Chapter 2: South Wind

[Sherwood]

"My thanks for the healing to you and Iomeade from me, too. I was getting quite shaky there, not able to take much more before being a casualty." Wren is feeling much better, but still has some aches and pains that came from the spear blows and bite wounds. "Need a hand in searching the bodies?" Not that there is much chance to have lots of loot, but who knows? We might get lucky.

 

[Clockwork Syringe]

To say Baird was frustrated was an understatement. However, he wasn't frustrated at his team he was frustrated at himself; the impact he had done was minimal and yet everyone else around him had suffered. ~If only I was stronger! Then I could have helped my teammates! Why can't I do anything!?~ The frustration could be seen clearly on his face if anyone looked close enough.

 

[Dicer]

"Sssomething bothersss you, Baird?" Veskassdak asked as he saw Baird's body language. He still could not read mammal faces, but body language transcends species.

 

[Silanon]

The spirit musters Wren for a while, a mixture of curiosity and approval. Then, finally, the giant head nods - or at least that's how you'd interpret the gesture. Another roar, as if to bid farewell, then its shape slowly fades away like morning fog in the sun. You can hear Io mumble a few words in her mother tongue, likely words of thanks as well.

The paladin's healing closes most of the wounds, at least to a degree that the pain lessens significantly. Obviously, a rest will be needed at some point but things don't look quite as poor as earlier. "There's enough to bother us, I'd say. We've got a whole city of them ahead - and this path should have been cleared by the Forgotten, right?" Her hand picks up the tooth from the ground - the runes on it seem to have faded away. "His soul should not have been needed in the first place." She then joins the others to look through the orcs' belongings, but it's Renna who finds the only things of interest. A stone with an orc rune on it, to be found in one of the orc leader's pockets. Hard to say what it's meant to do - there is no magical aura around it. Maybe an order where to patrol? Other than that, there's not much of value: The spears are almost worthless, the leader's sword in rather bad shape - you might get a few coins for it at most.

Healing effects: 19 for Veskassdak, 20 for Io, 14 for Wren - enough to keep everyone alive for at least a while longer.
Wren (-9), Io (-1), Veskassdak (-18), Renna (-10)

 

[Clockwork Syringe]

When Veskassdak asked him what was bothering him, Baird's expression became less upset as he explained. "I'm just annoyed with how little I actually helped during that fight and how little damage I received. It wasn't fair to you all that I got out without any injuries. That's what is the matter. Baird then goes to look around the remains of the enemies for anything that perhaps everyone else missed.
Dicer Silanon

 

[Dicer]

"Be glad hurt not you," Veskassdak said to Baird. "Pain fun not. Ssspellsss ussse you, right? Ssstay back from enemiesss and let me take hurt. Handle hurt better me. Not want sssee kassu dead. My job take hurt, not you job. You job rain magic hurt on enemiesss once able rain magic hurt on enemiesss. Otherwissse, you job make usss better able to make hurt on enemiesss. Good for you?"

 

[Sherwood]

Wren gives a rough laugh. "Yeah, trust me, getting in the mix of things is not always a fun experience. Even with my new armor, I came close to not being on my feet for the end of this fight. Do what you can from the back of the fight, until you get mastery of the spells you need to be a real force of nature on the battlefield."

 

[Silanon]

"Certainly works better than throwing away your bow and pretending you'd know something about close-combat." Io points at the holes in her own armor, bloodstained even though the wounds underneath have healed thanks to the paladin's magic. As noone seems to see anything more of importance, the elf shoulders her bow, then musters the path ahead where Wren vanished from your sight earlier. "What did you find, Wren? I only heard some kind of explosion, then the orcs showed up behind you."

 

[Sherwood]

Wren lets out an angry snort. "Not a whole lot. I found a clearing where many orc bodies were laying out after getting attacked with both swords and arrows, along with another large figure in the center of the field, perhaps one of the people that killed the orcs. When I tried to jump over a small stream running through the clearing, I stumbled onto something that was rigged to explode. I was lucky to get away from the blast without being blown up! Unless we plan on sitting here, moaning and groaning over our injuries, I can show you what I ran into."

-9 HP

 

[Psychie]

Renna stands and offers her mailed hand to the nearest figure next to her to aid in getting him or her up on their feet. "We might as well move forward, so long as we move carefully. I remind everyone that I cannot perform any more healing magic until tomorrow."

-10 HP By the way, what time of day is it?

 

[Sherwood]

"I'll try to keep my eyes and ears open wide to avoid any more ambushes. I do not want to go through that fight again." Wren motions in the direction she is planning on heading out in, this time sticking closer to the rest of the party.

OOC hopefully I can get a better Perception roll than the last time.
-9 Hp

 

[Silanon]

When you all approach the clearing, you can see the sun between the clouds - still on the rise, but almost at the highest point. By the looks of it, it's almost noon. There seems to be noone around you for now, no sign of anyone hiding somewhere - all you notice is a single bugle further northwards, still far away.

As you get closer, you all see the scenery Wren saw earlier. The rogue can spot about half a dozen of the hovering stones, right behind the trickle and thus between you and the dead bodies. If you want, you can try to disable the magical traps, or simply point out their location so that noone will get too close to them. If you're looking for a riskier approach, you can also try to recover them for later use, trusting your reflexes once more if something goes horribly wrong.

 

[Sherwood]

Wren will go ahead and try to disable the stones, hopefully being able to use them as some kind of grenade or drop mine in the future.

-9 hp
+14 to Disable Device

 

[Silanon]

In four cases, your expertise is not enough - while you manage to break the thin stone before their hidden power can be unleashed, you won't be able to use them later on. In one case, you manage to achieve exactly that - right before the icy glow around it can explode in a wave of magical energy, your knife can find some notch near its boundary. A quick movement disables the device, and you're certain that you'll be able to activate the thing in a similar manner whenever you feel the need for some extra protection.

The rogue then attempts to do the same with the last remaining trap - once more, you see the same icy light, and try to recover the thing for your group. However, this time you're not quick enough, and even your reflexes can't protect you in time. A wave of cold ice explodes around you, catapulting you backwards at least a few steps. You can almost feel how the cold soaks up your strength, hoarfrost covers your armor and skin. At least none of the others are hurt in the process - as you try to stand up, your movements seem slow, as if the air around you was viscous, and your breath forms misty clouds.

(Wren takes 9 damage and is severely slowed for about half a minute, but recovers one frost trap)

 

[Dicer]

Veskassdak followed Wren and the others. He did not say anything since he had nothing to add. He wished they could have finished off the fleeing mammals, but he knew folly when he realized it in his thoughts. If not for Renna's healing touch, he would have been going to the darkworld instead of fulfilling his destiny. These thoughts always came to him after his rage faded.
A blast of cold air wrenches him from his musings. He saw Wren had activated a trap instead of disarming it. After a short bit he was relieved that she had weathered it as best as she could, but he could also see her movements were stiff from the cold blast.
"Warmnessss needsss Wren," he commented. "Thisss sssip." He passed one of his drinking flasks he had purchased back at the encampment from the Ifrit bartent owner.

 

[Clockwork Syringe]

Baird nodded, somewhat getting over his frustration with the assurance of his teammates. Up until the incident with the ice trap he had remained silent, much like Veskassdak, due to his minimal knowledge of traps in general. However, Baird winced when he saw that Wren was still hurt by the trap and once more was reminded of how useless he was; despite being of gold dragon blood, he couldn't warm up anyone save for himself with his inner fire.

 

[Sherwood]

Wren shivers with the bone-biting cold. Great job, dumbass. You should have known better, but noooooo. You got greedy, wanting to take the magic traps to use some other time. She takes a grateful swig of the drink that Veskassdak is offering, feeling the warmth flow through her with a long sigh. "Lesson learned. No matter how good you think you are at a task, you can always screw up big time when you get overconfident. Oh, and by the way, thank you, Veskassdak. That drink helps out."

-18 hp

 

[Silanon]

Now that Wren has cleared the area expertly, you are free to take a closer look at the dead bodies. As described earlier, there are five orcs like the one you just fought, more or less surrounding one half-orc member of the Forgotten mercenary company. By the looks of it, he has slain two of his opponents, the other three were shot from the distance. You can't help but notice his heavy armor - you wouldn't really expect him to be a scout. Io adds to that impression by pulling an arrow out of one of the orcs' chests: "These were made to perforate armor - not to skirmish with other scouts."

The half-orc's armor has taken too much damage to really get anything out of it - however, you see a couple of gemstones attached to its breastplate that you could try to loosen from their places. Three show the green color of malachite, the two others should be worth way more: One's a black pearl, the other one a violet garnet. If he had invested that money in additional protection - maybe he would have survived this fight. Additionally, he carries an arcane scroll, and his bastard sword is of high quality, mastercrafted and still in good shape.

 

[Dicer]

Veskassdak noted the gemstones and thought them to be nothing of value to him. Mammals sought them out for a reason unknown to him, so he let his mammal friends take them if it pleased them. The scroll was also of no use to him, not having that fire run through his blood, so again did not care what happened to that. The sword, he could use, but he preferred his claws and bite. Those he could never lose, unlike weapons. Also, they would never weigh him down.
"Nothing dead mammal ussseful," he said. "Not care itsss thingsss. Carry will me if othersss want take."
Flexing his claws, he continued, "Weapon nicsse, but can do more hurt with thessse if able to hit."

Spoiler

-18 hp, 4 of 11 rounds of rage used.

 

[Clockwork Syringe]

Seeing the arcane scroll, Baird moves forward to pick it up and examine it. "Let's see what secrets this scroll holds."

((+8 to knowledge Arcana)

 

[Silanon]

Despite his best efforts, the sorcerer is not able to decipher the written instructions completely - you get a general understanding that it describes a fire-based spell, offering a temporary effect. However, it seems as if there's some part missing; maybe the author skipped a detail that he thought was obvious, or you're simply missing out on something. You are certain, however, that it describes your kind of magic - no divine symbols or instructions occur.

Spoiler

11+8 wasn't quite enough to understand the spell.

 

[Psychie]

Renna gives Wren a unhappy look. "Please don't get yourself killed off just after I spent some time healing you up! It will make me quite sad to lose your companionship. Now then, let us see what we have here. Hmm. That sword is a good blade, and if my eyes don't deceive me, it is not a simple throw away blade but one of exceptional quality. I could use it, but my own sword is magic, so it is a better weapon for me. Lets sell it to the dwarf that gave us such a good deal on our purchases."

 

[Silanon]

"You'll certainly get a reasonable price for it - Dalim knows how valuable a decent blade can be, and we'll be in need of our weapons sooner rather than later." After someone has grabbed the sword and gems for later sales, the elf takes a look around once more, then grabs her bow tighter. "I wouldn't want to take a rest right here - my bugle might have alarmed more orcs, and I'd rather not risk another fight like this one. We could head back - or continue on, maybe catch up to the scouts ahead."

 

[Psychie]

Renna says, "While I am willing to continue to advance, all of us except Baird are injured. Perhaps it would be best to make a run back to camp for some healing."

 

[Dicer]

Veskassdak did not like the idea of running back ro camp with his tail dragging behind him. However he liked the prospect of running into another patrol of orc mammals even less. Perhaps back at camp he could find something that would make him more effective in a fight. Even something that could heal his wounds like Renna has done.
"Think we ssstay here longer not," he began. "Sssafe not. Found ssstuff that bessst not in green-ssskinned mammalsss, orcsss, handsss to ussse fight usss. Need thingsss camp hasss to fight better. Depend on only Renna not wissse. May not alwaysss able heal during fighting. Baird, know anything that heal like Renna?"