IC III

[thirdkingdom]

Feargus

"Pardon me. I did have one more question if you will indulge me. Another dragon was mentioned in our travels...Valraphgon, scourge of the woods north of the town we call Alice. It has not been seen in sometime however. Is this a creature you have record of?"

viewtopic.php?p=430091#p430091

Oakleaf

"Now, that's a name I've not heard in a long time. Valraphgon ruled the woods to the sunrise, on the other-side of the man-trail. He rarely entered our territory. If you seek him I would travel towards the sun rising."

[shaidar]

Newton

"Master Oakleaf, sorry to bother you with another question, but we have heard rumours of some darkness released to the north in a place called Isenden. Have you heard anything of this?"

[thirdkingdom]

Oakleaf

"What do I look like, a plot contrivance to feed you information?" Oakleaf looks alarmed. "Isendan!" he exclaims, I have heard of it, and would warn you to steer clear. It was a redoubt of the Ancient Ones, at the beginning of Time, right after Man threw off the shackles of the Crocodile Kings! When the Ancient Ones left Isendan was abandoned, along with the subtle magics and foul technology they practiced. The Barren Wastes lay between here and there, however, and I have never visited it, nor would I want to."

[shaidar]

Newton

"Wise advice, Master Oakleaf, and I thank you for your patience." he looks around at the others "There is time to eat and put a few hours of travel between us and Master Oakleaf. I am sure he would like some peace returned to the land"

[thirdkingdom]

I will move the IC along later this afternoon.

[thirdkingdom]

Sixthmonth, Nineteenthday
Hex 227.117?
5:30 pm

The adventurers bid Oakleaf farewell and continue eastwards, sweeping the area as best they can while still maintaining an easterly direction of travel and not covering the same ground as they did previous. The rest of the day passes uneventfully, and the companions find what seems to be a safe place to set up camp.

Sixthmonth, Twentiethday
Hex 227.117?
8:00 am

The night passes uneventfully, and the adventurers rise in the morning. Sometime during the night the winds shifted, blowing not cold air down from the north but warm, humid air from the south and seasonal, hot temperatures. From what the companions can see through the canopy the sky is cloudy, and those experienced with the outdoors know that rain is likely. Rising, and considering what they have learned from Oakleaf, the adventurers plot their next course of action.

I'd like to confirm that the general plan is still to meander eastward, back to the road to Draea, and seeing what you can find.

Encounter on 1-2:: 1d6 4

[thirdkingdom]

Sixthmonth, Twentiethday
Hex 228.117?

The adventurers have not traveled for more than an hour, winding a somewhat circuitous path through the woods, akimbo-like, when they come literally almost face to face with a trio of strange looking creatures. The three resemble large, black panthers, but with six legs and a long, lashing tentacle sprouting from either shoulder. One squats on its haunches, licking its flank in cat-like fashion, while the other two observe the adventurers with a detached, almost bored air. The three creatures are no more than twenty yards away, and it is clear that had they wanted to attack they would have, and likely the adventurers would not have known it until it was too late.

roll redacted
: 1d6 1
Time of day, creature encountered, surprise, distance, reaction roll:: 1d8 1 1d8 8 1d6 2 5d8 21 3d6 13

[The_Wanderer]

Feargus

"Hold up!" Feargus holds up a hand to stop the advance through the wilderness and looks for the other seasoned party members. "What. Is. That? Do we think they are dangerous? Better question, do we think there are more?" He begins scanning around and then in any trees that are overhead for additional dark shapes.

He slowly puts his hand on the grip of his sword, but does not draw and does not dismount.

Feargus' closest applicable skill seems to be Wilderness Survival/Proficient...Any way he can use this to judge intent?

[kalstone]

Svenn

"If they were hostile, we would most likely be dead already."

He holds up his hands and speaks to them in Common, followed by Undertongue, "Greetings, magnificent ones. We come in peace."

[shaidar]

Newton is about to speak, but stops when Svenn address the creatures. He stays alert, both for the creatures reactions and for more creatures.

Will Newton's Naturalist and/or Wilderness Creatures skill help him identify the cat-things?

[thirdkingdom]

Svenn

"If they were hostile, we would most likely be dead already."

He holds up his hands and speaks to them in Common, followed by Undertongue, "Greetings, magnificent ones. We come in peace."

Newton has never seen or heard tell of such strange beasts. Feargus, on the other hand, upon studying them, comes to the conclusion that they're perhaps cat-like in more than appearance, and are studying the adventurers with the feigned indifference shared by their smaller feline cousins, even if the relationship is several times removed. They do not seem likely to pounce, but are simply curious.

As Svenn speaks one of them cocks its head, curiously, but does not seem to respond to the words themselves.

Some rolls: : 2#1d20 16 9 1d6 2 The description of warp beasts states they are
"semi-intelligent" I assigned a 1 in 6 chance they could understand Common; close, but no cigar.

[shaidar]

Newton keeps his voice level and calm.

"I've a spell that should let me talk to them, but it looks like we'd probably be fine just keeping our distance and moving on"

[Rex]

Shmara

Shmara waits, leaning on her spear as she tends to when stopped. "They are beautiful creatures."

[VonAlric]

Gardo

Taking a long lock at the creatures, Gardo considers things for a moment. As he takes in a breath and grips the reins tighter, a sharp cough sounds behind him. Stopping, he turns to look at Mariusz. A few seconds of staring occurs and Gardo relaxes. "Yeah, they're keeping to themselves. Hey, men! Don't do anything. Unlike some orcs, they don't seem interested in bothering us." He looks back to Mariusz. "Wouldn't one of them make a cool pet?" After seeing Mariusz' face, he turns away, a bit dejected.

[thirdkingdom]

Sixthmonth, Twentiethday
Hex 229.117?

The adventurers take their cautious leave of the bizarre, cat-like creatures, Gardo thinking about how much he would like to have one as a pet. They continue onwards, in a wide, zig-zag pattern, and make it another nine or so miles before it becomes time to establish a camp. Right about that time it begins to drizzle, a light, steady rain that lasts for a mere half an hour before stopping, leaving the air somehow hotter and more humid than it was before.

That night, as the adventurers are seated around a campfire, Feargus, Gardo, and Newton -- no strangers to the woods north of Alice -- all realize something odd. In their previous ramblings through the woods it is not at all uncommon to come across the leavings of previous civilizations; if not those of Man, than of some other structure-building race. These woods, however, are remarkably bereft of any such traces of previous civilizations. In fact, they have not seen anything made by the hands of Man since they discovered the tomb of the Bandit Queen. Odd, that.

[shaidar]

Newton

"I wonder if that's because of the Silverbark Court or something else, like those tall humanoids Oakleaf mentioned. Maybe we should have an increased guard presence tonight."/dialog]

[Rex]

Shmara

"Interesting place indeed, perhaps increasing our watches is a good idea."

[thirdkingdom]

Sixthmonth, Twentiethday
Hex 229.117?

The night passes uneventfully.

: 1d6 5

Sixthmonth, Twentyfirstday
Hex 229.117?

The adventurers rise in the morning and break camp. It's apparently still pretty overcast, judging by the diffuse light coming through the canopy, with oppressive humidity that raises clouds of mist from the decaying leaves of the forest floor. The companions break camp and head east again, in a meandering sort of way in an attempt to find this village they had been told about.

The party has been traveling for about six hours, and should, by Newton's reckoning, be roughly in Hex 231.117 or 232.118, when they come across a road. It's a pretty wide road, with enough clearance for a carriage, at least, and paved in flat, irregular flagstones. The road runs north and south. It, except for the flagstones, kinda looks like the road the adventurers took from Draea to Kimrid, but that couldn't be. Newton estimates that they've got another full day of travel before hitting *that* road.

[shaidar]

Newton studies the road for signs of travel

"Either there is another road running parallel to the one from Alice, or there is some magic at work that has either transported us on a days travel or made us take a different route to the one we think we've taken so we've arrived early. Perhaps these tall two-legs don't like company"

[Rex]

Shmara

"So this shouldn't be here or we shouldn't be here. That calls for more investigation I think."