(Casual D&D II) The Fellowship of the White Dove

[Sparky]

Oliver's search turns up no more orcs. Good. That was all of 'em. I hope. Weak-kneed, he makes his shaking way back to camp, the tension and fright of the battle leaving his mouth as dry as dust.

Nurthk's hand searches out Griscle and Oliver's mouth tightens. He pads quietly up behind the man and squeezes his shoulder as he moves past to look after Bastrop and Winkle. He cleans his blades and searches out his fallen bolts in silence. He watches the burning of the orcs quietly, breathing only one quiet word as he sends a withering glance at Fendric as the half-elf prays over the orcs, "Hypocrite." His jaw tightens, eyes hardening. He looks briefly at the ground, hands pausing as he readies his meager morning repast. He shakes his head and returns to his tasks.

He glances at the donkey who is yet a bit skittish from dawn's excitment and the smell of roasted orc, "Easy, Bastrop. We'll be out of here soon. Go on and eat something before we leave."

 

[Guilt Puppy]

[search : 8+6=14 (for the clanmarkings)]
[knowledge - geography : 8+8=16 (for the mountain stream)]

There are no clear clanmarkings -- the orcs here are too disorganized to fall into easily-marked "clans," anyhow.

A decent stream can be found just Southwest of here.

(Note: I just realized I had the battlemap "backwards," if you were assuming that up was North. The initial description was correct: They attacked from the way you came, coming in from the East -- I was just thinking in terms of "left to right" being the way you were travelling, because you know, things always go from left to right....

Oh, and Sparky, you're correct in assuming there are no more orcs.)

 

[dpdx]

[For some reason I'm not getting subscription emails for this thread (or for that matter, any other); is this happening to anybody else?]

Fendric washes himself, his wounds, and his gear in the stream [Heal check: 20! +4 = 24], and returns to camp. Gathering his things, and the masterwork bastard sword, he puts his pack together once again and prepares to head out, taking a place in the rearguard, as before.

 

[Uriel]

Accepting the Periapt from Fendric, Niccolo look at the bauble this way and that, wondering just who wore it before these orcish bandits took possession of it.

 

[Tonguez]

Orbril sees nothing to interest him in the pile but knows the value of masterwork items and so also offers to carry what he can as they move to abandon this place and its acrid stink of burning flesh.

"Which way?" he asks

 

[DrZombie]

Raven leads the party to a nearby stream. Leaving his bow and the twohander nearby on a dry spot, he unceremoniously strips stark naked. "Farlangs faltering footsteps, this is bloody cold." He curses as he starts to wash the filth and blood from his face. He carefully washes out his wounds, examining the criss-cross of scars on his torso. He asks Fendric to bind those that haven't healed yet, refusing magical healing of any kind (he's at 15/33 hp). "Save it for when we need it, I'll be allright.".
Despite the bluish cast on his feet, he'll wash out his cothes and clean his leather, then change into something warm. His sword gets a good layer of oil, and he checks his bow for signs of damage.

"Allright friends, we have two choices. Either we push on for the next resting place, trying to get out of the mountains as soon as possible, or we'll go upstreams a little and use the afternoon to get our strength back. I might be able to do some serious hunting, and there's some fish in this stream. There's something to say for either choice, and it's not mine to make. I'm just a friendly guide, remember?" he says with a grin. "If we push on, I'll try for some hares now, since some of you are still cleaning up, but I can't promise anything."

 

[DrZombie]

So I was thinking: very much of the night's conversation went on in a language that I do not understand, and so if I am correct that these are men under the dominion of the Ravast, can you think of a reason he would not want us to go over the pass to Eivanrach? I'm presuming you converse equally well in Orcish as Elvish, Raven of Clan Cwdmyr..."

"Hmmm. I've been wondering about that as well. He was saying that wherever you go you spread the seeds of undeath, or that undeath follows you, and your travelling somehow spreads it. He was convinced the seer you met had something to do with it. Remember that you travelled an impossible distance in one day after you met him. Then Nurthk said something about maybe turning back and fighting the undeath cultists. My guess is that they took that as his word that you'd deal with it, and now they think you're chickening out." He sighs. "They'll not be that kind when we pass these mountains again, my friend."

"I must say your story intrigues me, I mean, a legendary knight suddenly dies and leaves you these letters to be posted, death cultist taking over towns and using the undead to guard cities, your own city taken, a priest kidnapped.... This stinks, my friend, it stinks badly. I hate the undead, they stand against evrything I believe in. Wich is why I'm guiding you, I must admit."

" I think that you must first make sure the old knight wasn't duping you. Look at the letters, make sure you're not used for something that stands against evrything you believe in. Then decide on your actions"

 

[dpdx]

Fendric: HP 26/40

He asks Fendric to bind those that haven't healed yet, refusing magical healing of any kind (he's at 15/33 hp). "Save it for when we need it, I'll be allright."

Fendric smiles at Raven, mouth laughingly agape. "Save it?? Dear friend, I used all of it already on you, Niccolo and Nurthk! Shavah has just completed her prayers, I suspect she will be the person your advice would apply to. Save my healing... Bwahahah! Ouch... I'm a warrior for the rest of the day, my comrades. {chuckle}" Fendric's expression barely changes as the wound on his shoulder stings in protest.

Still chuckling, he'll tear up any reasonably clean donated clothing to make bandages, if necessary, and attempt to truss up anybody who still has wounds left over after Shavah.

"Allright friends, we have two choices. Either we push on for the next resting place, trying to get out of the mountains as soon as possible, or we'll go upstreams a little and use the afternoon to get our strength back. I might be able to do some serious hunting, and there's some fish in this stream. There's something to say for either choice, and it's not mine to make. I'm just a friendly guide, remember?" he says with a grin. "If we push on, I'll try for some hares now, since some of you are still cleaning up, but I can't promise anything."

"I, for one, get hungry after an epic battle, I guess. This being the first such- ahem, anyway. I suspect after Shavah administers her healing, we should be well enough to travel, and for my money, a meal can wait until we put some distance between us and our assailants, and find the next defensible position. But I'll defer to your best judgement, there, Raven."

 

[dpdx]

[E-mail notification of subscribed threads has been switched off, so Guilt Puppy, Uriel, Festy, and others may not know we're still chugging along. It might be worth an email/PM to somebody if they haven't posted in a while.]

"Hmmm. I've been wondering about that as well. He was saying that wherever you go you spread the seeds of undeath, or that undeath follows you, and your travelling somehow spreads it. He was convinced the seer you met had something to do with it. Remember that you travelled an impossible distance in one day after you met him. Then Nurthk said something about maybe turning back and fighting the undeath cultists. My guess is that they took that as his word that you'd deal with it, and now they think you're chickening out." He sighs. "They'll not be that kind when we pass these mountains again, my friend."

"So if we stay here, then, making no more progress over the pass for the day, we not only run the risk of this trailing evil in our wake finally catching up to us where we can fight it, but also the Ravast himself, and his men, thinking we've lied to them, might send another wave of warriors at us in punishment for this trailing evil that we have no control over. I can't say th-" Fendric stops abruptly, his face darkening.

"There is something else. When Exantrius first set out of Hedrogura with our band, I believe it was over this pass to Eivanrach where we were headed, before the old knight died. I believe he mentioned that we would need to hurry to beat Thedoric and his men to Eivanrach, and at that time, we were on horseback.

Pelor protect me, but I may have walked us into a steel trap. I dearly hope we survive its closing without having to chew off a leg."

"I must say your story intrigues me, I mean, a legendary knight suddenly dies and leaves you these letters to be posted, death cultist taking over towns and using the undead to guard cities, your own city taken, a priest kidnapped.... This stinks, my friend, it stinks badly. I hate the undead, they stand against evrything I believe in. Wich is why I'm guiding you, I must admit."

"No one hates undeath more than I, friend, of that I can assure you. Maybe Hiritus. Maybe. If I weren't worried about how it would have compromised our mission when we were in Bethel, I must say I would have been more than happy to turn that entire guard to dust, were it in my power to do so."

"I think that you must first make sure the old knight wasn't duping you. Look at the letters, make sure you're not used for something that stands against evrything you believe in. Then decide on your actions"

"I agree. I want to cast my magic upon them, and perform the augury. That will advise me, I think."

 

[Festy_Dog]

[ooc: Don't worry about me, I never subscribe. I always check the games I'm in manually. ]

Nurthk, though obviously pleased with the party's victory and the weapons gained, isn't very talkative. He also washes in the stream, cleaning his numerous injuries. He carries a surprising number of crude orcish tattoos, though obviously not of the kind this regions orcs may carry, if any at all.

He slips away afterwards, and proceeds to try and clean up any trail they may have left from the combat site.

[ooc: would i need to make a roll for that? and if so is it possible to take 10?]