[IC] Cayden's Cheerful Company; Chapter 1: Carnival of Tears

The half-elf nods as he quickly vanishes towards the frozen lake.

As you enter the the tent, you see brownies and other fey creatures standing on the counter of the bar, dancing and sharing beer with merry lumberjacks. Those who drink it quickly sprout roots and turn a healthy brown in their complexion. After a few seconds their skin turns into bark, all while they scream in excruciating pain. As the brownies see you, they bolt in another direction. One particular humanoid in the middle screams in agony. It is Nafisa, the Ifrit girl you rescued from Kabran.

Aaaaah, don't come closer or it will take you too. she gasps in between screams.

Kouran couldn't think of any way to console Nafisa, let alone help her. All he could do was hope that he might capture whoever had done it, and force them to reverse it. "Oi, barkeep!" he yelled as he looked around. "Last call!"

"Have you got any ideas on how to undo the trees?" Therin asks the others, now starting to question where he gets his booze from.

Drastia recalls an event from decades before when she once explored an area of the woods where humans often disappeared. "The ale will turn the lumberjacks into violent Dryads! I believe the one behind this violation of good drinks is still in the Area but hidden somewhere, invisible to our naked eyes. If we capture the Fey responsible maybe we can make them reverse the spell. Kouran, could you have Sparky sniff out the enemy Fey?"

"How about it? Can you track it down?" Kouran turned to ask Sparky.

So many strange odors. Difficult. It smells like rainbow. But everywhere. Sparky sniffs around. He stoops down to a puddle, he sniffs the countertops, a few trees and even urinates on one. As he approaches Nafisa, the perpetually turning and yet not turning Ifrit talks to him:

Go away dog. You are not safe here. but her voice does not seem in agony anymore, and more annoyed and pissed. You see a small flicker and a tiny arrow sticking out of Sparky's neck. You don't know where the shot came from.

Therin hummed, looking between everyone and the tree. This was out of his league, that much he knew. "I don't think she's entirely truthful.."

Clover pulls a dagger from his belt, and tosses it in the air a few times, muttering, "Yeah, I think you may be right about that."

In a flash, he reels back, and hurls the knife at the helpless girl.

You hear a blunt thud, like a knife hitting wood, and the knife vanishes inside Nafisa's chest. Why would you? How could you?

Spoiler

Show

Everyone roll DC 19 Will.

Everyone except Clover.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Sporeegg

You hear a blunt thud, like a knife hitting wood, and the knife vanishes inside Nafisa's chest. Why would you? How could you?

Spoiler

Show

Everyone roll DC 19 Will.

Everyone except Clover.

---

"You're, naught but an illusion." Drastia draws her bow crackling and hissing ozone and static "Who are you and what have you done with the real Nafisa?"

"Anyone see the shooter?" Kouran asked in alarm as he saw the dart hit Sparky, and he moved to pull it from the cayhound's hide. "If they've already turned everyone here, and just left illusions to distract us, we've got to move on."

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Athaleon

"Anyone see the shooter?" Kouran asked in alarm as he saw the dart hit Sparky, and he moved to pull it from the cayhound's hide. "If they've already turned everyone here, and just left illusions to distract us, we've got to move on."

---

Drastia grits her teeth. "You're right. I don't see what we can do for them here. Other than mercy kill, but I'd like to try to save them first before doing something so terrible. What was the name Nafisa said to look for in the Labrynth, Gradzaal? Maybe we should go there instead. Hopefully they aren't in danger or worse are the danger."

"What about some flour from the pie tent?" Therin asks trying to be helpful to the others.

As you discuss your tactics, Nafisa turns into a dryad with the face of a wailing banshee and screams: LEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEAVE!

You can see a ripple next to an open barrel of mead, and another arrow flies at Clover, hitting his leg. A numbing pain extends from the wound, trying to spread.

Spoiler

Show

DC 13 Fort or have your speed reduced to zero as your legs transform and take roots.

"Ahah!, of course!" Clover claps his hands and kisses Therin's forehead, "An excellent thought! I- ack!"

A dull pain rockets up his leg. Clover gritting his teeth, looks down at the shaft protruding from his thigh. He reaches down and plucks the arrow, nay, dart by any other name, from his side and flicks it away. He declares, "I am the strongest and swiftest among us, I shall be back in but a moment, do what you can until then!"

The faun then turns and barrels out of the tent to retrieve the goods.

Spoiler

Show

Clover uses Burst of Adrenaline on his save. He then uses the run action to try and get back to the baker's tent, hopefully during this round.

Drastia moves away from the Dryad and casts Fairy Fire. "Let's see who you really are."

As you frantically look for the ignited form in the tent, Kouran and Therin hit the Pixie to no result. Finally Sparky chomps down on the tiny thing. For a moment you hope the dog has its caught in its maw but it easily escapes and flies outside.

"I'm begining to really dislike these things.. It's not enough they're annoy or deadly.. but they have to be both at the same time?"

Kouran and Sparky ran outside, hoping one more time to catch the fey.

The pixie flies past you and leaves herself open for another round of attacks before flying straight up.

"Oh no you don't!" Drastia shouts in defiance running out of the tent. She fires a shock arrow into the skies at the center of the Fae's tiny mass.

Spoiler

Show

1d20+8 Drastia Shock Bow Hit = (16)+8 = 24
Damage 1d8+1d6 = (8)+(2) = 10

The arrow hits and changes the tiny creature's curse but does not impale her. Instead she laughs up until the weak shock makes her drop a foot or two. Then she continues to flee up north.

Therin exited the tent and began to follow the fey. "So we follow it right? Probably a trap."

As you all run outside and peer into the cold night air, you feel an odd chill. It was cold before, and the fey even attacked you with the cold of winter itself, so much that Logan was incapacitated, and that killed Caroline. You try to follow the trail of the vile pixie and your sight is stuck at the perfectly round full autumn moon. Slowly but surely it starts to snow. You hear roaring from up north, Namdrin is surely dealing with the minotaur by now. Then you hear a light scream, not one that you would expect from a beast like that. Namdrin is in trouble. Your allies however, Hab, Hatuk and even Logan rush to aid the half-elf. The silent tiefling follows the raging half-orc, but Hab stops by you as you try to follow them. He shakes his head. Your fight is coming up, look over there. he points at the moon.

As you turn your attention to the moon once again you can see a silhouette riding a truly monstrous thing. On a hill slighly elevated and illuminated by a rising moon you see a creature the common lumberjacks would describe as the rider of death, Charon, however more educated eyes see the fey origins. The cold rider rides a titanic undead elk, a glaive made from ice in his right, with armor equally glistening like ice in the moonlight.

https://vignette.wikia.nocookie.net/...Cold_Rider.jpg

As he spots the lot of you, he does not instantly charge you but rather gauges your reaction. As he realizes you noticed him, he raises his glaive to the sky and mist envelops his figure.

Spoiler

Show

Initiative please
Position yourself on the map: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets...#gid=106667443
Also everyone gets a free turn to put up buffs.

Kouran strode forward and pointed his sword at the rider in an unmistakable challenge, trying to look and sound more heroic than he felt at the time. He no longer felt fear the way he used to—some fragment of Cayden's own bravado inured him to such terror—but he couldn't help but mark the rider's appearance. Well, let's just hope appearances are deceiving. "Here we are! Let's finish this."

Spoiler

Show

Move up to H16, activate Smite Evil on the rider.

Drastia stood her ground despite herself. The being in charge of this town's plight was before her like the avatar of corpses claimed by winter. She spun a veil of warmth around herself to steel against whatever damned attacks against her would bear. While this left here fragile in comparison to that Warrior before her, she had trust in her allies and believed they would take charge in facing the being head on.

Spoiler

Show

Drastia casts Resist Energies (Cold) and stays put.

As their foe rides before them, Clover takes a moment to lift his set of pipes to his lips, and plays a quick, yet solemn dirge. He lets them fall back around his neck, but continues to hum the tune as he focuses his energy on the Pale Rider. He lifts his blade in unison with his ally and notes, "Well gentlemen, it's been an honor. Hope to see you when this is all through."

Clover brings the point down, and begins to flicker, as his humming begins to resonate, so too does his image, splitting off into two identical copies of the satyr on either side.

Spoiler

Show

Clover's gonna focus his stare on the pale rider and cast Mirror Image, giving him two copies of himself.

Drastia took a pinch of powders in her pouch, rubbed them on her hands and held out her hands towards the Cold Rider. A ball of roaring flame burst into life near the Cold Rider and threw itself onto the Fae.

Spoiler

Show

Conjure Flaming Sphere on G5

Move Flaming Sphere one space north on the Cold Rider

3d6 Flaming Sphere Fire Damage = (1+4+6) = 11

Reflex Save to Negate Damage.

As the rider summons a fine mist to hide his form, Drastia summons a roiling orb of fire under him. Before the flames break out, the rider brings his mount to rear up, forcing the frozen stag's body to take the brunt of the flames. Focussing the attention on Kouran, he switches sides with his lance and rides you down.

The glaive seeks your heart but in a last ditch effort you can sway the pike away with your blade.

Spoiler

Show

Attack (20)+14 =34
Crit Confirmation: (8)+14 = 22
Damage (1+9)+12 = 22
Cold damage (4+4) = 8
22 physical damage plus 8 cold damage. Almost a crit.

everyone, any order.

"The Cold Rider needs to be locked down!" Drastia shouts backing off onto the bridge with her friends as protection. "I'll try to stymie his heinous mount a tad!"

Spoiler

Show

Drastia moves to H17

Drastia Casts Entangle on point A25

Cold Rider make partial Reflex Save