Fear and Loathing in the Greenbelt (IC Thread III)

[Sithis]

Alistar

Being of little use when healing is needed, Alistar instead pursues the escaping brood. They will not be a threat around here again.

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So then Alistar goes and hunts them down. Woo?

[Morbis Meh]

"That's the third time... the third time something has tried to eat me, it must be because I am already cooked. Remind me when we get back to see an alchemist, I fully intend to bath in syrup of ipecac from this day forward." The dwarf just lays still with her eyes closed, taking this brief moment to rest "Well if I am a cat I have 5 lives left before I finally kick it, so I should last another year at this rate." Hearing the voice of Johan the dwarf chuckles "Oh come now, dragons are territorial they will be just tickled pink that we did a service for them. Besides do you really want to leave this behind? There is so much to profit from this corpse and just letting it rot would be quite a shame."

Opening her eyes, Brin sits up and slaps the wyrm casually "What do you think Alistar, could a girl get a pair a shoes and a purse to match from this big lizard?"

[Chained Birds]

Maple

Maple puts a hand on Brin's shoulder.

"At least you weren't swallowed..."

She then asks Johan,

"So, do these creatures keep "loot" or something? I heard these sorts of creatures do that."

Then she ponders for a bit.

"Wait a second. Do our Kobold friends know anything about Dragons? I mean, they are scaly too. Or is that racist to assume they know anything about Dragons?"

[Steckie]

Roqoan

Rooan is a bit worried about Brin, but she seems to be doing fine.
He's not happy that she just ignores him after almost being killed, but it's a good sign she's still making jokes.
He hears her talking about shoes and a purse. "And a matching hat for me, if there's enough skin left.
Oh, and maybe we could make you a nice necklace or bracelet from the teeth. And a wedding ring if we find a tooth large enough.
You'll be the most badass bride ever."

[Morbis Meh]

She looks at Roqoan with a tired expression "Badass? Not overly, more 'Holely' than anything. I am lucky I am not a cripple on top of being a freak, those teeth came a little to close to my spine for comfort." Looking to Maple she chuckles "I must just taste better than you so they prefer savoring my flavor that or I am so rough they have to chew me more before they can swallow."

[stack]

"Everyone knows dwarf is best if tenderized first." Johan quips, "Seriously though, you make yourself appear a great threat, apparently greater then large warriors with blades attacking them."

"Let us to deal with these evil fey while we are here. Hopefully it won't take long and we won't be waylaid by yet more errands."

[Morbis Meh]

"Fine but at least have some one tend to my wounds before we go... Just because I am concious doesn't mean I am ready for batle." The dwarf looks at the sizable teeth marks in her scarred flesh and sighs deeply.

[Lost Demiurge]

The rest of the day passes as the group heals up and explores the area. The forest is lush here, just the right balance between marshy and dry, and the plants thrive from it.

The next morning, the question remains.... Which way now?

[Steckie]

Roqoan

"So what way are these evil Fae? I'm ready to go hunt for them if you guys are."
Roqoan has his backpack and all his stuff ready.

[Morbis Meh]

Brin looks at her fiancee "No idea, but i suppose one could think of that pink dragon then imagine it as a sadistic maniac. They didn't exactly teach us about these things in the monastary you know, hey Alistar do you know anything about these creatures? Would you or your wolf be able to track them by scent?"

[stack]

"We know the general direction from what the dryad told us. I suspect they'll let us know when we get close."

[Sithis]

Alistar

Alistar shrugs as he prepares to leave. "Never really run into any "evil" fae before. I'd imagine that they're like regular fae, only less mischievous and more malicious. And baring any weird fae magic, I should be able to track them just like anything else."

[Lost Demiurge]

You retrace your path, and follow the directions the satyr gave you.

After a day and a half of travel, you come to a quiet part of the forest. A hill to the west draws your eye, and after a short walk through thick brush, a ruined, circular keep looms out of the forest, surrounded by towering, ancient trees draped with hanging moss. Four circular towers sprout from the cracked walls like the trunks of great trees, at least one crumbled into rubble. Twisting vines and thick moss cover the walls in a coat of verdant green, blending the ruins almost seamlessly into the surrounding woods. The overgrown remains of a path lead to an open, arched gateway gaping in the keep's eastern wall, its doors long since rotted away.

The forest is still, as you consider this aged edifice...

[stack]

Johan takes a moment to enjoy the scene before taking more practical measures.

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shield, then detect magic, keeping it up as we go

[Sithis]

Alistar

Alistar stops, taking a moment to look at the ruin. "I wonder why someone built this in the middle of the forest? I mean, what purpose did it serve?" He begins cautiously moving down the path toward the entrance, keeping an eye out as he goes.

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Perception: [roll]1d20+16[/roll] +2 more if we count as being in a forest. Good lord, I just have ALL THE PERCEPTION now. Edit: Seems I messed this one up. Meh, I'll stick it in the OOC.
Survival: (1d20+15)[24] Again, +2 if we're in a forest. Just to see if there's anything interesting to smell.

[Lost Demiurge]

ALISTAR

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Yes, you currently do count as being in a forest, at least until you enter the keep.

Smells...

Oddly enough, Alistar detects a lingering scent of fine cologne. He's fairly sure it wasn't here a minute ago.

[Steckie]

Roqoan

Roqoan rubs his hands together.
"Fantastic! Another castle hidden away in the wilds, like a hidden gem. If this is the place the evil Fae are holed up in, it means we'll soon have another castle. And if there are other inhabitants i'm sure we could make more allies here.
It's a wonder the people who built this were able to do it in the middle of this huge forest. How did they get all the materials here?
Fermor, you're the history buff here. Do remember anything about who could have built this?"
Roqoan let's Iago jump out of his arm. "Go ahead buddy, make a little flight over the castle and let me know if you see anything interesting."

Roqoan casts detect magic to try and spot anything magical around here.
He also tries to do a rough check-up on the castle to see if it's not about to collapse or something like that. And to see if the architecture tells him something about who built it.

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Knowledge architecture and engineering: (1d20+14)[33]

[Sithis]

Alistar

After a few steps, Alistar stops. "You smell that?" He takes another step, sniffing again. "Smells like...oh, what's it called. That perfume that noblemen wear when they're trying to be fancy....uh... cologne, that's it! He takes a few more steps forward, trying to zero in on the scent. "Yah, that's definitely it. Why the hell would anyone be wearing cologne out here?"

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Any chance of being able to zero in on the source of the smell?

[Morbis Meh]

Brin looks around, cold iron arrow drawn, poised for any sign of anything even related to a threat. She was sick of being partially eaten and if she had to put up with anything like that blasted fairy dragon... well at least she was allowed to kill it this time instead of being nice to it. At the mention of perfume Brin smirks "Maybe they knew we had a wolfman with us so they threw some in the air to cover up their scent from you."

[Lost Demiurge]

Alistar cannot seem to find a source for the scent. It's faint to begin with, and it's just sort of THERE.

[Sithis]

Alistar

Alistar continues sniffing around, seemingly puzzled. "You know Brin, you might actually be on to something. This smell is all over, but faintly. It doesn't really seem to be coming from anywhere." He continues, slowly working his way toward the entrance to the keep.

[Lost Demiurge]

...And that's about the point that everyone gets a whiff of a strong, spicy smell in the air.

ALISTAR

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Fortitude save DC 15, please. The air is now filled with something like cayenne pepper. Fail and be nauseated for (1d10)[6] minutes.

[Sithis]

Alistar

The appearance of the new smell causes Alistar to choke for a moment, before pulling out a piece of cloth and covering his nose and mouth. "Gah, that's strong. The hell did that come from?" He continues looking around, trying to see where this new smell might have come from.

[Chained Birds]

Maple

"Is the bad smell coming closer or something? Or did it just suddenly appear?"

Maple is unsure of Alistar's reactions.

[Lost Demiurge]

Alistar pulls out his lens and fiddles with it...

ALISTAR

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(I don't mind if you guys read this but at least wait until Alistar says something before you act on it.)

Huh, there's tracks. Small humanoid tracks... All around your group. Almost in circles. Fresh tracks, too, and...

Wait a minute, now there's more tracks off to the side...

Wait, now there's another circle around the group...

[Sithis]

Alistar

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I remember seeing a great image of a werewolf with a monocle once. Sadly, I seem unable to find it now.

Alistar continues looking around as he does his best to ignore the strong smell in the air. "Well, there are definitely small tracks all over, could be fae. Quite fresh...wait... He looks off to his side. "there are some over here too..." He begins looking all around at the ground near the group before stopping, calmly removing the Lens, and putting it away. "They're quite literally all around us. Making circles, in fact. Possibly invisible."

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Since circles tend to have significance in ritual magic, knowledge nature check to see if Alistar knows whether or not they're in the middle of doing something horrible to us, or are just messing with us.

Knowledge - Nature: (1d20+8)[14]

[Steckie]

Roqoan

"Let me try something."
Roqoan summons a small golden sphere and throws it towards the in front of them on the way to the castle. It will explode into a cloud of golden dust that outlines every invisible thing there.
He also tries to remember anything about magic like this and magic that has something to do with circles.

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Glitterdust in front of us but making sure none of us are hit by it, 10ft radius.
And knowledge arcana: (1d20+14)[23]

[stack]

Johan has the same thought as Roquan, but follows with a different spell. Sticky tendrils burst out, seeking to anchor all in their grasp.

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web where the glitterdust hit, targeted to JUST not catch any of us, anchoring to whatever is available, DC 15, ref negates

[Lost Demiurge]

The glitterdust... Bursts out and illuminates nothing. The web explodes across the face of the keep, and... Catches nothing.

Is that the wind sighing, or is it distant laughter? Hard to tell.

ALISTAR

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Well, that seemed to have stopped the tracks. Whatever was running circles around you isn't, anymore.

ROQOAN and JOHAN

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As Alistar describes it, there is no particular significance to this circle, or running circles around things.

[Morbis Meh]

Brin rolls her eyes "Oh goody goody, seems that we have found them, now what oh fearless leader, this was your idea. If we would have stuck to the plan we would be troll hunting right now and I know for certain that they ARE visible."