(IC) Festival of Heroes - Fenris Howls - Main

[Wolfykins]

"The size. Of. Your finger," Aistriú repeated flatly, waving their hand in front of their face.
"Aaaaaaanyway... I suppose I understand what you mean about the way this magic works. Is it actually like my bond, a constant thing? Because I'd be willing to do this for you, but I did not especially enjoy being awakened by your nightmares the other night, no offense," the fey said dryly.


Aurora flew down from the tree and dismissed her wings. She regarded Kest with concern, brows pinching.
"I understand that this doesn't feel relevant, but, what about the payment being offered?" she asked. "Doesn't that help you? And I'm concerned about you wandering around alone... Juvelnord is better than a lot of places, but, they still have hangups about tieflings," she said, gaze shifting over to the captain as she pulled her bottom lip between her teeth worriedly. She fixed her brown eyes on Kest again and flashed him a concerned half-frown.
"Wouldn't you rather wait and get paid, and search together?"

[Darius Vibrtrar]

Umbear smiled, a mischevious grin on his face.

"Does that mean If I did give you a ring, it would fit you like a belt?"

He chuckles a little.

"How it works is alot like a status spell that you have to think about. ever so often you can go hey... if umbear dead? nope.... hes just.... oh hes dying. Its something that you could have on tab for when we arnt bonded, or it can enhance our bond when we are bonded. "

He paused for a moment looking to the group.

"No one here wears armor like... plate armor, right?"

He smirks back to Jaylyn.

"Some restraints would be great Vixen, get some practice in making some strong ones. "

He gave her a playful wink.

[dysmorphia]

The centaur gave a little sigh at Aurora's words, pawing slightly at the ground. "It would be better to search together... cover more ground..."

He thought for a moment before nodding. "Very well. I will take the prisoners back, then return quickly."

When Umbear spoke up, Kestejoo turned to the ogre. "I am capable of it, though most armor lying around would not fit." He gave the ogre a half-hearted smile before shrugging.

[Darius Vibrtrar]

Umbear perked up when Kest spoke up.

"oh! then we can have the little sapphire alter it for you. Maybe even up grade it!"

umbear pulls out a full helm with a lion's visage for the face.

"From what I understand this can be a very spooky and scary suite of armor that can also help out those around them. Its called White Lion Plate, but I think we can upgrade it for you. Well see what She can do, once we get back to town. "

Umbear pulls out the suit of White Lion plate and hands it to Kest.

[dysmorphia]

"I thank you," the centaur replied, taking the armor and stowing it in his bag of holding.

"Now... we need to secure them and take them back to the city. I and he can be back quickly." He nodded towards Markus, having heard his offer. "Make whatever restraints you can and we'll use his rope to tie them together."

[Wolfykins]

"Well, that's fine then," Aistriú said, "I'll be your 'bodyguard'," their voice dipped into a touch of sarcasm and they flexed two fingers in the air, "just in case I need to check in on you when you're not my bonded. Speaking of which, I am not bonded to anyone right now... Hey, Markas, since you're planning to help escort the prisoners back, do you want to bond with me for the duration of that trip? So we can know if something goes wrong?"


Aurora smiled brightly and reached out to briefly clasp Kest's hand. "I'm glad to hear it! You two be careful, alright?" she said, looking over at Markas, nodding.
"I would offer to cast 'Blessing of Fervor' on you both, but it's such a short-lived spell that I don't think it would really be all that helpful. Neither would 'Protection From Evil', since these rabble-rousers aren't evil, just terribly misguided. Does anyone have any wounds that need treating before we move on?"


"I cut my fool self," Malaika admitted wryly, "and it's bleeding. It's not bad, but if I ignore it, it will get there."



Aurora nodded and reached out her hand as the shobhad woman approached. She took Malaika's bleeding hand in her own.
"May the Divine Wind heal your wounds," she said lightly.

Spoiler: Spellcraft DC 16

Show

Cure Light Wounds
(1d8+5)[8]

[Darius Vibrtrar]

Umbear noded before reaching deep into one of his bags and pulls out an Emerald the size of a human fist.

"Do we have anyone amongst us who... doesnt prefer the confinement of rules and laws and prefers the freedoms of being able to choose how you live as opposed to the oppression of law?"

The dagger in his hand glowed for a moment, connecting Ais to Umbear. He smiled, putting the dagger on his belt.

"Also... if I die... and my many fail safes fail... the dagger will keep my soul for safe keeping. "

[Wolfykins]

Aistriú frowned at Umbear with some concern. "What do you mean, it'll keep your soul? Is it like 'Magic Jar' or something? Be careful with it... that is a dangerous spell..."


Malaika's eyes fixed on the enormous gemstone and lit briefly before she composed herself behind a mask of calm. She cleared her throat and raised an eyebrow.
"I think you probably just described me pretty well? And I guess the fey too," she admitted begrudgingly, "but that's a miiiiiighty... big jewel you've got there. Probably too big for the fey to hold?"


Aistriú rolled their eyes at Malaika, and then shrugged at Umbear. "Yeah, that probably describes me... I have definitely gone against the conventions of my kin, and we don't consider rules of non-fey to apply to us anyway. Why? What did you find?"

[Jgraves]

Bramwell sniffs as he's been looking over the items Umbear gave him and then raises a hand to his question. "Aye that could be describing me" he says and takes out the ring and the cloak from the bag

[Darius Vibrtrar]

Umbear tilts his head at Ais.

"Its more like.... A Soul Bind, anyone holding the dagger when I die is treated like they have my body on hand when they attempt to bring me back. Speaking of Which."

Umbear holds the dagger again and focuses, feeling out if there might already be a soul in the dagger. He then looks to mal a grin on his face.

"Yea? This here is a Chaos Emerald. It can a couple times a day protect a chaotic person, or attack for them. I'll let you three decide who wants it, and who gets it. "

[paladin_artea]

Markas nodded at Kest, getting his rope readied for the prisoners, then turned to Ais, "Sure Ais, that sounds like a great idea."

He turned to Aurora, "Don't worry, I'll keep an eye on him for you," he said with a wink, "I'm a little injured, nothing too bad so it can wait if need be, just one of your smaller healing spells if you want."

[Jgraves]

"sounds like a fun little trinket," bramwell says with a raised eyebrow and a grin

[Wolfykins]

"No problem at all, Markas!" Aurora said. She inspected his injuries briefly and nodded.
"Better to over-compensate a little bit, I think," she said. "May the Divine Wind heal your wounds."

Spoiler: Spellcraft DC 18

Show

Cure serious wounds

Markas is healed (3d8+13)[32].


"Malaika's right, it's a bit big for me. It's half as tall as I am!" Aistriú admitted.


"Well, when ownership of loot is contested, it's up to the boss," Malaika said begrudgingly, and looked questioningly at Gorrun.

[Darius Vibrtrar]

Umbear spoke up as soon as Mal spoke.

"now now, wait a minute. Let me add that the captain just did receive a small bounty of loot, as for ais, I will ensure she recieves some sort of loot as we go along."

He looked over to the Captain.

"Do you see any fault or reason to contest that summary?"

[Erealyn]

Jaylyn just rolled her eyes at Umbear comment. "Twenty pairs of shackles coming up." She said walking off into the woods to find a fallen tree. After about five minutes she came back. The only difference was she was wearing a pair of gloves. Once she got back she slid her over head and sat it on the ground, opening up the bag she reached in and murmured "Shackles" and pulled out one pair of shackles after another until all the pairs was on the ground. "They are not made to fit yet, nothing a little more shaping can't fit." She said looking around at those stuck in the air. "SO which one of you is first?"

Spoiler: her actions

Show

she will make each prisoners shackles however way the others want to them made, except for the one she dominated, Jaylyn will insist that one travels with them so that they can get information out of him on the way up and back bout the freedom fighters groups. Once she gets to the one she Dominated she'll look up and tell him because he was the first to surrender, he will not have to be shackled, and as an added bonus he will be riding with her in the wagon. She will attempt to use her domination to force him to thank her for her generosity.

[Darius Vibrtrar]

umbear fascilitates jaylyn with placing the now stripped prisoners into shackles then connecting them with markas's rope.

[STDM Grizzly Ad]

Gorrun oversees the binding of prisoners and nods.
That sounds like a fine idea. Markas can expedite your travel considerably. Safe travels.

He then looks over the gem...
(1d20+15)[18] spell craft

I don't see anything wrong with it.

[Jgraves]

The Captain shakes his head, "that sounds fine ta me"

[Darius Vibrtrar]

Umbear nodds to the Captain.

"good man. "

He smiles and tosses the gem to Mal.

"dont go thinking its an engagement present. too many thinking that today. "

he gives a wink to ais.

"1 charge for Entropic Sheild
1 Charge for Confusion
1 Charge for magic Circle against Law
2 charges for chaos Hammer

it has a maximum of 10 charges, its probably full right now cause... i just scooped it out of some goop, and it recharges a little bit every day, so keep an eye on it. im pretty sure the command word is 'screw the patriarchy', but be careful with it. "

[dysmorphia]

Kestejoo took the front end of the rope and secured it to his modified backpack. "Well, then. Let's go... sooner we drop them at the city, sooner we can be back."

The centaur nodded towards Aurora, then towards Markus, and started off. He set a brisk pace, his huge hooves shaking the ground. The centaur did not slow down and actually sped up at some points, growing impatient.

Once back at the city, Kestejoo handed the prisoners off to the guards at the gate and let Markus do the explaining. Once done, he turned around with Markus and started back.

[paladin_artea]

Markas took out the two elixers of shade walking, gave one to Kestajoo "you may feel some momentary discomfort or disorientation while we travel back..." he warned him, "but this will make things much faster." With that he downed the elixir and took half of the prisoners with him to the front gates. He then dropped them off with the guards explaining the situation. "Race you," he grinned at Kest as he headed back to the others...

[Darius Vibrtrar]

umbear smiled to the group after loading all the gained spoils into one of the empty wagons.

"So, shall we continue this expedition?"

Rubbing a ring on his finger he turns invisible, and proceeds to stealth alongside the caravan.

[Wolfykins]

Malaika caught the emerald with relish, and completely ignored Umbear's joke. She held it between two fingers and lifted it up to one eye and grinned. "How often do you see a gem as big as a shobhad's eye, really? Though I suppose they're more common in Juvelnord than other places, considering the bounty of diamonds and other precious and semi-precious stones up here. Only things that make this climate worth it, really!" She tucked the emerald into one of her many pockets and put away her daggers.
She made sure to take a moment to center herself and restore her expended maneuvers, before climbing into a wagon and settling in.


Aistriú took a deep breath and let it out slowly, watching Markas and Kest and the prisoners vanish with a frustrated expression.
"Alright, so... what's the plan from here? Do we put the miners back in the wagons, or are they staying on the boat now? If they're staying on the boat, what are we doing with the two now-extra wagons? Who's going to drive them? Are we going to look enough like a harmless, tempting wagon train of miners to attract further attacks without any actual miners in the wagons? Or are we just not anticipating further ambushes?" the danthienne queried rapidly.


"Oh, I anticipate more trouble ahead, simply because we didn't recover any of m--our... crew... amongst these rabble. So they must be farther up ahead," Malaika said confidently.


Aurora looked questioningly at Gorrun. "Well, General, is one thwarted ambush sufficient to send a message, in your opinion? Or should we continue to bait them? We do know these anarchists are highly disorganized and disconnected from each other. The left hand doesn't know what the right hand is doing. Do you think one dispersed unit regrouping with others and telling their story will be sufficiently threatening and convincing for them to leave this road alone?"

[Erealyn]

Jaylyn looked as each person talked in turn. "Well honestly I think we should keep the miners in the boat, it's kinda silly to keep bouncing them back and forth. I also agree with Malaika i also suspect more then one ambush. But why not get the information from somebody on the inside." Jaylyn said looking at her prisoner. "You WILL tell the truth. Is what they said true. Are there other ambushes, and what do you do should one of your ambushes fail."

[EdgeGrinder]

"I don't know and run!" The Dwarven axe thrower replied plainly.

[STDM Grizzly Ad]

Load back up, the miners can stay with the captain and head skyward, keep an eye on us from up there. Who all can drive a wagon? We can maintain the charade well enough. The drivers don't need to be dwarven.

[Wolfykins]

"Drive, obviously not," Aurora said with a smile, "but I do know horses. I can get them all to pull the wagons and follow me, even if there's no driver at all. I can't guarantee that won't look odd to observers... though I would also point out we have no particular need to try and maneuver on this narrow road with five wagons if two of them are going to be empty. We could unhitch two of the horses and tie them to the rear wagon like reserve horses. If we're shucking the facade of being a caravan of dwarven miners, then why burden ourselves with extra wagons? We can send someone from the city to fetch them back tomorrow," Aurora suggested.

[Erealyn]

Jaylyn nodded "I mean they are just wagons, heck if we're stuck coming back on foot we could pick them back up on the way back." she spoke plainly, then thought bout it for a quick moment. "If we want to keep the facade of a miners caravan it would take me 10 minutes to cast the spell but if not i'm fine with whatever."

[Andrew Markham]

Aurix flickers into being near, but not directly at his destination of the battlefield. Aurix and Torilee look around, then take to the air to see if anything is going on, or has been in the fast while.

[Wolfykins]

The paladins had resumed their formations around the choke points in the ramparts, and were watching the tower and quietly talking amongst themselves. There was a general sense of unease in the area, and Aurix and Torilee were quickly able to see why.
The landscape of the park had changed even further during their absence. Strange plants were growing up out of the cracks. They were different from the warped plants along the cracks; they were new growths. Some looked like clusters of squid tentacles made of foliage. They were purple, with rubbery-looking red flowers where the suckers would be. Green and yellow sap oozed down them, and splattered the ground and nearby foliage when the tips of the tentacles occasionally twitched at random.
Other growths looked like giant, misshapen mushrooms with purple stalks and red caps with black undersides. Some of the mushrooms had orange, yellow or sickly green spots of varying sizes that seemed to pulse with faint light.
Yet others looked like nothing Aurix could really draw comparison to. They were just lumpy shapes of mottled colors that were, at best, something akin to what a small child would create after mashing together a displeasing combination of colored salt dough. There was no rhyme or reason that a mind grounded in reality could make sense of.

Torilee swallowed hard and looked nervously at Aurix. "D-do you want to... go check those new plants and see if they're... dangerous, hey?" Torilee asked in a tone of forced bravery.