Quest #6 "Return To The River"

[Storm11]

Waes looks mightily shocked getting out of the river.

"It looks like they were robbed. Nothing survives out here without being armed to the nines. We could barely make it to the logging camp with all our weapons and magic. These two definitely didn't come out here in the undies and survive. No no no. Perhaps we should divide into two groups. A scouting group and then the main group some 30 feet back hmm?"

[Spearmint]

Krystal

appears, walking through the bushes. "Time of the month",she shrugs and carries on up the trail.

"Those ragtag loin cloth dressed adventurers must have come from somewhere. Do we keep following the trail?"

[Urson]

Aldo

Aldo stretches his neck, pressing his head into Bonnie's hand.

yeah. dat's a good spot... I din't say there was somebody behind us- I axed if there was. You just don' lissen, dat's all. But, scratch my shoulder blades an' we'll call it even.

[Monsieur Rose]

Bonnie

She obliges Aldo's request and scratches him just so. "Fair enough. I'll be more precise in the future."

Upon hearing Krystal return, Bonnie seems relieved. "Glad to have you back. Let's get going to this...farm? or something."

Bonnie will move out in front of the group, scouting 30 or so feet ahead.

[Hotgoblin]

Franny wlll stay at the back of the group...Yes, let's head out and stay quiet...those two looked terrified, something may have been chasing them, which means we may already be in its sights. She scans the surrounding area and waits for the others to fall out.

[Urson]

Aldo

The cat follows his new best friend, tail up.

[Bluetongue]

Ferris

"The two men didn't run away from seeing fair Bonnie elf, no, no. Only Krystal in the bushes. No I suspect some other skullduggery...they were frightened because they saw THIS!"

Ferris grabs the cat by the scruff of its' neck shaking it violently."Be ye monster or mage, show yourself true." the gnome insists.

[OGRE MAGE]

No one in the group wants to believe that it was Bonnie who frightened off the rogue rafters. A few hypotheses are shared, but none of them address or explain the laughing and splashing they witnessed. Bonnie keeps talking to the cat as if he understands her, but the cat only answers in purrs and meows.

After the fleeing men are out of sight, Krystal rejoins the group, offering up far too much personal information. The group is ready to put yet another strange encounter behind them and get moving again when Ferris suddenly grabs Aldo by his thick scruff and lifts him a foot off the ground. Despite the cat being nearly as long as the gnome is tall, he shakes him violently, demanding that Aldo show his true form.

[Spearmint]

Krystal

Watches the Ferret and cat in a furry face-off. It would look funny but the gnome does have a point that something scared the men away.

If not the cat, not Bonnie then who? How does Keiliff look? Starting to decay and smell like the mummy before, maybe the guys recognizer the symptoms and fled from him?

[Urson]

Aldo

Leggo me, ya barstige! I'll fuck you up!

Surprised, Aldo squalls and slashes at the gnome's arm, grabbing with both front paws.

[1d20] = 3
[1d20] = 18
[1d2] = 2

Aldo continues to squall, growl, hiss, and scream, hanging from the gnome's grip.

[Monsieur Rose]

Bonnie

"Whoa, Ferris! Put Aldo down, and let's talk about this." Bonnie seems taken aback that the Gnome grabbed her pussycat.

"Aldo isn't a monster! This jungle is making everyone paranoid. Let's take a breath and work things out."

[Hotgoblin]

Franny grumbles to herself...No one ever listens to me, I tells them to be quiet and they make enough noise to raise the dead!!! She stops and listens for noises.

[Scott308]

Brufrig Granitesunder

Brufrig listens to Franny and responds quietly. Elves, gnomes and cats. And clerics. Humph, He snorts.

[Storm11]

"This is getting us nowhere. Be still I say, lest you get us all killed. Waes watches the cleric carefully, and then surveys the jungle for any signs that we have been heard.

[Bluetongue]

Ferris

"Okay I'll put him down, as long as the fleabag knows there are many ways to skin a cat...or a dragon or zombie, vampire... So if he's no scareddy cat or even scary cat, then who scared them skiff fellows?"

Ferris will pour some of the 'antiseptic' he put into his flask on the claws scratches to clean out the jungle dirt and follow after the trail blazers to the next village of the bone-noses.

[Urson]

Aldo

Aldo glares at the gnome, slit-eyed and fluffed out to his maximum size.

Dere's a hairball wit your name on it, ya mook. Just wait.

Aldo trots off to catch up with Bonnie, sparing one last furious glance at Ferris.

[OGRE MAGE]

Day 2, On The River Trail
Godsday, 23rd of Reaping
Midday, Very Humid, Buggy

Aldo does not like being picked up by paranoid gnomes. He wiggles around and scratches at Ferris, clawing his arm severely and nearly killing the already badly injured spell sword. 2 dam Bonnie yells out for this nonsense to stop, so Ferris reluctantly releases the huge house cat. Krystal checks over Keilif again. She still finds the smelly and wrinkled priest to be as sound as ever. (except for his creepy white crepe-like skin and sour smell) Ferris pours some of his urine over the 3 long scratch marks on his arm, washing the dirt out as best he can. The rough fighter doesn’t even flinch from the stinging sensation.

The group looks around again for some terrible monster that must be lurking nearby, but still see nothing around the trail save for themselves. Despite that fact, none of them still believe that the laughing men were afraid of little ol' Bonnie. They decide to push on without any real answers to their wonderment.

After a few more hours of walking in a roughly northern direction up the river trail, the group passes through yet another abandoned village of grass huts and wooden structures. None of these huts are destroyed or burned, but you find that they are all completely empty. Other than the bugs and normal jungle critters, there is no sign of intelligent life around whatsoever. It isn’t long before the group finds another similar village in the same state of emptiness.

Finally, after searching until nearly midday, the group comes upon something completely different. Up ahead on the trail you see a wide clearing opening up before you. This clearing has a few huts as well, but they aren’t laid out like the others were. Here there are 2 very long and narrow grass huts with openings on both ends. They resemble large tobacco drying barns that you remember seeing on the plantations back on the mainland. There are a few smaller huts beyond, but the big huts block your view of most of those.

You don’t see anyone around at the moment but there are definitely signs of habitation here. There are a few of the long bamboo skiffs pulled up along the river bank and a stack of push poles nearby. There is what looks like a small pile of clothing and other items sitting on top of one of those skiffs. You can smell something burning on the air as well. It doesn’t smell like a normal campfire, but it does give off the scent of some kind of burning plants. The last thing that you find rather interesting about this place is that you can hear what sounds like a giant snoring. That noise rises above the normal din of the insects and other jungle noises. It sounds as though it is coming from beyond the long huts.

Actions?

Area Map:

IMG_1230.JPG (539.79 KiB) Viewed 523 times

Revised Trail Map:

Ferris 2/7 DM, RM, 1/1 first
Waesfaren Rhey 10/10 4/4 first
Bonnie 6/6
Krystal 5/5 CL DM RM 1/1 first
Franny Buurlslammer 9/12
Brufrig Granitesunder 11/15
Keilif 7/9 0/3 first

[Spearmint]

Krystal

not adverse to smuggling a bit of weed in her time, Krystal will sneak forward and climb into the long hut closest to the skiffs, intent on investigating the wares and if anybody is about.

[Monsieur Rose]

Bonnie

Bonnie darts for the nearest long hut, placing her back to the end next to the opening. She takes a quick look inside.

[Storm11]

Waes will wait at the clearings edge, watching and prepared to cast his entangling magic should the .... errrr ...... scouts disturb anything or anyone.