Up front of the party, Dormark notices the mushrooms on the ground. He bends over and asks, “Does anyone have a herbalism kit on them?” Looking at his surroundings he sense something was off in the air, but unlike a fair amount of his companions he did not fear it. It is not that he doesn’t feel fear, but unlike the others he just doesn’t have the natural instincts for it.
The surrounding gives Valerie an uneasy feeling. She takes out her shield, which is embedded with a symbol of Torm, from her back. She walks up in front of the party, next to Dormak. "I shall go first just in case."
From the darkness, her blue eyes can be seen glowing as she focuses her gaze. It is a little bit odd for a figure who appears to be a human.
Alder looked on as the woman and the golem moved past him to take point. For a moment he thought to protest, to claim the place that was his as first in the vanguard, the one who was meant to shatter the shields and lines of the enemy. But then he remembered. This is not war. He is no longer a soldier. This is not the tip of a military formation, not the savage run up to crushing whatever obstacle was laid before him. As strange as this land may be, and as uncomfortable as it made him feel, it was simply walking. With a slight shake of his head, clearing his thoughts he moved to the side of the narrow road and let the others move past him. He would take up the rear of the group, the better to follow the lead of those who might know better, might grasp their situation more firmly than he. Torch held high, Alder trudged along behind near the archer, his gaze flicking from one side of the path to the other, unable but to search for whatever ambush might lie in wait.
Occasionally his eyes would pause on the metal man ahead of him, wondering what to make of such a thing. Alder had seen magical wonders in his time, although most always from afar and never one such as this. Stories of beings formed of metal and stone that could talk and act as a man or woman might had been told around the campfires, but he had never thought them to be true. A mild fascination for this creature had begun to grow within his mind, though he could never hope to truly grasp its nature.
Nervously talking away, Baern asks Dormank "so what clan do you serve?" "It is good that you bear the symbol of the almighty Moradin. I bet you come from a good clan. Good thing you don't bear the symbol of some evil duergar god! haha..." Baern's brief laugh trails off quickly as he realizes this is not the moment for any levity.
Dormark stood back up with a sigh since no one answered, disappointed he can take the mushrooms with him, but at least he can note that they grew in the region and may go find some later in better conditions. He begins to move foreword again but stops hearing the Baern comment. Turning around he looks at the dwarf his face a expressionless mask, but with the eerie setting and the flickering flame in his hand made his face look quite menacingly. In truth, he was just feeling uncomfortable with the comment.
"I serve no clan, friend. I am a cleric of Moradin, that is who I serve... though if you most know of the priests who had a hand in my making, they came from Mithral Hall. Last I heard the King of the hall was from clan Battlehammer, and rarely do dwarves change kings quickly. Maybe you have heard of it," he says as he moved foreword.
(For Dwarves, Mithral hall is a legendary place, were mithral was said to flow in rivers, Baern would have definitely have heard of it.)
Dormark was remembering his past when he spent in the halls with the priests. Some had treated him like a object and Dormark seeing no problem with it followed their orders, but when Dormark started expressing his feelings some of the smiths saw him in a different light. They began calling him a brother in their priesthood and taught him serve to Moradin. This caused a spilt in priests some saying he was no more than a tool. The others saying he was a living being with a soul like them. In truth, Dormark doesn't know whether either side was correct. While he would like to believe he was more than just a tool, the truth was he was made by a God so it could be he was just a very complicated one. Only Moradin knows the truth and he hasn't deemed to give the Warforge an answer yet.
She turns to Dormak. "So you’re a cleric? It must be an honor to be able to serve as a agent of a god." She looks at him with admiration. "How is it like to be a cleric if I might ask?"
Then she turns her head back to the road ahead. She is not sure is it a good thing ask, since she rarely strikes up a conversation, especially with a person that she has just met. She doing this to reduce the anxiety inside her right now. After all, this is the first time that she are out in the wild without someone from her order.
Hearing her question Dormark pauses thinking and says, "It is probably different from faith to faith ... but for Moradin's priests we train our mortal selves to the forge creating in hopes to join the god at his forge to create the weapons of the gods. In short, we are just craftsman seeking the perfection of our art with a master smith as our head, and at times he deems to lend us his power when we need it."
He try to explain it as best he could, but he couldn't instill the magic that came with crafting blades and armor, that the smiths hope that the names of those would go down in history. Or those smiths who could not pick up the hammer anymore once they created their masterpiece for they knew they could never create anything like it again. Fact was most of the priests who actually made him never pickup their hammers again, they were among those who thought he was more than just a tool.
Torch held high, Alder trudged along behind near the archer, his gaze flicking from one side of the path to the other, unable but to search for whatever ambush might lie in wait.
"You watch their backs, and I'll watch yours,"Ioben said as the battleaxe wielding man dropped back to walk near him. Nodding his head in the direction of the others he's said, "I see you watching that thing. Have you figured out what it is yet? I worry that it may not look at us the way we look at each other. It's intentions seem good, so far, but I wonder how well it actually knows itself."
The party continues to make it's way along the Old Svalich Road a sense of uncertainty permeates through each member; are they going in the correct direction? Can the others be trusted? Surely there is strength in numbers?
The light from Alder's torch turns shadows from inanimate objects in to terrifying spectres.
Can those who are actively looking around please make a Perception check.
Dormark and Sandu, please read spoiler below;
As you are traversing the path an acrid, but faint, smell fills your nostrils / mechanical smell sensors. The scent of death / decomposition is in the air and it is coming, as best as you can tell, from the woods to the right.
Looking around you are unsure whether anyone else within the party has picked up on the smell.
Sandu gave Baern an incredulous look. He did not know whether the dwarf was joking, deadly serious or just lacking in dealing with ordinary folk like him. He pulled his hood further over his head to make himself look more unassuming, a tactic that had worked wonders in the past, though he wondered how well it would serve him here out in the woods. At least the lady paladin he was following seemed strong enough to duck behind. And in a pinch the walking armoury would do as well.
He listened in on the discussion some of the others were having on religious servitude when the sudden onset of a putrid smell distracted him. 'Urgh, what is that smell?'Sandu said from behind his hand covering his face. He tried not to retch. 'Smells like something died out here.'
The combination of dark woods and rotten smell made Sandu squeamish. He once more scooted closer to Valerie as well as Dormak, who he now surmised was a cleric of some sort, strange as that sounded. Better safe than sorry. He thought to himself.
Unnerved by the sounds, sights, and smells you encounter along the path, your mind spins and you struggle to take in much of your surroundings. CAWWW! snapped back to your senses you look to the woods on your right, you believe you spot a raven in the trees for a fleeting moment.
Alder's Perception check:
Steely, drilled, disciplined - though the sounds, sights, and smells might unnerve others, your mind pushes through. CAWWW! The raven's cry barely makes you blink as you stare coolly in its direction, to the woods on your right. You have spotted this raven at multiple times over the last number of minutes - it's flight patterns seem unnatural and you swear that it has occasionally circled the party; it's movements seem more akin to a scouting manoeuvre of some form than natural flight.
As the raven meets your stare for what seems like minutes, but is in actuality a couple of seconds, you notice an uneasiness. The bird then proceeds to quickly fly deeper into the woods, away from your gaze.
Valerie instinctively turns to the right and raises the shield in front of her. She tries her best to peer through the darkness pass the wood for a moment, then gather herself up. "Hmm." She sighs in relief. "It's just a raven."
'Urgh, what is that smell?'Sandu said from behind his hand covering his face. He tried not to retch. 'Smells like something died out here.'
"What smell?" She sniffs the air around to see what is the smell.
Dormark sensing the smell of death put an arm before the paladin stopping the party. “Something is dead near here,” he says looking towards the place he can smell it from. He raises a he torch to peer towards the area.
(IrRyO would you roll my perception check as well, I’m doing this while getting ready for work. +5 and I’ll try to add on the d4 by casting guidance.)
This post has potentially manipulated dice roll results.
Dormark's Perception check: 18 + 2 (see spoiler below)
Peering towards the area you believe the smell is coming from you see a number of displaced branches - it looks like someone, or something, has been through the vegetation.
Valerie, upon hearing mention of the foul smell, you can faintly make out what the others are talking about - the smell is unmistakably that of decomposition.
Alder frowns into the woods, suspicion writ on his broad features. His grip tightened on the torch, knuckles popping. Something was not right here. Birds did not act in such a manner...
When Dormark reveals more of his background, Baern gets even more excited and curious. "WOW... Mithril Hall, really? I've always wanted to go there. I've only read about it in books and heard the tails. Is it as they say?" He goes on and on asking questions about Mithril Hall until someone silences him. "I'm from near Eartheart, at the Great Rift, well, the East Rift now, after the collapse, of course. That's great that you're a cleric of Moradin, and that the treat you like a real, ah, I mean, that you're just as real as the rest of us, right? I mean, we all serve the Gods regardless of what we're made of, don't we?"
Sandu can easily discern that Baern is just young and inexperienced. At one point the dwarf does ask "did I hear you say you can suddenly do magic?" "Wow. I did just learn a prayer before coming here, and I think it works! That's about it though."
The young dwarf is a bit scared of their surroundings but is so excited to meet new and interesting people that he stays focused on that, not really keeping an eye out for the dangers that lurk nearby. When the others signal for trouble or the smell of death, he shuts up immediately, his mind quickly coming back to the here and now.
Sensing the smell of decomposition along with the eerie dark forest, Valerie feels uneasy within her gut. She takes her amulet with symbol of Torm from under her armor, clutches the amulet and begins to mutters the prayer. After a moment pass, her blue pupil less eyes which used to glow ever so slightly, now is emitting a bright blue light. She focus on the surrounding forest to see are there any foul creatures nearby.
Seeing the hole in the branches he steps foreword and says, “Cover me” While he leaves the mace on his belt he positions his shield in front of himself and looks around the opening to see what caused this opening.
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
Dormark Calling of Strahd (warforged cleric) 4
To post a comment, please login or register a new account.
Up front of the party, Dormark notices the mushrooms on the ground. He bends over and asks, “Does anyone have a herbalism kit on them?”
Looking at his surroundings he sense something was off in the air, but unlike a fair amount of his companions he did not fear it. It is not that he doesn’t feel fear, but unlike the others he just doesn’t have the natural instincts for it.
Dormark Calling of Strahd (warforged cleric) 4
The surrounding gives Valerie an uneasy feeling. She takes out her shield, which is embedded with a symbol of Torm, from her back. She walks up in front of the party, next to Dormak. "I shall go first just in case."
From the darkness, her blue eyes can be seen glowing as she focuses her gaze. It is a little bit odd for a figure who appears to be a human.
(OOC: I will take the front row.)
Alder looked on as the woman and the golem moved past him to take point. For a moment he thought to protest, to claim the place that was his as first in the vanguard, the one who was meant to shatter the shields and lines of the enemy. But then he remembered. This is not war. He is no longer a soldier. This is not the tip of a military formation, not the savage run up to crushing whatever obstacle was laid before him. As strange as this land may be, and as uncomfortable as it made him feel, it was simply walking. With a slight shake of his head, clearing his thoughts he moved to the side of the narrow road and let the others move past him. He would take up the rear of the group, the better to follow the lead of those who might know better, might grasp their situation more firmly than he. Torch held high, Alder trudged along behind near the archer, his gaze flicking from one side of the path to the other, unable but to search for whatever ambush might lie in wait.
Occasionally his eyes would pause on the metal man ahead of him, wondering what to make of such a thing. Alder had seen magical wonders in his time, although most always from afar and never one such as this. Stories of beings formed of metal and stone that could talk and act as a man or woman might had been told around the campfires, but he had never thought them to be true. A mild fascination for this creature had begun to grow within his mind, though he could never hope to truly grasp its nature.
Nervously talking away, Baern asks Dormank "so what clan do you serve?" "It is good that you bear the symbol of the almighty Moradin. I bet you come from a good clan. Good thing you don't bear the symbol of some evil duergar god! haha..." Baern's brief laugh trails off quickly as he realizes this is not the moment for any levity.
Dormark stood back up with a sigh since no one answered, disappointed he can take the mushrooms with him, but at least he can note that they grew in the region and may go find some later in better conditions. He begins to move foreword again but stops hearing the Baern comment. Turning around he looks at the dwarf his face a expressionless mask, but with the eerie setting and the flickering flame in his hand made his face look quite menacingly. In truth, he was just feeling uncomfortable with the comment.
"I serve no clan, friend. I am a cleric of Moradin, that is who I serve... though if you most know of the priests who had a hand in my making, they came from Mithral Hall. Last I heard the King of the hall was from clan Battlehammer, and rarely do dwarves change kings quickly. Maybe you have heard of it," he says as he moved foreword.
(For Dwarves, Mithral hall is a legendary place, were mithral was said to flow in rivers, Baern would have definitely have heard of it.)
Dormark was remembering his past when he spent in the halls with the priests. Some had treated him like a object and Dormark seeing no problem with it followed their orders, but when Dormark started expressing his feelings some of the smiths saw him in a different light. They began calling him a brother in their priesthood and taught him serve to Moradin. This caused a spilt in priests some saying he was no more than a tool. The others saying he was a living being with a soul like them. In truth, Dormark doesn't know whether either side was correct. While he would like to believe he was more than just a tool, the truth was he was made by a God so it could be he was just a very complicated one. Only Moradin knows the truth and he hasn't deemed to give the Warforge an answer yet.
Dormark Calling of Strahd (warforged cleric) 4
She turns to Dormak. "So you’re a cleric? It must be an honor to be able to serve as a agent of a god." She looks at him with admiration. "How is it like to be a cleric if I might ask?"
Then she turns her head back to the road ahead. She is not sure is it a good thing ask, since she rarely strikes up a conversation, especially with a person that she has just met. She doing this to reduce the anxiety inside her right now. After all, this is the first time that she are out in the wild without someone from her order.
Hearing her question Dormark pauses thinking and says, "It is probably different from faith to faith ... but for Moradin's priests we train our mortal selves to the forge creating in hopes to join the god at his forge to create the weapons of the gods. In short, we are just craftsman seeking the perfection of our art with a master smith as our head, and at times he deems to lend us his power when we need it."
He try to explain it as best he could, but he couldn't instill the magic that came with crafting blades and armor, that the smiths hope that the names of those would go down in history. Or those smiths who could not pick up the hammer anymore once they created their masterpiece for they knew they could never create anything like it again. Fact was most of the priests who actually made him never pickup their hammers again, they were among those who thought he was more than just a tool.
Dormark Calling of Strahd (warforged cleric) 4
"You watch their backs, and I'll watch yours," Ioben said as the battleaxe wielding man dropped back to walk near him. Nodding his head in the direction of the others he's said, "I see you watching that thing. Have you figured out what it is yet? I worry that it may not look at us the way we look at each other. It's intentions seem good, so far, but I wonder how well it actually knows itself."
The party continues to make it's way along the Old Svalich Road a sense of uncertainty permeates through each member; are they going in the correct direction? Can the others be trusted? Surely there is strength in numbers?
The light from Alder's torch turns shadows from inanimate objects in to terrifying spectres.
Can those who are actively looking around please make a Perception check.
Dormark and Sandu, please read spoiler below;
As you are traversing the path an acrid, but faint, smell fills your nostrils / mechanical smell sensors. The scent of death / decomposition is in the air and it is coming, as best as you can tell, from the woods to the right.
Looking around you are unsure whether anyone else within the party has picked up on the smell.
DM - The Call of Strahd (CoS); Feyrealm Campaign, Chapter 0 - Bleak Prospect (BP), Chapter 1 - Destination Unknown (DU)
Alder hesitates, considering his words carefully. "I am unsure what to think. I have never seen anything like it before..."
Perception: 18
Valerie is still having her guard up while they continue through the path.
Perception 4
Sandu gave Baern an incredulous look. He did not know whether the dwarf was joking, deadly serious or just lacking in dealing with ordinary folk like him. He pulled his hood further over his head to make himself look more unassuming, a tactic that had worked wonders in the past, though he wondered how well it would serve him here out in the woods. At least the lady paladin he was following seemed strong enough to duck behind. And in a pinch the walking armoury would do as well.
He listened in on the discussion some of the others were having on religious servitude when the sudden onset of a putrid smell distracted him.
'Urgh, what is that smell?' Sandu said from behind his hand covering his face. He tried not to retch. 'Smells like something died out here.'
The combination of dark woods and rotten smell made Sandu squeamish. He once more scooted closer to Valerie as well as Dormak, who he now surmised was a cleric of some sort, strange as that sounded. Better safe than sorry. He thought to himself.
William Brackwater: Human Fighter - The Windward Isles
Valerie's Perception check:
Unnerved by the sounds, sights, and smells you encounter along the path, your mind spins and you struggle to take in much of your surroundings. CAWWW! snapped back to your senses you look to the woods on your right, you believe you spot a raven in the trees for a fleeting moment.
Alder's Perception check:
Steely, drilled, disciplined - though the sounds, sights, and smells might unnerve others, your mind pushes through. CAWWW! The raven's cry barely makes you blink as you stare coolly in its direction, to the woods on your right. You have spotted this raven at multiple times over the last number of minutes - it's flight patterns seem unnatural and you swear that it has occasionally circled the party; it's movements seem more akin to a scouting manoeuvre of some form than natural flight.
As the raven meets your stare for what seems like minutes, but is in actuality a couple of seconds, you notice an uneasiness. The bird then proceeds to quickly fly deeper into the woods, away from your gaze.
DM - The Call of Strahd (CoS); Feyrealm Campaign, Chapter 0 - Bleak Prospect (BP), Chapter 1 - Destination Unknown (DU)
Valerie instinctively turns to the right and raises the shield in front of her. She tries her best to peer through the darkness pass the wood for a moment, then gather herself up. "Hmm." She sighs in relief. "It's just a raven."
"What smell?" She sniffs the air around to see what is the smell.
Dormark sensing the smell of death put an arm before the paladin stopping the party. “Something is dead near here,” he says looking towards the place he can smell it from. He raises a he torch to peer towards the area.
(IrRyO would you roll my perception check as well, I’m doing this while getting ready for work. +5 and I’ll try to add on the d4 by casting guidance.)
Dormark Calling of Strahd (warforged cleric) 4
Dormark's Perception check: 18 + 2 (see spoiler below)
Peering towards the area you believe the smell is coming from you see a number of displaced branches - it looks like someone, or something, has been through the vegetation.
Valerie, upon hearing mention of the foul smell, you can faintly make out what the others are talking about - the smell is unmistakably that of decomposition.
DM - The Call of Strahd (CoS); Feyrealm Campaign, Chapter 0 - Bleak Prospect (BP), Chapter 1 - Destination Unknown (DU)
Alder frowns into the woods, suspicion writ on his broad features. His grip tightened on the torch, knuckles popping. Something was not right here. Birds did not act in such a manner...
"Have caution. Something is very wrong here..."
When Dormark reveals more of his background, Baern gets even more excited and curious. "WOW... Mithril Hall, really? I've always wanted to go there. I've only read about it in books and heard the tails. Is it as they say?" He goes on and on asking questions about Mithril Hall until someone silences him. "I'm from near Eartheart, at the Great Rift, well, the East Rift now, after the collapse, of course. That's great that you're a cleric of Moradin, and that the treat you like a real, ah, I mean, that you're just as real as the rest of us, right? I mean, we all serve the Gods regardless of what we're made of, don't we?"
Sandu can easily discern that Baern is just young and inexperienced. At one point the dwarf does ask "did I hear you say you can suddenly do magic?" "Wow. I did just learn a prayer before coming here, and I think it works! That's about it though."
The young dwarf is a bit scared of their surroundings but is so excited to meet new and interesting people that he stays focused on that, not really keeping an eye out for the dangers that lurk nearby. When the others signal for trouble or the smell of death, he shuts up immediately, his mind quickly coming back to the here and now.
Sensing the smell of decomposition along with the eerie dark forest, Valerie feels uneasy within her gut. She takes her amulet with symbol of Torm from under her armor, clutches the amulet and begins to mutters the prayer. After a moment pass, her blue pupil less eyes which used to glow ever so slightly, now is emitting a bright blue light. She focus on the surrounding forest to see are there any foul creatures nearby.
Cast: Divine Sense
Seeing the hole in the branches he steps foreword and says, “Cover me” While he leaves the mace on his belt he positions his shield in front of himself and looks around the opening to see what caused this opening.
Dormark Calling of Strahd (warforged cleric) 4