Six From Gate Pass - Chapter 2: The Indomitable Fire Forest of Innenotdar

[The Bashar]

Hrimr is flabbergasted at the sight of the burning man who still lived. This is so twisted! Something is not letting the things in the forest die, be it man or tree. Who would willing craft such a place?

"This is an affront to nature! You did the right thing Bannock, though I wish there was some way I could have helped him. We must figure out what is causing this and end it somehow."

Hrimr looks around to see if anything else is in the woods.

 

[digimattic]

Arnir furrows his brow and is startled as the flaming corpse springs to life, but does not seem as shocked by the scene as others as perhaps he had expected something like this to happen. He jumps out of the way of the spray of blood and casts prestidigitation on the dagger in order to cool it so that he can pick it up. drawing his sword, he carefully drags out the coin-purse and once it has cooled, he adds it to the 181GP he is already holding in trust for the rest of the group.

Continuing down the road, Arnir seems more and more curious "Yes! I was thinking the same thing! The planar energy is what seems to be sustaining these trees rather than letting them be consumed....and of course it appears to be effecting humans as well. I wonder how it was applied to them. Is it localized? Is it applying to us, or was it directed on specific people I wonder. Fascinating!"

As they are walking, Arnir tries to detect magic on Torrent herself, as opposed to any item she may be holding or wearing. He focuses first on her backside.

 

[fromage67]

Lars watches the spectacle of the burning undead corpse and Bannock's slaying of it with a mixture of nauseated disgust and dream-like detachment.

He listens distractedly to the discussion between Arnir, Torrent and Hrimr as he scans the surrounding flames for eyes. As he walks he holds his crossbow in the crook of his arm, ready for danger.

 

[Adjuntive]

As the flaming man dies underneath Bannock's blade, and Alric feels the steaming blood spray against his face, he starts even more shocked than when the flaming man first appeared.

"You... you mean that was real? I'm not going mad?!? Gods above and below what a hellish place!"

Alric then turns to leave, not wishing to discuss this incident or tarry, instead he makes it obvious on his face he wants nothing more than to move on.

 

[Gregor]

Crossing the gorge

Hrimr, nothing new or interesting can been seen in the flames and nothing new is detected from Arnir's use of detect magic. Neither Torrent's backside, nor anyone else in the party registers any particular magical aura.

You continue to walk down the blazing hot Old Elf Road, drinking water and brushing ash and soot from your face. You sweat constantly and cough from filling your lungs with the hot smoky air. At some point during your walk you hear a loud shriek and a massive bat, perhaps the size of a wagon, immolated by flames flies over your head. Its massive wings beat waves of hot cinder-filled air which shower down on you, but it is gone as quickly as it arrives, careening off into the trees with another scream.

Slightly uncomfortable, you trudge on. Eventually you reach a deep gorge, crossed by what was once a sturdy stone arch bridge, 20 feet wide and about 75 feet long, with 3-foot-high stone railings on either side. Now, however, the bridge looks weak and dangerous. The railing on the right side has a 25-foot-wide section knocked out in the middle of the bridge, and the stone around it is cracked. The area to the sides of the bridge (edges of the gorge) are filled with burning trees. The gorge itself is maybe 60 feet deep, its bottom covered with brush that is ablaze.

Torrent stops and turns back to the group: "Thoughts?"

 

[Adjuntive]

Alric looks about the gorge, searching for some alternative to the bridge.

"Can we go around? I am no expert in structures, but I like not crossing a bridge where the stone is cracked."

Turning to the rest of the party with a grim look on his face, "Anyone with knowledge of stone and structures? Perhaps we can figure a safe way to cross."

 

[funkmamagoat]

"I have some knowledge of engineering, let me have a look" Kirio walks up to the bridge and inspects it as best he can, trying to determine if it is safe enough to cross or if they will have to find another way...

 

[Gregor]

Alric, going around the gorge would require either hiking through 200 feet of burning trees, or climbing down the jagged stone sides of the gorge, walking through burning brush and then climbing up the other side.

[sblock="for Kirio"]Kirio, you can tell that the bridge can likely safely support up to 500 lbs at a time without trouble. Beyond that, you're unsure what will happen. You can also tell, that there are a eight spaces on the bridge where it is extremely unsafe. You're highly confident that even setting foot on those spaces will result in a break or crack that would cause someone to fall into the gorge. Your knowledge allows you to safely guide people over the bridge.[/sblock]

 

[funkmamagoat]

After several minutes spent inspecting the bridge from every angle, Kirio walks over to the others with a grim smile on his face "alright, I think we can cross this bridge. There are eight spots I can see we will have to avoid entirely, one step there and you fall. I can guide us around those however; so long as you step where I tell you and follow my instructions we should be able to cross no problem. It should be able to support up to 500 pounds at any one time. If we think the 7 or us are over that we may want to consider going over in two groups; I will return and guide the second group across. What do you say?"

 

[Adjuntive]

"Very well Kirio. I volunteer to be the first you lead across, though I carry much weight, altogether my gear and myself weighs close to 300lbs. Might I suggest you lead me over alone and I will stand guard while you bring the rest across?"