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Hello Kitty
Round 2

Chauncey looks on astonished at all of the quick reactions from his friends. Saracen fires off two arrows from his bow. One hits a tree branch and snaps while the next shot almost clips Lightfinger’s ear. (both arrows lost) The halfling tries to twist and turn himself, hoping to get a poke at the cat with his weapon, but he finds it difficult to aim while his shoulder is being literally ripped apart.

Wes stabs with his spear to no avail while the stout dwarf yells out and chops down hard with his pole ax. The blow puts another bloody tear into the beast’s hide and it yelps out in pain again, almost releasing its prized meal this time.

Ferris considers reloading for another shot but instead reaches into his belt pouch for some spell components. He quickly creates the illusion of a snake that rises up from the back of Lightfinger’s puffy (and now bloodied) shirt collar. The gnome mentally adjusts the illusion to strike at the big cat’s eye. It immediately sinks its phony fangs into the face of the majestic beast, causing it great turmoil. The panther yelps again and begins shaking his head side to side violently. It decides that it has had enough of this group of strangers so it flings poor lightfinger off into the bush, finally releasing him from its deadly bite. 2 dam The poor thief lands awkwardly hard, but is fortunately still able to draw breath, for now. Blood continues to spurt out of his garish shoulder wound.

The cat continues to shake its head violently as it backs away into the thick jungle. It lets out a roar that would send a chill down a hero’s spine as it departs.

Actions!

You can each get one more shot in at it as it leaves, or just let it flee.

Lightfinger 1/7
Brufrig Granitesunder 15/15
Ferris 7/7...... DM, RM, 0/1 first
Waesfaren Rhey 7/10.....2/4 first
Saracen Solaris 7/12 ......0/3 first
Chauncey the Adequate 4/6...... CL, DM, RM, 1/1 first

Lightfinger moans.

Oh, woe! The bedraggled and misused Halfling doesn't even try to rise, tho his voice does. Woe, I say! I'm dying! It's getting dark! Tell my Father I died a hero, tell him I shined! Look what that beastly cat did to my silk shirt!

Saracen will check upon the halfling and do his best to bandage the little guys wounds.

"You are severely injured little one, best keep with the pack as we continue. We must rest before we enter whatever dwarf mine awaits at the end of the track me thinks."

Wes lets the cat go, feeling it was the victim of an unprovoked attack, and doesn't deserve further molestation. After seeing that Saracen is helping Lightfinger, Wes turns to recover his dropped torch. In the unlikely event that it is still alight, he extinguishes it, and examines it to see if it is still useful.

Finally, he turns to address Ferris. "Ferris old chap, I know the ambush by the apes has us all spooked, but did you really have to shoot on sight? I could have tried to talk with it. Not only would that probably have kept him from attacking, but I could have asked him to lead us to a source of water. An animal as big as that would have a watering hole somewhere in his territory."

Ferris

Looks up like a scalding schoolboy caught with his fingers in the biscuit barrel. He was expecting some commendation for his creative genius and thinks about having the snake image bite at Wes's arse...

"Ah yes well, as Lightfinger can testify, some of us minor or even miner sized mortals don't want to become mini-moggie morsels and err, it did appear rather unfriendly if a somewhat beautifully coated beast."

Ferris closes the snake image by getting it to consume itself tail first.

I agree with Wesley on this matter, Ferris," says Chauncey, "The cat may have proved useful in our venture. However, I, personally, was, in a professional capacity, delighted by the manifestation of the deadly snake! Masterful! For a moment, though I should know better, I believed it utterly, thinking perhaps you had summoned it from some infernal plane of existence. Just wonderful!" Chauncey veritably beams. "Oh!... How is the halfling?" A somewhat manufactured look of concern suddenly crosses his features, seemingly competing for facial real-estate.

Trail of Tearing
Mid Afternoon
Hot and Miserable

After some scolding and then praising of the gnomes skills, the party finds themselves no closer to answers than they were when first heading out. Saracen binds the nasty shoulder wound of the halfling, pointing out that he should probably stay in between the trees as it were from now on. The half-orc comments on the probability of finding a dwarven mine at the trails end, again bringing up the undesirable idea of resting overnight out here in the wild.

Wes retrieves his barely lit torch and finds it still useable. Chauncy inquires about the health of the halfling, who is currently poking his little finger through the new bloody fang holes in his once nice shirt.

The afternoon rolls along slowly, but soon enough it will be nearing early evening. The druid estimates that there is only about 6 or so hours of daylight left this day, slightly less than the amount of time that you have already spent out here. The boot prints continue off down the trail in a westerly direction. The heat and bugs are still just as oppressive as they were in the morning, one of the few constants that you have experienced out in the wild so far.

"If we have only six hours to go and no clear defensible area to rest yet I think we should press on as swiftly yet carefully as possible! With luck we can find a place that can be guarded overnight. Let us continue if you are able Lightfinger, but let's all keep our eyes peeled for a defensible campsite.Whats our status now? I am out of spells but still have over a half dozen arrows. I can summon some pure water once we have rested for a few hours, until then our most desperate choice would be to all pee into a container and have the Druid purify it if he has magic still left!" Saracen says with what the group thinks might be either a wince or a smile of delight.

The half-orc gets to his feet and moves to Continue.

Brufrig Granitesunder

Saracen is correct. We can't camp here, so we need to keep going, until we find either the mine or an area we can set up camp. The more travelling we can do while the sun is up, the better. Are you able to travel, Lightfoot? If so, we should go now. I'm uninjured so I can go first. Hopefully, the length of the halberd can help defend against anything we may come across on this trail.

"Mmmm. We can't stay here. Let us follow the Dwarf and press on," says Chauncey. He's too scientifically intrigued by the idea of drinking purified urine from a boot or helmet to be disgusted by Saracen's grim prediction.

Wes

After replacing his torch on the side of his pack, Wes turns back to Ferris. "Y'know, perhaps I was a little hasty there. I apologize. There's no way to know if my magic would have definitely worked. And I would also like to say how impressed I am with your solution to our feline problem. Who knows how long Lightfinger would have lasted with the rest of us whacking around him with our weapons?"

Wes then addresses Saracen's suggestion of drinking their own urine. "Well I hope it won't come to that, but if necessary I still have the ability to cast two more spells today. Unless of course we run into any more hostile creatures, and I have to use them up. Which is definitely more than a possibility out here."

"Still, I wouldn't be too concerned about that just yet. Urine is, after all, sterile, and you never know, you might like the taste." He winks at Chauncey.

Woe! Lightfinger repeats.

How can I continue? He wails, Even with this makeshift bandage, nicely done, by the way, I am weak, I am hobbled! I won't be able to keep up. Go on, leave me! Find your glory and riches, just remember me! Remember "He-Who-Slew-the Wild Ape!" He covers his eyes with his one good arm and expels a heartbreaking sob. I knew the risks, I... What a story that would be back in my homlet, "He-Who-Slew-the Wild Ape"... No one will believe it, I must survive to tell the tale myself! Help me up! Yes, you! Dwarf! What's his name? Bullfrog? You will be the perfect replacement to take point.

Brufrig Granitesunder

Hearing Lightfinger complain, the dwarf growls, Fine. If he can't continue, somebody drag the halfling. Time to move out. Brufrig starts heading down the trail, halberd pointed ahead of him. Despite not being used to traveling through the woods, he will try to keep an eye out for any creatures, prints, zombie spoor- anything that looks like it shouldn't be there.

Trail of Tearing
Late Afternoon
Hot, Buggy, and Really Miserable

Despite the disgusting swarms of biting insects, the waning sunlight, their dwindling water supplies and the nearly dead halfling, the consensus of the group seems to be to push on further into this incredibly dangerous jungle. Lightfinger makes a dramatic decision to stay back and let the others go on without him. He thinks about that a little longer and quickly changes his mind. He desperately wants to be able to spin his tale of "He-Who-Slew-the Wild Ape" someday.

Bullfrog the dwarf takes over the point position with his long handled blade leading the way. A miserable 2 more hours are spent walking in and around rotting tree stumps and logs, spikey tree trunks and branches, vines with thorns on them that are the size of a hill giants pinky finger, and sharp or pointy leaves and fronds growing out from all of the bizarre vegetation the dominates this forest. The smaller boot prints are easy enough to follow in the daylight, but they will be nearly impossible to track once it becomes dark with only a sputtering torch as a light source.

You are continuously accosted by the annoying howling and hooting of monkeys and other hidden jungle denizens along the way, but so far nothing else jumps out of the trees at you. The day agonizingly passes into late afternoon with only about 4 hours of natural sunlight left. Whoever it was that left these prints behind must have surely been some hardy folk to be able to endure this type of constant torture. You assume that you are now approximately 4 hours travel back to the main trail, chopping at branches and vines is making the way a little easier to traverse for the taller folk.

You didn't think it initially possible but, with the sun now starting to drop below the tree tops, the swarming insects are actually getting worse. Even despite the druids natural bug repellant, every one of you has been stung many times and the creepy crawlers have gotten into every crevice and opening in your armor and clothing. Every one of you is completely beat and there is still no sign of this trail ending any time soon. With every step you take, your mind pleads to see another clearing or a cave, anyplace that you can take a quick break or set up a viable shelter to escape the biting insects. Unfortunately, you find nothing but more thick, nasty bush. And to make matters even worse, your dwindling water supplies are now nearly spent.

The darkening trail continues to lead you further into the deep jungle forest. The tracks still head off in a mostly westerly direction, veering slightly to the north the further you traverse. You have traveled one more full hex from the clearing in this map. viewtopic.php?f=446&t=6346#p300915

"It doesn't seem like this track is going to end anytime soon, and I am beat out. Perhaps we can erect a shelter with the branches and vines of the jungle and our cloaks etc to try and keep the insects at bay and provide some modicum of protection for resting? Perhaps a fire might also chase these bugs away, though the light may draw other things to us? Have you seen a bird, or bat perhaps, that you could befri me and ask to scout the area for us Wes?" Saracen says, slapping at yet another insect.

What are the resting rules for recovery of spells OM? Are you using the DMG for hours for 1st and 2nd level spells or just recovery once per day? Cheers

Wes

"I think we need to retreat". says Wes simply. "We are out of water and there is no indication that we will find any soon. That leaves us reliant on Saracen's ability to Create Water. But he also has to use his magic to heal Lightfinger. And that is assuming that Saracen gets a good night's rest in order to pray to Pholtus in the morning. If that doesn't happen, we'll be stuck in the jungle with no water and a severely injured party member. Even if it does happen, several others are also carrying injuries. Does Saracen use the last of his magic to heal someone right then? Or do we hope that nobody else gets injured tomorrow?

"Gentlemen, it's obvious we are pushing a bad position here. I propose we fall back to a safer one. I think we have enough time to return to the main trail by nightfall. We can either try to retreat to Beachtown from there, or camp on the trail overnight. If we do not have enough daylight for that, we will at least make it back to the campsite we found this afternoon."

"I realize that it is disheartening to retreat after all we have suffered through today, but I think at this point discretion is the better part of valour. There is no point in anybody dying today, when the trail and the boot prints will still be here when we return".

Saracen can't help but agree with wiser heads than he

Ferris

"Okay, we go back to the trail. Maybe to tempt the zombies out into the open we can set some kind of bait trap? Not enough meat on me see, thats' why the panther passed me over, maybe one of you chunky hunky guys could volunteer. Anyone make out like a chicken or goat?" faced with the disappointment of not finding any undead ones, Ferris tries to put his 'creative thinking helmet on'....

Chauncey has never sweat so much in his life. Or itched. Several times in the last hour alone he's been this close to wasting a Sleep spell to take out all the vermin in a thirty foot area, for just a few seconds respite. "I do not disagree with heading back... for now. At the very least, our going should be a bit quicker when we return - we've cleared the path somewhat to this point. I leave the decision to Wesley, our nature expert," he says.

Brufrig Granitesunder

We can overcome a lot, but not being out of water. If Wes thinks our best chance to survive is turn and head back, then I guess that is what we do.