The Necromancer's Pact VII: Lake of Tears II

[Callos_DeTerran]

Callos

Was he surprised to find bodies at the site of the vultures? No. Not in the least, vultures were scavengers and liked dead meat over living. Was he surprised about who the bodies were? Very much so. It made him a little bit numb, as if someone had immersed him in the snow and left him there for a bit. Or maybe thats what Elthan felt like. The necromancer stumbled off of the cart he had been in, walking towards the still unmoving body. Afterall, Elthan was alive and more importantly there were those among them much better at dealing with wounds of the body. But dead bodies....well he had special training with this sort of things.

Approaching rather noisely towards Si'rene's body and Tiriel, eyes dragging over the form. Standing behind Tiriel like that though, dressed up in his shadowstuff clothing, he couldn't help but have an odd thought. With his shadow cast over the two of them, he reminded himself of a vulture. Part of his head screamed that this had to be a trap. Lumpy had mentioned demons being a possible suspect but it also raised a chilling thought of its own. Great evil might have been what had attacked the four...With a growing chill in his heart he acted. If he was right...

"Get out of the way girl, I need to see her!" Tone holding more then a hint of panic in it.
Stepping forward, Callos pushed Tiriel to the side and knelt down beside the body quickly. His hand was visibly shaking as he tilted Si'rene's head and to the sides, looking anxiously at her throat all the while muttering under his breath...

"Mystara, please tell me that I'm wrong. For once, just once, let me be wrong about something..."

[runehawk]

Lizardkin Druid

The lizardman had not been keen on any further diversions and had rumbled under his breath when the group meandered towards the vultures. His mind had been set on catching with the forward group and moving swiftly to the north.

He now stood surveying the carnage. A quick glance was all it took for him to note the abnormal prints, he didn't focus on the other prints and clues.

He knew all he needed to know about the attack so he distracts himself studying the skies for the weather ahead and left the healers to attempt their best. He swears softly for not having any healing spells prepared.

His claws ball into fists and shake as he draws a deep breath in to steady himself. He pushes the image of the bleeding, pale Elthan away.

Ssathiya will cast detect magic to scan the surroundings and the campsite.

If no-one asks the question before he is done he will ask
"Where are the others?"

OOC: take 10: Survival Check 18 (tracks + weather)
Cast Detect magic

[blackfox]

Katrin
Katrin quickly looks around and sees Aeroz. "Hey, you! Aeroz! Come over here and make sure Elthan doesn't die; you need to get him warmer."
Katrin waits a few impatient seconds to see if Aeroz is listening to her, then hovers anxiously over Si'rene's limp figure, breathing heavily.
She's not dead... she can't be dead.

[Dark_Stalion]

Evendur

Evendur takes in the scene, meted hoofprints, bodies, the singular hat. At first he seems frozen to his mount, unmoving, the others traversing the collage like ghosts over the frozen image burnt into his brain. It feels unreal, like a hazy dream. Elthan's moan cuts throught he haze, through the cottonwool that has replaced his brain. He semi-falls as he dismounts and hurries over to the half-dead half-elf, removing his cloak as he goes.

Reaching the fallen form he brushes past Katrin to cover's Elthan with the material in the hopes of preserving what little warmth might still reside within the young man.Wishing he had something to help warm him, he holds Elthan close to himself, sharing his body heat as he chants a prayer to Sune, asking her blessing to help heal any hurt he might have.

"See this creature of beauty, oh Sune,
See that he suffers no more.
Give me the strength to heal him, oh Sune,
Give him the life he's fought for."

A different glow surrounds Elthan which is gradualy absorbed by him. Evendur lifts him, carrying himto the wagon where he lays him down as comfortably as he can manage.

[Frojoe21]

Aeroz

"What do you want me to do? Light him on fire? Wait a second..." tucking the hat under his arm, he ruffles through his bag and pulls out a vial. Placing it in the hand of Katrin. "Have him drink this, but I tell you, I know nothing at all about first aid." Continuing to search through his pack, he pulls out a long, thick blanket and offers it to Katrin as well.

[OOC:Giving potion of cure light wounds]

[HempRope]

I thought you had a hip flask or something, were gonna warm him up with some good rum...

Achkby, Halfling Sorcerer

Achkby urges Bess as close as he can before leaping off and running the rest of the way to the mess before them. A tumble in the snow as he lands puts him well behind the others, so he doesn't come upon the scattered camp until the bodies have been turned over.

Si'rene... Elthan, thank Brandobaris... Haji's hat, but... Haji? Where's Haji? And... and in the name of Hlal... They've taken Haji and Lissa!!

Achkby frantically checks the other side of the hill, wading through deep snow that soaks his breeches and makes each step a painfully cold endeavor. Unfettered panic gives way to utter dread for her fate, their fates, and he slogs back to Bess and struggles atop her and slumps forward in a shivering heap.

The others tend to Elthan and Si'rene as worse and worse visions of demonic tortures chase each other through Achkby's mind. Eventually, he is roused from his terrors by the biting cold, and he takes a moment to perform a simple spell that dries and heats his clothes. He realizes that the others could use the same treatment, and turns the spell on Elthan and then Si'rene, drying and warming them and then the others with whom he clusters about the wagons.

[OOC] Prestidigitation, and I'm doing it right now, Spell Failure (1d%=32). [/OOC]

[Spaz]

Yix

Yix keeps his distance from the bodies, almost too afraid to think of what terror befell them. Feeling less invincible then he did during earlier happy times, he wanders back inside one of the wagons hoping that if he can't see it, it won't be true.

[King_of_GRiffins]

Elthan

Whether anything has any positive effect or not, the bombardment of positive energy and warmth serves to make him more disoriented and groggy.

The blanket still wrapped around in his neck, he settles to attempt to murmur "What?" as he is placed into the cart.

[Dr._Bob]

The late morning sky is clear and blue except for a few thin cirrus clouds high in the atmosphere. It's a beautiful day.

Lumpy gently turns Si'rene over. Rigor has set in, and her body is as stiff and unyielding as stone. Her skin is white and as smooth as marble. Her eyes are closed. Her facial features are uncharacteristically relaxed, as if in death she has found a peacefulness that had eluded her in life. Brushing her bangs away from her forehead, Lumpy can't help noticing that she is quite pretty in an elfin way. He had never realized this before.

Tiriel kneels at his side, searching futilely for a pulse, a breath, or any sign of life. She pours clear liquid from a vial between Si'rene's frozen lips, only to have the potion dribble away out of the corner of her mouth.

Almost shouting, Callos pushes his way between Tiriel and Lumpy. He pulls away her frozen collar, checking her throat and clavicles. He doesn't seem to find what he is looking for, to his relief. He sags back on his heels.

Beneath Si'rene is a small pool of frozen blood. Lumpy notes three small slits in Si'rene's chest. He is surprised to recognize them as thrusts from a narrow blade - a dagger or rapier - as opposed to the claw marks he expected to find.

The other blood scattered about the campsite suggests that either Hajih or Lissa, or perhaps both, were also wounded badly, if not killed, or perhaps some of the blood belongs to whoever attacked them. It is difficult to tell. Only Elthan seems to have no wounds on him other than some abrasions on his neck.

Color begins to return to Elthan's cheeks as he begins to shiver violently.

[bhdrake]

Lumpy

Wordlessly, honoring an unspoken moment of silence, Lumpy turns away from Si'rene. He retrieves his bedroll from his horse, unfolding the material to it's fullest and laying it over the elf, concealing her wounds but leaving her face exposed. They could wrap her properly later. The loss of a comrade always touched him, but moreso did the sense of desperation coming from the woman's friends, feelings which dwarfed his own.

He leaves them there for the moment to settle themselves, making his way towards the wagon where Elthan is recovering,

"Demon horses, but riders with swords. . . What in the nine Hells happened here?"

[Erikkin]

Fizahn:

Fizahn grudgingly accompanies the group to the bodies. He has his crossbow out and loaded. Once it's verified that Elthan is alive, but Si'rene is dead, he trains his crossbow on her. If Sethra raised her as a zombie, would she still be able to kill us with her bow? We should probably get that away from her if she still has it. He walks over, still keeping an eye on the corpse and looks to retrieve her bow and arrows. At Lumpy's question, he frowns. "I may be going out on a limb... But I think that possibly it was Sethra's demon allies that happened here... I'm sure that there are plenty of demons that can ride horses and wield swords... Maybe some kind of demon centaur... I'm just hoping that they're demons without the power to raise zombies."

[Dark_Stalion]

Evendur

After apraising the situation further Evendur sits next to Elthen in the wagon, holding him close to help warm him. Clearly there was nothing else he could do for the others. The frantic hapeningsa around Si'rene would probabvly help them in the end to come to terms with her death. He still felt nothing. Odd, how he could have felt somuch for that girl so long ago, yet nothing for these people now. maybe the years as a Gnoll had hardened him. Maybe he just didn't blame himself for their demise in the same way. Whatever it was, he felt awful for not feeling anything. Surely any human would feel at least anger, any paladin would rage at the loss of life.

He gently rocks Elthan as one would an ailing child, comforting him, or at least himself. He mumers;

"It's alright. You are safe now. You are safe... now."

[sacreddeamon]

Thokk

they hurt the lass...

Thokk stands there, almost numb and un-characteristicly silent. He watches as first Elthan, then Si'rene are inspected. He relaxes slightly when Elthan is pronounced alive, then completely tenses up again when Si'rene does not respond

They hurt the lass...

Visions swirl through Thokk's mind, visions of friends dead, fiends feasting on entrails of his clansmen, of his elders being slaughered as they tried to shepard the children out.

THEY HURT THE LASS

Thokks last thought was of his beloved, her heart ripped from her chest infront of his eyes and devoured before him. He had failed then. He had failed again, they clan had been savaged. At least one lay dead, one injured, and two missing, including the little lass

"THEY HURT THE LASS!!!!"

Thokk yells into the air at the top of his lungs, every fiber of his being straining into the sky. He whips out his dagger, and with one swift movement chops off his beard

He stands, looking at the huge fistfull of hair in his hand, and throws it over his shoulder. He then takes his dagger and cuts his own face with it, twice, directly over two previous scars on his left eye. He lets the blood flow, and covers his blade with it

Fifty seven years. Fifty seven years since I took that oath. Moradin, before you and the anvil, I renew that oath. They will suffer. They will DIE.

"THEY WILL DIE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"

Thokk Marches towards Elthan, taking note of his wounded state but foribly pushing right to him

'Where. Did. They. Go.

[King_of_GRiffins]

Elthan

Elthan sits in the cart and attempts to keep a strait face as Evandur treats him like a wounded puppy. He rubs his sore neck and tries to sum up to himself just happened while he warms up.

Curiously, he peeks over the side of the cart upon hearing Thokk scream, and simply stares. His head follows Thokk as he approaches, and he sits still (or as possible for a shivering man) for a moment after being issued the question. "Iii-eii.." He begins before cutting himself off and trying agian. "D-dont know."

[Spaz]

Yix

(sorry for the lack of continuity)
Yix who had taken his leave earlier, began creeping slowly towards Evendur and Elthan. Moving slow and in awe that it was really him, not dead but not in the greatest shape. Visibly shaking Yix reaches his small hand out to grasp at Elthan's foot to put his fears behind him, only to find a new fear in the Dwarf's ragings that send him skittering back to the corner of the wagon.

[Dr._Bob]

Evendur cradles Elthan gently until the half-elf gingerly releases himself from the paladin's embrace. Elthan has only fragmented memories of the attack. Black horses, smoke and flame; an armored woman, strangely familiar; two men, dark eyes and grim expressions.

Trinark steps down from the wagon, shading his eyes against the sunlight. He kneels beside Tiriel, a prayer to Eilistraee on his lips. "Sleep well."

The drow stands up again, squinting at the vultures gathered overhead. "We need to keep moving."

[runehawk]

Lizardkin Druid
Ssathiya starts at the sound of Thokk swearing. His brows raise in alarm at the state of Thokk.

Anger. It was certainly there but the focus of his meditations had been at letting go and reaching their destination. Voicing the shock wouldn't come close to releasing the checked rage at seeing the aftermath of an assault on members of his pack. He wanted to find the missing but he also wanted little delays with powerful scouts so close. Scouts familiar with the lay of what was a strange land to him.

He tried to catch the eyes of Trinark and Fizahn. His expression silently conveying 'What do we do about him?'. Thokk's oath was certainly a norm among his own kind. Given his state, he was bound to hunt down the attackers. Given his state, he might not survive.

In truth, a hunt appealed to his primal side. Bloodlust and vengeance, dulled by his recent insight but still lurking. His motives were to rescue the rest of his pack. And he wouldn't be above making them suffer. A blood debt would be exacted.

The dwarf wouldn't be alone. Fizahn and Trinark would follow them. He inwardly sighs as he considers the consequences of another split by his pack.

{Later,}
{He moves to where Si'rene was placed in the wagon. He was always aware that she disapproved of his company and viewed him in a lesser light. They had spoken rarely. He reaches into his pouches and runs a thumb upon her forehead with water and a ground herbal powder from one of his pouches. He offers her guidance by the spirits to a better place within the Balance}

[kuja.girl]

Tiriel

Tiriel numbly lets Callos push her out of his way. She stays on her knees in the snow seemingly unaffected by the turmoil around her until Trinark speaks to her. Unable to control herself anymore, she throws herself at the startled drow and starts sobbing.

Trinark tries to comfort and calm Tiriel, but it still takes some time for her to stop crying. WOnce Tiriel gets her grief under control she realizes that she's not the only one affected by Si'rene's death. Thokk's reaction is disturbing but also moves her at a primal level to leap into action.
Seeming to read her mind, Trinark gently reminds her that they really shouldn't stay here.

Standing up Tiriel gets a better look at the group - all are worried and some seem ready to go on a rampage. Tiriel finds herself torn between their "duty" to find the Iron Lord and the prospect of finding and hunting down the ones who killed Si'rene and took Lissa and Hajih.

She walks over to where Lumpy is standing and after an akward moment she asks him, "What do you think we should do? Continue on or look for our friends?"

[bhdrake]

Lumpy

Impassively, Lumpy retrieves Thokk's discarded beard, stuffing it into his belt. He closes in behind the dwarf, catching him by the shoulder to forcibly pull him away from Elthan. In contrast to the dwarf's, the dour half orc's anger simmers slowly, revealing itself in a strained tone of frustration in his voice. His words are partly an attempt to calm Thokk, and partly a response to Tiriel.

"They will, when it's time fer it. But I know two things. One, we ain't got time ta hunt them down looking fer them. We've given up too much already ta risk it by turning aside from our goal. Given up things like this right here." He waves an arm to indicate the expanse of the ruined camp and what it represented, but continues quickly to forestall the inevitable outburst from Thokk,

"An' two. We don't have ta hunt them. They'll find us, ta be sure. This and last night is proof enough that they're looking, and that they're pretty good at it. Keep yer wits about ya and ya'll get yer chance. But we gotta keep the pace. This is a race, and Sethra's the competitor. All these demons are here ta slow us down. That's proof'a how important the goal is ta him."

[Callos_DeTerran]

Callos

"...It wasn't demons."

Came the muted words, Callos was still staring at Si'rene's body as if for the first time realizing that she was dead. Now that his worries had been unconfirmed the full reality of the situation had come crashing back to him like a swift kick to the groin. So instead he found solace in his knowledge and the past. Standing, he directed Lumpy's attention to the hoof prints that vanished into the earth.

"Just look...The hoof prints vanish like they melted into the earth, right? Or did they take flight? We know Sethra is consorting with demonkin and raises the undead and that tells us two important things about all this. What demonic creature has hooves and..." He stopped then to gesture back towards Si'rene and the pool of frozen blood underneath of her. "...and what demon fights with weapons? Espicially considering their prey and the visceral pleasure they get out of using their natural weapons. No...wasn't demons that killed them. Might have rode in on demon horses, nightmares if I'm right, but no demon did this deed. There would be...there would be more bodies and blood if demons had. This looks more professional. Like someone doing a job and moving on. And considering the kinds of undead intelligent enough to wield weapons in any sort of adeaquate manner...we need to travel fast, travel light, and keep heavier watches at night."

He hated thinking like this. That the things coming after them might be blood-sucking fiends of undeath. But it was the only course his mind could find for it, and better to be prepared then to be caught vulnerable at night.

[sacreddeamon]

Thokk

Thokk strains against Lumpy almost holding him back, but nods silently when he gives his reasoning. Thokk picks up his tower shield and Lays it on the ground. He then strips off the top half of his armor, exposing a very muscular body completely criss-crossed with scars, some very evidnetly ritually done. Using the dagger, he traces over some scars, drawing blood lightly, while in others carving deep in new places, notibly working on some winged form across his chest. He growls at anyone trying to approach him to get him to stop, but should anyone simply watch, he does nothing. After several minutes, the form is complete. It is a dragon, mostly composed of old ritual scars but now shown afresh. He then stands up and murmers...

'The Blood Dragon has arisin"

Thokk then walks over to Ss

"Scaley, got anything that would close these wounds up but leave the scars?"

Thokks voice is amazingly deadpan as he asks, with no emotion in it.

[runehawk]

Lizardkin Druid

The lizardman roots in his pouch.

aah.. still some left!

Looking at it, he gives a rather nonplussed look. The creeper strands were not fresh. It was primitive even by lizardkin standards. It stopped bleeding without adding any healing.

Sighing the druid hands it over to the druid motioning how to crush it hard and apply it. Even the least healing spell outweighed its effects in that respect. The lizardman watched his dwarven warrior apply it solemnly.

He carefully refrained from even thinking about the other use of the creeper.

It was poor at healing but it was pretty effective in relieving constipation non-magically.

He nodded to Thokk in approval, refusing whatever remnants the dwarf hadn't used up. Squatting on the ground he idly scratched in the ground and lost himself in thought.
He hadn't heard Callos yet. But even not doing so, he was thinking along similar lines. His instinct was to find the rest of his pack but he also knew within himself that the brave lost would wish the success of the mission over themselves.
He also doubted how successful they would be in finding them if they went looking.
The fact that their bodies had been absent hinted to them still being alive to him.

He looked up at the sound of a sobbing Tiriel. He knew the closeness of the women and stared at the ground sullenly.He wandered what the pack would do and who he would follow.

[HempRope]

Achkby, Halfling Sorcerer

We have to go after them!!!

[Dr._Bob]

Trinark watches Thokk's ritual cutting impassively. The drow then squints at Achkby, as if reading his thoughts. "You want to go after them," he observes. "But they are gone for now, and Lumpy is right, they will likely come for us soon. We should move on." (You note in passing that Trinark's common is definitely improving.)

Looking up from Si'rene's corpse, you note dark clouds rising to the west. It looks like a storm is on its way.

[Dark_Stalion]

Evendur

Evendur sighs at the storm, still feeling numb and inhuman.

"Looks like we're not going to get that far before it hits us. It'llw ash away any signs we could follow of whoever did this well before we could find them. I say we make what headway we can while we can, find somewhere suitable to shelter for the night."

[blackfox]

Katrin
Katrin kneels near Si'rene's corpse, weeping silently.

So many different thoughts and emotions were going through her mind. She didn't want to let go of Si'rene; she didn't want to believe that Si'rene was dead. But she knew that the group would have to move on, and soon, in order to warn the Iron Lord of the threat from Lady Valentine.

Evendur's words filter through her emotions. "not going to get that far before it hits us... make headway while we can... shelter for the night." Stubbornly, she remains by Si'rene's side, unwilling to accept the loss of her friend.

[Dr._Bob]

Some gentle prestidigitation is used to reposition Si'rene's limbs so that she lies peacefully, hands crossed over her heart. The elf's body is wrapped in a makeshift shroud and placed in one of the wagons.

You ride hard through the day, making much better time than you did with the caravans, keeping just ahead of the storm. You arrive at Two Stars just before nightfall. The land has grown flat and featureless, sloping ever so gradually to the east, towards the great river. Two Stars is another fortified town, similar architecturally to the somber construction you observed in Tammar. Both cities suggest to you that they might once have been outposts of a long-forgotten ancient civilization.

Unlike the commotion that accompanied your arrival at Tammar, you are welcomed without reservation into Two Stars. The townsfolk seemed pleased to see you, and they are excited to hear that the winter caravans are not too far behind you and might be arriving in another day or so. The druid and drow are not given a second glance, as if the townspeople are used to exotic visitors (or are too polite to comment on them).

Settling in to the Bowl and Ladle for the night, you discuss what to do with Si'rene. No one is exactly sure what the grey elves do for their dead. Burial in the frozen earth would be problematic.

Trinark also points out that if Lissa and Hajih were taken alive, it is possible that their captors will soon know your party's exact capabilities and its planned route to meet the Iron Lord. Would it be prudent to change course? According to the map, there is a road directly north from Two Stars. Or would it be better to simply press on, crossing the River Mulsantir as planned, keeping on guard for any demons, or undead, or both?

[HempRope]

Achkby, Halfling Sorcerer

Dammit, no. I am not going to get so tangled up in... in other people that it gets in the way of moving on. I am putting them aside, leaving them to themselves. They'll have to... to deal with it, and we are going north. You have to put people aside.

"No," says Achkby to Trinark, "No. We are going north, and I'm not letting anyone keep us from doing that."

[hr]
Achkby keeps to himself when they reach the city.

[kuja.girl]

Tiriel

During the ride to Two Stars Tiriel feels her grief harding into a tight ball of anger. Her anger and grief are so entwined that she can no longer separate the two. She glances at Thokk during the ride. His outburst had been surprising considering that he hadn't know Si'rene that well. Tiriel fights to channel her feelings into determination instead of random action and spends much of the ride in silence.

Once in town Tiriel takes her time cleaning up before returning to the common room out of her armor which she is carrying in her arms along with a leather bound roll of tools. She approaches Katrine and explains that she's going to try and locate a local black smith or armorer to help her repair her equipment.

[ooc: Dr.Bob - If she can find a shop she's going to need mithral to repair her chain shirt and someone to repair her sword.
edit: and she'll keep an eye out for silver weapons]

[King_of_GRiffins]

Elthan

Elthan remains quite during the trip, keeping to the back and his thoughts to himself, staring between Lumpy, Evandur, Thokk and Callos. At each one, a look of mixed remorse comes across his face that he quickly hides.


At Two Stars, Elthan quickly removes himself from the carts. "I'm going to see if I can get a few mirrors. I'd suggest everyone try to retrieve a symbol of their patron god, and copious amounts of garlic."