Reign of Winter: The Snows of Summer IC

[The_Shaman]

Despite their wariness, the group sees nothing more, until Dorrin and Anastasiya feel a sting, followed by a burst of numbing cold as small darts - kind of like arrows for a miniature bow, too small even for a child - pierce their skin. While the wounds seem slight at best, the paralyzing cold they bring is no child's play.

Glitters of light - a bit like sunshine reflected off an ice block - appear around the trees again, and high-pitched, malicious laughter erupts from behind one of the trees. You can spot 3 diminutive figures, looking like elves cut from blue ice that appear to hide in the thick drifts.

Spoiler: Spoiler

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Dorrin and Ana, give me a fort save vs cold.

[Stelio Kontos]

Dorrin turned back just a bit to say something to the group -- a good thing, as it happens, as some of the icy shards lodged in his belt pouch, and a few others sailed past his narrow profile. Still, he let out a brief involuntary shudder before turning back to face the source of the insult. Oh, lovely Dorrin sarcastically thought.

"Leanaidh mi dhut do mhearachd, ma dh'innseas tu dhuinn far an deach an tè a thoirt!" he shouted at the little creatures. Even as he did so, he drew the sling from his side, and loaded a stone.

Spoiler: OOC -- Sylvan

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I will forgive you your mistake, if you tell us where the lady has been taken!

[The_Shaman]

Dorrin is answered by the same laughter, and an only slightly less shrill reply carried surprisingly clearly on the snowy winds. "Eòlaiche, chan eil fhios agad cò an allaidh a tha thu a 'bruidhinn! Bidh do fhulang airson do ghiùlan nuair a tha thu uile air deigh!"

Spoiler: Sylvan

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Idiot, you do not know whose ally you are speaking with! Your will suffer for your insolence when all is ice!

Spoiler: OoC

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Alright ladies and gents, you win initiative. The 3 enemies are roughly 40 feet away and spread out, all in partial cover. I have some issues accessing discord so I cannot edit the map at the moment. Anyone without snowshoes treats the snow more than 10 feet off the road as difficult terrain.

[PersonMan]

"Mm-hmm," Kira says, lowering Lyubimaya Sestra to take aim. "And laughs were had by all," she says, before firing at the closest of the creatures.

Spoiler: Actions

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Unfortunately, these three are unlikely to rely much on natural armor and such, but hopefully flat-footed will make them easy targets.

A: (1d20+5)[9] touch
D: (1d12)[12]

[Stelio Kontos]

Dorrin frowned at that response. "Well, that's not very nice. I do hope you will reconsider."

He let his stone fly, and reloaded for another shot.

Spoiler: OOC

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Swift action: use a round of archaeologist's luck
Attack: (1d20+6)[10], for (1d3+3)[6] damage if it hits

[Frosty]

Anastasiya

The sorceress knows sylvan, and deduces the 3 assailants are fey. Her eyes narrow, and she quickly rushes forward (easily, thanks to her snow shoes) to end one of the enemies. "No, YOU don't know who you're speaking with! I've should've melted your kind back up north. Time to make up for lost time."

Flames shoot from her hands at an enemy!

Spoiler: ooc

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Move 30ft to an enemy, cast Burning Hands at the enemy without hurting an ally. (3d4+6)[17] Reflex DC16 for half.

[The_Shaman]

The smoke of the musket obscures the battlefield for a moment, but when it clears, the glittering continues undimmed. Dorrin's stone does not seem to do much, either. You think, however, that the torrent of flame from Anastasiya's hands seems to fare better - where a glimmering fey and snow used to be, now only wisps of smoke, rising steam, and a blackened trunk remain. Did you hear a scream drowned by the roar of the flame, or was it just an illusion?

For a moment, all is silent, and then a flurry of glimmering images streaks in two directions, away from you and to the right.

Spoiler

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The remaining characters can take their actions until Sunday evening, then we continue with the next turn. Everyone can make perception, knowledge nature and spellcraft checks, if there aren't any by Sunday evening I will roll for you. Sorry for the delay with the map, I am still not home.

[PersonMan]

Kira reloads Lyubimaya Sestra, but doesn't fire again, merely raising it in the general direction of the apparently-fleeing glowing shapes. "Are they done?" She wonders aloud.

[Stelio Kontos]

"I lost them!" Dorrin exclaimed with a frantic tone, whirling his head around. "Those are just dancing lights! Where are they?!"

Spoiler: OOC

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No action, for now, so delaying until someone who knows where they are says so.

[Aldurin]

Trallus watches the confrontation escalate, then when the dust settles he suddenly perks up and points into the forest towards a figure he has spotted. "One of them is trying to sneak away over there!" He doesn't actually move to give chase, but he does pull out his crossbow while directing the party towards the fleeing sprite.

[Frosty]

"Alright, let's follow that one. Maybe the other lights are just distractions!"

[PersonMan]

Kira sighs. "Don't we have better things to do than chase them down?" She asks, but follows Anastasiya anyways, ready to fire once she spots a target within range.

Spoiler: OOC

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She'll fire on the first enemy she spots within 40 feet, unless they have cover.

A: (1d20+5)[22] touch
D: (1d12)[12]

[Stelio Kontos]

Dorrin, somewhat dispirited by the distance, let a stone fly at distance. "Well, I'm never seeing this one again" he remarked sadly as he released the rock through the air.

Spoiler: OOC

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Just firing. I believe it's a range increment out (so -2 to hit); this doesn't include cover but does include that range penalty.

Attack (1d20+2)[8], damage (1d3+1)[3]. Not using any luck bonuses on this.

[Frosty]

Ana seems to be reslly determined to kill the fey. Her fsce is one of fury. She races as far as she can, and bathes another ome of the fey in flames!

Burning hands - (3d4+6)[17]

[The_Shaman]

The fey that had tried to hide is knocked down by the musket shot. Surprisingly, it tries to get up and fly away as well, but it barely takes to the air before another jet of flame blows past it it, leaving nothing but steam in its wake. After a few seconds, the other lights flicker away and die off in groups,and the forest is silent again - except for what sound you make.

[Stelio Kontos]

"I-is everybody okay?" Dorrin asked nervously, eyes still whirling about the forest as he loaded another stone into his sling and began to twirl it.

[PersonMan]

"I'm fine," Kira says, reloading her musket as the last signs of their fey foes disappear. "You don't like those things, do you?" She asks Anastasiya.

[Frosty]

The sorceress nods. "Yeah, their kind kind of kidnapped my best friend when I was little. I've been bitter against them ever since. I would love to burn them every chance I get...but I suppose I should save *some* magic power for other foes. Uhhg! can you believe they hit me in the ass with an arrow?"

[PersonMan]

Kira nods at Anastasiya's explanation, then snorts. "Better than in the eye," she says. "Need help getting it out? I have experience," she offers, keeping Lyubimaya Sestra in her arms. "But - seems like we can keep going. Quicker we get over and find our lost lady, the less of those we're likely to run into."

[Stelio Kontos]

"Yes, they zapped me too" Dorrin remarked, either oblivious to or deliberately ignoring the innuendo. "I think it'll be okay though. My clothing caught most of it."


"I'm really sorry to hear about your friend. If you ever want to talk about it..."

[Frosty]

Anasatiya snorts. “Well, I guess I should’ve picked another day to wear a skirt that doesn’t my ass then. Regarding my friend, I have a lot of anger there. I’d rather be focused right now. I mean, she’s probably dead by now, but I hope I can try to rescue her some day...”

To Kira, the sorceress just nods. “Let’s go and find the ladyF yes. We can pull stuff out of my ass later.”

[The_Shaman]

The trail winds on, hard to spot in the still falling snow, but so far, luck is with you and you do not get lost. It does get a bit narrower, though, seemingly more a game trail winding through the trees and undergrowth than a pass made for people.

Despite the heavy snow, you spot hoofprints dotting the ground, moving in both directions. Though the wind is weaker in these deep woods, its whistling through the trees seems to carry a faint voice that is just too faint for you to recognize, you think - or maybe it's just your imagination.

[Frosty]

The sorceress points ahead. "Let's follow the tracks where they lead deeper into the forest."

[PersonMan]

Kira frowns as she looks over at the trail. "I think it's best to stay focused," she says. "We can come back and look for dinner once we've rescued the lady."

[Stelio Kontos]

"Maybe. On the other hand, perhaps those prints lead to the lady, and it would be a shame if we missed her... or maybe these would have seen something. I think it's worth at least taking a little while to see what we might find; if it looks hopeless we can call it off.

Besides, it might be fun."

Spoiler: OOC

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I rolled a couple things in the Discord chat a few days ago; don't know if there's any info to be gained therefrom.

[The_Shaman]

"Who are you and what brings you here," you hear a sing-song voice come from within the blizzard, and soon after a silhouette shows itself through the snow. For a moment it appears to be a lean humanoid figure, but as it approaches you see that it is an... elk.

The elk steps forward, looking at each of you, then snorts. "I haven't seen you around. There are a lot of people around here recently, what with that storm.".

Spoiler

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2 Rolls from everyone, please

[Stelio Kontos]

Dorrin took a moment to stare, mouth agape, at the creature before him. He racked his brain, without success, to place what sort of a wondrous speaking beast this could possibly be. Sizing up the, well, elk, he shrugged. "All right, sure. Why not?"


"I'm Dorrin, this is Kira, Anastaysia, and Trallus. You're right that we're not from around here, well I'm not anyway. We're out searching for a lady, a noblewoman of sorts. Best as we can figure she was kidnapped maybe two, three days ago. We found her carriage abandoned in the forest, infested with some undead creatures, and then followed the tracks from there, ran into some very annoying little fey creatures that shot Miss Ana here right in the ass, chased them for a bit, and anyway, well, here we are, talking to ... um, what are you, do you mind?"

[PersonMan]

As the elk appears, Kira quietly shifts her musket, but when the speaking begins she frowns, disappointed but deciding to go with it, nodding as she's introduced with the others.

[The_Shaman]

"I am Fawfein," the elk says "I've been here, hm, a while. This place is dangerous. What makes you think you will live to get out, never mind find this woman?"

[Stelio Kontos]

"Well, maybe we won't, Mr. Fawfein. Maybe we won't." That thought was a sobering one. "But, really, we'll probably be fine. We've got most of the appropriate clothing and gear and such, Miss Kira here sure seems like she can handle herself well enough, and Miss Ana can make fire with her hands so that's helpful.... Besides, it's starting to get really cold where we were too, so being here isn't really that much worse, except for the part where there's no inns to sleep in or tables to dance on. And if we're cold with all the things we have, I'd imagine she's going to be quite a bit worse off, so it's even more important we find her quickly, isn't it?"

"I guess I'll ask why you're so concerned about our safety? Don't get me wrong, it's much appreciated, but ... well, please don't take this the wrong way, but I think I speak for all of us when I say that being interrogated by an elk is a bit disconcerting."