Age of Worms: Act I - The Whispering Cairn

[Majin]

Trying to force himself to calm down amidst the struggle for the lives of the fallen, knowing he had no expertise to help, Damien backs into a corner to catch his breath. Staring blankly ahead, he slides down into a sitting position as the recent actions flash through his mind. He gripped his cuts tightly, though he was not wounded that badly, he knew others needed the attention right now.

Instead he occupied himself with a little game in his mind. He calculated the probability of his survival, if the others hadn't arrived so quickly. I did manage to kill three of them, he mused, surprised with himself. The sharp pain of his wounds reminded him to deflate his ego quickly. As the others are being healed his thoughts wander; thinking in more detail, how he could have fared better. What he would do differently in the future to better protect himself and those around him. If exploring the cairns was going to be this dangerous, he would learn the best way to play the "game", and win.

 

[hippocrachus]

Shaking off the drowsiness that threatened to take him out of the fight, Chryse came back to reality with a sharp pain in his calf and the grim fate of Shadow.
"Attend the others, Jorun," Chryse says sagely as he moves over to the fallen man, his arms held out as if grasping the world from its top and bottom and head already bowed in prayer.
Apollo, once more your Light is needed this night!

[sblock]Casting Cure Light Wounds in place of Remove Fear. 1d8+2.[/sblock]

When he comes out of his meditation, Chryse looks around at all of the still wounded men.
How, in so short a span, does so much carnage spread?
"We must all of us seek the shelter of a church," he says as he moves to attend Orin. "Jorun, you are the follower of a strong god, you must speak of our plight to the followers of Heironeous and beseech them to grant us His strength. Apollo has done enough for us all this night, it would be hubris to demand more from him."

[sblock]Casting Cure Minor Wounds in place of Virtue.[/sblock]

 

[unleashed]

Orin Heartwood, Male Half-Elf Ranger

As Chryse's magic enters his body, Orin returns completely to conciousness feeling a little groggy and a lot the worse for wear. Dragging his sword close he uses it to help himself up as he surveys the carnage. “Well I definitely think I’ll be sticking with my bow from now on,” he declares ruefully.

 

[Ozmar]

Jorun Trask, Follower of a Strong God

Jorun nods at Chryse's request.

"Agreed. There is a chapel in the garrison, and we will be safe there. I believe I can arrange to find us all a place to rest and heal for the night."

Assuming everyone is agreeable, Jorun will lead them back to the garrison to recuperate.

"Does anyone see any value in checking out this cellar for any clues or valuables before we leave? For my sake, I think we are collectively too weakened to risk running into more giant rats, or a return of any goblin allies that may yet be out there."

Jorun looks to his good friend, Samuel, to see what he thinks.

 

[Saterus]

Samuel had been standing in a daze. He had been certain it would work. Yet he tried to manipulate the energies, and it had no effect. The sense of...fear...helplessness...overwhelmed him for a few moments. All he could do was stare blankly at the wall. He would have to practice.

Snapping out of the daze he has been in since the end of the skirmish, Samuel quickly decends the ladder and begins searching the cellar for anything of interest. "Sure, I'll look around," the sound of uneasiness still in his voice. "There has to be something down here worth the trouble of fighting those rats." He wonders silently how such enormous rats managed to survive in a cellar they couldn't climb out of. He looks in particular for signs of them being fed by the goblins and/or a hidden enterance to the cellar.

 

[Verbatim]

As Jorun stepped away from Shadow's body, Chryse knelt down and placed his hands on the man's throat and tried to ignore the sensation of the man's lifeblood pouring out through his hands.

Calling upon Apollo's divine grace once more, those watching saw Chryse's hands begin to glow with a soft golden light that was quickly absorbed into Shadow's body. Chryse felt the wound beginning to close, as well as Shadow's breathing grow deep and regular once more. When he removed his blood stained hands from Shadow's throat, Chryse knew instantly that Shadow had been too close to death's door for the spell to heal him fully.

OOC:[sblock]The CLW spell healed Shadow for 4 pts of damage, he is stable but still at -1 hp. He is unconscious[/sblock]

While Jorun and Chryse began moving the bodies out of the cellar, Samuel began searching for the reason why the rats had been locked down here. Now that the heat of battle was over, once again the soft high pitched noises Orin had overheard began to fill the room once more.

Walking to the back of the cellar, Samuel followed his ears as best he could and looked underneath the slant of a collapsed winerack. Underneath the collapsed wood, eleven ratlings all squirmed around each other, their eyes were still closed and even for someone not versed in the ways of the wild, Samuel knew this litter could not have been too long ago birthed.

OOC 2:[sblock]With Saterus being away today, I will NPC him until his return. I will try to stick as close to the "feel" of him, as I can so please forgive me if I mess up too badly. Also, Orin consider yourself informed of the ratlings as well, as I don't think he would keep that to himself.[/sblock]

 

[unleashed]

Orin Heartwood, Male Half-Elf Ranger

After Samuel calls about what he has found, Orin moves slowly across to the wine rack, “Well that at least explains some of why they attacked, though I imagine with them being trapped down here their hunger drove them to it...you haven’t found any other egress have you Samuel?” Orin looks at the ratlings and tries to determine whether they will live with aid or whether they are just too young and fragile to survive.

I doubt anyone will have the time or inclinaton to look after them, unless I do it myself...though what I'd do with nearly a dozen rats of that size I don't know, maybe they'd make fair guard animals when they're grown.

 

[Verbatim]

While it could just be a trick of the light, it looks like to the side of the nest is a deeper shadow. The only way to know for sure would be to get more light and bring it to this area.

 

[hippocrachus]

Chryse smiles warmly as the archer returns to consciousness, but doesn't stray from duty to check his injuries any further.
Glad to see the guard was not too blinded by ambition to deny them the protection of Heironeous, Chryse returned to Shadow to help Jorun get him out of the cellar.
Only when that task is achieved will he tend his own wounds and the wounds of Damien.
"The sooner we head to the chapel the better, Jorun," he offers as they wait upstairs for the rest to join them.

 

[Ozmar]

"Agreed. How many unconscious do we have?" (I think it's just one, right?) "My horse is not far from here. If the basement is secure, I can go get him to help carry the wounded back to the garrison."

OOC: "blinded by ambition"?