Diseases. No. 1 [IC]

[Zazori]

You wake up after being ambushed, just before a nearby city, the air smells as if someone burned thousands of dead bodies, and flies fly around everywhere.

You can't recall much of what happened to you or the caravan, but all your belongings are gone.
There are a couple other people lying around, some are dead for sure, but others are moving just a bit.

[Zolkabro]

Skógr Varðulf opened his eyes, his head buzzing. He had been woken by his loyal animal companion Faethyr, his wolf. Faethyr's shaggy black fur was matted with blood. Skógr sat up violently when he realised that the blood was his own.

Skógr checked himself over, and found a head wound from when he had been knocked out. He saw that there were several other people in a similar predicament, and decided to stay and find out what had happened before returning to his beloved forest.

[ben-zayb]

Minthe was on his daily routing catching street thugs when he suddenly felt a strange lightness to his body. And then, the familiar numbing sensation on his head slowly brought him back to reality...

"Ow! Filthy thugs! Just wait 'til I...", Minthe stopped short as he suddenly realized that it was just one of his dreams, and the reality is that he had been knocked unconscious somehow. The strong stench of death instinctively got him reaching for his trusty mace, but soon realized that it was nowhere to be found. At the same instant he realized that his belongings are missing.

He could hardly believe the carnage that his eyes brought him; the flies feasting on blood-caked flesh of the piled-up bodies. From afar, he saw a man with a wolf; Probably a hunter of sorts...let's see if i can... , thought he. He then proceeded to approach the man, waving his hand to call for attention.

[Lady Moreta]

Uuunnngghh," Merilan groaned as consciousness slowly returned. She was rapidly remembering why she'd stopped adventuring in the first place. The fun and profit were great - the injuries not so much, and she'd forgotten the exquiste pain that was being knocked unconscious. She lay still, eyes closed and took a silent inventory. Head - throbbing, but intact. Feet and legs - still moving, nothing too bad. Arms - all working. Smell? awful. Muttering imprecations under her breath, Merilan forced her blue eyes open. She found herself staring directly at one of the caravan's drivers - his eyes were wide open and his mouth gaped in a grimace of pain. He was obviously dead.

"At least my armour did it's j-" Merilan broke off abruptly and shot upright, her hands frantically patting arms and chest. "Damn," she groaned aloud, realising her armour - and yes, everything else she'd had with her, was gone. She slapped the ground in frustration, then peered down as she realised her hand had hit fabric rather than dirt. Quickly brushing dust to one side, she found herself staring down at what was possibly her most valued possession; her spell component pouch. "Well, thank the gods for small mercies" Merilan muttered, taking the pouch and fastening it to her belt. "At least they left us with clothes."

Pushing herself onto her knees, Merilan could see at least two others who were up and moving, at least as unsteadily as she felt. Standing up, she moved in their direction, "Gentlemen - do either of you know what happened here?"

[Zolkabro]

Skogr suddenly noticed two people approaching him. He leapt up off of the ground, and backed away slightly.
His eyes looked left and right, and his body posture showed that of the hunted. Unaware of the good intentions of the others, he reached for his scimitars, but found nothing there. In a panic, he checked for his beloved helmet, all that he had left of his father, and found it gone too. He howled like the animals he had lived with for so long, and grabbed a stick. He marched forwards with the stick, still inexplicable making noises like an animal.
He growled at them, determined to discover why these people had stolen his things, and sure as hell was he going to make them pay.

[Lady Moreta]

I'll take that as a 'no' then... Merilan's eyes widened as one of the two men leapt to his feet and grabbed a stick. It was clear to her he was terrified, with a healthy dose of really-pissed-off thrown in for good measure. Glancing at the other man, Merilan stepped forwards, holding her hands out with the palms up.

"It's all right," she said soothingly. "We won't hurt you. I take it you were caught up in - whatever happened here as well?" Merilan wasn't sure if this man had been part of the caravan she'd been with or not, she hadn't bothered to get everyone's name the way she usually did. "My name is Merilan, Merilan du Heaume. What's yours?"

[Zolkabro]

Skógr Varðulf stopped his advance, but did not back down. His stick raised threateningly, he growled at the woman, Merilan, did she say she was called? Something like that.
"My name is Skógr Varðulf, Gaurdian of the Forest, Vassal of the Trees, and Ranger of the Vastok Woodlands." He prodded her with his stick. "Are you the one who tried to invade my beloved forest? And stole my things?"

He slowly realised that she meant no harm, and lowered his stick. "I see in your eyes you bear no guilt. But then who was it? Who could have done such a thing to my precious woods?" He looked around, and then leant in and whispered to her. "The forest is black and smells of death and disease. It is an unholy place, full of horrors. I have never seen anything like it." He looked close to tears. "The forest is dying!"

[Salbazier]

The faint voices of people talking stirs Ethan's consciousness. Slowly he opens his eyes to see a clear blue sky.

"... what?" For a moment, he just stares there at the sky. Then he remembers "Oh, that's right some attack.. ugh" He pushes himself to rise. Naturally, he immediately notices the carnage surrounding him. "Ugh, who did..".

There apparently some survivors talking a bit further from where he is. He quickly stands up and perform a quick check of his belongings. As expected, the blade and bakcpack, along with all my potions and scrolls are gone. My secondary prayerbook is still under my clothes, however. The sacred emblem is also safe. Good. With them at least I'll still can peform healing.

A bit hastily, he approaches the three people he see talking. "Hey! All you people alright?"

[Zolkabro]

When he saw another person approaching, Skógr raised his stick again. "Was it you?" he demanded. "Did you do this?"
However, when he saw the holy symbol around the man's neck, he stopped, and lowered his stick. He bowed his head, respectful towards a man of religion. "Forgive my outburst." he said quietly, a stark contrast to the wild accusations of before. Angry though he was, Skógr was a religious man, and respected anyone else who was too.

[Lady Moreta]

Merilan shook her head, looking around at the others who had woken and joined them, she included them in her next words. "I don't think any of us here had anything to do with - whoever attacked us." She looked thoughtfully towards the city, wrinkling her nose as the smell assailed her. "I don't know much about forests, but I know the smell of death; and you are right. There is death in this area."

Rubbing the ache at the back of her head, Merilan looked back at the other members of the caravan, "We should look for more survivors."

[ben-zayb]

Minthe carefully observed the strangers before him as the story started to unfold itself. Surely, I remember the womyn and the religious man being part of the hired 'uns. But this savage guy, I do not know of. Hmm... he looks as clueless as we are... Still, until I figure out the secret behind the caravan and what orchestrated this attack, I have to practice caution with these fellows.

He told the other survivors, "Whoever attacked us most likely have something to do with what's inside the caravan. I, however, can't remember even a sliver of information about it. Do any of you, by any chance, remember its contents?"

He paused, eagerly waiting for a response, when he suddenly and embarassingly realized his rudeness. "Ah! Pardon my manners, I forgot to introduce myself! You can call me Sibyl, from Nebellmont," he hurriedly said.

Choose your words carefully, Minthe, he thought.

[Lady Moreta]

"Merilan du'Heaume," she replied absently. She gave him a slightly odd look, "were you with the caravan earlier? I normally pay more attention to the people I travel with. Or perhaps it's just this knock on the head," she added ruefully, touching it gingerly.

"Oh! the caravan. I'm afraid I was never informed what was being carried."

[Salbazier]

Though a bit taken aback when he was suddenly threatened by a stick Ethan quickly recompose himself. "It's alright." Ethan said in response to the woodsman's apology.

He looked at the surrounding once again "My name is Ethan Lodge, I work in the College of The Firmament in Nebellmont." He shook his head "Unfortunately, I don't have much knowledge about the goods they carry. I was merely come for passage and my head is too occupied with something else" He nods in the direction of the city "There's has been news of rampart plague around this region. I am here to help and research it. That's probably what caused this 'smell of death'. If the city has infected for a while, there's probably many deaths already"

[Zolkabro]

Skógr listed to the questions of the others with mounting confusion. What caravan do they speak of? he thought. Maybe they were in a caravan before this happened. But if it was not them who did this, then who?

Then, the holy man, Ethan, spoke. When Skógr heard what Ethan said, he was furious.
"You mean that the disease in the forest originated in that city over there?" He exclaimed. "If so, I MUST go and see that it is stopped. I cannot allow such a terrible thing to happen to an innocent piece of woodland." He started to march in the direction of the city, but he stopped, and turned back, embarrassed.
"But... I've never been in a city since I was 12 years old. Will you come with me? And help me find my way?" As he said this, Skógr stared at his feet, blushing bright scarlet. He was obviously horribly embarrassed by the idea of asking for help, but he thought it necessary all the same.
Even though he had sworn never to enter a city again, the protection of the forests came first, and he was determined to put things right.

[Salbazier]

"Calm down, sir. I will come with you, I'm going there after all. Still, will you wait for a moment? I want to look around if there is any other survivor -or if there is something that give us clue to what just happened or who was the attackers." With that, regardless of response, he went to start checking every bodies, looking if any are still living. Failing that, he tried to asses their cause of death and looking for anything that doesn't look right -about the bodies and about anything else in the surrounding. Trace of weapons, shape of wounds, footprints, documents, whatever.

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Don't know which more appropriate and I guess the task require multiple checks anyway.

Heal:(1d20+10)[19]
Search:(1d20+8)[15]
Knowledge(Nature):(1d20+13)[30]
Survival:(1d20+3)[20]

EDIT: If I'm allowed and the others doesn't mind me taking my time, can I just take 10 for the search check?

[Lady Moreta]

"I was going to the city anyway, so I certainly have no problems giving you a hand," Merilan shrugged, "and I suppose we should take the remains of this caravan to the city as well. It is what we were hired for."

She looked around at Ethan as he searched, "Ethan is correct however, we should make sure there are no other survivors first."

OOC:

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And no, I have no problem with you taking 10. As was said earlier, we can't really do much without until the paladin wakes up

[Zolkabro]

Skógr was greatly relieved to find he would not be alone, and cursed himself for opening his big mouth and embarrassing himself like that when the others were going to the city anyway.
He started to look for survivors, but he acted a little odd. He approached the person on the ground slowly and carefully, as if they were a frightened animal that might lash out. He lay a person on their side, as if in recovery position, but he put their arms and legs perpendicular to them and their head facing in the opposite direction, as if they were a dog. He checked for vital signs, and moved on.
With the next person, he did something similar, again acting as if they were an animal. After the 3rd person, who he had given a muzzle, he stood back and frowned, a little worried that things weren't as they should be. He turned to the others.
"Is first aid different on people than on animals? I kind of feel like I'm doing something wrong." he asked.

[ben-zayb]

While Minthe and the others were looking for survivors a brilliant idea came up. He started to fumble his shirt pocket, obviously looking for something. Great! My spell component pouch is intact, thought the relieved Minthe. He then turned to the company and called for their attention, "Oh guys, gather around here, I got an idea! If you would just guard we for awhile; this could take a couple of minutes. I'll try to talk to some of the spirits."

He then looked at the bodies, and stumbled upon someone with a look of dignity and authority on her face. Just perfect. This person might hold some answers...

He then took out his Charm--the one his old master gave him-- from the spell component pouch, and then focused at it. He then started chanting obscure hymns while waving his hands to and fro, his head swinging--sideways, up, down, forwards, and backwards.

OOC: The Spell

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I used the Speak with Dead spell on the paladin whom I thought was dead. It will obviously fail meaning the body is most likely still alive...

My assumption is that I completed the casting of the spell. I am also assuming that the legality of Target will be checked AFTER the casting. Can DM please confirm in the OOC thread if I got the mechanics right?

Assuming the spell's casting was uninterrupted:

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As time passed by the chanting grew louder, and the movements grew wilder; his hands clawing aimlessly in the air, while his body looked as if under a strong, violent seizure. As the chants seems to be finally reaching a crescendo... Minthe suddenly stopped.

He now opened his eyes, obviously confused by the turn of events.
"What? I don't get it. My spell did not work on this lady. Wait...", he paused, "It's because she's alive! This person is still alive!"

[Lady Moreta]

"Guard? With what?" Merilan muttered under her breath, though her eyebrows went up in surprise as Sibyl began casting a spell. Shrugging she turned back to Skogr instead.

"It is a little different, yes" she said, smiling gently at him. "Here, watch me." Reaching out a hand to the nervous forest-dweller, Meriland knelt next to another soul and carefully checked for a pulse, then gently arranged their limbs into a more comfortable position.

[Salbazier]

Ethan raised his head from his body his checking to see the man with strange hair- what was his name again? - doing a ritual. He recognize it as a ritual to speak with the dead. And it's the arcane version.. Hmm, so he is a necromancer.

He stood and approach the necromancer. Standing nearby, he patiently waited and observed the spell casting.

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I'll wait for confirmation on the SwD result before acting out some dramatic reaction.

BTW, while it would not be instant dislike, you can pretty much expect Ethan to watch Sybil carefully from now on.

[Zazori]

Ben-Zayb - A few seconds after you began casting the spell, you get a feeling that something is really wrong, you do not feel the magic flowing through your body as it normally do when you cast a spell.
^

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The spell is interrupted and the use have been spend.

.


Salbazier

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These events prevents you from using Spellcraft and you do not know what kind of spell and what class he his.
(Also I do not believe that you would recognize him as a necromancer from just one spell, but you would recognize the spell school.)

You do however, NOT find any course of death on any of the bodies, but the "paladin" does have a slow pulse and very little breathing.

[Zolkabro]

"A survivor!" Skógr exclaimed. He started forwards to help them, then stopped. "Perhaps you'd better do it..." he mumbled to Merilan.

Maybe they will know more about this mysterious disease. Truly, I have never seen anything so horrific as the diseased forest. We must find a way to cure it.
And I hope we do so quickly, because I am uncomfortable in these great open spaces. Where are things I can climb or hide behind? What if we are attacked? I will have no escape if I cannot defeat them!
Without trees, I feel lost.

[ben-zayb]

Sibyl felt weird about the absence of arcane energy that is usually welling up within him every time he casts spells. "St-strange... My spell didn't work. I get the feeling that someone or something may have suppressed my magic."

At least, the hunter looks to be making some progress with the searching, he thought as he started to take another shot at finding other survivors.

OOC:

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Search: (1d20+2)[15] (who knows what I could find right?)
I'll also use the name Sibyl in my posts so that it will be less confusing and easier for the readers.

[Lady Moreta]

Merilan glanced nervously at Sibyl at his announcement. "That doesn't bode well - if the ones who attacked us are still here..." she trailed off, looking around the carnage of the destroyed caravan. "Skogr," she began suddenly, "I suspect you would know more about this than I. Is there some way you can look around and see if the ones who attacked us are still in the vicinity?"

[Zolkabro]

"I shall try..." Skógr said.

Skógr swiftly made his way to the centre of the carnage, and, starting at one of the bodies, he searches for tracks.

OOC:

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(1d20+12)[21]

The base DC is 15, (assuming that this is firm ground, most land is) however it might be different due to the size of whatever we are tracking. See here for more details.

I knew a maxed out survival skill would be useful.

[Salbazier]

Ethan knelt down to check on the body.

"Hmm, there is a pulse.. she is alive. Probably just some concussion."

[ArcoSan]

Keratea was swimming in seas of forgetfulness. She dreamed of her fights in the previous years. Fights spiritual and fights physical that had left her a shallow shell of her old self. She knew what she had been doing was right and proper but she felt so tired after all these years in the service of the Church.

She opened her eyes and the dream was spent as a strange man, she vaguely remembered him as part of the caravan, seemed to be speaking to her but she could not hear the words.

The woman pushed against the ground and jumped on her feet ready to defender herself with her trusty bastard sword when she realised her movements were very quick and agile. Gone was the weight of the full plate armor, gone was the weight of the heavy steel shield that she almost always carried strapped to her forarm. Even the reassuring weight of the heavy crossbow and the bastard sword were not present.

The woman was in her late thirties, or perhaps even early forties as her condition was making it hard to estimate. Her long grey hair were tangled and matted with dried blood and her stern, sunken black eyes looked lost and tired. Even in plain clothes the religious symbol of her Order and Patron deity as well as smaller coat of arms woven into the thin layer of clothing she had left could be seen. Her features were marked by the ravages of time and battle and her hands and face showed many scars and burns that had healed badly over time. Despite a certain internal radiance and her proud posture it was evident that she had suffered a lot and was no longer the one to lead great crusades and thousands of men to battle.

As the moments passed sounds started coming back to her and her vision also cleared. She took it all in ignoring those around her for a moment. Destruction and death mixed with the horrid smell of spilt blood and burnt flesh. Things started to piece themselves in her mind as the horrid images assaulted her. They had been ambushed. She herself had not even had time to react as the assailants had ganged up on her and her trusted mount and with thin blades coated in thick poison they had managed to lay her low.

"Where. is. Arousa." were the first words she spoke to the group realising she could not see her mount among the living, nor among the dead.

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Sorry for the very grim appearance description... I am trying to explain how a paladin has charisma 8 :D

[Zazori]

Zolkabro

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You do find loads of human tracks running around in different directions, they all lead to a dead body.

You do however also see some tracks leading away from the group, towards the city, it looks like 5 medium sized creatures, 4 of them have some funny shaped human footprints and the last one got normal human footprints.

[Zolkabro]

Skógr wandered around, seemingly aimlessly. All was silent, as he meandered around the battlefield, then the silence was shattered when Skógr straightened up and pointed straight towards the city, and shouted "Ah-HA!".
He turned to the rest, his eyes determined, but elated.
"I have found tracks leading to the city. They seem to have been led by a human, but the others..."
He broke off, and stared at the tracks again.
"Let's just say we should get going. They seem human sized, but they are wrong somehow. The sooner we find them the better."
I hope they do not ask for details. Those tracks are... strange, and certainly not pleasant.
And more to the point, there is not much more detail I could tell them, and i am not sure I want them to know that."

He strode over to the unconcious woman, to find that she was far more concious that before.
"Where. Is. Arousa." she said.
He knelt down, and spoke gently to her. "We do not know. I am sorry. Who was she, your daughter?"
Skógr cursed under his breath. I should not have said 'was,' that will only stress her more.
Skógr tried to be as calm and respectful as possible as he had seen the holy symbol aroud her neck. However, he was desperate to get going, and it was tempting to just pull her up and take her to the city regardless of any grief or injuries.
"Can you walk?" he asked her. "If not, my Faethyr here could carry you." he suggested, gesturing towards Faethyr, who was trying to put on his own saddle with his teeth.

[Zazori]

Zolkabro, Arcosan and Salbazier.

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In the opposite direction of the city you spot something in the sky.
The sky, in that direction turns almost all black, it looks like a big cloud, but it moves way too fast against the wind to be a cloud.
It comes directly at you.