(D&D 5e) The Plague of Nightmares IC

[Awful]

Yvonne was further unimpressed by the quality of the men(?) she saw before her.
"Hmph. I suppose I am unsurprised none of you had the initiative to pursue the necromancer."
She glanced back at the silent yuan-ti and tabaxi, before looking where the guard captain was staring, brow furrowed.
"What's the delay? There's no reason to stay here now. We may as well depart immediately, so your soldiers can stop quivering over the thought of Yig. Come!" she chivied. "Get your men up and let us go. Time is wasting."

When it was time to go, she easily reached down and lifted the young gnome on to his feet.

[Requilac]

Yvonne was further unimpressed by the quality of the men(?) she saw before her.
"Hmph. I suppose I am unsurprised none of you had the initiative to pursue the necromancer."
She glanced back at the silent yuan-ti and tabaxi, before looking where the guard captain was staring, brow furrowed.
"What's the delay? There's no reason to stay here now. We may as well depart immediately, so your soldiers can stop quivering over the thought of Yig. Come!" she chivied. "Get your men up and let us go. Time is wasting."

When it was time to go, she easily reached down and lifted the young gnome on to his feet.

Traubon doesn't seem to be as responsive to your demands as you first thought, as to why though you cannot immediately tell (without a check at least). "We were trying to make sure that no one else flees or enters the site marked for the Wild Hunt. It is still prudent for us to stay a slight time longer since you last exited. We want to ensure that nothing picked up on your trail as you were leaving. Worry not, we shall make it back to Krangar and then to Grimtham with due time. "

I will be continuing the scene tomorrow night, so if you have anything left to say, do it now.

[Jrpergande78]

As the group begins to leave Shadow hesitates, she looks at her Daos and nods her head then back to the group.

I'm sorry, but I must go to the mountains, where the former owner of these daos resided in life, where I must begin my training as a monk. I wish you all the best of luck in your quest.

As she turns to leave She notices a short figure riding onto of a head of a giant snake. When it reaches forty feet away the snake lowers it's head to allow the figure to hop off then it loosely wraps it's tail around itself resting his head on his body.

Well met, Yig sent me here to help on your quest to end this plague, it has taken Dar my mentor and I aim to see him healed. My name is Jynx Mynxingale, and this is my companion, Manda.

You can clearly see that she Carrie's a short sword and a shield that has the holy symbol of Yig on it. She stands at three foot tall, and seems to be rather happy to be beside her giant snake. In her eyes and smile, you can see a mischievous look, as though she enjoys having fun, but she also has a serious look on her face.

Shadow waves a final goodbye, then the instant she is in the dark she disappears, it seems that Manda is still tracking her until she is out of range.

[Awful]

Yvonne regarded the guard captain with wary eyes.

Spoiler: Insight roll

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What is he hiding? (1d20+3)[5]

And then a gnome on a snake arrived just as the tabaxi abruptly turned and left.

The knightess looked at the gnome for a moment, then sighed and ran her hand across her face.
"Vitay's mercy, what now...?" she grumbled, before she turned to look at the newest member of their eclectic band. "You certainly seem Yig's sort. Well, I am Knightess Yvonne, faithful of Vitay; you may address me as Lady Yvonne or Knightess Yvonne. I hope you know how to use that blade of yours; we've fought all many of strange and unholy creatures here."

[Jrpergande78]

Aye, I do, between Manda and this blade, we have fought many creatures ourselves. I assure you, we won't be in the way.

Jynx climbs back on Manda's head and pats him to let him know she was ready, the giant snake lifts his head and waits for the group as they appear to be leaving.

[Zergrinch]

As Yvonne brings him up to his feet, Zuzu rubs his blurry eyes. He makes a small start as he lays his eyes on Jynx.

"Hey, what happened to the cat? Are you the cat? Is that your real form?"

[Requilac]

Yvonne regarded the guard captain with wary eyes.

Spoiler: Insight roll

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What is he hiding? [roll0]

Traubon doesn't seem to be hiding anything from you. The procedure that he is going through isn't that out of the ordinary, but the fact he is doing it still after Yig has been there is a slight bit off. You fail to see how there would be malice in his intent for doing that though.

When the guards see Jynx show up, everyone that can see her and Manda immediately lower themselves in some manner. Most simply genuflect, but some others do a full kneel, a full knee with a bow and even one of them kowtows. Captain Traubon approaches Jynx slowly and genuflects like the others before pleading in a quiet, hushed tone.

"I can sense that you are a Disciple of Yig with a distinguished rank. I beseech thee to give us the grace of your liege. What does the Plumed Serpent wish to say to us, her humble followers, and what aid are you willing to bring us against this pestilence? "

[Jrpergande78]

Jynx smiles at the gnome at his confusion and questions.

No, I'm not that cat, my name is Jynx. Jynx Mynxingale. I'm here with my companion here Manda, he has been with me for so very long.

As the soldiers bow to her and the Captain asks her the questions she turn a little red out of embarrassment.

Please stand up. I'm merely a Cleric and will pass Yigs blessing gs to those she sees fit. For now, there is no word of direction for you, go back to your homes and rest for your time will come shortly. As for me, I will aide this brave group find a cure by fighting beside them. Now go in peace children of Yig.

[Zergrinch]

Jynx smiles at the gnome at his confusion and questions.

No, I'm not that cat, my name is Jynx. Jynx Mynxingale. I'm here with my companion here Manda, he has been with me for so very long.

As the soldiers bow to her and the Captain asks her the questions she turn a little red out of embarrassment.

Please stand up. I'm merely a Cleric and will pass Yigs blessing gs to those she sees fit. For now, there is no word of direction for you, go back to your homes and rest for your time will come shortly. As for me, I will aide this brave group find a cure by fighting beside them. Now go in peace children of Yig.

Zuzu's eyes flit about, and focus on the giant snake for the first time.

Spoiler: OOC

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Bravery Check! Let's call this a Wisdom Save to avoid being frightened. (d20+2)[19]

After having met the Nagaraja, Manda didn't seem that much more intimidating. If Zuzu could survive Yig, what has he to fear from mere giant snakes?

"Is that your pet snake? Hey, what does he eat? I'm sure he doesn't eat gnomes because you're a gnome too and he didn't eat you. I hope he doesn't eat toads, because Toady is my friend. Hey wait, you're a gnome right? You're pretty. My name is Zuzu but the Master didn't give me a last name. Where are you from and why are you here?"

Note: Zuzu is a 14-year old gnome wizard (school of evocation aka blowing things up) who doesn't get out much. His Master abducted him when he was young (telling him that he was the only survivor of a raid on a gnome village) and trained him up as an apprentice.

[Jrpergande78]

Jynx laughs a bit as she lays on Manda's head and pats it, her signal for down, then lovingly runs the snake just above the eye.

She eats what ever she catches, and as long as gnomes are not trying to hurt me or my friends, she won't eat them. Not enough meat on us. She does prefer a deer now and again. As for toads, she chuckles I'm sure that your toad is safe, the smallest thing she will est are goblins, and only if there are four or five to fill her.

Jynx blushes at the compliment that was in the barrage of questions.

Thank you, and you're cute, and very inquisitive. I like that. You mentioned a master? Were you a slave? How did that happen? Do you like pranks?

She looks around at the others and notices Yaotl, and stares for a moment.

You look familiar to me, I know you. Your name isn't Yaty..Yolt...Yaotl, yeah that's it Yaotl is it?

[Zergrinch]

Zuzu blushes in turn, and is temporarily flustered, although it does not take him long to recover and resume the staccato rhythm of question after question.


"C-c-cute? B-but I'm already fourteen! Anyway, I like to know things. My Master saved me from our village and taught me everything I know about wizardry, and now he has the Plague and I must save him! But I'm not his slave - I'm his apprentice. But yeah I have to serve him and do things for him. Why are you asking immediately about slavery? Did you own any slaves? Were you a slave? Did you enslave the snake?"


"Oh, and Master doesn't like it if I play tricks," he sheepishly adds while rubbing his backside a bit. Heavens forbid she gets to look at the condition of his bare back, which has more than on one occasion felt the bite of the master's whip!

[Jrpergande78]

No, I'm not a slave, nor was I a slave. And Manda chose to be with me after I rescued him, he is free to leave me if he chooses, even though it would greatly sadden me. Nanda and I had fought some slaves before. A wizard huh? That's inrtresting that you dont like pranks....oh well. So what are we doing now?

[Zergrinch]

"We killed a Wendigo thing that was eating people around town. Actually it wasn't me who killed it, it was Knightess Yvonne who chopped off its head. She can be very brutal. I feel bad for it because it was being controlled by this collar, and the Sorcerer who was controlling it got away. He left his scepter and I have it but I think it is defective because it does not work on enemies and just backfires on the user so maybe I want to trade it for something else. Anyway, after the battle we thought the Order of Umbra has something to do with things so we came here to find out what they are doing. But then the Nagaraja is doing these hunts so these soldiers here were too afraid to go in, so we went in and fought this mushroom thing. We didn't kill it though because it managed to turn invisible and ran away, but I am sure it will not trouble us again because we really humiliated it. Anyway we fought a bunch of undead rats, and then we met a necromancer whose spellbook I managed to get. She had some shades with her too and they almost knocked out Mr. Snakey. And that was when Miss Kitty Cat showed up. But it turns out she wasn't a necromancer, and according to the Nagaraja that we met underground, was actually working to find a cure to the Plague. So now we are confused and tired and want to sleep. What about you, what are you doing here, and what happened to Miss Kitty Cat?"

[Requilac]

As the soldiers bow to her and the Captain asks her the questions she turn a little red out of embarrassment.

Please stand up. I'm merely a Cleric and will pass Yigs blessing gs to those she sees fit. For now, there is no word of direction for you, go back to your homes and rest for your time will come shortly. As for me, I will aide this brave group find a cure by fighting beside them. Now go in peace children of Yig.

Everybody hesitates for way too many seconds before picking themselves up and trying to draw attention away from themselves in shame. Traubon's face has run red, but he manages to keep his voice stable. "Thank you for your advice, Lady Jynx and... Nanda the Wyrm. Your presence here is a great sign of hope for us. I am honoured to be on the side of the Queen of Serpents in her quest. "

"We sadly cannot go to our homes yet, but we shall leave this area as Yig wishes us too and carry on with our mission."

He then turns around to his men-at-arms and shouts at a louder tone then you have ever heard from a native of Senckried. It sounds almost too much like a squeak. "You heard the Priestess, we are to go now. Pack up, we are leaving in less than five minutes."

[bc56]

"Indeed." Yaotl nods in greeting to the gnome.

[Awful]

Yvonne's lips quirked, amused, and she lightly rapped the gnome on the head with her knuckles for his rudeness.
"Watch your words, child. I'm as forceful as I need to be."

[Zergrinch]

Ow! What'd you do that for? I said CAN right? That means as you said, as brutal as you need to be!

[Jrpergande78]

Jynx chuckles to herself at the interactions between Zuzu and Yvonne.

Words have to be especially carefully chosen when speaking. Say the right thing but use the wrong word, and the right thing becomes the wrong thing. As a wizard, Iwould think you knew that.

Jynx smiles and winks at Zuzu as she says this, she could tell that he was a little awkward in social situations, but then she can be too. She rather be with her Snake and other animals as they tend to be loyal to a fault and never swayed one way or the other.

[Zergrinch]

Zuzu pouts and crosses his hands over his tiny chest, but underneath the pout, he whispers, "Exceio Manus" and flicks his fingers of his right hand which is hidden under his left arm. Zuzu's mage hand manifests behind Jynx's back and gives it a flick before vanishing into the ether.

Spoiler

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Sleight of hand (d20+3)[17] against your perception.

[Jrpergande78]

Spoiler: Jynx and Manda perception

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[roll0]
For Jynx. [roll1] for Manda.

Jynx chuckles a bit before walking over and sitting next to Zuzu, and places a hand on his shoulder.

I promise I'mnot getting onto you, I have to tell myself that, seemingly, everyday, as I sometimes don'tthink about what I'm saying.

[Jrpergande78]

Jynx perception (1d20+5)[9]
Manda perception (1d20+2)[4]

[Zergrinch]

Spoiler: Jynx and Manda perception

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[roll0]
For Jynx. [roll1] for Manda.

Jynx chuckles a bit before walking over and sitting next to Zuzu, and places a hand on his shoulder.

I promise I'mnot getting onto you, I have to tell myself that, seemingly, everyday, as I sometimes don'tthink about what I'm saying.

"G-g-getting onto me?!" Zuzu's face turns several shades of crimson as a result of hearing the innuendo.

[Requilac]

Toady croaks rumblingly at Jynx's presence then lightly lashes her with its tongue. That could either mean that he likes he or that he despises her, Zuzu doesn't really have the slightest clue.

Traubon looks upon the interaction between Jynx and Zuzu with more horror and surprise than he did when he first saw the victims of Yig's attack. Seeing that his troops are mostly ready, he orders them to move on out back to Krangar, probably in part due to a desire to end the previously stated interaction. The snow that is falling on the ground so far proves to be much more of frost then white snow, so it doesn't quite cover the ground in a blanket so much as it does seem to cover it in a bed of nails. Even now with the clouds it doesn't seem much darker out than before due to the fact that no stars were out before anyway. It is now so deathly quiet out that you wish the cicadas would come back to make some other noise than the crunching of your own feet.

Eventually you start hearing the drone of something else though, and you struggle to identify what it is. The sound is constant, deep and sounds almost like rain, but it seems distorted. After a few more minutes you realize that the noise actually came from a river which leads into the lake where you fought the Wendigoe at. As you are travelling along the lake, Traubon finally says something to you after being silent for most of the walk.

"Lady Yvonne, I believe that you showed interest in seeing the letter by Yuria, is that correct? I don't have a copy on me, but it was sent to Vates Volgrith (you know her as Torbera). I am going to the temple anyway when we to Krangar, so if you wanted to review the letter you could just come with me when and some of the lieutenants when I get to town. Is that an acceptable arrangement? "

[Zergrinch]

Zuzu spends the trip trying to get acquainted with Toady and Manda by opening another pack of rations and feeding them the contents.

Spoiler

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C'mon. Will you be my friend? Animal Handling: (d20)[16]

If he is asked about his opinion whether they should drop by the Temple, Zuzu will agree enthusiastically. For, has the Vates not promised at least two magic spells to him if the task to slay the Wendigo is completed?

[Jrpergande78]

Manda's tongue constantly flickers, as he tastes the air around him. Putting to memory the scent of the new group of people around her. He knew he could trust Jynx and he is more than willing to die for her. When Zuzu offers the food from his pack she ignores it, however, when asked to be his friend, Manda reaches down low enough to give Zuzu a series of licks to show that he was indeed a friend.

He has eaten already and won't need to eat for some time, he has accepted your offer though and now considers you a friend.

Jynx gives the signal to let her down, once she is down and walking Jynx speaks to the toad.(gnome ability speak with small animals) What do you like to eat little one.

[Requilac]

Zuzu spends the trip trying to get acquainted with Toady and Manda by opening another pack of rations and feeding them the contents.

Spoiler

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C'mon. Will you be my friend? Animal Handling: [roll0]

The bloated, slothful amphibian gladly gulps up your rations and is beginning to get more comfortable with putting its head on your shoulder or arm whenever you feed it. It is either warming up to your friendship, or getting tired of avoiding your friendship.

Manda's tongue constantly flickers, as he tastes the air around him. Putting to memory the scent of the new group of people around her. He knew he could trust Jynx and he is more than willing to die for her. When Zuzu offers the food from his pack she ignores it, however, when asked to be his friend, Manda reaches down low enough to give Zuzu a series of licks to show that he was indeed a friend.

He has eaten already and won't need to eat for some time, he has accepted your offer though and now considers you a friend.

The rest of the guards seem to show an exceptional amount of deference to Manda. They are very careful not to step on her, and will always let her move in front of them if she wishes. If her tongue flicks near someone's satchel, they will throw a small bit of food on the ground. If she brushes up against someone's leg, nobody tries to move her away or harm her. It is quite an odd show to say the least.

Jynx gives the signal to let her down, once she is down and walking Jynx speaks to the toad.(gnome ability speak with small animals) What do you like to eat little one.

Zuzu's toady only gives you another unnaturally low ribbit that rumbles like the river, which has ambigious meaning. You usually have such a great knack with understanding animals, but for some reason you can't seem to tell what Toady wants. And it doesn't seem like he is registering what you are saying much at all. This isn't supposed to happen, you should be able to talk to all relatively smaller animals, but it somehow is not working on it.

[Requilac]

After Traubon hears a complete lack of any words from you upon the question, he turns his head forward to the road and stares with concentration. For the rest of the trip he doesn't say a word to you, which isn't horribly out of the ordinary for his personality really. As you walk along the sleet starts gathering in concentration, and you all need to watch carefully where you step or risk slipping on the icy ground. Somehow the forest seem to be able to blot out the light of sun during the day, but yet it does nothing to stop the sleet from above at night.

It doesn't take much longer than a hour to finally reach Krangar. Once you get back it is as silent as a ghost town, much like it was before if you were being honest. The guards en masse branch off towards their austere camp, more than a little reluctantly given how cold it shall be to sleep out. Captain Traubon though and a group of six more men-at-arms (or probably some women-at-arms, though you aren't quite sure how the draft system works in Senckried) do not move to the camp but rather towards the temple.

Traubon turns to speak to you one final time before leaving. "We are going to probably be having to leave towards the capital within a few days, if not tomorrow. If you would like to see the letter demanding our summoning there, then check in with Vates Torbera Volgrith, she should have a copy. I would also highly advise that you all get some warmer clothing some day soon. I know that it is still only October, but winter comes early when you are at such a high altitude like Senckried is. When the ground is frozen for the first time in the year, it will often stay like that for the next five months."

You are hearing people throw the word "Vates" a lot before Torbera's first or last name. You assume that it must be some sort of honorific, but you don't know what role she is in to deserve it. She seems like a mayor, so it could be something like mayor, or maybe it could denote her role in the Octopraecantatio. It's not one that you have ever heard of before.

[Zergrinch]

"Ok! Let's go see Ms. Vates!" Zuzu says. Part of him is exhausted, but the thirst for more spells compelled him to follow through first.

"Oh yeah. Where should we go buy clothes, Mr. Captain?"

[Requilac]

"Ok! Let's go see Ms. Vates!" Zuzu says. Part of him is exhausted, but the thirst for more spells compelled him to follow through first.

"Oh yeah. Where should we go buy clothes, Mr. Captain?"

Traubon sighs as he looks down at the sleet, then goes to meet your gaze. "Krangar is too small too have its own professional tailor, so you would have to stop by the Wander Goat General Store if you want anything like that. As with most small towns, they have got pretty much anything you need in there. So long as it is not magical, at least. "

[Jrpergande78]

After getting to camp, Jynx and Manda goes off to look for warmer clothes. She is more worried about Manda's comfort over her own and tries to see if she could find something for him.