Broccli_Head
Explorer
The Road Home
Uktar 27-30, 1372 The Road Home, part I--Parting Gifts
The Heroes hurried with excitement down the trail, but their joy turned to a mixture of sorrow and anxiety as they saw ravens circling down in the snow-covered valley below where they had left their horses and retainers....
Grim and Aris hurried down to scout while the others followed behind cautiously. As the scouts crept to edge of the camp they saw the horrible fate of their hirelings. Horses were strewn about and butchered everywhere with the ravens feasting with abandon as if it were the Reign of Misrule in Alaghon. Grim and Aris had a hard time chasing them away. The three warriors from the Temple of Justice had been decapitated, their heads lay on wooden pikes and their bodies were left beside them for the animals. Two of the heads were black with pestilence, their swollen tongues lolling from their dead mouths. Aris stole into the ring of death to examine the crime scene while Grim scoured the edge of the clearing for any signs of the enemy that had done this heinous act.
Aris pieced things together. He assumed that the booted prints followed closely by some sort of lizard tracks were the Hlondethans. There had been four. It seemed that they had quickly subdued the guards, and had poisoned two of them. Then they excecuted the last one who may have surrendered. Finally, they butchered the horses. Aris saw that there were a pair of soft-soled prints that mingled with the booted ones and went in and out from the camp. He also saw that a heavy horse had escaped. Grim saw signs of its passage through the forest. Aris assumed this had been Slovack since he could not see the great horses body anywhere. Aris estimated that this gristly assault had taken place two or even three days ago. However, the soft-soled prints were more recent.
Grim then heard a noise in the evergreen underbrush that lay here and there. He mentally notified Aris who slowly drew his scimitar. "Show yourself!"
Nothing happened. Grim, without a sound and seeming to blend in with the surroundings, crept closer. Aris, it is the human boy who tends the beasts you call horses.
"Leo, stop hiding. Come out." in his most soothing voice.
If he had seen Grim, he would have seen the halfling wince. Soothing and comforting Aris was not. I guess we take the harsh approach, then , he thought.
Still, the groomsman did not come out so Aris went to him. He saw that the lad was shaking and blue, undoubtedly from hypothermia. The boy tried to flee, but Grim knocked him upside the head and he dropped. Aris looked down at the halfling disapprovingly, but decided that a lecture on compassion was not in order at the time. Aris took off his cloak and wrapped it around Leo. The boy was still shaking uncontrollably. The genasi then shouldered the lad, and had Grim climb upon his back as he hurried away from the death zone to get to the cleric and paladin in order to tend him.
In short order they arrived and related what they had learned. The rest of the group wanted to see for themselves and were horrified when they reached the campsite. Benito and Alberia did see to Leo's comfort, but noticed that after magical healing and a spell to endure the cold, he was still shaking. Alberia used her father's ring, found in the depths of Khudrukar ( See Scars of Khudrukar, part I-A father's fate for details), to determine if he had been poisoned. He had been. Fortunately, Aris had some divine scrolls just for that contingency. He tossed them to Benito who cast a spell to destroy the poison and the lad seemed comforted. He then told the Heroes how the Hlondethans had arrived with two "lizardmen" and fought with the warriors. Slovack bolted and that allowed the boy to escape. However, he had come back to the camp later and seen how his fellows had been brutally murdered and displayed.
"Don't nobody touch nothing," said Aris upon this revelation fearing poisonous death traps left by the cowardly spies.
As night was beginning to fall, the Heroes decided to retreat to Khudrukar as a precaution and examine and bury the bodies the next day. They did remove the heads and arrange the bodies of the fallen appropriately. The night went by quickly, although much howling and growling of wolves was heard. They also saw a glowing dwarf walk down from the Stone Tooth, but neither of these were investigated. The next morning they found the bodies even more badly mangled by animals than they had been. Aris wanted to cut up the bodies and perform impromptu autopsies. Benito and Alberia forbade it and an arguement ensued. Aris acquiesed after Alberia pointed out that it was obvious what had happend to the warriors--they had been poisoned in the same manner that Aris had been when he had fought the Hlondethan rogue back in Blasingdell. Benito and Alberia began to prepare the bodies for a proper burial and service. Grim decided he did not want to partcipate and headed off into the woods to scout ahead. Aris followed. Milo attempted to do so, but Ellysidell stopped him, acting on orders from Aris. Nosr decided to take a nap.
Meanwhile Grim and Aris wandered far afield into the forest, possibly half a mile from the rest of the party. At some point Aris decided to squat along the trail and see if he could pick up the trail of the snake-men, as Alberia called them. He saw large paw prints, like those of a dire wolf....and then one pounced on him! As the wolf tore out a hunk of flesh trying to knock Aris to the ground, it stepped back boring into Aris with malevolent eyes and with jaws drooling blood and saliva, said, "I will feed you to my cubs."
Aris's eyes went wide and he mentally called for Grim. The halfing joined the battle, but not before two more evil dire wolves (Aris recognized them as worgs) bounded onto the scene. Aris and Grim severely damaged the first she-wolf, but did not take her down. Another wolf bit into Aris and knocked him to the ground. Then Aris and Grim spotted another, larger worg, that silently slunk from the behind some pines. Un-natural fear gripped them both, but only the genasi succumbed. He levitated from the situation and started to run as fast as he could back towards the campsite, screaming with irrational terror. The wolves howled. Grim ran and one of the creatures passed him in the forest while the other stayed close to his heals. The larger worg followed at a steady pace.
Meanwhile, back at the camp, Milo remarked while the ritual was wrapping up, "I hear wolves."
"Like Aris said, 'Wolves are nothing to be concerned about'," replied Benito. He began the final prayer for the consecration of the fallen soldiers of the Temple of Justice.
Back among the pines, Grim was being wittled away by the worgs that nipped at his heels. He tried to tumble away and run in zig-zags, but the beasts were too fast. He refused to surrender even when the large one commanded him to do so. Fortunately, they were not able to pin him to the ground. Eventually, three of the beasts surrounded him and damaged him enought to render him unconscious. The goddess smiled upon Grim however, as Aris snapped out of his fear, regained his bearings and saw that the Grim was about to be taken away as food for worg cubs. Risking being mauled to death. Aris levitated down amongst the snapping jaws of the evil dire wolves, grabbed Grim's body and took off back into the trees, with several new wounds as a reward. He just kept going. I Hate Worgs!! he thought.
He looked back and saw the monsters slip back into the wintery forest. Soon he reached the camp and related what had happened. The heroes warily trekked through the stark forest with the feeling of being watched, but no attack came and they exited from under the trees to the rolling hills of Turmish and civilization. As they were making camp at the apex of a defensible hill, Alberia noticed that Leo was still pale and shivering. She tried to put a hand on him to see if he was still poisoned, and the boy flinched as if he were instinctively trying to avoid her divination. Ellysidell grabbed him and Alberia tried again. Leo was still poisoned! They tried the last scroll to remove poison. Nothing. Then Benito and Aris politely asked him to strip so they could examine him. Scared, the boy did as he was told. They discoverd that his skin was very dry and flaky. He also had a scaly-looking rash. Benito questioned him again and felt that the lad was hiding the truth. He took him aside and the boy broke down and confessed that the Hlondethans under the guidance of Diero had forced him to drink a foul potion. They had watched him for a while and then left him in disgust mentioning something about failure. Benito related this to the party asked Tyr for guidance. Alberia fell to her knees to pray.
"This is not good," the cleric said in a very somber voice. "He is becoming one of them. We must get to Alaghon, and quickly."
However, night was falling. They tied the lad up for his own good and hunkered down around a fire to ward off the cold, angry and upset at the spies and the gifts that they had left....
Uktar 27-30, 1372 The Road Home, part I--Parting Gifts
The Heroes hurried with excitement down the trail, but their joy turned to a mixture of sorrow and anxiety as they saw ravens circling down in the snow-covered valley below where they had left their horses and retainers....
Grim and Aris hurried down to scout while the others followed behind cautiously. As the scouts crept to edge of the camp they saw the horrible fate of their hirelings. Horses were strewn about and butchered everywhere with the ravens feasting with abandon as if it were the Reign of Misrule in Alaghon. Grim and Aris had a hard time chasing them away. The three warriors from the Temple of Justice had been decapitated, their heads lay on wooden pikes and their bodies were left beside them for the animals. Two of the heads were black with pestilence, their swollen tongues lolling from their dead mouths. Aris stole into the ring of death to examine the crime scene while Grim scoured the edge of the clearing for any signs of the enemy that had done this heinous act.
Aris pieced things together. He assumed that the booted prints followed closely by some sort of lizard tracks were the Hlondethans. There had been four. It seemed that they had quickly subdued the guards, and had poisoned two of them. Then they excecuted the last one who may have surrendered. Finally, they butchered the horses. Aris saw that there were a pair of soft-soled prints that mingled with the booted ones and went in and out from the camp. He also saw that a heavy horse had escaped. Grim saw signs of its passage through the forest. Aris assumed this had been Slovack since he could not see the great horses body anywhere. Aris estimated that this gristly assault had taken place two or even three days ago. However, the soft-soled prints were more recent.
Grim then heard a noise in the evergreen underbrush that lay here and there. He mentally notified Aris who slowly drew his scimitar. "Show yourself!"
Nothing happened. Grim, without a sound and seeming to blend in with the surroundings, crept closer. Aris, it is the human boy who tends the beasts you call horses.
"Leo, stop hiding. Come out." in his most soothing voice.
If he had seen Grim, he would have seen the halfling wince. Soothing and comforting Aris was not. I guess we take the harsh approach, then , he thought.
Still, the groomsman did not come out so Aris went to him. He saw that the lad was shaking and blue, undoubtedly from hypothermia. The boy tried to flee, but Grim knocked him upside the head and he dropped. Aris looked down at the halfling disapprovingly, but decided that a lecture on compassion was not in order at the time. Aris took off his cloak and wrapped it around Leo. The boy was still shaking uncontrollably. The genasi then shouldered the lad, and had Grim climb upon his back as he hurried away from the death zone to get to the cleric and paladin in order to tend him.
In short order they arrived and related what they had learned. The rest of the group wanted to see for themselves and were horrified when they reached the campsite. Benito and Alberia did see to Leo's comfort, but noticed that after magical healing and a spell to endure the cold, he was still shaking. Alberia used her father's ring, found in the depths of Khudrukar ( See Scars of Khudrukar, part I-A father's fate for details), to determine if he had been poisoned. He had been. Fortunately, Aris had some divine scrolls just for that contingency. He tossed them to Benito who cast a spell to destroy the poison and the lad seemed comforted. He then told the Heroes how the Hlondethans had arrived with two "lizardmen" and fought with the warriors. Slovack bolted and that allowed the boy to escape. However, he had come back to the camp later and seen how his fellows had been brutally murdered and displayed.
"Don't nobody touch nothing," said Aris upon this revelation fearing poisonous death traps left by the cowardly spies.
As night was beginning to fall, the Heroes decided to retreat to Khudrukar as a precaution and examine and bury the bodies the next day. They did remove the heads and arrange the bodies of the fallen appropriately. The night went by quickly, although much howling and growling of wolves was heard. They also saw a glowing dwarf walk down from the Stone Tooth, but neither of these were investigated. The next morning they found the bodies even more badly mangled by animals than they had been. Aris wanted to cut up the bodies and perform impromptu autopsies. Benito and Alberia forbade it and an arguement ensued. Aris acquiesed after Alberia pointed out that it was obvious what had happend to the warriors--they had been poisoned in the same manner that Aris had been when he had fought the Hlondethan rogue back in Blasingdell. Benito and Alberia began to prepare the bodies for a proper burial and service. Grim decided he did not want to partcipate and headed off into the woods to scout ahead. Aris followed. Milo attempted to do so, but Ellysidell stopped him, acting on orders from Aris. Nosr decided to take a nap.
Meanwhile Grim and Aris wandered far afield into the forest, possibly half a mile from the rest of the party. At some point Aris decided to squat along the trail and see if he could pick up the trail of the snake-men, as Alberia called them. He saw large paw prints, like those of a dire wolf....and then one pounced on him! As the wolf tore out a hunk of flesh trying to knock Aris to the ground, it stepped back boring into Aris with malevolent eyes and with jaws drooling blood and saliva, said, "I will feed you to my cubs."
Aris's eyes went wide and he mentally called for Grim. The halfing joined the battle, but not before two more evil dire wolves (Aris recognized them as worgs) bounded onto the scene. Aris and Grim severely damaged the first she-wolf, but did not take her down. Another wolf bit into Aris and knocked him to the ground. Then Aris and Grim spotted another, larger worg, that silently slunk from the behind some pines. Un-natural fear gripped them both, but only the genasi succumbed. He levitated from the situation and started to run as fast as he could back towards the campsite, screaming with irrational terror. The wolves howled. Grim ran and one of the creatures passed him in the forest while the other stayed close to his heals. The larger worg followed at a steady pace.
Meanwhile, back at the camp, Milo remarked while the ritual was wrapping up, "I hear wolves."
"Like Aris said, 'Wolves are nothing to be concerned about'," replied Benito. He began the final prayer for the consecration of the fallen soldiers of the Temple of Justice.
Back among the pines, Grim was being wittled away by the worgs that nipped at his heels. He tried to tumble away and run in zig-zags, but the beasts were too fast. He refused to surrender even when the large one commanded him to do so. Fortunately, they were not able to pin him to the ground. Eventually, three of the beasts surrounded him and damaged him enought to render him unconscious. The goddess smiled upon Grim however, as Aris snapped out of his fear, regained his bearings and saw that the Grim was about to be taken away as food for worg cubs. Risking being mauled to death. Aris levitated down amongst the snapping jaws of the evil dire wolves, grabbed Grim's body and took off back into the trees, with several new wounds as a reward. He just kept going. I Hate Worgs!! he thought.
He looked back and saw the monsters slip back into the wintery forest. Soon he reached the camp and related what had happened. The heroes warily trekked through the stark forest with the feeling of being watched, but no attack came and they exited from under the trees to the rolling hills of Turmish and civilization. As they were making camp at the apex of a defensible hill, Alberia noticed that Leo was still pale and shivering. She tried to put a hand on him to see if he was still poisoned, and the boy flinched as if he were instinctively trying to avoid her divination. Ellysidell grabbed him and Alberia tried again. Leo was still poisoned! They tried the last scroll to remove poison. Nothing. Then Benito and Aris politely asked him to strip so they could examine him. Scared, the boy did as he was told. They discoverd that his skin was very dry and flaky. He also had a scaly-looking rash. Benito questioned him again and felt that the lad was hiding the truth. He took him aside and the boy broke down and confessed that the Hlondethans under the guidance of Diero had forced him to drink a foul potion. They had watched him for a while and then left him in disgust mentioning something about failure. Benito related this to the party asked Tyr for guidance. Alberia fell to her knees to pray.
"This is not good," the cleric said in a very somber voice. "He is becoming one of them. We must get to Alaghon, and quickly."
However, night was falling. They tied the lad up for his own good and hunkered down around a fire to ward off the cold, angry and upset at the spies and the gifts that they had left....