A’ro stares at the pillar unsure of what is causing his elemental natural to flare, but feeling an instinctive draw towards the pillar his begins to move almost in a daze. The focus of his vision causing the surrounding to draw out his focus. His legs moving of their own accord as the sense of curiosity over takes him and primordial begins to stream from his mouth.
“Well aren’t you a curious stone pillar…please won’t you please tell me your secrets.”
As he reaches for the pillar, letting the electricity of his natural born magic flow, a smile crosses his face. Then the humming starts and grows, eventually forcing A’ro to cover his ears and fall to his knees. He just reaches out again as he continues to speak in primordial, his tone reaching out as if trying to desperately call the natural connection and feeling he just had back.
“Wait…please…”
He just freezes looking at his hands as the last of the natural connection to some part of him fades.
[OOC] Anyone who knows primordial, can read spoilers.
A’ro stares at the pillar unsure of what is causing his elemental natural to flare, but feeling an instinctive draw towards the pillar his begins to move almost in a daze. The focus of his vision causing the surrounding to draw out his focus. His legs moving of their own accord as the sense of curiosity over takes him and primordial begins to stream from his mouth.
“Well aren’t you a curious stone pillar…please won’t you please tell me your secrets.”
As he reaches for the pillar, letting the electricity of his natural born magic flow, a smile crosses his face. Then the humming starts and grows, eventually forcing A’ro to cover his ears and fall to his knees. He just reaches out again as he continues to speak in primordial, his tone reaching out as if trying to desperately call the natural connection and feeling he just had back.
“Wait…please…”
He just freezes looking at his hands as the last of the natural connection to some part of him fades.
[OOC] Anyone who knows primordial, can read spoilers.
'As the lights and sounds fade, and his understandibly concerned companions turn to hurry from the clearing, the somewhat disheartened A'ro's fingers lightly brush the rough, moss covered stone of the crooked and clearly ancient pillar. A sudden, yet light and fleeting breeze picks up around the connected sorcerer and pillar, kicking up a small cloud of dust and leafy detrius. The breeze dissipates as quickly as it arose and the puzzled genasi feels no further response to his touch from the pillar, but A'ro quickly, almost instinctively, realises two things - firstly, that the source of the sudden breeze was external to himself and, secondly, that something, the pillar itself perhaps, sensed and reacted to his presence for the briefest of moments.'
D&D is a game, but it's not just a game. It's the ultimate storyboard, a campfire to share with friends, an imaginary call to imaginary arms and a ship to sail to horizons yet undreamt of...
Vassa Sunstar (half-drow bard) - Waterdeep Dragonheist DM Ghosts of a Forgotten Land DM Beyond the Bitter Shore DM Echos of a Burning Crown
A'ro just stands and looks at it for a little longer, reaching out one more time to touch the stone closing his eyes to remember the feel of the breeze and primordial reaction. He then just turns and starts walking towards his companions following their guide.
'Your party quickly moves North beyond the clearing and into the once again dense woods. Despite the infrequent glimpses of white clouds and blue skies that you catch through the dense cannopy, the temperature in the wood feels cold far beyond the norm for this time of year. As you reach a particularly dense thicket of brush and scrub that obstructs the way forward, you almost get the sense that this ancient fey forest fragment is sentient in some way, watching you perhaps, and if not outright hostile, certainly not welcoming of your presence. Glancing about uncertainly as the tree's shadows seem to close about your group, you realise that you're completely unsure as to which direction you should take to be rid of the encroaching woods.
*CAWWW* The harsh cry to the West turns your heads in that direction and after careful scrutiny you spy Worms' dark form amidst the branches of a less threatening elm tree in the distance. Hurriedly moving in that direction, you note the terrain begin to ease, with less thick brush and fewer obstructing tree roots frustrating your travel. Reaching the branching elm as Worms takes flight again West, you note a break in the trees further in that direction... and through the break you catch a welcome glimpse of a familiar sparkling blue expanse. Following the alluring sight of the sea, you soon emerge onto the bluff's edge high above the rocks and crashing surf below. The early afternoon sun is marred by windblown clouds overhead as you look North down a narrow and largely clear strip of ground that runs for several hundread feet, a strip of land that your raven guide is even now gliding the length of.
Reaching the Southmost point of the open bluffs, you catch sigh of Worms once again within the tree-line. With a final *CAWWW* the large raven drops from his wooden perch and swoops Eastwards... towards a leaf covered and moderately sunlit slanted cottage roof. It is but a relatively short walk across comparatively spacious and uncluttered ground to reach the small clearing where the cottage stands. Taking in the idyllic sounds of the *tinkling* spring fed pool, enthusiastically *chirping* insects and unfettered *croaking* of many frogs, you also notice that the door of the cottage is currently shut.'
D&D is a game, but it's not just a game. It's the ultimate storyboard, a campfire to share with friends, an imaginary call to imaginary arms and a ship to sail to horizons yet undreamt of...
Vassa Sunstar (half-drow bard) - Waterdeep Dragonheist DM Ghosts of a Forgotten Land DM Beyond the Bitter Shore DM Echos of a Burning Crown
Orlys gives a little private grimace that might as well be a baring of teeth, it is hard to tell, and deposits the spider carcasses in the middle of the clearing, towards the door. "None of me business, I'll just wait." Then he retreats to the edge of the clearing (back to a tree or a rock or something, though there is not much cover in the "comparatively spacious and uncluttered ground") and settles on his haunches to wait, facing the sea.
A'ro just smiles as he walks up to the door and knocks, turning the pack around as he fishes out the book and knocks again"Naskeen, we've come back and with everything you asked for."
Orlys gives a little private grimace that might as well be a baring of teeth, it is hard to tell, and deposits the spider carcasses in the middle of the clearing, towards the door. "None of me business, I'll just wait." Then he retreats to the edge of the clearing (back to a tree or a rock or something, though there is not much cover in the "comparatively spacious and uncluttered ground") and settles on his haunches to wait, facing the sea.
'Virt, who has been walking and talking beside Orlys for most of the trip here, gives the fierce bugbear a puzzled look as the furred sailor dumps the spider carcasses and moves to the clearing's edge. Thinking that the goblinoid is merely worn out, the bald goggle wearing ships officer nods understandingly and, with some difficulty, lifts one of the three fey spiders into his own arms, and grunts out as the clearly weaker man staggers towards the cottage,'
"No worries, Orlys. This job is ours fer the completin' it is, true enough. Take some rest... Oh, and by the way. That spring fountain there, yes that one flowing into the small pool. It has healin' and medicinal properties it does. Fixed a few of us up earlier it surely did. Anyway, we'll be back soon."
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D&D is a game, but it's not just a game. It's the ultimate storyboard, a campfire to share with friends, an imaginary call to imaginary arms and a ship to sail to horizons yet undreamt of...
Vassa Sunstar (half-drow bard) - Waterdeep Dragonheist DM Ghosts of a Forgotten Land DM Beyond the Bitter Shore DM Echos of a Burning Crown
A'ro just smiles as he walks up to the door and knocks, turning the pack around as he fishes out the book and knocks again"Naskeen, we've come back and with everything you asked for."
'Walking confidently up to the front door, A'ro notices Worms off to the side of the cottage, perched in a titled and bare-branched oak tree, seemingly content to peck through his own feathers now that his assigned task has been completed. While the clearing in which the apothecary's hut sits is warmer by far than the Wispwood that the party had just departed, the elementally attuned genasi can't help but feel a lingering cold in his bones, a cold that may take quite some time to fully shake, the sorcerer senses.
Standing upon the hut's porch even as his companions gather on the stairs and planking behind him, A'ro reaches out to *knock-knock-knock* upon the moss covered door frame. A few creaks and shuffling footsteps can be heard within for a moment, before after a repeat of the knocking and the passing of another minute, the door handle turns ever so slightly and the old, heavily weathered door *creaks* inwards an inch.
A cool, distant and dispassionate voice drifts through the ajar opening from within the small shack,'
"Can it be...? Have you returned so soon? With that which was sought, perhaps? Please, come inside, friends. I would hear your tale, a tale of triumph I am hoping."
[OOC]
The below picture is fairly accurate (e.g. red, long straight hair, white seemingly blind eyes, a scarred visage, EXCEPT that Naskeen's scarring is MUCH worse than that shown below, the woodswoman's face a patchwork quilt of jagged slashes, deep gouges and burn marks.
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D&D is a game, but it's not just a game. It's the ultimate storyboard, a campfire to share with friends, an imaginary call to imaginary arms and a ship to sail to horizons yet undreamt of...
Vassa Sunstar (half-drow bard) - Waterdeep Dragonheist DM Ghosts of a Forgotten Land DM Beyond the Bitter Shore DM Echos of a Burning Crown
Orlys glances at the pool, but makes no move towards it.
'As Orlys crouches amidst a few trees at the clearing's edge, the exhausted bugbear watches this odd group of people who rescued him from the horrible spider infested caverns climb the cottages porch. The watchful goblinoid understandably remains on edge, his trusty maul clutched in hand, but is gradually infused by a sense of relative calm and benign acceptance here in this place, as opposed to the feelings of perpetual dread and impending doom that the hardened sailor had otherwise experienced here beneath the boughs and earth of the Wispwood.'
[OOC] Orlys may make a perception check DC10 and read the spoiler with a score of 10 or more:
'Staring at the peacefully flowing, crystal clear waters of the spring and pool further calms your somewhat frayed nerves. You note a couple of tiny water bugs skipping across the pool's surface as you listen to the *croaks* and *chirps* of the clearling's frogs and other insect life. However, while it doesn't strike you as malevolent or even especially strange in this already most unusual place, Orlys notes that the light reflecting off the pools placid surface shimmers out of keeping with the movement of the clouds above and that the two water bugs appear to be skipping about backwards across the pool's waters. Likewise, something about the insect and wildlife sounds strikes a discordant note with the brown and black furred bugbear, almost as though the insect and frog sounds aren't real but are rather being performed or played through some masterful mimicry.'
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
D&D is a game, but it's not just a game. It's the ultimate storyboard, a campfire to share with friends, an imaginary call to imaginary arms and a ship to sail to horizons yet undreamt of...
Vassa Sunstar (half-drow bard) - Waterdeep Dragonheist DM Ghosts of a Forgotten Land DM Beyond the Bitter Shore DM Echos of a Burning Crown
A'ro just smiles as he walks in"Can it be, why yes it can. We have indeed returned so soon, but the missions were accomplished. Got the book right here, we also have the spiders and mushrooms. As for the tale, well we can definitely do that if you have some tea. Where's the amazing cat friend I made earlier?"
A'ro will just walk inside and immediately try to find Naskeen and walk right up placing the book in here hands"One mystical book guarded by Fey Spiders."
Orlys shakes his head like he's trying to shake a chill, and resolutely stares out to sea, though his big ears continue to twitch at unexpected sounds.
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ey/em/eirs, or they/them works, too (just not he). Role-playing since that keep on those borderlands. Here's my D&D stuff. I love it so.
A'ro just smiles as he walks in"Can it be, why yes it can. We have indeed returned so soon, but the missions were accomplished. Got the book right here, we also have the spiders and mushrooms. As for the tale, well we can definitely do that if you have some tea. Where's the amazing cat friend I made earlier?"
A'ro will just walk inside and immediately try to find Naskeen and walk right up placing the book in here hands"One mystical book guarded by Fey Spiders."
'Pushing the slightly ajar door open the rest of the way, A'ro enters the noticably more aromatic cottage to see the small cloaked figure of the reclusive apothecary hunched over the small table that sits to the side of the room. As one of Worms' *cawww*s echos through the tree tops outside the cottage, you look around and see that you have apparently caught Naskeen at her work. An assortment of dried berries, flowers, herbs and roots decorate the table in front of the busy woman, who is in the process of crushing the tables contents into a powder with the use of a heavy bronze mortar and pestle. A thin ensorceelled brass tube sits beside Naskeen, emitting a small but bright blue flame over which a medium sized black cauldron bubbles and hisses as it gives off the aformentioned smell - a scent best described as sickly sweet. Every now and again the scarred woodswoman grabs some item or another off the oddity and trinket laden wall-to-wall shelf beside her to add to either the mortar or the bubbling concoction. As she works, Naskeen's uncovered head bobs rhythmically in time with an unfamiliar song that she is softly singing to herself, the movement sufficient to set the woman's long bright red hair swaying from side-to-side.
As A'ro walks up with the old iron-bound book in hand, Naskeen ceases her work and looks up, the song fading to silence as she reaches out her thin pales fingers almost reverantly for tome. Clutching the requested item with both hands, her white though apparently not blind eyes turn to regard all present, her unnerving gaze pausing as it reaches Virt with his arms full of fey spider, as she says,'
"Please... close the door. You have done well, yess, so well! You have it! Fey spiders you say? Worms and other forest friends of mine have spoken of such monstrosities before, and knowing the ways that this place can twist most any living being, I have little doubt that they were fearful creatures. Clearly not beyond your skills and strength though, it would seem.
And you bring the amberspeckle mushrooms AND the venom sacks? Truly you are are marvels. Bravo!
If it is tea you want, then it is tea you shall have, Stormborn. My cat? She is... playing with your captain's prize. But let me get him for you now, as you have certainly done as asked, and more."
'Leaving the strong smelling concotion to boil for the moment untended, Naskeen disappears through the door in the back wall... returning a few minutes later with six fine porcelain cups steaming atop a wooden tray. The book is nowhere in sight as Naskeen manages the loaded tray with both hands, though the slight, flame haired woman has to stop in mid-step as her plump grey cat shoots through her legs with a loud *HISSS*, followed a moment later by a small black puppy that bounds clumsily after the cat, tumbling across the floor in its uncoordinated enthusiasm to catch the escaping feline. The tiny black dog bumps into one of the nearby shelves as Naskeen returns to her work table, her deceptively insightful gaze following the fleeing cat and bounding puppy for a moment before she says with a definitive note of exasperation in her dry, usually implacable voice,'
"His name is Token... and I will be glad to be rid of him, though not as much as Jinx will. You're captain Aundrey has no idea what he is in for. Nor his crew, I would imagine."
[OOC] A'ro and anyone who enters the cabin with A'ro can make a perception check to hear the words of the song Naskeen is quietly singing to herself:
Perception DC10:
"Thorns and storms, a brazen sight Hearts hold the prow, spirits fill the sail When the black flags come, the brazen fight
Rent and bent, spirits lain low Hearts hold the prow, spirits fill the sail When the black flags come, dark spirits grow..."
D&D is a game, but it's not just a game. It's the ultimate storyboard, a campfire to share with friends, an imaginary call to imaginary arms and a ship to sail to horizons yet undreamt of...
Vassa Sunstar (half-drow bard) - Waterdeep Dragonheist DM Ghosts of a Forgotten Land DM Beyond the Bitter Shore DM Echos of a Burning Crown
'The puppy, 'Token' Naskeen said its name was, is still trying with no success to 'tag' the grey cat, though the small black dog never really gets close, spending more time flopping around on the floor or crashing into table legs than menacing the apothecary's pet. As Vaken kneels down to proffer a hand, the small animal barely pauses long enough to sniff the goliath's enormous fingers before it bounds off again in its comical and likely futile pursuit.'
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
D&D is a game, but it's not just a game. It's the ultimate storyboard, a campfire to share with friends, an imaginary call to imaginary arms and a ship to sail to horizons yet undreamt of...
Vassa Sunstar (half-drow bard) - Waterdeep Dragonheist DM Ghosts of a Forgotten Land DM Beyond the Bitter Shore DM Echos of a Burning Crown
He just listened as he began to hum to the tune also, for a minute closing his eyes. The song, almost familiar in a tune and setting to that of the sea as the wind begins to rush his body. His mind flying back to the stone and the pure elemental connection that he felt to the world around him that most, outside of his kind, can truly be attuned to. As if showing him further secrets of his bloodline and helping to urge him in certain ways – though he felt as if he had lost certain things, there was also a strange renewal and gaining of strength. He could slowly feel his connection growing to the more elemental nature that rested in him. Coming back to when the woman moved to take the book from him. A’ro sighed with relief as he handed over the book, it was clear that the mission was difficult but this was the breath of fresh air.
“That was a beautiful song, and yes it was difficult. I must say it was mostly luck that got us out of there, the beasts could very well have finished us off if we had dabbled any longer.” He just blinked as she mentioned that the car was playing with the captain’s prize and looked her blankly as if the realization that they had put their lives in danger for a dog was just starting to sink in. Though he would be lying if he didn't note how cute the little thing was.
“I would love some tea miss. If you don’t mind me asking, is there something special about Token. He’s a beautiful dog, but that seems like a lot of danger for us to go through just for an ordinary animal. Plus, I have a bit of a biased interest being one of his crew to know what I’m in for.”He just waited for the answer as he pondered how to ask her if she knew certain things that might help him, what had happened at the stone. If she knew anything about the staff or even Boreas himself.
He just listened as he began to hum to the tune also, for a minute closing his eyes. The song, almost familiar in a tune and setting to that of the sea as the wind begins to rush his body. His mind flying back to the stone and the pure elemental connection that he felt to the world around him that most, outside of his kind, can truly be attuned to. As if showing him further secrets of his bloodline and helping to urge him in certain ways – though he felt as if he had lost certain things, there was also a strange renewal and gaining of strength. He could slowly feel his connection growing to the more elemental nature that rested in him. Coming back to when the woman moved to take the book from him. A’ro sighed with relief as he handed over the book, it was clear that the mission was difficult but this was the breath of fresh air.
“That was a beautiful song, and yes it was difficult. I must say it was mostly luck that got us out of there, the beasts could very well have finished us off if we had dabbled any longer.” He just blinked as she mentioned that the car was playing with the captain’s prize and looked her blankly as if the realization that they had put their lives in danger for a dog was just starting to sink in. Though he would be lying if he didn't note how cute the little thing was.
“I would love some tea miss. If you don’t mind me asking, is there something special about Token. He’s a beautiful dog, but that seems like a lot of danger for us to go through just for an ordinary animal. Plus, I have a bit of a biased interest being one of his crew to know what I’m in for.”He just waited for the answer as he pondered how to ask her if she knew certain things that might help him, what had happened at the stone. If she knew anything about the staff or even Boreas himself.
'Naskeen listens to A'ro's words as she finishes crushing the various herbs and other substances that she adds to her mortar. Seemingly satisfied with the result, the apothecary then adds the powder to the bubbling concoction inside the small cauldron, stirring the mixture for some time as the heat from the enchanted tube does its work. Finally, as the genasi sorcerer finishes speaking and takes a sip of the hot, mint flavoured tea, the disfigured woodswoman says in her dry, airy voice,'
"Yes, the song is pretty, is it not?
And mostly luck you say? I doubt that very much, though every great endeavour requires some luck, child of the wind. And the danger was stressed to you I believe, so should hardly have been surprising. Besides, you did not undertake the task for the dog. You undertook the task because you were sent here to do so, to gain what your young captain wanted so dearly. I wonder though... would you judge the peril that you endured more or less worthwhile had the package been an enchanted weapon or mystical potion?
Should you wish to know why your captain wanted this creature, I suggest that you ask him, for I am not at liberty to say. Besides, I am not in the habit of discussing my customer's business with the... help. Is Token special in some way... well, I'll leave that for you to be the judge of.
However, while I will not disclose such matters to you, you have by all accounts been most successful in satisfying my requests. For this, I am indeed appreciative. Please, show me what else you have brought me, for then we can get to the matter of your reward. Knowledge I can give you, crew of the Shore Shark... and maybe more besides."
D&D is a game, but it's not just a game. It's the ultimate storyboard, a campfire to share with friends, an imaginary call to imaginary arms and a ship to sail to horizons yet undreamt of...
Vassa Sunstar (half-drow bard) - Waterdeep Dragonheist DM Ghosts of a Forgotten Land DM Beyond the Bitter Shore DM Echos of a Burning Crown
A’ro just chuckled as the woman made her points. He just nodded taking another sip of the tea “Yes we were. I think I’m just young miss and that is the first time I’ve purposely put myself in unfamiliar territory with unfamiliar danger. It may just be my own ego getting to me.”
He respected the woman’s stance on discussing items with people other than he clients, though he wasn’t a fan of being called ‘help’, he understood why. “I will indeed make it a point, unless the dog can talk and tells us first...” he freezes looking to the dog and then back to Naskeen “if it talks, that may have been worth the danger.”
”We brought back the mushrooms and some fey spiders corpses untouched by us, with their venom sacs still intacted and inside them.” He pauses for a second as he processes what she said about knowledge and just looks at her “I do actually have some knowledge I’m seeking - though I’d like to talk more about that privately with you before I leave here.”
Orlys growls low. "We should leave," and he gathers his spider carcasses and scoots ahead to where Kay is standing.
ey/em/eirs, or they/them works, too (just not he).
Role-playing since that keep on those borderlands. Here's my D&D stuff. I love it so.
Campaign links for Game Log access because DDB has abandoned the forum dice roller, apparently.
Radiant Citadel by cbaer8 ~•~ Stormwreck Isle by Rforrest14 ~•~ Wildspace by Rhanloi ~•~ Rise of Tiamat by SteveThaiBinh ~•~ The Long Road currently by me
Vaken looks up from his stupor, "Yes. Let's get back to Naskeen's cabin."
Campaigns:
DM - Waterdeep Dragon Heist PbP
A’ro stares at the pillar unsure of what is causing his elemental natural to flare, but feeling an instinctive draw towards the pillar his begins to move almost in a daze. The focus of his vision causing the surrounding to draw out his focus. His legs moving of their own accord as the sense of curiosity over takes him and primordial begins to stream from his mouth.
“Well aren’t you a curious stone pillar…please won’t you please tell me your secrets.”
As he reaches for the pillar, letting the electricity of his natural born magic flow, a smile crosses his face. Then the humming starts and grows, eventually forcing A’ro to cover his ears and fall to his knees. He just reaches out again as he continues to speak in primordial, his tone reaching out as if trying to desperately call the natural connection and feeling he just had back.
“Wait…please…”
He just freezes looking at his hands as the last of the natural connection to some part of him fades.
[OOC] Anyone who knows primordial, can read spoilers.
Campaigns:
Wildemount: The Felderwin Irregulars (2020) - Balassar Silverstone - Dragonborn Fighter (Rune Knight) Lv. 5 | Dangerous Designs - Kaelen Stoneshard - Minotaur Cleric (War Domain) Lv. 2 | Rise of TIamat - Aiwin Aralana - Wood Elf Fighter/Ranger (Arcane Archer/Gloom Stalker) Lv. 9
'As the lights and sounds fade, and his understandibly concerned companions turn to hurry from the clearing, the somewhat disheartened A'ro's fingers lightly brush the rough, moss covered stone of the crooked and clearly ancient pillar. A sudden, yet light and fleeting breeze picks up around the connected sorcerer and pillar, kicking up a small cloud of dust and leafy detrius. The breeze dissipates as quickly as it arose and the puzzled genasi feels no further response to his touch from the pillar, but A'ro quickly, almost instinctively, realises two things - firstly, that the source of the sudden breeze was external to himself and, secondly, that something, the pillar itself perhaps, sensed and reacted to his presence for the briefest of moments.'
D&D is a game, but it's not just a game. It's the ultimate storyboard, a campfire to share with friends, an imaginary call to imaginary arms and a ship to sail to horizons yet undreamt of...
Vassa Sunstar (half-drow bard) - Waterdeep Dragonheist
DM Ghosts of a Forgotten Land
DM Beyond the Bitter Shore
DM Echos of a Burning Crown
A'ro just stands and looks at it for a little longer, reaching out one more time to touch the stone closing his eyes to remember the feel of the breeze and primordial reaction. He then just turns and starts walking towards his companions following their guide.
Campaigns:
Wildemount: The Felderwin Irregulars (2020) - Balassar Silverstone - Dragonborn Fighter (Rune Knight) Lv. 5 | Dangerous Designs - Kaelen Stoneshard - Minotaur Cleric (War Domain) Lv. 2 | Rise of TIamat - Aiwin Aralana - Wood Elf Fighter/Ranger (Arcane Archer/Gloom Stalker) Lv. 9
'Your party quickly moves North beyond the clearing and into the once again dense woods. Despite the infrequent glimpses of white clouds and blue skies that you catch through the dense cannopy, the temperature in the wood feels cold far beyond the norm for this time of year. As you reach a particularly dense thicket of brush and scrub that obstructs the way forward, you almost get the sense that this ancient fey forest fragment is sentient in some way, watching you perhaps, and if not outright hostile, certainly not welcoming of your presence. Glancing about uncertainly as the tree's shadows seem to close about your group, you realise that you're completely unsure as to which direction you should take to be rid of the encroaching woods.
*CAWWW* The harsh cry to the West turns your heads in that direction and after careful scrutiny you spy Worms' dark form amidst the branches of a less threatening elm tree in the distance. Hurriedly moving in that direction, you note the terrain begin to ease, with less thick brush and fewer obstructing tree roots frustrating your travel. Reaching the branching elm as Worms takes flight again West, you note a break in the trees further in that direction... and through the break you catch a welcome glimpse of a familiar sparkling blue expanse. Following the alluring sight of the sea, you soon emerge onto the bluff's edge high above the rocks and crashing surf below. The early afternoon sun is marred by windblown clouds overhead as you look North down a narrow and largely clear strip of ground that runs for several hundread feet, a strip of land that your raven guide is even now gliding the length of.
Reaching the Southmost point of the open bluffs, you catch sigh of Worms once again within the tree-line. With a final *CAWWW* the large raven drops from his wooden perch and swoops Eastwards... towards a leaf covered and moderately sunlit slanted cottage roof. It is but a relatively short walk across comparatively spacious and uncluttered ground to reach the small clearing where the cottage stands. Taking in the idyllic sounds of the *tinkling* spring fed pool, enthusiastically *chirping* insects and unfettered *croaking* of many frogs, you also notice that the door of the cottage is currently shut.'
D&D is a game, but it's not just a game. It's the ultimate storyboard, a campfire to share with friends, an imaginary call to imaginary arms and a ship to sail to horizons yet undreamt of...
Vassa Sunstar (half-drow bard) - Waterdeep Dragonheist
DM Ghosts of a Forgotten Land
DM Beyond the Bitter Shore
DM Echos of a Burning Crown
Orlys gives a little private grimace that might as well be a baring of teeth, it is hard to tell, and deposits the spider carcasses in the middle of the clearing, towards the door. "None of me business, I'll just wait." Then he retreats to the edge of the clearing (back to a tree or a rock or something, though there is not much cover in the "comparatively spacious and uncluttered ground") and settles on his haunches to wait, facing the sea.
ey/em/eirs, or they/them works, too (just not he).
Role-playing since that keep on those borderlands. Here's my D&D stuff. I love it so.
Campaign links for Game Log access because DDB has abandoned the forum dice roller, apparently.
Radiant Citadel by cbaer8 ~•~ Stormwreck Isle by Rforrest14 ~•~ Wildspace by Rhanloi ~•~ Rise of Tiamat by SteveThaiBinh ~•~ The Long Road currently by me
A'ro just smiles as he walks up to the door and knocks, turning the pack around as he fishes out the book and knocks again "Naskeen, we've come back and with everything you asked for."
Campaigns:
Wildemount: The Felderwin Irregulars (2020) - Balassar Silverstone - Dragonborn Fighter (Rune Knight) Lv. 5 | Dangerous Designs - Kaelen Stoneshard - Minotaur Cleric (War Domain) Lv. 2 | Rise of TIamat - Aiwin Aralana - Wood Elf Fighter/Ranger (Arcane Archer/Gloom Stalker) Lv. 9
'Virt, who has been walking and talking beside Orlys for most of the trip here, gives the fierce bugbear a puzzled look as the furred sailor dumps the spider carcasses and moves to the clearing's edge. Thinking that the goblinoid is merely worn out, the bald goggle wearing ships officer nods understandingly and, with some difficulty, lifts one of the three fey spiders into his own arms, and grunts out as the clearly weaker man staggers towards the cottage,'
"No worries, Orlys. This job is ours fer the completin' it is, true enough. Take some rest... Oh, and by the way. That spring fountain there, yes that one flowing into the small pool. It has healin' and medicinal properties it does. Fixed a few of us up earlier it surely did. Anyway, we'll be back soon."
D&D is a game, but it's not just a game. It's the ultimate storyboard, a campfire to share with friends, an imaginary call to imaginary arms and a ship to sail to horizons yet undreamt of...
Vassa Sunstar (half-drow bard) - Waterdeep Dragonheist
DM Ghosts of a Forgotten Land
DM Beyond the Bitter Shore
DM Echos of a Burning Crown
Orlys glances at the pool, but makes no move towards it.
ey/em/eirs, or they/them works, too (just not he).
Role-playing since that keep on those borderlands. Here's my D&D stuff. I love it so.
Campaign links for Game Log access because DDB has abandoned the forum dice roller, apparently.
Radiant Citadel by cbaer8 ~•~ Stormwreck Isle by Rforrest14 ~•~ Wildspace by Rhanloi ~•~ Rise of Tiamat by SteveThaiBinh ~•~ The Long Road currently by me
'Walking confidently up to the front door, A'ro notices Worms off to the side of the cottage, perched in a titled and bare-branched oak tree, seemingly content to peck through his own feathers now that his assigned task has been completed. While the clearing in which the apothecary's hut sits is warmer by far than the Wispwood that the party had just departed, the elementally attuned genasi can't help but feel a lingering cold in his bones, a cold that may take quite some time to fully shake, the sorcerer senses.
Standing upon the hut's porch even as his companions gather on the stairs and planking behind him, A'ro reaches out to *knock-knock-knock* upon the moss covered door frame. A few creaks and shuffling footsteps can be heard within for a moment, before after a repeat of the knocking and the passing of another minute, the door handle turns ever so slightly and the old, heavily weathered door *creaks* inwards an inch.
A cool, distant and dispassionate voice drifts through the ajar opening from within the small shack,'
"Can it be...? Have you returned so soon? With that which was sought, perhaps? Please, come inside, friends. I would hear your tale, a tale of triumph I am hoping."
[OOC]
The below picture is fairly accurate (e.g. red, long straight hair, white seemingly blind eyes, a scarred visage, EXCEPT that Naskeen's scarring is MUCH worse than that shown below, the woodswoman's face a patchwork quilt of jagged slashes, deep gouges and burn marks.
D&D is a game, but it's not just a game. It's the ultimate storyboard, a campfire to share with friends, an imaginary call to imaginary arms and a ship to sail to horizons yet undreamt of...
Vassa Sunstar (half-drow bard) - Waterdeep Dragonheist
DM Ghosts of a Forgotten Land
DM Beyond the Bitter Shore
DM Echos of a Burning Crown
'As Orlys crouches amidst a few trees at the clearing's edge, the exhausted bugbear watches this odd group of people who rescued him from the horrible spider infested caverns climb the cottages porch. The watchful goblinoid understandably remains on edge, his trusty maul clutched in hand, but is gradually infused by a sense of relative calm and benign acceptance here in this place, as opposed to the feelings of perpetual dread and impending doom that the hardened sailor had otherwise experienced here beneath the boughs and earth of the Wispwood.'
[OOC] Orlys may make a perception check DC10 and read the spoiler with a score of 10 or more:
'Staring at the peacefully flowing, crystal clear waters of the spring and pool further calms your somewhat frayed nerves. You note a couple of tiny water bugs skipping across the pool's surface as you listen to the *croaks* and *chirps* of the clearling's frogs and other insect life. However, while it doesn't strike you as malevolent or even especially strange in this already most unusual place, Orlys notes that the light reflecting off the pools placid surface shimmers out of keeping with the movement of the clouds above and that the two water bugs appear to be skipping about backwards across the pool's waters. Likewise, something about the insect and wildlife sounds strikes a discordant note with the brown and black furred bugbear, almost as though the insect and frog sounds aren't real but are rather being performed or played through some masterful mimicry.'
D&D is a game, but it's not just a game. It's the ultimate storyboard, a campfire to share with friends, an imaginary call to imaginary arms and a ship to sail to horizons yet undreamt of...
Vassa Sunstar (half-drow bard) - Waterdeep Dragonheist
DM Ghosts of a Forgotten Land
DM Beyond the Bitter Shore
DM Echos of a Burning Crown
A'ro just smiles as he walks in "Can it be, why yes it can. We have indeed returned so soon, but the missions were accomplished. Got the book right here, we also have the spiders and mushrooms. As for the tale, well we can definitely do that if you have some tea. Where's the amazing cat friend I made earlier?"
A'ro will just walk inside and immediately try to find Naskeen and walk right up placing the book in here hands "One mystical book guarded by Fey Spiders."
Campaigns:
Wildemount: The Felderwin Irregulars (2020) - Balassar Silverstone - Dragonborn Fighter (Rune Knight) Lv. 5 | Dangerous Designs - Kaelen Stoneshard - Minotaur Cleric (War Domain) Lv. 2 | Rise of TIamat - Aiwin Aralana - Wood Elf Fighter/Ranger (Arcane Archer/Gloom Stalker) Lv. 9
Orlys shakes his head like he's trying to shake a chill, and resolutely stares out to sea, though his big ears continue to twitch at unexpected sounds.
ey/em/eirs, or they/them works, too (just not he).
Role-playing since that keep on those borderlands. Here's my D&D stuff. I love it so.
Campaign links for Game Log access because DDB has abandoned the forum dice roller, apparently.
Radiant Citadel by cbaer8 ~•~ Stormwreck Isle by Rforrest14 ~•~ Wildspace by Rhanloi ~•~ Rise of Tiamat by SteveThaiBinh ~•~ The Long Road currently by me
'Pushing the slightly ajar door open the rest of the way, A'ro enters the noticably more aromatic cottage to see the small cloaked figure of the reclusive apothecary hunched over the small table that sits to the side of the room. As one of Worms' *cawww*s echos through the tree tops outside the cottage, you look around and see that you have apparently caught Naskeen at her work. An assortment of dried berries, flowers, herbs and roots decorate the table in front of the busy woman, who is in the process of crushing the tables contents into a powder with the use of a heavy bronze mortar and pestle. A thin ensorceelled brass tube sits beside Naskeen, emitting a small but bright blue flame over which a medium sized black cauldron bubbles and hisses as it gives off the aformentioned smell - a scent best described as sickly sweet. Every now and again the scarred woodswoman grabs some item or another off the oddity and trinket laden wall-to-wall shelf beside her to add to either the mortar or the bubbling concoction. As she works, Naskeen's uncovered head bobs rhythmically in time with an unfamiliar song that she is softly singing to herself, the movement sufficient to set the woman's long bright red hair swaying from side-to-side.
As A'ro walks up with the old iron-bound book in hand, Naskeen ceases her work and looks up, the song fading to silence as she reaches out her thin pales fingers almost reverantly for tome. Clutching the requested item with both hands, her white though apparently not blind eyes turn to regard all present, her unnerving gaze pausing as it reaches Virt with his arms full of fey spider, as she says,'
"Please... close the door. You have done well, yess, so well! You have it! Fey spiders you say? Worms and other forest friends of mine have spoken of such monstrosities before, and knowing the ways that this place can twist most any living being, I have little doubt that they were fearful creatures. Clearly not beyond your skills and strength though, it would seem.
And you bring the amberspeckle mushrooms AND the venom sacks? Truly you are are marvels. Bravo!
If it is tea you want, then it is tea you shall have, Stormborn. My cat? She is... playing with your captain's prize. But let me get him for you now, as you have certainly done as asked, and more."
'Leaving the strong smelling concotion to boil for the moment untended, Naskeen disappears through the door in the back wall... returning a few minutes later with six fine porcelain cups steaming atop a wooden tray. The book is nowhere in sight as Naskeen manages the loaded tray with both hands, though the slight, flame haired woman has to stop in mid-step as her plump grey cat shoots through her legs with a loud *HISSS*, followed a moment later by a small black puppy that bounds clumsily after the cat, tumbling across the floor in its uncoordinated enthusiasm to catch the escaping feline. The tiny black dog bumps into one of the nearby shelves as Naskeen returns to her work table, her deceptively insightful gaze following the fleeing cat and bounding puppy for a moment before she says with a definitive note of exasperation in her dry, usually implacable voice,'
"His name is Token... and I will be glad to be rid of him, though not as much as Jinx will. You're captain Aundrey has no idea what he is in for. Nor his crew, I would imagine."
[OOC] A'ro and anyone who enters the cabin with A'ro can make a perception check to hear the words of the song Naskeen is quietly singing to herself:
Perception DC10:
"Thorns and storms, a brazen sight
Hearts hold the prow, spirits fill the sail
When the black flags come, the brazen fight
Rent and bent, spirits lain low
Hearts hold the prow, spirits fill the sail
When the black flags come, dark spirits grow..."
D&D is a game, but it's not just a game. It's the ultimate storyboard, a campfire to share with friends, an imaginary call to imaginary arms and a ship to sail to horizons yet undreamt of...
Vassa Sunstar (half-drow bard) - Waterdeep Dragonheist
DM Ghosts of a Forgotten Land
DM Beyond the Bitter Shore
DM Echos of a Burning Crown
Vaken enters the cabin but stays close to the door. Upon seeing the puppy he kneels down and extents one hand in its direction.
Animal Handling:22
Campaigns:
DM - Waterdeep Dragon Heist PbP
'The puppy, 'Token' Naskeen said its name was, is still trying with no success to 'tag' the grey cat, though the small black dog never really gets close, spending more time flopping around on the floor or crashing into table legs than menacing the apothecary's pet. As Vaken kneels down to proffer a hand, the small animal barely pauses long enough to sniff the goliath's enormous fingers before it bounds off again in its comical and likely futile pursuit.'
D&D is a game, but it's not just a game. It's the ultimate storyboard, a campfire to share with friends, an imaginary call to imaginary arms and a ship to sail to horizons yet undreamt of...
Vassa Sunstar (half-drow bard) - Waterdeep Dragonheist
DM Ghosts of a Forgotten Land
DM Beyond the Bitter Shore
DM Echos of a Burning Crown
He just listened as he began to hum to the tune also, for a minute closing his eyes. The song, almost familiar in a tune and setting to that of the sea as the wind begins to rush his body. His mind flying back to the stone and the pure elemental connection that he felt to the world around him that most, outside of his kind, can truly be attuned to. As if showing him further secrets of his bloodline and helping to urge him in certain ways – though he felt as if he had lost certain things, there was also a strange renewal and gaining of strength. He could slowly feel his connection growing to the more elemental nature that rested in him. Coming back to when the woman moved to take the book from him. A’ro sighed with relief as he handed over the book, it was clear that the mission was difficult but this was the breath of fresh air.
“That was a beautiful song, and yes it was difficult. I must say it was mostly luck that got us out of there, the beasts could very well have finished us off if we had dabbled any longer.” He just blinked as she mentioned that the car was playing with the captain’s prize and looked her blankly as if the realization that they had put their lives in danger for a dog was just starting to sink in. Though he would be lying if he didn't note how cute the little thing was.
“I would love some tea miss. If you don’t mind me asking, is there something special about Token. He’s a beautiful dog, but that seems like a lot of danger for us to go through just for an ordinary animal. Plus, I have a bit of a biased interest being one of his crew to know what I’m in for.” He just waited for the answer as he pondered how to ask her if she knew certain things that might help him, what had happened at the stone. If she knew anything about the staff or even Boreas himself.
[OOC] Rolls made in chat:
Short Rest: 6
perception check: 14
Campaigns:
Wildemount: The Felderwin Irregulars (2020) - Balassar Silverstone - Dragonborn Fighter (Rune Knight) Lv. 5 | Dangerous Designs - Kaelen Stoneshard - Minotaur Cleric (War Domain) Lv. 2 | Rise of TIamat - Aiwin Aralana - Wood Elf Fighter/Ranger (Arcane Archer/Gloom Stalker) Lv. 9
'Naskeen listens to A'ro's words as she finishes crushing the various herbs and other substances that she adds to her mortar. Seemingly satisfied with the result, the apothecary then adds the powder to the bubbling concoction inside the small cauldron, stirring the mixture for some time as the heat from the enchanted tube does its work. Finally, as the genasi sorcerer finishes speaking and takes a sip of the hot, mint flavoured tea, the disfigured woodswoman says in her dry, airy voice,'
"Yes, the song is pretty, is it not?
And mostly luck you say? I doubt that very much, though every great endeavour requires some luck, child of the wind. And the danger was stressed to you I believe, so should hardly have been surprising. Besides, you did not undertake the task for the dog. You undertook the task because you were sent here to do so, to gain what your young captain wanted so dearly. I wonder though... would you judge the peril that you endured more or less worthwhile had the package been an enchanted weapon or mystical potion?
Should you wish to know why your captain wanted this creature, I suggest that you ask him, for I am not at liberty to say. Besides, I am not in the habit of discussing my customer's business with the... help. Is Token special in some way... well, I'll leave that for you to be the judge of.
However, while I will not disclose such matters to you, you have by all accounts been most successful in satisfying my requests. For this, I am indeed appreciative. Please, show me what else you have brought me, for then we can get to the matter of your reward. Knowledge I can give you, crew of the Shore Shark... and maybe more besides."
D&D is a game, but it's not just a game. It's the ultimate storyboard, a campfire to share with friends, an imaginary call to imaginary arms and a ship to sail to horizons yet undreamt of...
Vassa Sunstar (half-drow bard) - Waterdeep Dragonheist
DM Ghosts of a Forgotten Land
DM Beyond the Bitter Shore
DM Echos of a Burning Crown
A’ro just chuckled as the woman made her points. He just nodded taking another sip of the tea “Yes we were. I think I’m just young miss and that is the first time I’ve purposely put myself in unfamiliar territory with unfamiliar danger. It may just be my own ego getting to me.”
He respected the woman’s stance on discussing items with people other than he clients, though he wasn’t a fan of being called ‘help’, he understood why. “I will indeed make it a point, unless the dog can talk and tells us first...” he freezes looking to the dog and then back to Naskeen “if it talks, that may have been worth the danger.”
”We brought back the mushrooms and some fey spiders corpses untouched by us, with their venom sacs still intacted and inside them.” He pauses for a second as he processes what she said about knowledge and just looks at her “I do actually have some knowledge I’m seeking - though I’d like to talk more about that privately with you before I leave here.”
Campaigns:
Wildemount: The Felderwin Irregulars (2020) - Balassar Silverstone - Dragonborn Fighter (Rune Knight) Lv. 5 | Dangerous Designs - Kaelen Stoneshard - Minotaur Cleric (War Domain) Lv. 2 | Rise of TIamat - Aiwin Aralana - Wood Elf Fighter/Ranger (Arcane Archer/Gloom Stalker) Lv. 9