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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Jon Potter" data-source="post: 1144517" data-attributes="member: 2323">[PLAIN][Realms #239] On the Banks of the River Drewett[/PLAIN]There was silence for a moment, broken only by the group's adrenaline-fueled breathing, and then Vade jumped into the air. "Yahoo!" he cried. "We did it! We did it! I knew we could do it! I just knew it!"Ledare nodded and stepped closer to look at the giant's injuries. "Yes, Vade," she said with a wry grin. "Your persistence paid off, thanks to Morier's sword.""Yeah!" Vade said, patting the albino appreciatively on the back of the thigh. "That was some good sword-swinging!""Truly," the Janissary agreed. "Well done. We are fortunate to have you with us. Are you badly hurt?" Morier ignored the question and wetly wrestled his sword free of the giant's skull."I'm not convinced this thing's dead," the elf said grimly. "Off with its head, I say!""Aiyah!" Vade exclaimed, pointing to one of the giant's sword wounds. "It's still healing! We need to burn it!""If someone will soak it in oil, I'll light it with a spell," Ixin offered, stepping forward with her hands at the ready. "Morier, will you do the honor of cutting off its head?""I will," he said. And he did.As soon as Vade started splashing oil over the creature's headless body Feln backed away. "I was splashed twice with oil," the monk said. "I have no wish to be near open flames just now." Ledare nodded and gestured toward the marshy area at the east end of the clearing."Why don't you have a look through its lair to see if there is anything interesting there," she suggested and Feln nodded."I intend to," he said and started to turn and Vade's head popped up."Oooh! Someone is looking for treasure... and without me?" He handed off his oil to Ledare and trotted over to Feln's side. "You might need my help," he told the monk.Feln shrugged. "I'm looking for anything that might aid our quest," he said as they walked across the clearing. "As for treasure hunting, I am only interested in any special weapons I am trained to use... monk weapons.""Oh! MONK weapons!" Vade said, nodding sagely. He had no idea what a monk weapon was."Return to the foul place from which you came and plague this world no more," Ledare said gravely as she watched the flames Ixin had conjured burn the meat off the giant's bones. It's furry head lay nearby; the ragged neck wound showed no signs of regenerating."Must we bury the head in hallowed ground or burn it or something?" Ixin asked and Windstryder laughed derisively. The mage was undaunted by the ranger's mocking attitude. "Let's be thorough," she said. "I don't want this thing coming back to haunt us physically or spiritually.""We don't have time to hunt for hallowed ground," Windstryder grumbled as she stuffed the three arrows she had been able to recover back into her quiver. "It's dead and we're wasting time here.""Do you have time to minister to Morier's wounds?" Ledare asked archly. "He took quite a few heavy blows."The ranger looked at the eldritch warrior's face wounds and reached for her healing kit. "Hmm, I'd say it's a bit of an improvement," she laughed. No one laughed with her."Look what we found! Look what we found!" Vade exclaimed as he and Feln returned from the giant's noisome lair. The halfling had a large book in his arms and his pack was jingling more than usual. Feln was similarly laden, carrying a pair of brown furry shoes, a battered gold candlestick and a large saw-toothed sword that Ledare and Ixin both recognized as being Draelond's weapon, Ravager. The monk had a gnarled black wand stuffed into the thong of his barbarian's loincloth."The halfling wouldn't let me leave any of it behind," Feln said apologetically as if he weren't quite sure how Vade had managed to talk him into lugging away so much stuff."It could be magical," the halfling explained."Only the sword and the wand," Ixin reported, her eyes glowing crimson as she Detected Magic."Well, anyway I thought you'd want this, Kitten," Vade said grunting as he offered the large black book to Ledare. It was made of leather stretched over a metal frame. The cover was stamped with the symbol of Aphyx - a rat's skull surrounded by a snake eating its own tail and the hundred or so parchment pages inside were filled with tightly-packed writing. As far as Ledare could tell it was written in the common tongue by a single author. There were several disturbing illustrations interspersed within the text and the first page bore the title: 'The Trials of Decay'."Come on, group let us go," Windstryder urged and Ledare looked up from the book."This is a very good find, Vade," the Janissary said. "You're sure there was nothing else back there worth our while?""We both went over it," Feln interjected. "There's nothing else there.""I have already fallen behind schedule with the trip to the cave mouth, the trip to your healers, and now this," Windstryder snapped angrily. "I do admit the portal should keep me on time. I just won't let Huile's group beat me to the girl." The last sentence she muttered more to herself than the group."Then let's be off," Ledare said, snapping the large book closed. "But first, Windstryder, tell me; what do you know about administering belladonna?"The answer to that question turned out to be: not enough. Both Ledare and Morier were struck with severe cramping after taking the dose of belladonna that Windstryder prescribed. The abdominal pain was accompanied by weakness, so much so that after a few minutes, Morier could barely move in his armor. They sweated and shivered as they walked through the woods toward town, their jaws clenching and teeth grinding involuntarily as the poison worked on their muscles.Ledare called Vade over and placed a trembling hand on his slim shoulder. "I have an important job for you," she managed to get out through clenched teeth. "Since you are closest to the ground, watch it carefully for spiders as we move.  Remember, it may be our only warning against a chagmat attack."In a very serious, but reassuring voice, Vade said, "I will keep an  eye out for them... Don't worry, I will protect you, Kitten." He reached up and patted her gauntlet with his four-fingered hand."See that you do, Little One," Morier added. "I am in no shape to battle spider folk today." Vade shot him an annoyed glance."I do have a name," the halfling told him. "It is Vade not 'little one'.""I meant no-" the albino started to say and Vade cut him off with an upbeat note in his little voice."Although my Papa used to call me little one when I was a baby... He called all babies that though," the halfling mused, any annoyance completely forgotten. "Are you a daddy? I love little kids. I like looking people straight in the eye, you know what I mean?" As he said this, he looked Morier straight in the bellybutton. "I hope that baby is okay at Rherram's. I would like to play with her when we get back."And so it went all through the morning and on into the afternoon. Neither Ledare's nor Morier's condition worsened any during the trip, but neither did it improve and both of them were out of breath by the time they reached the banks of the River Drewett that cut north-to-south through town. During all this time, Feln and Windstryder ranged ahead of the others, occasionally waiting for the group to catch up to them. At one point, Feln appeared with a bloodied bandage on his shoulder, but he brushed off any questions, saying it was nothing."Marty says that Windstryder shot him," Ixin told Ledare, Morier and Vade once the other two were out of earshot. The owl had been flying free all day and had just resettled on the mage's shoulder to convey what he'd observed. "She's been sniping at him all day and he's been knocking the arrows out of the air with his hands. Maybe it's some kind of game. I guess that Feln missed one.""That's a pretty scary game!" Vade shuddered.The day was heading toward evening with several hours of light remaining when they finally passed out of Spiderwood and spotted the hamlet of Hillville Junction nestled among some low hills to the south. A little-used logging road followed the banks of the rocky Drewett and they hastened along it, making much better time in the open country than they had in the dense woodland. Gorlan Wood lay across the river to the west, and Ledare glanced at its treeline warily as they traveled.After another half hour's march, they could see see the carefully cultivated fields that supported the townsfolk but Ledare and Morier both scowled and looked nervously at one another."Shouldn't they be plowing field two?" Ledare asked and the albino nodded."I don't see any sheep in the pasture either," he added, panting from the prolonged exertion."Somebody's coming!" Vade said pointing at a fast-moving man running northward on the road."There's trouble in the village!" Feln shouted as he trotted up to them from the direction of the Junction. If they hadn't recognized his voice, they would never have known him. He now looked the part of the warrior lord, dressed in finery with a gleaning sword strapped across his back. His heroically-square jaw had a cleft in it that you could have used to hide an olive. The expression of apprehension looked terribly out-of-place on that strikingly handsome face. "Looks like a raid! Couple of burned roofs and such. Probably happened last night or late yesterday."</blockquote>

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