Barrowmoor: Exploration and Ecdysis.

[Rusty Tincanne]

Dale let's go if the rope and rises to his feet, pulling out his bow again. But being dragged across the clearing left him wobbly and the arrow flies wide.

Short Bow (THAC0 20): To Hit [1d20+2]=5+2=7, sm [1d6]=5, lg [1d6]=4

[tarlyn]

Venwynn

Unslinging her Short Bow, Venwynn nocks an arrow and taking careful aim, fires one at the Elephant!

1st Arrow on the undead Elephant [1d20]=3

Miss obviously a 3 lol

Retrieving a second arrow she fires again!

2nd Arrow [1d20]=6

Dice Gods are not always accomodating lol

Please let me know if I can retrieve either or both arrrows

[sastaz]

Gerdal, unsure how to even injure this beast, tries one of her throwing daggers, but it just bounces of.

Thrown dagger, to hit: [1d20]=5 dmg: [1d4]=4

"Everybody, aim for the pulsating light in its forehead, it's what's keeping it alive!"

[Spearmint]

Dale you get two arrows per round.

Gerdal you can throw two daggers per round.

[Rusty Tincanne]

Dale you get two arrows per round.

Time stands still for a moment as Dale chides himself over the his rushed shot. Then a voice from beyond inform him there is time for a second, better aimed shot. He does so and smiles as his shot strikes true.

Short Bow (THAC0 20): To Hit [1d20+2]=20+2=22, sm [1d6]=2, lg [1d6]=5

[RiverGreenForest]

Traeliorn

Trying to keep a safe distance from the mammoth the elf swiftly wields his short bow and lets loose an arrow towards the shining object on the mammoth's forehead.

Short Bow [1d20+1]=3+1=4: Small Damage [1d6]=6: Large Damage [1d6]=5:

"Thorn and sap!" spat Traeliorn in frustration.

OOC - Oof. Thought I could get a shot.

[Marullus]

Raust heeds the warning and aims a careful arrow at the glowing forehead...

Shortbow: [1d20]=18 [1d6]=6 [1d20]=8 [1d6]=1

[redwarrior]

Isvand lets fly again with his boomerang, focusing so much on hitting the gem that he misses....an ELEPHANT!

Boomerang attack [1d20+2]=6+2=8 Damage [1d4+1]=4+1=5
Bommerang recovery target 16 [3d6]=10

[Spearmint]

Barrow Moor, South-west of Helix, Duchy of Aerik.

May 28th 1066.

Runic Menhir: attack of the zombie mammoth.

The zombie mammoth turns into a giant pin cushion. Shafts dig into its rotting flesh but few strike between bone and muscle to hit vital undead organs. Daggers and boomerangs bounce off its body.

Ricardo [1d20]=5[1d6]=5 [1d20]=3[1d6]=5 Pasquel [1d20]=10[1d6]=3[1d20]=2[1d6]=1Marcel attacks mammoth [1d20]=11[1d6+1]=5+1=6Traeliorn: 2nd bow [1d20]=4[1d6]=5

The verse in question is regarding people being lost and calling on the stars to guide them home. As you read, you feel some ethereal warmth as if the words have an effect upon you, warming your heart that whatever happens you might always find you way, which upon the misty Barrow Moor is a very good thing indeed.

Something has happened but until you do a certain action, the spell effect of the Runic Menhir may not be known.

Interestingly for Traeliorn, perhaps the reason he delayed loosing a second shaft , the warrior pulls his bow having seen his melee attacks unsuccessful. He nocks an arrow, pulling the fletching towards his cheek and aiming at the huge mammoth thrashing just yards away.

As he draws the bowstring, the barbed arrowhead ignites in flame, sparkling with light. The sudden conflagration disrupts his aim and releasing the arrow it flies wide of the mark and having done so turns around in the sky to zoom over everyone's head like a firework and proceed through the mist in a true northwards direction.

Taking a second arrow, the effect is the same. Missing the target, the arrow swerves through the sky towards the north star.

At least a couple of arrows do strike true. Raust impales the beast before a critical hit from Dale brings a last trumpeting and a crashing to the ground. The feral gleam of undead life glints no more, hollow staring eyes close slowly and with a deep sigh of passing, the mammoth rests eternal.

actions please

[Rusty Tincanne]

Dale hurriedly looks around to see if any more danger looms in the vicinity, then walks to the dead-again mammoth to retrieve his arrows, managing to salvage the two that struck the beast.

Two hit, plus one shot at short range (I think).
3 arrows retrieved on 1-3: [1d6]=6, [1d6]=1, [1d6]=3
Two found. Character sheet updated to reflect the loss of 2 arrows.

After replacing the two arrows and stowing his rope, Dale looks at the mammoth, and then at the party, weighing an idea before shrugging. Anyone have a saw? The ivory from tusks'll be worth a fair-bit of coin. Or maybe work as a peace-offering with the elves, if it comes to that. Then noting a lack of mounts, he adds, Might need a sledge to drag them though.

Spearmint: What would mammoth tusks weigh, anyhow?


Edit: If no one has a saw, Dale will try severing the tusks with his hand axes.

[tarlyn]

Venwynn

The red haired Ranger makes sure everyone is in good condition then attempts to retrieve her arrows.

Once done she will offer to help Dale with the Tusks.

"Maybe we could burn them off? I have more oil on me.. Burn at the root may make it possibly easier for us to cut off the

tusks?"

[Marullus]

Raust approaches cautiously, sidling up with spear in hand, bow stowed, like a fox approaching a wounded animal. The druid inspects the mammoth's head, looking for any object from which the magic eminated.

Afterwards, the druid retrieves arrows from the corpse and then does a cursory search of the surrounding area together with Namma and Carca.

Finding arrows... [1d6]=2[1d6]=5[1d6]=5[1d6]=6[1d6]=1[1d6]=6
Following the other's example, that's two found and four lost? 20 left?

[sastaz]

Gerdal approaches the carcass slowly, keeping an eye on the wounds of the thing, making sure they don't start to heal up again.

"Phew, that was a beast."

After collecting her throwing dagger, she joins Dale and the rest discussing the tusks.

"I do have a meat cleaver which can split bones. Now, these tusks are really thick, but we won't know if we don't try. Would you mind dear? My back is not what it used to be after all the hard work and childbirth."

She hands the meat cleaver over to anyone muscular enough to get through the thickness of the tusks.

[Rusty Tincanne]

ooc:

Dale tries a few whacks with the cleaver, and then his hand axes, deciding to continue with whichever works best. What's the story with the thing in the forehead that folks were so interested in? He grunts as he works.

[sastaz]

Gerdal replies

"It's some magical spell, or curse, focused in an object embedded in the forehead that allows them to heal, grow back limbs, reassemble really. We encountered a whole group of them, animated skeletons, in the barrow maze. It was nearly the end of us." she states with a slight tone of worry in her voice.

[redwarrior]

Isvand has little interest or strength for the hacking of tusks, so he will turn to patrolling the area around the group, being on the lookout for additional surprises., until that is done.

[Spearmint]

Barrow Moor, South-west of Helix, Duchy of Aerik.

May 28th 1066.

Runic Menhir: attack of the zombie mammoth.

Hacking through the face and high cheekbones of the zombie mammoth is bloody and gruesome work. The rotting flesh is leathery and wizened, blackened in blood the gives a foul stench, crawling with fattened maggots. Eventually you can carve out the tusk roots and like a giant tooth, wriggling it free of the cartilage and bone that secures it. Curving in corkscrew fashion, the tusks measures twelve feet from root to tip and weighs easily above 80kg.

But neither are in pristine condition. The enamel tips are yellowed and the root end pulp cavity it rotten like the inside of a hollow tree. The dentine is grained and cracked though the outside cementum lining is still strong. Pure ivory of the highest quality might match it's weight in gold, these tusks are indeterminate in actual worth but could certainly make unique carvings if portions of the tusk retain enough sincerity.

You can also check out the radiant spot in its forehead. Isvand and Gerdal can share their experiences of the Barrowmaze skeletons, constructed with inset forehead gems that throbbed with a baneful light and caused the skeletons to resurrect after death until the gemstones where broken themselves.

Fearing such augmentation exists on the mammoth, the carcass is prodded several times before you approach. In this case, there is no inset stone but a gland between the forehead brows that radiated with a light and heat much in the same way a fire beetle gland illuminates. Perhaps it was in this organ the 'undead' spirit or influence that caused to beast to animate dwelt. However once slain, the light from the forehead dims to suggest no further life force, energy, necrotic influence remains active.

Traeliorn studies his bow. It is normal and has no visible augmentation, neither do any of his arrows. Though test firing one into the air, as he pulls back the bowstring, the barb ignites with flame again and once loosed, with no other direction in mind, flies off into the mist towards the magnetic north.

Those on patrol check the perimeter of the clearing with the Runic Menhir. No further creatures lurk about that might cause alarm. A few crickets and frogs croak in the undergrowth.

There was a suggestion to find a suitable camp. As the day wears on, you have this spot which judging by nearby boulders has sufficed as a campsite in the past.

would you like to camp here or press on?

[Rusty Tincanne]

Bummer about the tusks. I don't know that Dale would have bothered with the second if the first is a dud.

What time of day is it after working the tusks free?

[sastaz]

Gerdal sighs. She walks away quite a bit from the mass of undead flesh and bone, and sits down on a rock.

"It's a dirty job alright. Should we catch some rest before heading off again? Where are we going, by the way? The snakemen trail seems cold, pun intended.

[Marullus]

Raust hops with both feet up onto a flat-topped rock, remaining in a crouch. The druid draws in the dirt with the spear's tip. "Kong directs us to
the North banks of the Merisc River... it is close, we search there tomorrow. Further south.
It was 15 miles, no indication of how many of those we traversed to the Menhir, but perhaps most of them if it is now almost dusk.

If the others concur on camping here, the druid pads into the nearby forest with the pair of wolves, tracking and running down what nearby game they can before losing the light... only meat hunted themselves being acceptable to Herne.