The Greatest Treasure

[Terraspaz]

Round 4
Though you creep up behind the beast, and catch it off-guard, your swift strike is deflected by the troll's tough skin, sending your attack glancing off to the side. Immediately reacting, the Troll looks in your direction, eyes still filled with sparkling dust. The monster snarls, sucking in gusts of air through its misshapen nose, sending droplets of blood and spittle across your face. As you get ready to dodge the easily avoidable counter-attack, a twinge of panic darts through your brain. The creature must surely be swinging blind, yet it now seems focused not just in your direction, but directly on you! Your mind races as your legs explode into action, as it suddenly becomes as clear as the troll's own hideous nose.

It's nose!

Heart racing, you dive to the side, tumbling in a somersault, quickly rising to your feet. As you stand at the mouth of a cave, a sight so obvious and clear breaches the darkness, and makes you wonder how you could've missed it before.

At the back of the cave, illuminated by an orange haze stands a young girl, no more than 14 years old. Her yellow hair, brightened by the aura seeming to fill the cave around her stands on end, flowing through the air as if she were walking through water. Her eyes, also covered in an orange sheen seem unaware of your presence, which fails to stop her slow march toward the entrance.

Remembering the original threat, you redirect your gaze to the Troll, who stands before you, hunched forward, puffing at the air in your direction. You collect one last deep breath of air, before re-entering the fray.

This... THIS is the part we'll talk about when we get to Locardia.

MAP

Spoiler

Show

[HunterOfJello]

Vathian continues his assault on the monster as he yells towards the girl, "Stay back fair maiden! The beast is blinded for the moment, but won't be for long!"


Attack (1d20+9)[25]
Slashing Damage (1d8)[8]
Fire Damage (3d6)[11]

[Terraspaz]

Out of Initiative

Lunging forward, you fake right, drawing the troll's momentum away from your leftward dart, exposing a wide opening in his defenses. You spin your entire body, putting your arm, shoulder, back, and hips into your strike, ripping apart a large layer of flesh from the creature. The heat from the firey blade sizzles, and sends the hot smell of burnt skin searing into the air, assailing your nostrils. The creature roars, collapsing to the ground.

The young girl finishes walking out of the cave, and as she exits, the aura around her begins to dissipate, and a lovely blue hue returns to her eyes. Blinking, she surveys the area, rubbing her head with both palms.
"Urrnnnnn.... auuuggg.... oh my... where are... I ahm... excuse me sir, but... ...who are you... and where are we? Did you bring me here?"

[HunterOfJello]

Vathian presents himself with a flourish of his cloak and a prize winning smile while relinquishing the flames from his blade, glad that the fire has taken care of the blood that would otherwise be left on the weapon.

Good evening m'lady. I am Vathian. Bard extraordinaire and occasional adventurer against my better judgment. We happen to be standing at the bottom of a hillock about two days march from the road proper to Locardia and likely your previous home. Assuming, that is, that you are the Sally who I came this long way to rescue from two trolls? he asks her raising an eyebrow.

Vathian takes a step towards the girl to get a better look at her, and winces in pain at the wound he took earlier from the troll. I suppose it would be better to take care of important matters first. Are you hurt at all? Vathian pulls out his Wand of Cure Light Wounds in expectation of her answer while trying to calm her with his smile and not frighten the girl.

Diplomacy Check (1d20+8)[13]

[Terraspaz]

So you're not a bad guy! Oh, Vathyan! Sally drops her trepidation, and rushes in towards you, circling you with her arms, but for the grace of the gods missing the severe wounds inflicted by the trolls just seconds before. Perhaps just a strange warmth emanating from her, a mix perhaps of her affection for you, her new savior, but a part of it feels like genuine heat. After a moment's embrace, you hear a stirring behind you. The first troll you dispatched begins to rise, the slash wounds over his body now completely closed, though the charred, scorched skin is still smoldering from your strikes. The beast climbs to his feet, letting out a powerful war cry. As your instincts direct you to put some separation between you and Sally, to engage the monster without her proximity, you feel the tinge of warmth rise to almost painful levels. As you glance back towards Sally, you see that the bright orange glaze has returned to her eyes, growing in intensity. The ends of her bright yellow hair (now a radiant orange,) stand on end, as a jet of burning hot light streaks from the end of her extended finger, crashing into the troll's strong chest. The troll rockets backwards, never to rise again.

Sally's hair drops to the side of her head, returning to the soft blonde that it was seconds earlier. She turns to you, head looking downward, eyes betraying panic and terror. "Mr. Vatheean, sir... ...Can we go home, now?"

[HunterOfJello]

Vathian attempts to keep his composure before the powerful girl gulping and keeping up his smile. He quickly thinks over any information he's heard about powers similar to the ones the girl has just shown.

Spellcraft (1d20+8)[26]
Bardic Knowledge (1d20+8)[9]

Of course! Vathian announces. I'm sure your father will be very happy to see you again. He gently unfurls her other hand from his body and holds it gently for a moment. Now, are you hurt at all? This wand I have can heal wounds, see? He lets go of her hand and gestures with the wand saying the command word to Cure Light Wounds on himself twice.

Wand of Cure Light Wounds (CL 1) (1d8+1)[3]
Wand of Cure Light Wounds (CL 1) (1d8+1)[9]

Ah, that's far better now. Vathian looks around for his shortbow and goes to pick it up. Did you see anything interesting in the cave? He asks her the question and then quickly recovers hoping to not make the girl upset. We can start our way back in a moment, but it would be best to take a quick look around and find anything that may help us on our way back.

[Terraspaz]

No, no... I'm really alright. Sally tilts her head toward you, watching a a soft sheet of light seep from the tip of your wand, covering the deep gouges in your side, refreshing them with a soft tingling energy. Taking only a moment to step into the cavern, you enter the mound (even damper than the rest of the marshlands around) with Sally timidly walking in behind you. The power and chaos behind the girl's eyes just seconds before has all but fully disappeared, leaving behind a small, scared teenage girl.

Inside the cavern, you find two things. First, a dank, foul smell that arises from a combination of the plant and animal waste seeping in from the ground above, and emanating from the old earth below. The second lies on a collection of bones off to the side. It's unlikely that these came from the trolls, as they've clearly been decaying for some time. A tattered red clock lies in strips around the figure, along with a set of cracked chain mail armor, as well as a rusted iron longsword. Clutching the sword is a gauntlet, with its brother lying just beside. Much larger than normal gauntlets, the first gauntlet has several chambers which seem to funnel directly into the hand of the wearer.

Item Description:

Spoiler

Show

The Gauntlet of Potion Storing can store up to six distinct potions at one time, one in each of its slots. As a move action, the wearer of this item may activate one of these slots to cause a mechanism in the gauntlet to inject the potion directly into the wearer.
Due to the stabbing pain of injecting oneself with a magical substance, the whenever one of the potion uses is activated, the wearer must make a Fortitude save (DC 13 + 1 per number of injections used within the hour). If the wearer fails the save, they take 1 point of Constitution damage +1 point of Constitution damage per number of injections used within the hour.

(Approximate Resale Value: 5,000 GP)

"He's been here since I arrived... ...is there... can we help him? ...Actually, sir... let's just leave... I don't... I don't want to stare at him anymore."

Edit:
The flash and display from Sally's moment of devastating power looks very familiar to that of a Scorching Ray.

[HunterOfJello]

Alright. We better be making our way back towards the road. Vathian tells the girl as he grabs the strange gauntlet and walks out of the cave. Outside, Vathian equips the gauntlet and does a quick check to see if it is currently storing any potions.

Search (1d20+2)[5]

We'd best be making our way back towards the main road. Vathian scans the area and begins walking back along the path he came.

That reminds me, you never did tell me your name or how all this started. Vathian tells her in the form a question. He looks down to her and smiles as he walks.

[Terraspaz]

Well, ahm... sir... or ah... ah, mister Vaathaan, sir... My name is Sally. I ahm... I was working on breakfast, and then I heard a noise, and then I went to the door, and then the door broke open, and then there were these two big monsters, and then my daddy came up with an axe, but then they hit him through our wall, but the bed broke his fall, and then everything went dark... well, and then you showed up here. Sally begins the march back, beside, and a little bit behind you. Her hair, earlier standing on end, flowing around her as if in a sea of sheer power, now lies frayed, and lifeless about the sides of her head. Occasionally her hand sweeps across her face, brushing it, and perhaps tears, out of her eyes.

The sun sets and rises once on your journey back toward the main road. Before you can reach it, however, you see a group of about 6 figures, all on horseback, as they are nearly upon you. Curses on your terrible eyesight The sight of swords spikes your nerves, until you and Sally both make a crucial recognition.

DADDY! Sally breaks from your side, and sprints over to her father, who haphazardly dismounts from his horse, nearly stumbling to the ground as he trips over his feet, racing to meet his daughter. By Gods, I thought I'd never see you again! Sally, my treasure! The girl's father looks up at you with tear-filled eyes, flopping between joyous laughter and joyous sobs in mere seconds. The two share a deep, long embrace before you, in the midday sun, about 2 hours from the Main Road.

Spoiler

Show

Ding!