choked to death.”[/color] He announced. That was an odd discovery, considering that the fellow had fallen close to a war axe that Jericho assumed was his own. ”Someone check what’s left of the chariots. See if it appears anything has been looted. If it looks like the greater part of their supplies, especially food and water, are still in place let us know. This looks like the work of a Shub to me…or maybe not…they’re known to eat their prey…”[/color]

He paused and puzzled at the thought, unaware of the snaking vines overhead, making their way through the canopy of the forest like great snakes, twisting through the tops of the trees and preparing for their attack. The entire canopy seemed to slowly be coming alive as a network of vines that stretched for hundreds and hundreds of feet in every direction overhead. A series of flowers attached to these vines started to bloom out, dotting the tree tops with brilliant little yellow flowers. Something rustled in one of the tree’s…

And then a barely audible feminine moan filled the air…

**********[/color]

[Lorryn]

Jericho’s comment went unnoticed as she pulled herself together, but Black Sheep of the Winterborn’s didn’t. As she replaced the waterskin she glared over at the dog rider. “I’ve been use to it,” she retorted with a tone far deeper and darker than her usual soft lilting voice. The lass part would have simply earned a look but to think her too green or weak stomached for such a sight truly rubbed her the wrong way.

Truth be told, her reaction rubbed herself the wrong way, not that she’d ever tell the mutt’s owner that.

Still giving him sharp look, Lorryn reached behind her back and loosened her leather corset armor laces a bit, thinking perhaps it would help, as Jericho got down from Vakr and began investigating much like Alakaia was. The extra room did help some and the queasiness faded to nearly nothing, apparently the initial sight and smell of it just taking her unawares. Then taking up her staff, she followed suit, using the end to poke, prod, and flip over the various pieces littering the scene. Use to the scent of blood, be it from what they spilt on their travels or what she let after a kill, it seemed a little more metallic than usual and it clung to the back of her throat uncomfortably, causing her to wrinkle her nose now and then without her realizing it, like something had been smeared under her nose above her top lip.

As she turned another torso over, she too discovered the black tar like substance, it coating the end before she could pull it back and tried wiping it off the mahogany shaft in the damp grass nearby. It clung to the wood worse than she expected and had bits of grass stuck in the remaining streaks darkening the hardwood. Glancing around at the others, she saw no one else heading for the chariot remains and quickly stepped over to them, rooting around in them, taking an inventory of what was there. “There’s skins, some salted meat, and a coffer still locked,” she bent down and pulled it completely out from under some wreckage and shook it. “With coin still inside.” This wasn’t looking good for it being some sort of bandit ambush. They’d not leave supplies and gold behind.

Squatted down, Lorryn noticed a few beads, scraps of silk, and even what appeared to be a gilt sandal peeking out from under what was left of a velvet padded cushion seat to her right, the fabric torn where it had been cracked in half, the stuffing spilling out in mockery of the entrails spilling from the corpses nearby. Moving the staff, she slowly pushed the broken seat back and found it was indeed what she expected- the first signs of the Priestess having been there. “I found one of her sandals… handmaiden’s lack gilding,” she announced, picking it up and holding it up for the rest to see. As she stood, letting the gilded leather fall back to the ground she suddenly looked around, sniffing. It was subtle at first over the smell of rotting flesh that was becoming stronger as time passed, but she noticed it, and couldn’t seem to stop noticing it. “Anyone else smell that?” It was damn good actually, more sweet than floral and it never grew stronger just, more pleasant. And that seemed very out of place to her.

After glancing around her, she looked up to find dots of yellow speckling the canopy above. “Those flowers weren’t anywhere else along the path,” she murmured to herself and anyone close enough to hear just before the soft moan broke the still air.

Then her eyes started darting around to try and find the source…

[Deleted]

The master of the barrow hound nodded stiffly to the Imperian's retort. She seemed to be suffering from issues more than a mere weakness to the site of large amounts of blood. Besides, now that he had, er... "comforted" her, it was time to get to work. Best to look for the corpses for the Priestess, even if it was most likely that there would be nothing to find in regards to her. The guards were most definitely still around, but someone as important as the Priestess would have to have been taken, if only because of ransom. Unless of course, the culprit wasn't after anything close to money. The Forest of Eire was well known for its monsters...

"Cù. Sniff for anything unusual that could be hiding out in the forest." Most people laughed at the idea of giving the giant dog complex vocal commands, but Sancraid had known her for almost eight years now. What's more, barrow hounds were not dumb animals, and while they weren't quite as smart as the average human, they were close. Close enough to understand Common at any rate, even if they weren't able to speak it. Sancraid was given to understand that such behavior wasn't uncommon in magical beasts that were normally social, such as barrow hounds. A command to keep a look out could be followed easily enough.

That said, he would have to search the clearing itself as the green creature kept watch. However, it seemed that Jericho and the Imperian lass were already taking care of that. What they had found with a cursory examination of the area was troubling to say the least. A black, tarlike substance covering every single body. No priestess of any sort, just guards. From what he could see, there were no handmaidens either, which was odd. From his experience, "holy" people like the Priestess were almost always accompanied by servants of some sort, whether they be handmaidens, choir boys, or other such lower ranking people in their organization. With the guards being choked to death, that was somewhat troubling, since a sentient creature would have killed them with a weapon. Both the handmaiden and the Priestess herself were missing, and all of the guards themselves were male. It was just a hunch, but...

"It isn't just the Priestess that's gone, her handmaiden is missing as well. That leaves us with two options, considering they left all supplies. Either it's a monster that only targets holy people, or it's a monster that goes after women."

Both of those ideas were... disturbing to say the least. If it was a monster that targeted holy people, then the first idea he could think of was it being a demon of some sort. Or the servant creature of a crazy mage, which was always just buckets of fun. If it was a monster that specifically targetted those of the female persuasion, then they already had two ripe pieces of bait in the middle of this clearing, where they had been known to have already attacked. With that thought in Sancraid's mind, the giant greenish dog pawed up to its master, before pointing her head and raising her paw off into the forest.

Directly at where the Proliaos watching them was lurking.

Without wasting a moment, Sancraid unslung his spear from his back and got into a stance. "Something's watching us." he stated, not a hint of doubt in his voice. The supernatural hound's nose had never once failed him before, with only pouring rain having ever stopped her from picking up a scent. If she said something was out there in that direction, something was out there in that direction. But, at that moment, an entirely different warning whispered in Sancraid's head.

UP. THE CANOPY.

Immediately, Sancraid tore his head away from where his dog had told him something new was lurking, and stared into the tree-tops. Those treetops that were moving, something hidden within the trees that, if his Eye of the Mind had made him look away from what Cù Sìth had told him was watching them, was currently the greater danger. He was confused at how it had evaded the supernatural hunting dog's nose, but that was a question for later. Warning the others was more important. Right after the moan resonated through the clearing, Sancraid yelled "It's in the trees!"

Whatever it was, they would now have at least have the equal opportunity to fight back to it. If it dwelled in the trees, it was most likely an ambushed predator, and Eye of the Mind would neutralize that advantage.

[Deleted]

Alakaia listened closely as another member of the group spoke. Recognizing the bassy voice, she cleared her throat quietly and spoke as well. “There are particular tribes comprised entirely of women who are clad in armor. Their lands are near here. There is no sign of their kind of armaments here.” In a place like this, anyone who was killed would have left something behind. All that they were finding were men though. There were no signs of any women traveling through the place. The lack of sound could explain a few things. A big enough predator could be nearby, which had scared away most of the normal wildlife, but that didn’t explain why the body of the priestess and her handmaiden weren’t to be found.

Moistening her lips, she grimaced upon turning over one body. Using the tip of her spear, Alakaia watched the black tar substance stick to the metal. Trying to wipe the spear point off in the grass did little to help as the stuff was particularly sticky and thick. Who would have brought this here? She didn’t at all remember anyone mentioning there being tar brought with the entourage. The mound of questions just piled higher. “Sometimes to distract enemies or hide the target themselves, women have been known to wear armor.” For a priestess though, something like that had not occurred. Though…there was a possibility. “If they thought she was in danger, there could be evidence of a lighter set of armor somewhere.” I doubt we will find anything like that. Any chance of hope, though slim, was better than nothing though.

The group had fanned out a little as they surveyed the carnage. None save Lorryn had approached the chariots, though. Alakai began turning her attention to them as well. She was still picking along bodies though. Quite a few of them had burns at strange points of their bodies. As if something wrapped around them…

Her features creased into a frown as she located another peculiar death. This man had the same tar like substance oozing from his mouth along with a strange glittering fluid that completely coated his face. Using the same spear, she touched it to the new fluid and lifting it to look closer. A familiar scent wafted to her nostrils and she inhaled deeply. Frowning, she spoke up again, lowering the weapon to her side. “Got sap over here.” She doubted this fallen man had been sniffing flowers before he died. Hearing Lorryn’s voice and the announcement of finding a slipper, she paused. The scent of the sap was in the air again, strongly so now, but her spear was pointing towards the ground.

Nape rising, Alakaia turned…her long legs ate up the distance between her other comrades. She glanced to Sancraid as he mentioned the possible options. A creature that goes after women or one that goes after holy people. All Alakaia had was the strange presence of sap, but the oddity was making its way to the fore in importance. It is something that uses tar, sap and leaves no trace? And now the tall woman had the unmistakable feeling of being watched; the sensation was growing so strong that she resisted the urge to scratch herself. A faint rustle reached her ears, a few leaves falling from overhead. Eyes darting to the canopy overhead, Alakaia could almost swear she saw something moving up there. She noticed the flowers, eyes widening in disbelief as some of them seemed to be opening up far too quickly and was already pulling the hand-axe from her right hip as Sancraid made an announcement. Knowing the spear was going to nearly be useless, she let it fall to her side, grabbing the hand-axe hanging off her other hip.

Then…a faint moan filled the air. It belonged to a woman and the irritation over being watched grew twentyfold… “Not only is it in the trees…” Her teeth grit at the thought. “But I think we just found out where the priestess went.” A plant monster… It wasn’t possible, was it? “Get ready, everyone!”

[Deleted]

**********

Result[/color]
6 (Avg: 6.0)

(Total avg: 6.0)

6) Stalemate:[/color] The battle continues with no loses on either side. (In this case…you’re still not under attack…)

**********[/color]

The rest of the party called out what they were finding; all in all, things weren’t looking good for the Priestess or her handmaiden. Jericho puzzled, looking about the clearing. He had seen a lot of queer things in the wilds of Solabren. Eire herself was a bizarre land filled with many perils and mysteries that he couldn’t always explain. This was one of them. Then of course Sancraid blurted his theories. The big Winterborn’s brow furrowed a little while he thought about the possibilities. It certainly wouldn’t be the strangest thing he had ever seen or heard. Not that it wasn’t strange; oh no, it was plenty strange. Still…there were things out there like Camilla…

Jericho shuddered a little bit at the thought of that nasty bitchmonster bat-with-tits and then recollected himself, looking about the clearing. Then he heard the moan, roughly about the time as everyone else did.

The moan then degraded into sobbing and incomprehensible sobbing.

”What’s in the trees?”[/color] Jericho said, his hand coming to rest on the hip of his xiphos. ”I don’t see anything.”[/color]

The other warriors prepared themselves for battle. Jericho could only look up, mesmerized by the sudden appearance of the flowers overhead that had not been there previously. Furrowed brow again. The warrior cupped his hand over the top of his eyes, looking up into the canopy, his other hand still sitting on his sword hilt.

”If it’s up there, what’s it waiting on?”[/color] He asked to no one specifically. ”It should have attacked when we weren’t paying attention to it. When we were doing our damage assessment.”[/color]

As he stood there looking he thought for sure he could see the vines of the trees overhead twisting and moving about the canopy as if by intelligent design. Squinting, he did what he could to discern the motion better, but wasn’t entirely sure what he was looking at. He vaguely remembered Alakaia saying something about finding the Priestess, and then he focused back in on the feminine sounds from overhead. Moaning. Sobbing. Babbling in some form that he could not understand. Jericho continued to search the canopy, past the bizarre overhead movement that he was sure spelled trouble and toward the direction of where he perceived the noises to be coming from; what looked like a great cluster of flowers high above them and to the north, at least one hundred feet high in the trees, if not higher.

At that point Fico seemed to have locked on to whatever Cu Sith had sensed out beyond their human senses. The Mountain Wolf gave a deep growl followed by a bark of sorts; a warning to whatever was out there that they were on to it. Jericho nodded.

”If they dogs can sense it, then its no plant monster. It’s something of flesh and blood. Seems we’ve walked into some sort of trap…”[/color]

His speech trailed off. But what kind of trap? Whatever was above them had set up the Priestess for bait, it seemed. That was a pretty good indicator whoever, or whatever, they were dealing with was intelligent. And why hadn’t the trap been sprung already? They had given plenty of opportunities before now.

Somewhere high above a woman cried for help.

”I guess someone has to go up there…”[/color] He said to the group.

**********[/color]