Action Thread 13

[dmw71]

Jeloon is uneasy with the idea of being led by wolves. How is Till communicating with them anyway? she wonders. Yet, where they're going is probably better than where they've been so she follows.

[Argennian]

Yosef's mind races with too many questions as he peeks through the vines and into the slice after Bruard, seeing the wolves and the great oak beyond. Although he remains skeptical and gravely concerned that magical forces, possibly something similar to his own Charm Person spell, have taken control of Till, and perhaps also the others, he sheaths his sword and takes a quick look about him. He adjusts the Wand of Fire so that it is hidden from obvious view under his cloak but still at the ready at the side of his belt line.

When the party, apparently led by the wolves, begins to make for the massive tree, Yosef takes a deep breath and steps through the vine-concealed portal as well. He strives to maintain his heightened sense of awareness and will look all about in an attempt to take in anything and everything he can whilst he walks slowly behind the group.

[ToniXX]

Bruard, after passing through the vines, says back to Yosef It looks okay. Come through with your weapon sheathed. Don't move suddenly and be as quiet at you can.

He then follows Till following the wolves.

[rredmond]

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Day 19 – 2:45a


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Till whistles along happily causing some consternation with Jeloon and Yosef as they follow the wolves.

Till and Yosef both catching glimpses of a great dark shape shadowing them.

Then they come up to the tree. One heck of a majestic tree. Yosef’s feelings of skepticism melt just a bit as he gets a ‘home’ feeling from seeing this tree. This tree looms before you. A classically elven tree house is supported on the lowest branches of the tree only 10 feet above the ground. A set of stairs is formed around the base of the tree and leads from the ground to the house. A small vegetable garden is set in elevated boxes to the north of the stairs.

The wolves lead you up to the tree, and to the figure standing in front of the tree. She is very old and leans on a staff. The wolves lie down facing you three on each side of the tree. From out of the shadows comes a big grizzly bear to stand just to the right of the old woman, posing quite a formidable sight. The woman holds up her hand motioning you to stop about 10’ in front of her, and doesn’t look afraid or worried, though definitely inquisitive.

“I was wondering if you were coming to visit me in my Zone. What is your business in Shard?” She asks the party, looking intently at each of you four. Her eyes linger longest on Jeloon, and has the same intent glare at Yosef, but drop to his armor and she, almost imperceptibly nods, as she awaits an answer.


Map is here viewtopic.php?p=17612#p17612 . Sorry for the delay, some work ugliness.


HPs: Jeloon - 29/29; Till - 36/36; Yosef - 10/10; Bruard - 19/19
WIH: Till: short sword (15' radius light); Jeloon: Longsword (20' radius light), shield; Yosef: bow and arrow [or long sword]; Bruard: Mace, shield; Van: +1 ogre spear, shield; Eyman: +1 Battle Axe, shield
MO: 1- Till; 2- Jeloon; 3- Bruard & Eyman; 4- Ancor, Rosin, DAMs; 5- Yosef & Van
Consumables: Lantern - (Till) 2 hours, 25 minutes left (off), 30' radius; Torch, 58 minutes (off), 40' radius; Torch, 60 minutes (off), 40' radius.
--------Spells: Yosef: 1-2/2, 2-1/1; Bruard: 1-5/5, 2-4/4

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[Alethan]

Till bows solemnly and steps forward one pace, "We seek information, venerable one. And, in return, we offer what information we have that might interest you. It seems," he adds, "you have no need of information as it relates to the city. But maybe you seek word of the grove in the pass?"

[dmw71]

Jeloon attempts to stand at ease, but the gaze of this woman visibly makes her nervous. As does the large grizzly bear. She does her best to erase any sign of emotion from her face and is content to remain in the background for the time being.

[Argennian]

Yosef makes note of the elder woman's extra scrutinization of both himself and Jeloon. He does not look away and meets her gaze with an emotionless mask commonly worn by many elves and keeps his hands crossed in front of him as Till attempts to parley.

[ToniXX]

Bruard takes in the old woman, the wolves, and the bear. and as they approach he bows slightly. He listens to Till, nods in agreement regarding what he's said, then looks back at the woman, waiting for her response.

[rredmond]

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Day 19 – 2:47a


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bows solemnly and steps forward one pace, "We seek information, venerable one. And, in return, we offer what information we have that might interest you. It seems," he adds, "you have no need of information as it relates to the city. But maybe you seek word of the grove in the pass?"

She looks at the Halfling and smiles. ”I know too much about Shard, it’s true. The birds tell me much. It is a full of evil and shall be returned back to nature whence it originally came. This place, more than any other I know, needs rebalancing and the trees will eventually win that battle for they are patient warriors," her eyes glaze a bit as she seems to be remembering the past. She leans heavily on her staff and her cloak shimmers in the moonlight.

”You’ve been through the pass eh?” She asks with another smile. ”The grove there yet thrives? It was but the beginnings of my complete dedication to nature, before I had taught myself many things. I only added to that places wonderful arbor, enhancing and protecting it. Before I even knew the powers that could be unleashed through the plants and animals. When my work here is finished, I would visit the pass grove again," she trails off wistfully.


Map is here viewtopic.php?p=17612#p17612 .


HPs: Jeloon - 29/29; Till - 36/36; Yosef - 10/10; Bruard - 19/19
WIH: Till: short sword (15' radius light); Jeloon: Longsword (20' radius light), shield; Yosef: bow and arrow [or long sword]; Bruard: Mace, shield; Van: +1 ogre spear, shield; Eyman: +1 Battle Axe, shield
MO: 1- Till; 2- Jeloon; 3- Bruard & Eyman; 4- Ancor, Rosin, DAMs; 5- Yosef & Van
Consumables: Lantern - (Till) 2 hours, 25 minutes left (off), 30' radius; Torch, 58 minutes (off), 40' radius; Torch, 60 minutes (off), 40' radius.
--------Spells: Yosef: 1-2/2, 2-1/1; Bruard: 1-5/5, 2-4/4

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[Alethan]

Till smiles warmly when he sees the kindly druid reflect on the grove in the pass.

"When we entered the grove, it was far from being 'at peace', unfortunately. No birds chirped and no squirrels chattered. It was eerily quiet. We found the arbor with no problems and, you'll be happy to know, left it all as it was. When we were leaving, however, we found the cause for the disturbance of the peace. Or, rather, the cause found us. We were set upon by three huge pythons who had apparently been stalking the animals of the grove for some time. We had no choice but to dispatch them. But... as soon as we did that, you could almost feel the heaviness of the air lift. Within an hour, the birds were once again chirping and flitting about and the squirrels could be seen foraging under the hickory trees, happy as can be."

His brow furrows, however, when he thinks of the old woman living here in this city with such evil all about her.

"We are following the path of Roghan the Fearless and Zelligar the Unknown, an unlikely warrior and wizard duo who built Quasqueton, a keep south of the pass, to help the nearby peaceful villages defend against the barbarian hordes. They reportedly came this way, maybe to see if they could do something to prevent the barbarians from even invading in the first place. We're not really sure, though, so we've come to find out. Their keep had become infested with evil, so we cleared it out and found some notes relaying as much as we know."

"Just out of the pass," he continues, after taking a drink from his water skin, "we were set upon by a troupe of ghouls. We cleared them out and noted they seemed to be based out of an abandoned outpost to the west of the pass entrance. We cleared the outpost of evil vermin, as well." He pauses, biting his lip in thought. "Seems to me we've been doing a lot of 'clearing the evil' these days. I wonder if the gods have not the patience of the trees! Maybe they brought us here to you, to..." he looks up, thinking of the right words, "speed up the cleansing process, as it were. My friends here," he waves a hand at Jeloon, Yosef, and Bruard, "and I are at your service... should you need it."

"Oh," he adds quickly, "The young lady there is Jeloon. Our pointy-eared friend is Yosef. The saintly one with the huge helmet is Bruard. And my name is Till..." he leans forward a little, eye brow raised expectantly.

[dmw71]

"Oh," he adds quickly, "The young lady there is Jeloon. Our pointy-eared friend is Yosef. The saintly one with the huge helmet is Bruard. And my name is Till..." he leans forward a little, eye brow raised expectantly.

Jeloon nods respectfully. She doesn't speak unless spoken to; content to allow Till to be the voice of the party.

[Argennian]

Although still admittedly somewhat nervous and skeptical of their amazing great fortune in having met peaceably with this grand druidess, Yosef nods his head respectfully to her when Till introduces him. "Honored elder," is all he says with a flourish of his free hand as he waits in anticipation of any word about Roghan and Zelligar's fate.

[rredmond]

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Day 19 – 2:50a


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Upon hearing about the grove in the pass the old woman looks hard at Till and she smiles at the end of his story. ”You brought balance again,” and she nods.

At the mention of Roghan and Zelligar her mood, quite obviously shifts to one stony hard. The only emotion being her brows knitting as if angry or upset in some way. The wolves becomes restless, some of them standing. She stares even harder at Till, as if weighing his every word. When Till takes a breath, she says, ”Of Roghan… and Zelligar, I know.” but she offers no more and allows Till to continue as he talks about the pass.

When Till adds the piece about speeding up the cleansing process her mood lightens. Still watching him as he talks, she interjects once again after he offers their service. ”The sword or the trees, both good ways of cleansing – wizardry though destroys the balance. Interesting you should ask about me needing a service from you, I actually do, but continue.”

"The young lady there is Jeloon. Our pointy-eared friend is Yosef. The saintly one with the huge helmet is Bruard. And my name is Till..." he leans forward a little, eye brow raised expectantly.

At this point she laughs. ”You speak true Halfling. Your words are fair, but they are true. And true words are hard to come by in Shard. You four will come up and join me for tea and something to eat. You look like you haven’t rested well in days. Then she smiles at Till, ”and to answer your unasked question. My name is Melissa, Roghan and I were lovers. With that she turns and starts up the stairs to the tree house.


Map viewtopic.php?p=17612#p17612 .


HPs: Jeloon - 29/29; Till - 36/36; Yosef - 10/10; Bruard - 19/19
WIH: Till: short sword (15' radius light); Jeloon: Longsword (20' radius light), shield; Yosef: bow and arrow [or long sword]; Bruard: Mace, shield; Van: +1 ogre spear, shield; Eyman: +1 Battle Axe, shield
MO: 1- Till; 2- Jeloon; 3- Bruard & Eyman; 4- Ancor, Rosin, DAMs; 5- Yosef & Van
Consumables: Lantern - (Till) 2 hours, 25 minutes left (off), 30' radius; Torch, 58 minutes (off), 40' radius; Torch, 60 minutes (off), 40' radius.
--------Spells: Yosef: 1-2/2, 2-1/1; Bruard: 1-5/5, 2-4/4

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[dmw71]

You four will come up and join me for tea and something to eat. You look like you haven’t rested well in days.

Jeloon follows less reluctantly this time; the idea of a proper drink and meal appealing to her.

Then she smiles at Till, ”and to answer your unasked question. My name is Melissa, Roghan and I were lovers. With that she turns and starts up the stairs to the tree house.

Now this should be interesting she thinks to herself. The subtlety this situation will surely require continues to leave Jeloon content in allowing her more well-spoken companions to handle the brunt of the conversation.

[Alethan]

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Then she smiles at Till, ”and to answer your unasked question. My name is Melissa, Roghan and I were lovers. With that she turns and starts up the stairs to the tree house.

Ron, is it ever weird for you to type such things? I keep getting the image from The Running Man when they've captured the girl and are putting her in the game and the voice over guy says, "Her confidant. Her LOVER."

[rredmond]

so funny you asked. That was the hardest part to type. This is why I never played a female character. Or even an elf for that matter. I can do male humans, half-orcs, dwarves and hobbits - everything else I suck at the ROLE playing bit of RPGs. It was info I wanted to get across and I figured at the end was more dramatic.

[Argennian]

... At this point she laughs. ”You speak true Halfling. Your words are fair, but they are true. And true words are hard to come by in Shard. You four will come up and join me for tea and something to eat. You look like you haven’t rested well in days. Then she smiles at Till, ”and to answer your unasked question. My name is Melissa, Roghan and I were lovers. With that she turns and starts up the stairs to the tree house.

Yosef's eyes go wide and his mouth near drops open in a very unelven-like way at the mention of this. He looks around at the others incredulously but forces himself to visibly relax, fearing that the animals or even the old woman may sense his heightened wariness. In his now slightly more confused but still somewhat paranoid state, he will follow the others up to the tree house.

[Alethan]

As the woman turns to climb the stairs, Till gives a quick wide-eyed glance at the other party members at the mention of her being Roghan's lover.

He then scratches his temple next to his right eye, which everyone understands to mean, "Keep an eye out." or "Don't let your guard down".

(You guys didn't think I'd forgotten about the elves and the dwarves already, did ya?)

[ToniXX]

Bruard's eyes widen at the druid's confession. He eyes Till back, letting him know he understands his signal.

Are we following her into her treehouse?

[Alethan]

Sorry, yes, Till follows the aged Druid.