Wildwood Red in Tooth and Claw II [IC]

Voadam · Nov 30, 2006

Bidding goodnight to the dover in the Belly, the party heads out into the dark of the night.

EN4ZN's array of crystalline low light and infrared photoreceptors are heavily damaged, but the faint light of the cresent blue moon is enough for him to manage.

Firblain and Viktor easily glide through the night, their non human eyes well adapted to the dark. They are comfortable with the wilderness travel. EN4ZN in contrast seems to crash through underbrush with every heavy step, leaving deep impressions and an easy to mark trail.

This proves a boon to their mission as the skilled woodsmen are able to note occasional marks of their new companion's old trail even after such a long time.

Eventually the three pass beyond the patrolled trails of the Silber Dover territory and once past the blaze-marked boundaries they head onto EN4ZN's old trail. Plants have already sprung up to replace those knocked down by the warforged's previous passage, but traces of his path are still evident to their skilled eyes.

Voadam · Nov 30, 2006

Weylan

The eruption of the mindblade manifesting out of the fist of the young elan catches the attention of several of the crows. Some tilt their heads, peering at him now with interest. Their cawing increases and is answered by more who seem to be flying out of the forest. There are dozens now in the trees and more in the air.

Weylan feels the watching presence lies in the forest. Nothing visually alerts him to such a presence but his instincts tell him it is there, and that it is dangerous.

dog45 · Nov 30, 2006

Pausing against an old tree, Firblain looks up and down the path they've been following. Turning towards Viktor he says, "Do you think someone else might have already found this trail?" The dwarfs body quivers for a moment. "Maybe the goblins have scouted out his crash site." He says, nodding towards EN4ZN.

Pyrex · Nov 30, 2006

Wary of the crows, but still feeling the presence bears investigating, Weylan stealthily moves towards the treeline.

Voadam · Dec 1, 2006

As Weylan approaches the treeline he crouches low to take advantage of the underbrush in making a more stealthy approach to investigate the presence. He keeps his mindblade lowered so that its light is not as bright a beacon.

As he takes his first step into the actual forest however dozens of crows give out raucus cawings and take wing, diving towards the partially hidden elan. They swoop down and swirl around Weylan. He can here more calling out from the trees as the birds swarm around him and more and more join in. The beating of their wings is deafening and the birds' squawking cries are disorienting. He is buffeted by wings as they pass and the numbers swarming him increase.

Voidrazor · Dec 1, 2006

dog45 said:
Pausing against an old tree, Firblain looks up and down the path they've been following. Turning towards Viktor he says, "Do you think someone else might have already found this trail?" The dwarfs body quivers for a moment. "Maybe the goblins have scouted out his crash site." He says, nodding towards EN4ZN.

NR4ZN continues to lumber along, seemingly blithely unaware of the Firblain's question to Viktor.

Pyrex · Dec 1, 2006

As the crows begin swarming Weylan dives for cover next to a large tree; fending off the crows with swatting blows. (OOC: Full Defense)

Kularian · Dec 2, 2006

Pausing against an old tree, Firblain looks up and down the path they've been following. Turning towards Viktor he says, "Do you think someone else might have already found this trail?" The dwarfs body quivers for a moment. "Maybe the goblins have scouted out his crash site." He says, nodding towards EN4ZN.

Victor pauses. "Perhaps. I'd find it hard to believe that no one has stumbled across this yet. Goblins or gnolls are definitely a possibility." The Tiefling paused, looking down at the ground, searching for any sort of tracks that would reveal the origins of any others that might have found this area. Getting a slight sense of unease, he tightened his grip on his sword.

"I don't like this place..." he mutters under his breath.

Voadam · Dec 4, 2006

Weylan

Weylan dives behind a tree and attempts to keep the crows off of himself with his mindblade, giving extra protection to his eyes as the claws and beaks of the birds snap near him.

The black forms crowd out the sky then the forest around him. The beating of the wings becomes a thousand distinct thunders to Weylan's ears. Each caw demands his attention and draws his eyes to its source. The faint click of talons and snapping beaks resonate clearly. Each sound seems richer and more full of meaning than anything he has experienced before but the speed of events does not allow enough time for his brain to process everything. The taste of the air becomes sharper, he can feel the blood pulsing in his veins, smell the sweat from his exertions as he fends off potential attacks and spins to keep vulnerable parts out of reach. The flash of black feathers creates patterns of intense beauty. The scene of flowing birds is ever changing and the shifting patterns are too much for the elan's mind to hold.

Everything seems more intense, every sense is filled with stimuli and Weylan stumbles as the ground beneath his feet seems to shift. The air tastes different somehow, the birds flow away revealing a taller, thicker forest but one no longer filled with light, it is now the dark of night with Weylan's mindblade providing him with illumination. Even with the birds gone his senses are overwhelmed. The air pulses with life, each breath seems the sweetest he has ever taken. The patterns of shadow and light given off by his blade create scenes of incredible beauty he cannot tear his eyes off of. The bark on the trees and patterns of forking on the tree branches seem of great value that he cannot fully comprehend. He feels his emotions well and intensify.

ooc Weylan is stunned for 3 rounds.

Voadam · Dec 4, 2006

In Wildwood

The party continues on and it is not long before Firblain's and Viktor's surmises are confirmed.

Tracks indicate that a large party of small humanoids came upon the trail and head in the direction of Ennar's old tracks. Firblain knows the light prints of the goblins well and can confirm it is them. Viktor can see the markings of a few large wolf-like beings mixed among them, and indications of where they stopped and some of the light humanoids dismounted, walked around a little then remounted and the whole party headed down Ennar's old trail, away from the dover village towards wherever Ennar came from.

As the two rangers are absorbing these findings, they hear the beating of dozens of wings down the trail a bit and the cawing of dozens of crows.