stonegod's Expedition to Castle Ravenloft: Ch. I [IC]

[stonegod]

The Chase

In a burst of energy, the elf finally round the corner and spots the farmer shooting at the Hawk-Janis. "Put that bow away." Daellin shouts. "Trust me, she'll leave you alone if you do." But he draws his bow just the same. The elf tenses up, ready for anything.

Hawk-Janis, her quarry no long airborne, dives downward, hoping to barrel through the yipping dog and after the grounded trail. As she barrels downward, wing tight together, the sulfurous smell blooms once again until it becomes clear as it is too late...

...its the dog!

The 'dog' nips at large hawk-thing, drawing a few feathers in its mouth. While the beast attempts to wrest Hawk-Janis to the ground, she slips out of the grasp just in time to smash into the beast. But the beast's bulk is too much, and her sudden change in momentum forces her to the ground, sprawled on the cobblestone. ['Dog's AoO hits; 4 damage; Joint trip attack failed. Overrun resisted. Janis' strength check fails to push aside the dog, her dexterity check is not enough to resist being knocked prone.]

The farmer hears Daellin, but distractedly mutters, "Ta bird vill veed ma family." The farmer takes a kick at the downed bird, but even then the prone hawk-think manages to dodge out of the way.

The 'dog' barks once, then bolts for the forest coverage 20 yards hence. It vanishes into the trees!

Summary:
- Daellin: 15 ft from farmer/Janis
- Janis: 38/42, prone
- Farmer: Standing next to Janis
- 'Dog': Dashed into treeline 60 feet away.

 

[James Heard]

Janis is unfazed by the revelation of the dog's nature, considering how completely incompetent the farmer seems to be with his bow.

Standing up and ignoring the farmer determined to serve her for dinner, Janis darts into the air to follow her prey again.

 

[drothgery]

Daellin follows Janis again.

OOC: Now if she can speak in hawk form, and told him that she was after the dog, then Daellin could probably shoot it; longbow range +50% from Hawkeye is pretty long, but since he's not entirely sure what she's chasing after...

 

[stonegod]

The Chase

The hawk-thing stands, but the farmer manages to land a kick as she does so. [2hp nonlethal] She takes off into the air again, after the 'dog'. However, she quickly runs into problems---the trees are too high to fly above and pick up a scent, but too close together for a creature of her size to effectively fly through. She can move slowly, but suspects that her quarry will quickly move ahead of her.

Daellin dashes up to the treeline, ignoring the lame calls of the farmer behind him. He sees the dog vanish into the undergrowth. He keen elven eyes, coupled with his magic, spot the dog ahead in the underbrush of the forest. But then he sees something unexpected. The 'dog's' form warps and twists into a tiny, ugly, demonic looking humanoid before it fades from sight!

[Janis will have to fly at half speed to keep the scent. Daellin is just within the treeline, having seen the 'dog' disappear.]

 

[James Heard]

Weighing several possible options in her head, Janis makes a sudden 180 turn and instead of going into the tight confines of the forest she beelines it back towards the former intersection as fast as her wings will take her.

 

[DEFCON 1]

Jarrith carries the body of Viktor Litmunova over his shoulder, wrapped up in the cloth that had been covering it. His strides are long and purposeful as he makes his way back towards the center of town.

When he arrives, he sees Ireena working hard with the others at gathering up the bodies of the dead, placing them on her cart. He walks over to it and gently places Litmunova onto the cart as well, then looks at the Burgomaster's daughter. "Viktor Litmunova. His wife Stara wishes he join the others in whatever final rest you have planned."

Once the body has been placed, he dusts off his hands on his trousers, then looks around at the young boys and men who are completely the various tasks. "Have you need of me further in this duty? I would be glad to give whatever assistance is needed, although I still have my duty to discover what section of the forest might hold the creatures of nature that guard the sunblade. Although we could also just spread out a general word for anyone who might know anything to report back to me."

 

[drothgery]

Weighing several possible options in her head, Janis makes a sudden 180 turn and instead of going into the tight confines of the forest she beelines it back towards the former intersection as fast as her wings will take her.

Trying to figure out what that thing was, Daellin stays as close to Janis in bird form as he can manage. Unfortunately, he used his best trick for dealing with something invisible already today (the entangle spell he cast earlier).

 

[stonegod]

The Daughter's Request

Ashlyn, Tessa, and Perriwimple note Jarrith's return, carrying a wrapped body.

"Have you need of me further in this duty? I would be glad to give whatever assistance is needed, although I still have my duty to discover what section of the forest might hold the creatures of nature that guard the sunblade. Although we could also just spread out a general word for anyone who might know anything to report back to me."

Ireena turns her pretty face to Jarrith a moment, then shakes her head. "Not tonight. Tonight we continue to gather the dead. On the morrow, Lady Ashlyn and your healer have agreed to assist with their final cremation. You may speak to them for more, but you have time to ask about tonight if you wish."

Ireena then makes her leave of you and enters Bildrath's shop.

 

[stonegod]

The Chase

Daellin sighs as the Hawk-Jannis wings over as best as her form can and then flies back toward town. The creature he had seen was not one he was familiar with. Janis with her arcane knowledge or one of the archivists of the Caravan---the healer Tessa perhaps---might know more of such things. As he jogs after Cyran, he notes the bewildered look on the farmer's face as he glances down at his hands in confusion.

Hawk-Jannis is soon at the crossroad again. It has been a few minutes, but nothing significantly had changed. Perching upon a rain gutter, she examines the scents at hand. Disregarding the sulfuric smell, the two strongest set of smells consists of a single scent going in one direction of the crossroad (south) and a small group of about three scents heading east. Both are about as recent as the other.

 

[DEFCON 1]

"Not tonight. Tonight we continue to gather the dead. On the morrow, Lady Ashlyn and your healer have agreed to assist with their final cremation. You may speak to them for more, but you have time to ask about tonight if you wish."

Jarrith nods a goodbye to the young woman, and watches her walk into the shop.

Turning once, he spots Ashlyn, Tess and Perriwimple off to the side, finishing up all that they needed to accomplish. He wanders over to them and raises his hand in greeting.

"It appears as though we're all doing the deeds our forefathers would be proud of. Even in an isolated province like this, man and woman work hard to help each other. It is good to see." He glances left and right, but appears to not find what he is looking for. "Any sign of Janis and Daellin yet? I do not want to worry so soon... but come sundown if they have not returned, we might need to go searching. Hopefully that will not be necessary, eh?"

"Have any of you by any chance heard anything from the villagers here about the castle, the witch's hill, or the forest of nature's creatures? That was my intended duty until I got sidetracked by a young woman whose husband was missing." He turns and looks at the tall young man standing there. "Perriwimple... you have lived here most of your life, correct? Have you heard any stories or tales about the neighboring witches or nature creatures out in the woods?"