Death's End IC

[3SecondCultist]

Arran, Ben, Soryn: The guard takes a moment to peer at all of your equipment, and you can tell that he is weighing the likelihood of your story. Eventually he simply shrugs into the empty air.
"Herbalism is much too complicated for me, I think. They just pay me to keep guard here when I'm not out on contract. If you've really been sent to gather materials for Master Firehollow, then I'm not going to stop you." The guard then promptly gives a holler to several of his companions and after several seconds the town gates begin to rumble open, revealing the shadowed silhouette of the Valerian treeline behind it. Before the three of you pass through, the guard offers his hand in greeting.
"The name's Asyar, by the way. I'm usually in charge of manning the Fiorne walls, so I'll remember you fellows on your way back in." His smile seems earnest, and after shaking your hands he begins to turns and heads back to the top of the ramparts.

Lirian: You have managed to creep into the alley, crouching in the shadows between the buildings. From your vantage point, you can see the gate guard shake the hands of your three companions. Right before he turns to head off, however, you can barely catch him winking in your general direction.

[gallagher]

Arran, Ben, Soryn: The guard takes a moment to peer at all of your equipment, and you can tell that he is weighing the likelihood of your story. Eventually he simply shrugs into the empty air.
"Herbalism is much too complicated for me, I think. They just pay me to keep guard here when I'm not out on contract. If you've really been sent to gather materials for Master Firehollow, then I'm not going to stop you." The guard then promptly gives a holler to several of his companions and after several seconds the town gates begin to rumble open, revealing the shadowed silhouette of the Valerian treeline behind it. Before the three of you pass through, the guard offers his hand in greeting.
"The name's Asyar, by the way. I'm usually in charge of manning the Fiorne walls, so I'll remember you fellows on your way back in." His smile seems earnest, and after shaking your hands he begins to turns and heads back to the top of the ramparts.

Thanks Asyar, we will see you on the way back.

After walking outside earshot of the guards, Ben turns to his companions

Speaking of Master Firehollow, he gave me a potion that he wanted us to test out. Ben fishes the potion out of his bag. Master Firehollow called this an Elixer of Giant's Strength, and told me that it will cause you to grow immensely and increase your perceptive skills. He hasnt had it properly tested, but I figured if it really is what he says it is, and I gave a report on its test run, we could get a great deal on more of these.

I benefit from my small size. In fact, I am not sure if being larger wouldnt hinder my skills, but if we get into a pinch then this might help Arran give us an edge.

[esorscher]

"It might. But we don't know what it does. It might also give us a disadvantage, if it doesn't act as described."

[3SecondCultist]

Arran, Ben, Soryn: As the three of you stand just beyond the periphery of Fiorne, the gates creak shut with a resounding bang. The vast majority of the light is gone now, your only defense against night's cloak being the torches and any other sources of light you've brought with you. If you listen, you can hear the Valerian wind whistle through the pine groves around you, and the outline of the road can be seen directly ahead of you.

[esorscher]

Arran takes the cloth hood off his everburning torch and holds the torch overhead as they walk back to the site of the attack.

[Sen isSaqqara]

As soon as the gates close, Lirian ducks back out of hiding. Approaching Asyar, she smiles.
"Thanks. I appreciate the subtlety. One of my friends there went and woke me up in the middle of the night, so I'm going to jump out of a bush or something and scare him tonight to get even." She looks to both sides of the gate.
"I don't suppose you have a postern or something I could sneak out through. I'd be very grateful."

[OhMyGodImOnFire]

Pulling the Everburning Torch from his pack, he held it out to Arran and Ben. "If you guys need a light source," he said quietly, "you're welcome to borrow this one. Moonlight is more than enough for me to see by."

As they walked, Soryn began to look around for any signs of tracks that led into the forest, and listened for any suspicious sounds - even though they hadn't walked very far, it was never too early to begin.

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Tracking, looking and listening for signs:

Track (Survival): (1d20+8)[11]
Listen: (1d20+10)[27]
Spot: (1d20+10)[23]
Move Silently: (1d20+11)[20]

EDIT: Or... since we're not in much of a hurry anyway, I'll just take 20 - assuming I'm looking and listening constantly, either Soryn eventually finds tracks, hears something, or not at all.

[gallagher]

I can see in the moonlight just fine, we gnomes have pretty good senses. Can't see in the tunnels like a dwarf, but we can get by. And you are right, Arran, we do not know what it does, but we should still find a way to test it out in case it does work, and we have the opportunity to get more

When they get closer to where they were ambushed, Ben starts looking for where they found the tracks before.

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(1d20+8)[27]

[esorscher]

"If we do find battle, and there is a time at which it seems victory is in hand, that might be a good time to try it out." Assuming they reach the attack site without interruption, Arran will also begin searching.

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Taking 20 on everything:
Search: 21
Survival: 27

[3SecondCultist]

Lirian: Asyar shakes his head at your mention of a postern gate, but you can see that the guard is smiling.
"No problem at all, just wanted to make sure you weren't a spy or something. There are only three gates in Fiorne - the Thorn Gate, the Knot Gate, and the Root Gate. This is the first of the three, and the other two gates face north and west respectively. They're all built like this, and everywhere else is a fortified palisade. New to Fiorne, are we?" Asyar also extends the courtesy of having the gates opened for you once the watch is sure the others have passed out of earshot.

Arran, Ben, Soryn: The moon is indeed bright this evening, and after about ten minutes of walking you manage to arrive at the chasm. The three of you do note the original tracks that you spotted earlier, the first set leading around the chasm of the Sordanus and the other set on the opposite side of the river, heading almost directly south. The bodies of the horses and the goblins still litter the scene, and over the howl of wind above and wave below you can hear the buzzing of flies already gathered to gnaw on the bones. Upon closer examination, you note that the horses have been particularly molested by parasites, the corners of their eyes being eaten away by legions of putrid maggots digging into their flesh. The visual clarity of the scene is only bested by the smell - a cloying, rotting stench that invades your nostrils. Death is here in full force, it seems.

[OhMyGodImOnFire]

Soryn wrinkled his nose - death was a part of the natural process, but what was on that bridge was by no means natural. "We'll cover more ground if we split up," he said to the others, "I'll take the south - you two can handle this side of the bridge." Without another word, Soryn slunk across the bridge, bow half drawn. He reached out with his senses, following the tracks they had seen earlier, watching and listening for any signs.

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Taking 20 on all associated rolls:

Survival: 28
Listen: 30
Spot: 30
Search: 28
Move Silently: 31

[esorscher]

Arran nods wordlessly and begins tracking.

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Also taking 20:

Survival: 27
Listen: 21
Spot: 21
Search: 19
Move Silently: 26
Hide: 26

[3SecondCultist]

Arran: You begin to follow the tracks left by the bugbear and the goblins leading around the chasm. It is a lengthy and rather painstaking process, rummaging through the shadowy woods. You manage to cut yourself on a sharp branch, but it turns out to be little more than a scratch. The passage of the goblinoids is not particularly easy to track, but you find that if you spend enough time devoting yourself to following their exact footsteps you can manage to retrace their steps. Eventually, you realize that the tracks are simply making a circuitous route around the edges of the chasm, down where the cliffs have receded and a crossing is possible. The tracks end at the edge of the river.

Soryn: As you step over to the southern side of the bridge, you manage to find the other set of tracks and follow them as well. Your elven sense are keen guides, but soon even you grow tired of following tracks in the woods that don't seem to lead anywhere. Just as you are about to give up, however, you notice the remains of what must have been a camp not a mile south of the Sordanus Bridge. Funnily enough, it is tucked away near the main road - it is indeed astonishing that all of you missed this little goblinoid encampment earlier.

[gallagher]

Ben starts looking with Arran around the bridge. As he comes up to different plants, he keeps his alibi in mind and attempts to identify any that would be usable later.

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Survival: (1d20)[3]
Know(Nat): (1d20+5)[24]

I also keep looking up and around to make sure we are alone out here.

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Spot: (1d20)[11]
Listen: (1d20+2)[6]
Hide (in case we arent alone): (1d20+16)[31]
MS: (1d20+8)[24]

[Sen isSaqqara]

"A bit, yes." replies Lirian. "Ah well, thought it was worth a shot."
As she leaves, she turns back to the guardsmen. "Thanks, See you soon!"
She runs as fast as she can just off the side of the trail to try to catch up a bit with the others. She isn't too good at tracking, but hopefully her comrades won't be as through in covering their tracks as the goblins likely were. Still, best catch up while they're still at least in earshot.

[OhMyGodImOnFire]

Soryn moved closer, slowly maneuvering his way around dry leaves and brittle branches, careful not to make any sounds in case the encampment was still occupied. While he did this, he focused on the camp, pausing just outside of it to sleuth out as many details as he could - the layout of the camp, what kind of items lay scattered around, how organized the camp was - any details that would give him clues. If there was a fire going now, it would be evidence that someone was still here, or at least had been here recently, and he would need to step extra carefully. All the while he strained his ears, listening for any sounds outside of the ordinary, to make sure no one snuck up on him. With his augmented senses, he listened for any noises in the camp: he should also be able to hear any remaining occupants too, simply by the sound of their breathing.

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Taking 20 on the following (I'm assuming that now that I've found the camp I don't need to make survival checks for tracking anymore):

Listen: 30
Spot: 30
Move Silently: 31

[3SecondCultist]

Ben: You follow in Arran's footsteps as he in turn follows the tracks left behind by the goblinoids, in the meantime searching for any sort of rare herbs. After some time, you do recognize several sprigs of moonleaf, a medicinal plant used to distill paralytics and imitate the effects of cold exposure. This bright blue flower grows from an extremely thorny stem, so you will have to be careful extracting it or risk some of the pollen entering your bloodstream.

Soryn: Every moment you spend crouched in the underbrush seems to support the theory that the camp is to be empty and abandoned. You hear no sounds, and any traces of fire or warmth has long since disappeared. However, even from your distance and the conditions of illumination you can tell that the camp was expertly organized, the product of a military mindset. Four tents are arranged in a square around one single campfire, situated so that any fighters would be able to see and subsequently defend from all angles. The ground has also been kept remarkably clean, with nothing visible other than embers and the odd scrap of burned leftover campfire food.

[gallagher]

Ben takes a jar out of his bag, unscrews the lid, and places it next to the plants. He then takes out a piece of paper and lays it next to the plants, so that he does not have to hold onto the plant. He takes a moment to look for the least thorny part of the plant, and pinches that part and pulls it in two, and lets it fall on the paper. After getting enough for a few doses, he takes the paper, rolls it lightly, and tilts the paper so the moonleaf falls into the jar.

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would a slight of hand check be appropriate for this, or would you prefer something else? After this, I meet up with Arran at the river where the tracks stop

Ben lets out a yelp as he gets pricked by a thorn. "OW" And then crumples to the ground, unable to move and kind of chilly

[esorscher]

Arran notices Ben is not behind him and doubles back to check on him. He finds him lying on the ground and asks, "What happened?"

[OhMyGodImOnFire]

Odd.Soryn took note of how well the camp was arranged. Certain enough that the camp had been deserted, he moved forward slowly, bow still in hand. Once he was in, he began to look around the camp, looking in each of the tents and organized piles for anything that he might need, paying particular attention to any paperwork that might give clues as to what they were dealing with.

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As I emptied my backpack earlier, I now weigh much lighter, allowing me to pick up and carry a lot more loot.

[3SecondCultist]

Ben: Your body remains rigid as it lies on the ground, and you are acutely aware of your proximity to the roots of the other moonleaf plants around you. Inside, you can feel little other than the chill creeping through your veins as the natural toxin takes its toll. Thankfully, you know that in this crude form the poison is considerably less effective and the paralysis should wear off in less than a minute. Nevertheless, the cold hand gripping your heart feels very real. Arran's concerned voice comes from far away, through a glistening mirror. It takes slightly longer to make out what he saying to you, and of course you cannot say anything in response.

Soryn: The tents are largely empty, other than containing bedrolls and some very basic rations that look to be made up of dried, unknown meats. Already some critters have made their way inside to get at the goodies here - in one of the tents you find the corpse of a wolf, its throat gutted by what looks like a sharpened branch. Dark fluid saturates the floor and canvas walls, painting a not so elegant portrait of mortality. However, in the last tent you find what appears to be a map of the region, complete with several lines of script at the bottom. Unfortunately for you, the writing itself seems to be impossible to make out or translate.

[OhMyGodImOnFire]

Soryn rolled up the map and stashed it in his pack. Even though he couldn't make out what was written, he was sure that someone at the guild would be able to. Afterwards, he heads back toward the other tents, salvaging what he could from the rations that hadn't been ravaged by the critters. Pulling out his kukri, he proceeded to skin the wolf - its pelt and fur would give him warmth in the winter, and at the very least would fetch a pretty penny with any skins collectors in town.

Remembering what Sey had wanted, Soryn took another tour of the camp, carefully looking any tomes, scrolls, or journals that he might have missed the first time around. All the while, his eyes darted back and forth, his eyes aided by the moonlight, looking and listening for any intruders. Just because the camp was empty didn't mean that others wouldn't be coming too.

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Obtained:
Marked Map x1
Wolf Pelt x1
Basic Rations x? (at your discretion)

Checks:
Listen: (1d20+10)[25]
Spot: (1d20+10)[23]
Search: (1d20+8)[25]
Move Silently: (1d20+11)[24]

[3SecondCultist]

Soryn: Skinning the wolf takes some time: chunks of fur, gristle and flesh soon coat your blade and spatter your clothing. However, the task proves manageable and you salvage a good portion of the beast's hide in your sack, alongside the map and what you judge to be roughly six days worth of trail rations. Doing a once over of the encampment and the surrounding forest reveals nothing important to your senses. Moreover, any trace of any further tracks has since faded - wherever these goblinoids came from, they did so some time ago.

[OhMyGodImOnFire]

These goblins must have waited a long time, Soryn thought to himself, long enough for them to either cover their tracks, or for them to disappear. He wiped his kukri on the side of one of the tents, and sheathed it back in his belt. Looking over the camp one last time, Soryn turned and ran back to the bridge. With the other two together, whatever searching they might have done would be complete by now - they'd be waiting for him on the bridge.

As he arrived, he noticed that neither Arran nor Ben were there. Worried, he crossed the bridge, then followed their tracks into the woods. Soon, he came upon them, crouched in a field of thorny blue flowers. Ben looked shaken and weak, like something had just made him sick. "Are you alright?" he called out quietly. Noticing the nipped bud beside Ben's hand, Soryn racked his brain, trying to remember what the flowers were, and what they did.

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Knowledge (Nature): (1d20+1)[6]

Unfortunately, nothing comes to mind. "What are these flowers?" he added, curious.

[esorscher]

"Moonleaf, I suspect," Arran says, pointing to the flowers around Ben. "Should wear off soon-ish. Did you find the camp?"

[OhMyGodImOnFire]

"I did," Soryn replied, careful to avoid the thorns of the flowers. "Didn't find anything useful aside from a marked map. Couldn't recognize any of the writing on it but I'm sure someone back at the guild does." Realizing that the other had probably not gathered many herbs, Soryn pulled the wolf's pelt from his pack and threw it toward Arran and Ben. "Wrap that around your hand the next time you try to pluck it," he said, "the pelt should be thick enough that the thorns won't get you."

[esorscher]

"Good call," Arran says, wrapping his hands in the pelt. He looks rather silly as he pulls moonleaf blooms from the plant and puts them in Ben's jar.

[gallagher]

Minutes later, as Arran is cutting pieces from the pelt to grab the moonleaf, Ben starts to stir. The effects of the moonleaf are wearing off, he could move again, but he was still groggy and feeling cold.

Tosh me da part of the pelt you arent ushing, da plant left me very cold.

Ben massages his jaw to get the slur to go away. Next time he will remember to get a proper pair of gloves and scissors to pick plants.

Did you guys find anything of interest while I was incapacitated?

With the effects nearly gone, only the chill remained. I guess I know how potent these flowers are now, it will make for a very useful potion.

Also, lets try to grab as much of this as we can. Based on how strong the effects were on the plant itself, a more concentrated dose in the form of a poison could be a devastating concoction. We can dip arrows into it and take out an entire front line of enemies

[OhMyGodImOnFire]

Soryn approached, draping what was left of the wolfskin around Ben to keep him warm. Taking a piece of the cut pelt from Arran, he wrapped it around his hand and began to pluck the blossoms too. It would have to look like they'd gathered enough herbs to justify a trip so late at night. Not that the guards cared much - at least it seemed that way - but it was better to be sure than have to explain themselves later.

[3SecondCultist]

Arran, Ben, Soryn, Lirian: The forest is dark, the brisk winds picking up even now as the moon approaches its zenith. There is something here, a brooding half presence defined by malice and pale shadow. Whatever force is out there, you can tell that there is a great deal of mass to it. It's all at the edge of your mind, flitting away when you try to pin it down. But it is definitely there, and it can see you.

After a couple of seconds the presence abruptly disappears, as if it was never there in the first place. The forest is still cool, but whatever force you felt has retreated, and the only wind at your face is that of an autumn Valerian evening.