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Message: <blockquote data-quote="the Jester" data-source="post: 2058113" data-attributes="member: 1210">The Big FishIn the witch’s cottage, lost in the Lofta ForestBattered, poisoned, nearly dead- our heroes need to rest.  Martini keeps watch while the others collapse into a fitful sleep.  It is not long before he notices that it is always twilight.  Once the others awaken, he worriedly reports this to them.  Perhaps more frightening, he heard the sound of music in the distance while they rested, indicating that someone- or something- is out there.After some discussion, the group decides to rest until they’ve recovered somewhat more.  Martini and Beau notice that they need neither sleep nor food.  This revelation is horrible.  “Can you imagine?” chokes out Beau.  “Life without food??”  With a shudder our heroes pull out rations and chow down.  “I can’t stop eating,” mumbles Timothy around a mouthful of salted beef, “I’m on the halfling program!”***After a long while the party is well enough to go on.  How much time has passed?  They have no idea.  It feels like days, but the eternal twilight doesn’t ever change significantly.  “We need to find the river,” Martini states, “and follow it downstream.  That will get us out of the forest.  So while we’re traveling, we need to try to find a creek or a rivulet and follow it downstream- it will lead us to the river, and eventually to the sea.”“And off Strogass!” declares Timothy.  “They aren’t very nice here.” “Let’s get back to the trail,” suggests Beau.Unfortunately, they seem to have lost the trail.  After searching thoroughly for it for hours, they give up and strike off cross country.  Martini’s near infallible sense of direction seems utterly confused here.  Long hours of marching through deep woods ensue.  Our heroes are careful to always stay within sight of each other, lest they become separated and lost.  More and more this feels like an enchanted forest from a faerie tale or something, and it’s still that cursed twilight.  Finally, the party stumbles across a small brook.  Grinning, they start to follow it downstream.  Periodically, the sound of music in the distance drifts out to them, and once in a while one or another of them blinks, startled, at a trick of the light and shadow that almost looks like a winged creature riding a snail or something similar.  Then, as they crunch across a bed of gravel alongside the brook near a small waterfall, they catch sight of someone moving, rising from a rock upon the brook and turning to regard them.”Hey, it’s that guy,” Timothy mumbles.The figure squints at the autistic halfling and smiles.  “I remember you,” he says.  “You owe me one!”Martini squints at the figure.  Who- ?  Then a memory tickles him.  Yes, the fellow who gave Timothy the gelatinous snack beneath the waterfall, that helped him pass his psychological evaluation after <a href="http://www.enworld.org/showthread.php?p=1785703#post1785703" target="_blank">the group was put on trial!  </a>The man- some sort of fey, Martini is almost sure- is named Latheo, and now it is time for the party to pay back his previous kindness to Timothy.  His favorite swimming hole is hunted by a giant gar, leaving him unable to enjoy it.  Our heroes easily agree to go kill it.“It’s just downstream,” Latheo says.”How far?” Beau asks.The fey man shrugs.  “Oh, you know.”  He kind of flutters his hands.“Uh... no.  How far did you say it was?”“Just a little ways.”“Right... meaning?”“You know, a bit.”  Again, Latheo makes vague gestures.Beau sighs.  “Right.”***The swimming hole is large and placid.  At first there’s no sign of the gar.  “Don’t get too deep into the water!” Martini warns the group.  “If it grabs you in deep water you’re buggered- not only will it be eating you, you might drown!  We need to lower it to the edge.”His friends gulp.  Still, there’s no sign of the giant gar.  “How big do you think it is?” asks Beau.  Martini glares at him.  “Big,” he growls.  “Bigger than us.”Beau gulps again.Finally, ignoring his own advice to stay out of the water, Martini slogs in to his hips and starts dangling himself as bait.  Sure enough, he soon spots motion in the water.  “There!” he cries, pointing, and he whips his bow out.  An arrow is fitted to the string, while on shore Beau does the same.  A pair of projectiles of force zip out from Timothy, striking the fish under the water with the spell!  It darts forward, virtually ignoring the arrows that stick in it, and in one smooth gulp it swallows Martini whole.“Martini, no!” Timothy cries in horror, firing off another pair of magic missiles.  The fish surges forward, snapping at the source of its agony, as Beau keeps shooting his shortbow.  Then suddenly gar leaps forward and grabs Beau in its mouth, though he’s only knee deep in the water! Beau gasps and struggles against the gar’s tongue and teeth, which are attempting to force him down its gullet.  The fish is starting to retreat with him, and Timothy, shrieking in terror and dismay, invokes a flaming sphere.  The fish thrashes as the flames lick on its back, and Beau takes advantage of the monster’s distress to squirm free.  Staggering through the muck of the shallows, he slogs towards shore while Timothy creates a second flaming sphere.  Then, to his distress, the gar retreats, apparently willing to settle for a one-halfling sized meal.Beau, gasping, reaches shore and whirls around.  “Timothy, no!” he cries.The sorcerer is waddling into the water.  “We have to save Martini!” he cries.  “Come on, Beau!  I’ll attract the fish-“Indeed he does.  Suddenly, in a spray of muddy water, the gar seizes Timothy around the chest.  Its long teeth rip into the halfling’s tender skin, and Timothy screams as the gar gulps him down.  The sorcerer disappears into the fish’s belly.“Oh no,” whispers Beau.He fires at the gar as it struggles in the shallows, shooting it right in the eye.  The fish jerks convulsively, terribly wounded; and Beau shouts in rage and frustration, firing another arrow into its other eye.  The fish spasms once more, and then expires.Quickly, Beau hurries over to it.  His knife slices open its belly, and he finds his companions within its stomach.  Martini is dead, but Timothy yet lives.  Beau works fast, binding the lad’s wounds and working to keep him from falling past the veil.  When he’s satisfied at last that Timothy is out of danger (at least for the time being), he lays back, exhausted, against a tree for a moment.  Only one more thing before he can rest.  With a sigh, Beau begins looting Martini.Next Time: The terrible loss of Martini leaves our heroes even more lost in the fey woods.  What they really need is someone friendly to talk to! <img src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f600.png" class="smilie smilie--emoji" loading="lazy" width="64" height="64" alt=":D" title="Big grin    :D"  data-smilie="8"data-shortname=":D" /></blockquote>

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