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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Jon Potter" data-source="post: 1556479" data-attributes="member: 2323">[PLAIN][Realms #270] The Path to Ruins[/PLAIN]"I think we found Myth Drannor," Vade whispered at Karak's side."I think you may be right," Ixin replied as she stepped up to stand next to the halfling. Morier took a position beside her followed by Ledare and Feln."Has anyone ever heard of this place, or something like it?" Feln grunted. "Vade, surely you have heard a tale or two about a place as odd as this." The halfling shrugged, reluctantly tearing his eyes away from the verdant tree in the center of the ruins."I never came into these woods. No, sir!" the halfling told his friend. "I hear if someone straggles away from their party and the trees don't like you... Whooosh!!! They come and snatch you away and you are never heard from again!""That sounds a little far-fetched," Ledare argued but Morier disagreed."Sounds like the work of treants to me," the albino offered. "Malcolm told me that there were a few of them active in the old woods of the Realms. I've never seen one myself, but that sounds like what Vade is describing.""Does that sound familiar, Vade?" Ixin asked and Vade scratched his head."I always just thought that the trees snatched up stragglers," he told them. "At least that is what Mama told us boys when we were traveling just outside the forest. Anyway, you won't catch me alone in these woods! No, sir.""I think it would be better if we stayed close to each other," Feln said with a firm nod. His calculating eyes surveyed the flat meadow on which they stood, paying particularly close attention to the shadowy bower and the cairns within. "There could be any number of evils stalking this... shrine. If that is what it is.""We should examine the cairns an' determine their maker," Karak said, turning to survey the sheltered area beneath the oak trees.Ledare looked up at the sky and frowned. "We haven't much daylight left," she told them. "We should stop for the night here. It seems like a sensible place to be - high enough to watch the surrounding area for anything that might approach, with an eye kept on the tunnel we just exited.""Aye," Karak nodded. "A goodly plan.""I say we set our watch schedule as before, with additional consideration for those who did not sleep much," Ledare went on, nodding at Morier and Karak. "No fire. We're too exposed here.""Let's explore this area first," Ixin suggested and Ledare nodded in agreement."At the very least, we ought to examine the tree prior to pitching camp around it," the Janissary told them. She looked at Vade and gestured for him to go search the area."Me?" Vade gulped. "Go first? It's not really my job to go first, Kitten. I'm here to tell you stories and keep your stuff safe and make sure people like us.""Then go and make nice with those trees over there," Ledare advised. "Make sure that they like us."Vade gulped and proceeded forward."Hey trees, we are the good guys," the halfling called as he edged toward the bower. "I think we need to get to Myth Drannor... for some reason that I can't remember right now." He chuckled. and stopped at the edge of the group of inter-grown trees. "I'm not the brains of the party; I just am along for the ride and to save the world like Roland, Roland Roland. Deconik, Brinn-Toth and Roland!"There was no response from the trees to his singing. And he shot a glance back over his shoulder at the other members of the VQS before ducking beneath a low-hanging branch and stepping into the cool darkness of the bower. There was an almost hallowed sanctity to the place. Sounds seemed muted and the shadows within cast the area into sudden twilight. The air smelled sweet. Branches overhead creaked rhythmically in the breeze."Any way, it would really be nice of you if you could lead us to a really nice path. We have a lot of elves in the party and I think you guys like elves... right?" the halfling went on. "Can you talk? I have heard of trees that can talk. I know you can move, but talking would be really cool."He examined the cairns as he waited for a response, his eyes squinting in the half-light. They were all roughly the same, being oblong, composed of well-rounded river rocks, and capped with a slab of smooth white stone. A lace of ivy grew over two adjacent cairns. Honeysuckle was creeping over another and accounted for the sweet scent in the air. The three most heavily-shaded were green with moss. If there had ever been any markings on the stones, they were long-ago erased by the passing of the seasons."I really like trees and I find them helpful," Vade continued after it became apparent that he wasn't going to get any response form the oaks. As he spoke, he moved around the edge of the bower, looking for anything of interest in the cairns. "One time my brother Trey and I sto...I mean 'accidently ate' my brother, Duece's, dillenberry pie that my Aunt Pery made for him. He was so mad!  We out ran him and hid up in our favorite tree. It must have been 100 feet tall! Not as big as your friends out in the forest, but a really nice tree.  We stayed there at least three hours until it was after dinner.  We knew Duece would not be as mad if he wasn't hungry."Vade chuckled nervously. He'd completely circumnavigated the area and found nothing of inordinate importance. He shrugged and ducked back outside the area, waving as he went. "Bye!" he said. "Nice talking to you.""Did you find anything?" Ledare asked and Vade shook his head."Not really," he admitted. "But the trees are very good listeners."Karak harrumphed and stalked over to find a good place to make camp."I think it's going to rain," Morier noted as he sniffed the air. And he was right.It started a few hours after sundown while he was on watch with Karak and continued throughout the night. Prior to that, the dwarf and the elf had spent their time on watch studying the distant cluster of fires they could see on another rocky hill some distance away. The flickering points of light were accompanied by the chaotic thumping of goblin war drums and the sound put Karak in a foul mood. The rain was really just the topper.As the first fat drops of rain began to pelt down, the dwarf woke everyone and hustled them down into the dry cave. Morier lingered behind for a time, watching as Hubris and Garn-Zanuth traded lighting bolts and thunderclaps behind the dark clouds above, until he was soaked to the skin with rain.Earthday, the 21st of Wealsun, 1269 AEThe rain slowed to a drizzle by daybreak, but gave no sign of stopping, so the party decided to head out despite the weather. Likewise, they chose to descend the rocky hill rather than return to the forest floor via the tunnel. This decision presented another interesting problem: none of them had any rope. Vade, of course, had no concern about the climb thanks to his magical footwear and Feln was nearly as good thanks to his own ability and the aid of the ring Ixin had found in the bug queen's lair. Karak had picked up some minor skills in his misspent youth, but Ixin, Morier and Ledare were completely untrained in the art of rock climbing.In the end, the trip took several hours to get started thanks to the need for careful planning. They all stripped off their armor and redistributed it as best they could amongst various packs so that no one was overly encumbered during the climb. Ixin's Cloak of Many Pockets came in very handy in this regard as did her under-developed wings. She was able to use them to slowly lower herself to the forest floor by rapidly fluttering as she jumped from the hilltop.The controlled fall was physically taxing but none the less exhilarating for she had always harbored a secret desire to soar unfettered through the heavens on powerful scaly wings. True, falling to the ground as lightly as a feather wasn't the same as thrusting oneself through the clouds, but the feeling of being unbound by the constraints lesser beings endured sent a thrill of pride through her draconic heart. The fatigue she felt upon landing was a small price to pay; she was able to put it out of her mind by dreaming of the day when her wings had developed enough to carry her up into the sky...The others descended with painful slowness. Taking as much time as they needed, with Vade and Feln offering what aid they could to Morier and Ledare. Karak declined assistance, but it was all he could do to make it down on his own in one piece. Once they had gathered together at the bottom, they reassembled everyone's armor and ate a wet and uncomfortable lunch of trail rations."Let's have that bird o' yers fly o'erhead to act like a compass," Karak advised. "Like we did before."Ixin nodded, offering Martivir a morsel of food before tossing him into the rain. "Lead us to the ruins," she called as the owl took wing.Feln headed into the trees without a word."Where are you going?" Ledare asked as she slung her shield over her shoulder."I will be right in your shadow," the half-orc told them before stepping into the trees. "I'll be just off the trail, keeping an eye for danger." And then he disappeared into the shadows."Give a yell if there's trouble," the Janissary called. "And don't stray too far from us. We don't need you getting lost again." There was no reply."Boy! Feln sure is brave," Vade said with an admiring sigh."Or foolish," Morier offered as he headed off after Ixin. "Let's go."It was an hour before they came across a path. And during that time each and every one of them had to dodge falling deadwood or branches that whipped around in the wind. Both Ixin and Karak had close calls with the mishaps, but no one was injured. And to add insult to injury, the path ran perpendicular to the direction that Ixin kept indicating Martivir was following. They ignored the trail and continued toward their goal, and it was another hour before they crossed another path, one which ran almost directly in the direction that they needed to go."Should we take it?" Vade asked and then shouted, "Look out!!" as another bit of deadwood fell from above the group.Everyone dove for cover, but the stout end struck Karak in the shoulder while the slender end cut a bloody scratch across Morier's cheek. The injuries were insignificant but unsettling; it was hard to deny the fact that the forest didn't seem to want them traipsing about."Let's take the path," Ixin suggested and they did, making much better time on the trail than they did through the trees. They were able to cover twice the distance in an hour's time than they had otherwise, and just as they were coming to a spot where the trail crossed a small stream, Ixin announced that Martivir was waiting at the ruins and that he was likely no more than another hour or two away.It was at that point that Karak and Morier both fell into the concealed pit trap. The eldritch warrior was slightly in the lead, and although it was his weight that triggered the trap, he almost managed to snag the edge of the pit on the way down. Two hundred and fifty pounds of steel-plated dwarf slamming into the albino's back more or less prevented him from succeeding, however. They both landed in a clanging heap at the bottom of the pit."By Ibrahil's blade!" Ledare cursed as she watched her companions disappear into the earth."We've got other problems!" Ixin noted, pointing to the branches above. Hidden amidst the shadowy canopy of the trees overlooking the trail were a pair of shiny black spiders. They were the largest spiders that any of them - with the exceptions of Ledare and Morier - had ever seen. Each was easily as large as a warhorse."Flesssh! Flesssh!" they heard a hoarse croaking voice bellow some distance off the trail and they spotted a grotesque creature that looked to be partly man and partly spider jumping up and down excitedly. It had a soft, bloated torso and long, spindly limbs with a flat, utterly inhuman head complete with mandibles and glittering red eyes."Eewww!" Vade moaned, clutching Ledare's thigh. "What is that thing, Kitten?"Ledare, of course, couldn't answer. She was staring up at the spiders, paralyzed by fear.</blockquote>

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