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<blockquote data-quote="the Jester" data-source="post: 3873461" data-attributes="member: 1210"><p>“Looks like a dwarf,” comments Barouk. </p><p></p><p>Indeed, the shriveled form beneath the juniper tree in the midst of their path does seem to be a dwarf- shriveled, almost mummified, wearing corroded armor and with a rusty axe in the dirt next to it. The body is half-buried in the soil, with some grass growing on the clumps of earth covering its lower portions; there is no doubt that it is dead, and has been here for some time. The party tromps forward to the corpse and begins to check it out; curiosity is a powerful motivator, after all.</p><p></p><p>As they approach, Kifla hears a strange scrabbling sound, like a bundle of sticks being rubbed against each other. She glances to the side and gasps in shock. All around the party, a bunch of small creatures seemingly made of twigs and branches formed into semi-humanoid shapes are advancing on them. The adventurers, except for Kifla, are caught completely by surprise. The twiggy creatures rake ragged twig-claws across the heroes, but most of them fail to penetrate the armor protecting their targets. Unfortunately for Grom, one of them gets through. He draws in a hissing breath as he feels a burning sting in the wound.</p><p></p><p>“Poison!” he cries. “Beware! Their claws are poisoned!”</p><p></p><p>The party rallies, drawing weapons and beginning to strike back. But what follows is a comedic dance of misses, with blades and fists and claws flying every which way to almost no effect. Barouk manages to stick a shuriken in one of them, but his other throwing stars fly wide and away. Severin flails about with a greatsword significantly larger than his small wooden targets, which dart about evasively. Grom finally manages to stick one with his shortsword, but even though it’s a solid thrust, he can barely penetrate the wooden hide of the beast. Severin finally hits, and finds himself facing the same problem. Zelda, too, is foiled by the wooden beasts’ damage reduction. Another of the creatures scores a wound on Severin, and he winces. He can feel the poison flowing into his thigh where the wound is, burning as it is carried through his body.</p><p></p><p>Then Barouk clenches his fists and they burst into flame.</p><p></p><p>The wooden monsters shrink back for a moment, and the dwarf lashes out, punching one of them in the face. It squeals, bursts into flames and falls to the ground, unmoving. </p><p></p><p>This seems to rally our heroes, and they redouble their efforts. Grom seems to have better luck chopping with his sword rather than stabbing, and he manages to destroy one of the twig monsters that way. Zelda scores a telling wound at last, and Grom finishes it off with a blow from the other side. The party hacks, chops and bludgeons the two remaining plant monsters down quickly once they have superior numbers on their side. </p><p></p><p>The battle is over. Their weapons sticky with sap, our heroes tend their wounds. Kifla examines the sap for useful properties, but determines that there is no reason worth carrying it around for. Barouk searches the long-dead dwarf. His banded mail is corroded past the point of usefulness, as are his weapons. However, in his boot is a rolled up, stained piece of parchment. </p><p></p><p>“What’s that?” Kifla exclaims. “Let me see!”</p><p></p><p>Zelda, meanwhile, has begun strumming on a harp, playing a soothing melody that relaxes the others. “Does anyone know what those things were?” she asks. “I know a lot of songs and tales, and I have never heard of those things before.”</p><p></p><p>Severin shakes his head. “I know a lot about plants,” he says frankly, “but I have no idea what those things were. They certainly weren’t natural.”</p><p></p><p>“It’s a deed,” announces Kifla. </p><p></p><p>“What?” Grom looks over at the little gnome.</p><p></p><p>“This,” she waves the parchment around. “It was in the dwarf’s boot. Not Barouk, the dead dwarf. It’s a deed- to something called the Highgate Mine.”</p><p></p><p>Everyone scratches their collective head over that. </p><p></p><p>”Never heard of it,” is the unanimous verdict. </p><p></p><p>“Well, let’s move on, then,” Grom urges. “My people need help with those goblins.”</p><p></p><p>“Wait a minute,” Kifla cries. “We can’t just leave him there!” She points at the dead dwarf. </p><p></p><p>“Oh, come on,” groans Tempe.</p><p></p><p>“No, this time she’s right,” Barouk says curtly. “We should at least build him a cairn.”</p><p></p><p>The party moves the body off of the trail and then spends an hour gathering stones of various sizes and piling them upon the corpse. They bury his gear with him as well. Soon enough the body is concealed securely beneath a mound of rocks, adn our heroes move on. Severin lingers long enough to take a sample of the twig monsters, then hurries after the others.</p><p></p><p>That night, it rains. It is warm but wet. The various watches see occasional flying silhouettes and hear the croaking of frogs, but nothing eventful happens. The rain keeps coming even as the sun rises, though, and through breakfast. When the party strikes camp and begins to walk, the rain lightens for about an hour, but it keeps coming down. </p><p></p><p>Across the Deadgrass Lands our heroes move, heading north along a series of rolling hills. They clamber up a short ridge, weaving amongst clumps of thick grass. As they crest the ridge, Severin calls out, “Hold on a second!” </p><p></p><p>The party slows to a halt, looking at him questioningly. </p><p></p><p>“Look over there!” He gestures. Down the side of the ridge there is a small scarp, and at the base of it is a small boggy area. There are clumpy, tangled bushes in the bog, with berries visible on them.</p><p></p><p>“What are those?” asks Tempe. </p><p></p><p>“Cranberries!” exclaims the ranger. He smiles broadly. </p><p></p><p>The party heads down into the bog. Zelda triggers a rather dramatic mudslide in the process, but fortunately it does not cause anyone any harm, herself included. “Whew,” she says, brushing mud off of her pants, “that was a close one!”</p><p></p><p>“Yeah, well, look at what you uncovered,” gestures Grom. </p><p></p><p>She turns, and to her surprise, her mudslide seems to have revealed the outline of a door of some kind. The party clusters around, checking it out, and Grom suggests using water to clear off the door. Kifla points out that they don’t really have a way to carry water to it without filling their water skins with bog water, but she does have a shovel. Grom shrugs and empties a waterskin on the door, then trudges down to fill it from the bog in order to do it again. Kifla starts scraping, and between the two of them, they soon manage to clean off the door enough to open it. It is a massive stone slab. It swivels open part way when Grom kicks it. He tries to push it open further, but can’t get it open very far. His eyes widen when he notices that there is a crown carved on the door.</p><p></p><p><em>Could this be an ancient king’s burial mound?</em> he wonders. He licks his lips and throws his weight against the door. It budges open enough that everyone will be able to squeeze through and get inside. Grinning to himself, Grom slips through the gap and looks around warily. </p><p></p><p>Skeletons are pouring out of alcoves in the room.</p><p></p><p>Immediately he pushes himself back through the gap. The others are just starting to approach the door, but he waves them off. “Skeletons!” he gasps.</p><p></p><p>“We should let them come out to us,” Kifla states. She draws and loads her crossbow, and Zelda does the same. Severin moves up and puts his strength against the door. Finally, whatever is obstructing it gives way, and he throws the door wide. </p><p></p><p>Four skeletons are moving towards the party.</p><p></p><p>Grom draws and loads a crossbow too. <em>Hmm, who is going to stand in the front?</em> he wonders nervously. Barouk moves to stand before Kifla, ready to intercept any attackers. <em>Not him,</em> thinks the half-orc. <em>Not this time, at least.</em> </p><p></p><p>But Skaal and his kocho move to the forefront as the skeletons advance. The druid has his two sickles gleaming in his hands. He scowls at the unnatural things approaching him. </p><p></p><p>Then, from the darkness behind the skeletons, a large, bright red centipede comes crawling out. </p><p></p><p>The party’s first volley of bolts entirely misses, but suddenly a pair of darting bolts of light and force streak out from the shadowy depths of the hallway in the hill. They blast into Tempe, knocking her unconsciousness. Fortunately, her facility with autohypnosis saves her from bleeding to death.</p><p></p><p>“What was that?” cries Skaal.</p><p></p><p>From the depths of the corridor comes an evil laugh.</p><p></p><p><em><strong>Next Time:</strong></em> Our heroes fight for their lives!</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="the Jester, post: 3873461, member: 1210"] “Looks like a dwarf,” comments Barouk. Indeed, the shriveled form beneath the juniper tree in the midst of their path does seem to be a dwarf- shriveled, almost mummified, wearing corroded armor and with a rusty axe in the dirt next to it. The body is half-buried in the soil, with some grass growing on the clumps of earth covering its lower portions; there is no doubt that it is dead, and has been here for some time. The party tromps forward to the corpse and begins to check it out; curiosity is a powerful motivator, after all. As they approach, Kifla hears a strange scrabbling sound, like a bundle of sticks being rubbed against each other. She glances to the side and gasps in shock. All around the party, a bunch of small creatures seemingly made of twigs and branches formed into semi-humanoid shapes are advancing on them. The adventurers, except for Kifla, are caught completely by surprise. The twiggy creatures rake ragged twig-claws across the heroes, but most of them fail to penetrate the armor protecting their targets. Unfortunately for Grom, one of them gets through. He draws in a hissing breath as he feels a burning sting in the wound. “Poison!” he cries. “Beware! Their claws are poisoned!” The party rallies, drawing weapons and beginning to strike back. But what follows is a comedic dance of misses, with blades and fists and claws flying every which way to almost no effect. Barouk manages to stick a shuriken in one of them, but his other throwing stars fly wide and away. Severin flails about with a greatsword significantly larger than his small wooden targets, which dart about evasively. Grom finally manages to stick one with his shortsword, but even though it’s a solid thrust, he can barely penetrate the wooden hide of the beast. Severin finally hits, and finds himself facing the same problem. Zelda, too, is foiled by the wooden beasts’ damage reduction. Another of the creatures scores a wound on Severin, and he winces. He can feel the poison flowing into his thigh where the wound is, burning as it is carried through his body. Then Barouk clenches his fists and they burst into flame. The wooden monsters shrink back for a moment, and the dwarf lashes out, punching one of them in the face. It squeals, bursts into flames and falls to the ground, unmoving. This seems to rally our heroes, and they redouble their efforts. Grom seems to have better luck chopping with his sword rather than stabbing, and he manages to destroy one of the twig monsters that way. Zelda scores a telling wound at last, and Grom finishes it off with a blow from the other side. The party hacks, chops and bludgeons the two remaining plant monsters down quickly once they have superior numbers on their side. The battle is over. Their weapons sticky with sap, our heroes tend their wounds. Kifla examines the sap for useful properties, but determines that there is no reason worth carrying it around for. Barouk searches the long-dead dwarf. His banded mail is corroded past the point of usefulness, as are his weapons. However, in his boot is a rolled up, stained piece of parchment. “What’s that?” Kifla exclaims. “Let me see!” Zelda, meanwhile, has begun strumming on a harp, playing a soothing melody that relaxes the others. “Does anyone know what those things were?” she asks. “I know a lot of songs and tales, and I have never heard of those things before.” Severin shakes his head. “I know a lot about plants,” he says frankly, “but I have no idea what those things were. They certainly weren’t natural.” “It’s a deed,” announces Kifla. “What?” Grom looks over at the little gnome. “This,” she waves the parchment around. “It was in the dwarf’s boot. Not Barouk, the dead dwarf. It’s a deed- to something called the Highgate Mine.” Everyone scratches their collective head over that. ”Never heard of it,” is the unanimous verdict. “Well, let’s move on, then,” Grom urges. “My people need help with those goblins.” “Wait a minute,” Kifla cries. “We can’t just leave him there!” She points at the dead dwarf. “Oh, come on,” groans Tempe. “No, this time she’s right,” Barouk says curtly. “We should at least build him a cairn.” The party moves the body off of the trail and then spends an hour gathering stones of various sizes and piling them upon the corpse. They bury his gear with him as well. Soon enough the body is concealed securely beneath a mound of rocks, adn our heroes move on. Severin lingers long enough to take a sample of the twig monsters, then hurries after the others. That night, it rains. It is warm but wet. The various watches see occasional flying silhouettes and hear the croaking of frogs, but nothing eventful happens. The rain keeps coming even as the sun rises, though, and through breakfast. When the party strikes camp and begins to walk, the rain lightens for about an hour, but it keeps coming down. Across the Deadgrass Lands our heroes move, heading north along a series of rolling hills. They clamber up a short ridge, weaving amongst clumps of thick grass. As they crest the ridge, Severin calls out, “Hold on a second!” The party slows to a halt, looking at him questioningly. “Look over there!” He gestures. Down the side of the ridge there is a small scarp, and at the base of it is a small boggy area. There are clumpy, tangled bushes in the bog, with berries visible on them. “What are those?” asks Tempe. “Cranberries!” exclaims the ranger. He smiles broadly. The party heads down into the bog. Zelda triggers a rather dramatic mudslide in the process, but fortunately it does not cause anyone any harm, herself included. “Whew,” she says, brushing mud off of her pants, “that was a close one!” “Yeah, well, look at what you uncovered,” gestures Grom. She turns, and to her surprise, her mudslide seems to have revealed the outline of a door of some kind. The party clusters around, checking it out, and Grom suggests using water to clear off the door. Kifla points out that they don’t really have a way to carry water to it without filling their water skins with bog water, but she does have a shovel. Grom shrugs and empties a waterskin on the door, then trudges down to fill it from the bog in order to do it again. Kifla starts scraping, and between the two of them, they soon manage to clean off the door enough to open it. It is a massive stone slab. It swivels open part way when Grom kicks it. He tries to push it open further, but can’t get it open very far. His eyes widen when he notices that there is a crown carved on the door. [i]Could this be an ancient king’s burial mound?[/i] he wonders. He licks his lips and throws his weight against the door. It budges open enough that everyone will be able to squeeze through and get inside. Grinning to himself, Grom slips through the gap and looks around warily. Skeletons are pouring out of alcoves in the room. Immediately he pushes himself back through the gap. The others are just starting to approach the door, but he waves them off. “Skeletons!” he gasps. “We should let them come out to us,” Kifla states. She draws and loads her crossbow, and Zelda does the same. Severin moves up and puts his strength against the door. Finally, whatever is obstructing it gives way, and he throws the door wide. Four skeletons are moving towards the party. Grom draws and loads a crossbow too. [i]Hmm, who is going to stand in the front?[/i] he wonders nervously. Barouk moves to stand before Kifla, ready to intercept any attackers. [i]Not him,[/i] thinks the half-orc. [i]Not this time, at least.[/i] But Skaal and his kocho move to the forefront as the skeletons advance. The druid has his two sickles gleaming in his hands. He scowls at the unnatural things approaching him. Then, from the darkness behind the skeletons, a large, bright red centipede comes crawling out. The party’s first volley of bolts entirely misses, but suddenly a pair of darting bolts of light and force streak out from the shadowy depths of the hallway in the hill. They blast into Tempe, knocking her unconsciousness. Fortunately, her facility with autohypnosis saves her from bleeding to death. “What was that?” cries Skaal. From the depths of the corridor comes an evil laugh. [i][b]Next Time:[/b][/i][b][/b] Our heroes fight for their lives! [/QUOTE]
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