Action Thread #4 - The Marshes

[Stonjuz]

"That silver wire thar's a component for the Abjuration school. Everybody mage knows that."Stonjuz pays little more attention to the tree after gathering his samples. He pulls the handblade from his belt and turns to the dead reptiles and adds. "On the other hand, it looks like they are fish eaters. Not scavengers. If ever ya was to eat a lizard, these are clean enough. That spitsack exposed, there, intact shows us how'ta prep 'em. And I sure want the scaleyskins. If nobody eats the meat, Turtlepoo will. Dont want nuthin' to waste. As for the acidic spit. A powerful defense weapon perhaps. A vial handy? Can we take a few more minutes and get them cut up?"

[Sir Clarence]

"Your turtle eats meat?" For the first time, Andrin takes a closer look at the dwarf's pet. "Are you sure that it is a turtle at all?"

[Stonjuz]

"Sure. He's omnivorous. He loves fish. Wont be long an' he'll be too big for me to carry like this." If it appears the group is willing to wait for the cleaning, Stonjuz will free the turtle to his feet, if Andrin refuses to examine the pet by holding it. "Careful, he snaps."

[Sir Clarence]

Curious, Andrin picks up the turtle and eyes it closely. He has never heard of omnivorous turtles before, so he's somewhat unsure if the dwarf wants to make fun of him.

[ragnboneshopper]

Thurinor handles the copper sheet, smoothing it out as best he can. "Now here may be a mystery to match our own. At a guess, this landscape pulls unsuspecting dreamers to it and leaves only faint traces of the disappeared in the religious artifacts of its savage inhabitants. Be of good cheer, companions. We're not dead yet." Thurinor keeps the copper sheet, studying the crude artwork -- or warning -- with a distant half-smile, as if trying to remember something out of reach of his memory. As long as no one objects, he'll stow it in his pack when the party leaves this place. He'll also take the silver wire if everyone else lets it lie. The gold he shows hardly any interest in, but will put in for a share if it becomes an object of discussion.

[Buzz]

"Yet, who knows what else lurks in this swamp. Who know, maybe we'll com to face mister lizard man here." Mlone taps the statuette and chuckles. "Stonjuz, if you need help with the meet I will lend a hand, just show me where not to cut."

[Stonjuz]

"Thurinor done showed us where the acid bladder is, soooo...
Just insert your blade here, and ..up......and around....."lizard skin dex [1d20] = 4 "and down....See?
Now a stick to spread it out, so the scales dont curl. Now you try. "
As the human attempts his dressing, Stonjuz gives his pet some muscle portions while trying to avoid waste and also keeping the turtle from walking or swimming off.
"Sure wish we had a vial fer the juice, ......and the bat guano."

[Vargr1105]

Day 3 - Late Morning - The Marshes/The Ash Tree Clearing


After rest, relaxation, hydration, plundering and chatting the band of heroes feel ready to continue their journey. Whence will they go now?


Party arrived at clearing from the West (they were travelling East). There are 3 other trails leaving the clearing and heading North, South and East respectively. Much like the one that brought them here these trails are narrow and only allow on person to travel them at a time safely. Which one will the party take?

[zebediah]

The general direction we have taken so far is south and that seems to have worked fine. From here, however, we cannot tell which path will lead us out of the mountain so it might be more effective to move to the edge of these woods and try to find a vantage point where we can have a broader view. That would be either north or east, and north is likely taking us back to the river and the upper side of the mountain so I recomend taking the eastern path. What you fellas say?

[Stonjuz]

Stonjuz readjusts the turtle-helmet, gathers his rope and says,"Sounds logical to me."

[ragnboneshopper]

Thurinor checks that his gear is in place and that a bolt is fitted to his crossbow. Agreed. Eastward, to the sunrise.

[Buzz]

"Onward then! toward the rising sun!"

[Sir Clarence]

Andin nods and takes the lead once more, watching out out for animal life and prodding ahead with his staff.

[Vargr1105]

Day 3 - Late Noon - The Third valley/Grassy Plain


Darn! The GM apologizes, for he has made a mistake. The party arrived at the Ash Tree clearing via the NORTH, not the WEST so they had been travelling SOUTH. Anyway, onward towards the direction where the sun rise from...East.



Musical Theme: Open Air and Grass


The passage of time is hard to discern within the gloomy depths of the bog, but the party would wager over an hour passes while they follow the Eastern trail, led by Andrin. Halfway through the journey the trail turns slightly to the left, the right and continues onward.

Random Wilderness Encounter Roll: [1d12] = 3

The bog slowly becomes less dense as the heroes advance; soon all are expecting to reach the end of this unhealthy region swiftly, and they are not disappointed. As quickly as the bog was born by the edge of the cliffs a while back, so it dies and disperses opening to a green grassy plain.

Open and cleaner air at last!

By the position of the sun in the sky, noon is just about to end as the companions enter the plains. A windy breeze blows. The plain's grass waves and looks like a sea of green. There is bound to be some wildlife here, even if just of the burrowing, timid mammal type.

Looking around the companions see the lake of the Third Valley which they had observed from the top of the cliffs, standing less than half mile to the South. It is larger than both previous lakes combined and the waters look to be of a healthy greenish tint, deeper in hue than that of the plain. The shore seem to run NW to SE along the plain. The mountains walls stand to the north, maybe a mile distant, and begin curving to the SE as the plain extends Eastward. A couple of miles distant straight to the East they bar passage, the tall ridge there extends NW to SE in imitation of the lake shore nearer to the party.

[Stonjuz]

"Ah, that wasn't so bad. Well done Andrin. You too Ogirdor.
We are bound to turn from this direction of travel eventually now, by my count. That range an' all.
What say we begin a path down that way once again?
But you know me, I do wanna check those waters for game and plant species before leaving this valley."
Stonjuz begins storing his rope for better travel.

[ragnboneshopper]

Well, we have not been eaten, anyway. Land of many lakes, no? Shall we see the shoreline after a brief respite? Thurinor takes a position where he can scan the line of mountains and sky. He still remembers being caught in the open by oversized bat creatures.

[zebediah]

We are bound to walk in the open anyway so we might just head straight to the lake, refresh ourselves, then see what is the best route from there.

[Sir Clarence]

"Let's only make a short break now and see that we reach the lakeshore today", says Andrin while he drinks the rest of water from his skin. "We should have plenty of time to eat then, and probably even catch a few more fish for dinner."

[Buzz]

"The lake isn't that far. Besides it's unlikely we will se the bats at this time of day." If the others insist on resting he will begin the short walk himself. He really wants to completely wash his face off.

[ragnboneshopper]

"Yes, let's keep going. The day is fine for walking, the night is for making merry, and I too would cleanse the lizard spittle fully from my face."

OOC: When we reach the lake, Thurinor will treat the water with some reasonable amount of suspicion before laying aside his gear, removing his boots, and wading in to wash face and arms.