Southern Comfort IC

[stanleyindraven]

Spot (1d20+2)[11]

"Dead stuff up ahead," Horbin will call to the others.

[Morbis Meh]

Korgoth lowered his voice to a gentle hum as he drew his warhammer, his spirits were high and he was hoping for some type of scrap. He was a reasonable man that usually used more diplomatic means to solve problems, but he always felt true joy at more 'aggressive diplomatic solutions' where his hammer did the talking. He generally ignores any negative comments directed towards him, but he stores away the odd image of the hills for later discussion.

[Marlowe]

The brown hump on the bank separates from the surrounds of rock and resolves into a mule, lying on its side. Its mouth is flecked with red foam. There's a packsaddle on its back, and two red-feathered arrows in its side.

The DM's cruelty and neglect of the possessive apostrophe know no bounds.

[mattie_p]

Grath allows others to investigate the animal, maintaining his position. He lifts and draws the bow, looking around him intently for any danger.

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Spot: (1d20-1)[19]

@ Marlowe: If it's possessive, it's just I-T-S; but if it's a conjuction then it's I-T-apostrophe-S. Scallawag.

[Morbis Meh]

Korgoth examines the mule to determine how long it has been dead, to determine whether or not the party was still in danger and whether or not the meat was still fresh for eating!

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heal should work for this, let me know if you want something different (1d20+3)[15]

[Marlowe]

Grath

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It seems like the cliffs are beginning to lower at this point. You're almost at the end of the Razor.

Also, the bloodstains on the white quartzite riverbed leading north are obvious to anyone with eyes.

Ravens are screaming overhead.

Korgoth

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The mule, notwithstanding the efforts of the carrion-fowl, is not, in fact, dead. It is still breathing shallowly. As you watch, fresh tictures of red bleed into the foam around its mouth and nostrils.

[stanleyindraven]

Horbin will look in the direction the arrows appear to have come from, then scan around.
spot (1d20+2)[12]

[u-b]

Gregor McAlister

Gregor rides up to 200 feet past the corpse, checking for any dangers anywhere and taking note at what the dogs are barking at.

[Corsair420]

ok if no one else wants to, I loot the pack, see whats inside, there could be clues

Search(for the deep down hiddens): (1d20+12)[13]

[Marlowe]

Then Gregor has a perfect position to determine that the mule's bloodtrail extends quite a bit to the north, beyond his present sight, and also that the cliffs are starting to give way to lower, more accessable slopes.

Horbin can determine that the mule was shot in the left side. He looks that way and sees a massive, towering, but not immediately threatening cliff of rock.

Aside from the birds overhead, it's pretty quiet.

Marn Ortul:

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The packsaddle contains a large quality of dyed fabrics. Silks, Cotton, and Linen. There's about 24 gp worth of coins with an eagle on one side and a head on the other stamped "Ashdown Markgrafen", a smattering of smaller copper pieces, and a black, leather-bound book bound with a red ribbon and a simple clasp in a copper allow showing a scythe crossed with a lightning bolt.

The mule wheezes through punctured lungs.

[RaggedAngel]

Delphi rushes to the mule's side as soon as she spots it, and she kneels down, brushing its ears gently. "There now, hard worker. There now." Her voice is soft and sad, a stark reversal from her previous demeanor. "Can anyone heal?" She looks to the others, worried and afraid for the poor animal. If no one responds she takes out a small vial, filled with a gleaming pinkish-white liquid. "This stuff is expensive, but a life is worth more." She feeds the potion to the mule as best she can, making sure to not spill a drop.

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50gp is hefty, but Delphi will be damned if she's just going to watch it die. It heals for (1d8+1)[6], which will stabilize it if nothing else.

If anyone says that they can heal, I would much rather use renewable magic than a potion.

[u-b]

Gregor McAlister

After a short time Gregor rides back.

"Whoever shot this animal did it quite a way north of here. I guess we should try to keep it alive if able, then check what has happened. Robbing robbers might be a good business, right?.."

upd: "Whoa! You see that?" - Gregor is really surprized at how Dardiana climbs the cliff.

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Aid another to heal the mule (1d20+1)[14] vs DC 10 -> success, +2 to whoever is going to heal it

[Linguz]

(Could've waited for me >_> Sorry, I sleep late. Also, Korgoth already stabilized it.)

Dardiana walked near the back, not at the back in case of an assault from behind.

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Arcana: (1d20+5)[18]
Religion: (1d20+2)[16]
The Planes: (1d20+2)[7]
-Untrained Below-
Architecture & Engineering: (1d20+1)[4]
Dungeoneering: (1d20+1)[17]
Geography: (1d20+1)[21]
History: (1d20+1)[20]
Local: (1d20+1)[7]
Nature: (1d20+1)[8]
Nobility & Royalty: (1d20+1)[11]
Psionics: (1d20+1)[9]

She had stayed quiet when they found the mule and, seeing her group handle things here, eventually said, "I'm going to go up the walls and see if I can see anything better from above." With that, she began to climb the walls like a spider, going up them quite easily unless something attacks.

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Spot: (1d20+3)[19]

[Corsair420]

(OOC: I just realized I sued the wrong character sheet to roll my knowledges, I have more better ones... so i'd like to reroll with the PROPER skills, if not just ignore the rolls...)

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Arcana:(1d20+8)[22]
Nature:(1d20+6)[17]
The Planes:(1d20+8)[27]
Geography:(1d20+8)[27]

"Looks like it was a merchants mule, the pack is filled with dyed fabrics mostly... some coins..."

DM:

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I'll pocket the coins, then pull the book out to get a better look at it, I dont open it yet but I will set it down and cast Detect magic, as well as using my knowledges again specifically for the book

Arcana:(1d20+8)[13]
The Planes:(1d20+8)[28]
Geography:(1d20+8)[9]

Everyone paying attention sees me pull a Black, leather bound book out of the pack, I step away from the mule into an open space, set it down and begin casting a spell...

[mattie_p]

"Ingva said a merchant was coming in. Mule belonged that merchant, bet."

Grath is still scanning for any danger in all directions, including behind.

[Marlowe]

((Yay! stuff to do!))

Delphi and Gregor: The mule coughs up blood, then staggers to its feet. To restore the indignity the crows have done to its eyes will require magic. But it licks Delphi across the face all the same.

Delphi still has her potion. I'll let Korgoth's check help here, even though he has just looking for meat.

Marn Ortul:

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You detect a roil of differing varieties of magic about the book, but nothing strongly focussed from it.

Dardiana:

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You know, because you bothered to ask questions back at Whitewater Rip, that this is the Starlight's Razor and it ends in a large, circular depression called the Fall of the Fourth Daughter. For some reason.

You have also have spotted, during the journal down, that the Starlight's Razor shows many signs of having been inflicted upon the landscape by supernatural means. Those cliffs cannot be natural, and they looked half-melted and fused.

The first thing you notice on getting to the clifftop is that the north side of the Godspine is a lot gentler than the south. Only sharp ridges of rock descending to the north between dark vales of coniferous forest, instead of a blank wall of rock.

The second, turning north, is that the Fall of the Fourth Daughter is a teardrop-shaped depression, oddly regular, at least a mile across. Its broad end faces north, suspisciously deeper than its southern end. The Whitewater, taking advantage of a chance gap in the terrain, forces its way through the north side, and disappears beyond. The depression is oddly lacking in trees. There's not enough soil. Even now.

It looks to you, if you were being fanciful, that something drove a fist through the mountains here and impacted with something about 800m from where you're standing.

Grath: You have feeling you're very much right.

[Marlowe]

Marn Ortul:

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Then you know the circular space at the north end of the Starlight's Razor is called the Fall of the Fourth Daughter.

[Corsair420]

after my divinations, I'll take a chance and try to open the book see whats inside

[Morbis Meh]

Korgoth frowns at the poor creature Such a noble beast should not be left here to die, you shall make a fine companion for Skuz... Now are you female?

Working his fingers as he says the sacred words of power a pattern forms in his mind that his fingers unconciosly begin tracing. Warmth floods through Korgoth and light flares from his body. The light and warmth move from his core and flow out from his hands into the hurt mule.

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Sorry i would have done the healing... I am currently at work and in the middle of sampling one of my experiments
I don't know if this will restore the mule or if th DM was speaking of a specific spell... (1d8+1)[3]

[Marlowe]

Korgoth: The mule's eyes are restored. Amen, halleijuah, peanut butter.

Marn Ortul:

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The first page reads:
Maeve put her back to the wall, her bodice heaving in a moonlit majesty of silk, leather, studs and perfumed, lubricative, oils. He could not find her here. He could not! Or else-

The window to her left shattered in a convenient fashion, and through he stepped. His marble features glimmering in the torch light, the sparkles on his skin twinkling like stars.

"No!", she screamed. While her heaving costumage whispered oh hell yes. "No, you can't! Just because we're not blood-siblings-"

He tore the mask off with a jerk. "Beryl", he said. "This is just stupid! It's not working for me at all.""

It continues in this way for the entire book. One fantasy involves the couple killing themselves in a pistol duel on a blasted heath over a disagreement about coffee. Another involves then poisoning each other over a hiccup in the mail system. Yet another ends with the phrase "here's your hankerchief, Othello!".

[Corsair420]

I look up obviously confused about this book but i'm going to hold onto it for awhile, and study it later, there are more important things to do at the moment.

I put the book in my bag and go back to the rest of the group

"So, what should we do? Try to find the merchant? or continue on our way?"

[RaggedAngel]

Delphi gives the mule a hug, which looks a bit ridiculous due to their difference in size. She then turns to the others, drawing out her sling and a smooth stone. "I have an archer to kill. You can go on if you want to, but I may be a while." Her mouth is set in an angry line, and her eyes are filled with a fire you haven't seen in her before.

"I intend to leave him just alive enough to feel the crows, if I can manage it, which may take a while. I would appreciate any help I can get, though." Her voice is filled with a cold anger, and you get the strong feeling that the little woman can and will do exactly as she says, despite her usually jovial nature.

[Corsair420]

"i'll go with you... leaving an animal to die a slow agonizing death like that is just cruel, and someone needs to pay

[Linguz]

Dardiana climbs back down the wall and tells the group what she saw and what she knows.

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This is the Starlight's Razor and it ends in a large, circular depression called the Fall of the Fourth Daughter. For some reason.

You have also have spotted, during the journal down, that the Starlight's Razor shows many signs of having been inflicted upon the landscape by supernatural means. Those cliffs cannot be natural, and they looked half-melted and fused.

The first thing you notice on getting to the clifftop is that the north side of the Godspine is a lot gentler than the south. Only sharp ridges of rock descending to the north between dark vales of coniferous forest, instead of a blank wall of rock.

The second, turning north, is that the Fall of the Fourth Daughter is a teardrop-shaped depression, oddly regular, at least a mile across. Its broad end faces north, suspisciously deeper than its southern end. The Whitewater, taking advantage of a chance gap in the terrain, forces its way through the north side, and disappears beyond. The depression is oddly lacking in trees. There's not enough soil. Even now.

[mattie_p]

"Enemies cannot be behind us. Merchant cannot be behind us. Only one way to go, unless rather go back to Ingva." says Grath.

[Marlowe]

Before you is a bloodtrail over white rock.

[stanleyindraven]

Horbin will follow the obvious trail to it's end.

[Morbis Meh]

Korgoth pleased with his work anounces "Skuz come here and greet your new friend! Now don't be shy, now you can have someone to lay with at night. I suppose we have an animal shooter to hunt..."

[Marlowe]

You follow the bloodtrail ((that...is what everyone wants, right? Especially as there's no other direction to go currently)) down the Razor. The mule is obviously a tough beast, even bleeding a good rate and with a perforated lung it managed a decent distance.

After an hour, the walls of the Razor finally give way and you emerge into sunlight, at the southern end of the Fall of the Fourth Daughter. The Whitewater pools into a small lake at the deeper northern end, then breaks through a flaw in the rim of the Fall to flow on to meet the Stahlmund to the north.

The bloodtrail continues to follow the Whitewater, leading towards the lake about half a mile away.

There seems to be a lot of birds wheeling over the lake today, for some reason.

[mattie_p]

Grath peers down at the lake from his position near the tail of the party.

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spot check: (1d20-1)[17]

OOC: Tell me again why spot isn't a barbarian class skill?

Keeping his bow ready, he says, "Shall all go down? More bird mean more bodies, yes?" Nodding at Korgoth, he asks, "Can bring back from dead others?"