Ran nods. He almost opens his mouth to ask if Nanny was the one that put the curse there in the first place, but decides that might be better used as a question after the fact. The hag wasn't going to lift the curse for free, whether she did it or not.
Mica groans again “Little good that did us, we have no way to perform those rituals and no ready access to that magic. We are no closer to finding anything.” He looks over at the others as if to ask now what?
This post has potentially manipulated dice roll results.
Danica is also grateful for the breather, even though she felt like she couldn't allow herself to rest with another member of the crew missing. She was right behind Hew as they made their way back to the deserted village, only stopping at hearing the shrill cry, her grip tight on the pommel of her scimitar as she clenched her jaw and continued to follow Hew. Knowing he was right didn't make it feel any more wrong. Every part of her screaming that that could have been Inete. But they pressed on and the sight that greeted them was eerie indeed.
Eyes flicking to Ran as he got her attention, the sailor nodded but still didn't speak, taking her time in attempting to consider the right question. Eyes closing in a wince as Meili blurts out a question, though she holds her breath and watches the hag closely for her answer. Huffing and holding a hand to her forehead when she finally gave it. It wasn't that she was surprised at the curt answer, but she couldn't hold back her frustration. The uncanny perfect mimicry of Meili's voice sent a shiver up Danica's spine. Stirring warily as Hew steps forward with hand on his weapon, the elf is grateful that Mica stops him. "She's doin' as agreed. Whether we like it or not. The devil is in the details, innit?" Eyeing their surroundings, twitching every time her voice had changed direction and trying her hardest to determine where she actually was. Walking over to the illuminated well, Danica gently extracts the steaming cup from the oddly huge acorn before glancing down into the well. Assuming she doesn't see anything amiss, she would focus on the potion and once again make sure that it was safe. Guidance:1 Perception:7 Medicine:16
Impressed at Ran's methodical question, Danica tries to follow the hag's answer, latching onto one specific method that sounded familiar. Looking over at Mica as he groans in ready defeat she admits, "I've seen my mentor perform a ritual similar to that. It has to be the spell she speaks of to get rid of what I could only assume was a curse on another sailor. It's been so long though, I don't remember it..."
Attention flicking to the well, Danica then glances over the Seekers and murmurs, "Those Sewn Sisters are at the root of it all, yeah? Velan said that it was one o' them that was stealin' Inete's hair before the zombies attacked that one night. Him an Amphyretta both thought they were connected to the Death Curse, or the cause of it at least. When Nanny brought up this whole question deal, she said that she could teach us how to hide from those other hags. It won't actually help us find anything, but it's no small feat either." And perhaps they could still barter for more afterwards. But for now....
Danica turns towards the well and asks the area at large, "How do we blind the eyes of the Sewn Sisters so that we can pass unseen and defeat them and the Death Curse they're likely a part of?"
((OOC: I don't think I've ever agonized over a post for so long before))
[For clarification, no one is looking at the hag. While her voice is moving around the village, she is not anywhere to be seen. Whether she is invisible, or just hiding and 'throwing' her voice, is anyone's guess.]
Danica:
Looking down the well, you see that is continues far past the limits of your vision, down into darkness without any sign of water or bottom. But... just at the limits of your darkvision, you think you can see something in the wall of the well... a defect or hole, possibly a tunnel.
Picking up the concoction in the acorn cup and tasting a drop, Danicarecognizes the same medicinal drink the hag offered before, this time - as promised - absent the extra enchantment.
After Danicaasks her question, you can all almost feel a smile spreading across Nanny's unseen face.
...
"Such a wise question. So very wise indeed...".
The torch near the well flares again, and suddenly there is another object there, sitting where the acorn cup had been just moments before. It is a figure woven of sticks and palm fronds and... other less-identifiable fibers. Vaguely humanoid in shape, with a large head and four limbs. But the 'limbs' are all bent inward and twisted together into a knot, like it has been hog-tied. It is small enough to sit in the palm of a hand and weighs less than a pound.
"Take this fetish. Each evening, as the sun sets, you must cast a spell upon it to ward off evil spirits. You know the spell, Wood Elf; your mistress of the moon will share it with you if you ask."
"Through the night and through the next day, keep this close and the Sewn Sisters will be thwarted in their attempts to observe you. Neither will their scrying see you in the light of day, nor will their powers grant them access to your sleeping minds at night. And should they locate you through other means and choose to visit you in the flesh, they will be weakened in the presence of this fetish."
...
"Now... it is not fool proof. Nothing is."
"The magic emanates from the fetish. Stray more than 30 feet away, and if the Sewn Sisters are looking, they will see you."
"Forget to refresh the spell at sunset, and the fetish will be worth no more than dirt and straw."
"But used wisely, this will allow you to approach, unseen by the witches until you have already cut their wretched heads from their bodies."
...
"And with this, our contract is satisfied. If you wish, you may shelter here in M'bala while you rest and plan your next foray into the jungle."
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
PC - Ethel - Human - Lvl 4 Necromancer - Undying Dragons * Serge Marshblade - Human - Lvl 5 Eldritch Knight - Hoard of the Dragon Queen
DM -(Homebrew) Heroes of Bardstown *Red Dead Annihilation: ToA *Where the Cold Winds Blow : DoIP * Covetous, Dragonish Thoughts: HotDQ * Red Wine, Black Rose: CoS * Greyhawk: Tides of War
Ran feels a little over his head with the talk of the Sewn Sisters and how to stop them from seeing the group. His only experience to prevent being seen was to stay quiet in the shadows until the person you were looking for showed themselves. Then you dealt with them with muscle and steel. He's beginning to wonder how much he can really help this group in their quest.
He looks around into the dark wondering where the hag really is. He focuses on where her voice last came from.
"Nanny," Ran calls out. "You know these curses. And can clearly handle the jandal out here. If you wanted to, could you lift the curse on this wee birdie? And if you can what would it take to get you to want to?"
For a long time there is no answer. Then from somewhere further away then before, the hag's voice calls out, "You ask much of me, jingle jangle man. Such a feat would carry a steep cost indeed. Nanny will need to think it over."
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
PC - Ethel - Human - Lvl 4 Necromancer - Undying Dragons * Serge Marshblade - Human - Lvl 5 Eldritch Knight - Hoard of the Dragon Queen
DM -(Homebrew) Heroes of Bardstown *Red Dead Annihilation: ToA *Where the Cold Winds Blow : DoIP * Covetous, Dragonish Thoughts: HotDQ * Red Wine, Black Rose: CoS * Greyhawk: Tides of War
"I guess it means we are sleeping here." Meili broke her silence and looked around for the most suitable patch of land in this ruined village for a relatively safe camp. "It is unlikely any creature will attack us here now." The unspoken "the hag can do so at any moment anyway" hung in the air. "But I can keep the first watch."She would do so, should others agree to take a rest.
This post has potentially manipulated dice roll results.
Mica looks over Danica’s shoulder to take in the ‘protection’ Nanny offered them from the sisters, looking at it with a mixture of curiosity and doubt. As the group makes camp in the village for the night, hopefully awaiting the answer to Ran’s question, he spreads out his bedroll and makes himself as comfortable as he can for the night. “I will take the third watch after you, Ran”. Perception for watch: 21.
This post has potentially manipulated dice roll results.
Grimacing at the taste of the concoction, Danica turns to Hew, carefully pressing the acorn cup into his one hand. Meeting the dwarf's eye she assures, "It's safe."
Slowly approaching the object that had just appeared on the well where she had taken the cup from, Danica listens fully as she studies the thing, hairs raising on the back of her neck as the hag suggested she ask Selûne to share to her the spell needed. Was it as simple as that? Selûne already offered her much, it seemed rude to press her Goddess for more. Lips thinned, the elf took the fetish, turning it over in her hands. If they had this simple thing from the beginning, would they still have Velan and Inete?
Gaze turning to Ran, the sailor waits for the answer to his question with hope, chewing on the inside of her cheek at the hag's answer. "Wasn't a flat out 'no' at least." She tries to appease the mercenary. Still, in the wake of the contract 'being satisfied', Danica couldn't say that felt that way. No better leads on their missing friends, Ran's sister or how to cure the actual Death Curse. But at least she had a way to help keep the rest of the crew safe now.
As Meili offered to take first watch even as she surmised that they wouldn't be attacked by any creature, Danica was quick to tack on, "Unless whatever pterafolk survivors there are track us down. Keep a keen eye out." Unshouldering her pack, the elf begins setting up camp with the rest of the Seekers, making sure to check the weather using Druidcraft and see if the rain catchers should be set out, and setting up the incense to repel insects. "I'll take last watch then." She states after Mica.
Looking over at Hew, she would advise, "Don't worry about taking a watch tonight. Just rest up. And don't hesitate to come to me if you feel off, alright?" Settling down for the night, it takes her a while to find inner calm enough to truly pray. One hand around the fetish and the other her holy symbol.
'Selûne Moonmother. Please guide this daughter of yours along the right path. I don't trust this hag, but a deal is a deal and the enemy of my enemy is my friend, at least temporarily. Please grant me the power to protect my crew. Share the knowledge of the spell I need to use this...thing.' ....And guide two lost souls, Velan and Inete , back to safety. Wherever that may be.
During Danica's watch, she's going to find a small stone, cast Light on it and drop it down the well to check for anything interesting.
Hew looks down at the cup with contempt. "You cannot expect me to drink from that witch's brew?" Even as he asks the question, his hand trembles and he nearly spills the drink. His face hardens and he goes to stand by the well, seeming to wrestle over whether to dump the cup. In the end he throws his head back and downs the concoction, grimacing at the bitter taste.
Meanwhile, Danica'sconnection to nature suggests rain in the offing, so the raincatchers are deployed.
By the time this is complete, Hewis flexing his shoulders and marveling at the pace of his recovery. "No doubt a curse of some kind, still. Perhaps I'll grow a snail's shell or turn into a frog." He laughs. As Meilisettles down to take first watch, Hew sits up with her for a while.
FIRST WATCH
After the others have fallen asleep and a rumble in the distance heralds a small incoming storm, Hew takes a seat beside Meili. His initial miraculous recovery has receded into a troublesome stomach ache and he shifts uncomfortably.
"We are in the middle of a rough stretch. Its a shame about the wizard but I blame myself for Inete. I never should have left her up there alone. I just...". He looks up at the sky. "You're a good group. A better guide would have seen this mess coming." He leans back and then tries to stand, beginning to sweat. "Ugh. Did the witch say something about it making me sicker before I get better...?" He sits back down. "Anyway, I want to tell you... with those eggs... Your group has paid me coin to be your guide. There are sometimes things that have to be done to survive out here. Let me do those things. You shouldn't... " he grabs his stomach. "I - I need to lie down."
Almost immediately, Hewfalls asleep.
SECOND WATCH
When Meiliwakes Ranfor his watch the rain has started, soft but steady. The pittering sound on the empty streets of M'bala play havoc with Ran'snerves. He can't shake the feeling that something, the hag perhaps, is creeping up behind him, using the rain as cover. The bird is no help, tucked under cover of foiliage and fast alsleep.
To make matters worse, Hewis laughing and mumbling in his sleep. Upon inspection, the old dwarf is burning with fever and sweating profusely. Attempts to rouse him are inneffective. From time to time he lets out a little dwarven chuckle. Coming from the usually dour Hew, its unsettling.
Ranhas no choice but to make do, sitting in the dark, in the rain, with unknown horrors lurking about and the laughter of a dwarf playing at his fraying nerves.
THIRD WATCH
Micatakes over. Ranlooks in rough shape when he turns back in.
The rain has grown heavier and the ground is mud and puddles in all directions. There's been no sign of the hag, though it looks like a candle may be lit inside her hut.
After an hour, Micahears a voice. It takes a moment to realize it is Hew. He is talking to himself quietly... mumbling mostly but also carrying on one sided conversations with no one. Micaalso discovers Hewis burning with fever.
...
"... Will a rich Haggin still be the same honest lad I grew up with?"
...
"What shall you call it? It needs a new name, I say!"
...
"... Leave the kids. You can always bring them later. I don't want the responsibility."
...
"Because that's the way it has to be, damn it... damn it..."
...
"What's his name, Jaquemon? Can he do tricks? Hah..."
...
"Imagine if our fathers could see us now? Proper dwarves, eh?"
...
...
...
FOURTH WATCH
Micahands the last watch over to Danica. Remembering her curiosity from the evening before, she quietly approaches the well. The rain continues but has let up some since its peak during Mica'swatch. She lifts a pebble, casts her cantrip and drops the glowing stone into the well. She can follow the light down 50'... 100'... 150'... and then it is gone. As it fell, she does get a better look. There is definitely something down there in the side of the well. An opening of some kind, perhaps 50' down.
When she returns to camp, Hewraises his voice. When she goes to see what's wrong, she sees he is still asleep. But he is burning with fever and sweating madly, even in the rain.
...
...I said smoke! What's burning!?
...
"Bugger all that! Its inside the mine! We have to get out!"
...
Where's Molly? Who's seen Molly!
...
"...HAGGIN! Where's your damn daughter!?"
By now, the shouting has awakened the entire party. Hewis thrashing in his sleeping bag, delirious and unresponsive to attempts to rouse him. Suddenly, he howls. Its an awful sound. Some of you may have heard it before... a sound of heartbraking loss.
...
The he screams.
"I'M FOR YOU, WORM! DEATH! DEATH! DEATH!" Then he rolls across the ground, screaming and clutching at the stump of his left arm. He begins to pound his head back on the muddy ground. "Eat me then! Eat me! EAT ME! EAAAAHHHHHHHHHH!" His shouting turns to ragged breathing, then slowly relaxes and he is still. It takes checking to confirm he is still breathing. Already the fever seems to have loosened its grip on him, but he cannot be roused.
...
"A fragile thing, that one." The appearance of the old hag just outside your camp is nearly enough to burst all your hearts. She is standing, hunched, in the rain, just 15' away. "Less a man, and more a set of skin, stretched taut as a snare drum over a frame of rage. 'Tis a small miracle it hasn't snapped on you, yet." She turns and retreats toward her hut. Its hard to tell with the rain, but you think she may be laughing softly.
The rain is letting up. In the east, the horizon glows to herald morning.
[You may all take a LONG REST.]
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
PC - Ethel - Human - Lvl 4 Necromancer - Undying Dragons * Serge Marshblade - Human - Lvl 5 Eldritch Knight - Hoard of the Dragon Queen
DM -(Homebrew) Heroes of Bardstown *Red Dead Annihilation: ToA *Where the Cold Winds Blow : DoIP * Covetous, Dragonish Thoughts: HotDQ * Red Wine, Black Rose: CoS * Greyhawk: Tides of War
Meili was tired in every possible way the word can describe. She could only listen to Hew's explanations, nodding or shaking her head in appropriate pieces. "Thank you." Meili managed to smile, not arguing about anything - doubtfully, Hew needed any discussions here. Not in his condition anyway. The hag warned about fever, bad dreams and suffering. So far her words proved to be right and though the healer in Meili demanded actions to help at least with the fever, the logic commanded to wait. The witch could not possibly try to kill one of them like this.
Hew's condition was the first thing she checked in the morning. "He is better. But can not be woken yet."Answered Meili to Ran. She sighed. "I'm afraid we are not done with this place just yet but do hope too this night was the last one here."
Packing did not take long, eating a ration even less so. All the group could do now is to wait for Hew to fully join them, so, Meili was sitting near the dwarf, watching him and waiting. Nanny's words reminded the last time they all heard the warning about Hew. "It all sounds like he lost someone and still wants revenge, though thinks he will die when he tries to get it. Amphiretta said as much. Maybe it is time for us to talk to Hew."
Danica stared at Hew as he deliberated whether to drink the hag's brew or not and said simply, "It is your decision." Nodding as he drank, trying to give their guide a reassuring smile at his joke cracking. Her rest was blissfully uneventful, though when she relieved Mica, she was concerned to hear what he warned her about Hew's condition.
It was impossible to forget that they were basically spending the night in a ghost town, the stillness of it all making the elf restless. Her investigation of the well didn't provide any comfort either, wondering if she should bring up what she found or not. At first when she returned to Hew's thrashing, she tried to sit by his side and put a hand on his brow, whispering calming placations. But as his volume increased, Danica began trying to shake him awake to rouse him from his nightmare, to no avail. His screams put the sailor on edge and stomach clenched with forbidden knowledge. But his following silence gave her a sinking feeling. What if it killed him? What if the concoction was poison after all and she had told him it was safe, condemning him to death? Frantically checking his breathing and pulse, Danica couldn't help but let out a breath of relief upon finding it. Head whipping around at the sound of Nanny's voice, Danica's lips were pressed thin at her unkind analogy.
After helping pick up camp, she sat opposite Meili on Hew's other side, both women munching on the bland rations and glancing at the dwarf every now and then. Danica shrugged at the other healer's idea. "Suppose I jus' don' see th' point in it. We might not know the details, but we know the gist. He was either in a party like ours or guiding one, fought a red dragon, the 'worm', it killed someone he clearly cares about deeply, tore off his arm and then left him." Staring down at the battered man with empathy. "Wouldn't it just hurt him more to dig up the past?"
Meili plucked at the blades of grass, lost in thoughts. "It might. But would not you want to know if he is guiding us towards that dragon to try to kill him, or towards our own goal?" Finally said she left the grass alone and looked at Hew again.
Ran lets Danica and Meili debate what to bring up with Hew. He helps break down their makeshift camp but keeps an eye out for the hag while he does so. If he spots her, he will ask if she's thought of what payment would be required to change the bird back to whoever or whatever she was before.
As the last of camp is being loaded back into packs, Hewstirs. He collects his things quietly, lifting his pack and donning his helmet. His eyes are red and bloodshot, but otherwise he looks well enough. Indeed, there is no trace of the shivers or cough that had plagued him the last two days.
Ran, the hag emerges from her hut and begins digging in her root garden, as when you first came upon her yesterday.
"I've considered your request, young jangling man,"she says as the tugs a long, gnarled turnip out of the ground.
"You have collected some interesting items in your travels. A jug of wondrous power. The trappings of K'rer N'busa. Powerful and also tied significantly to this land - a land to which you are all strangers."
...
"Throw them all down the well. The jug, the cloak, the mask, the boomerang. All of them."
"That is my price."
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
PC - Ethel - Human - Lvl 4 Necromancer - Undying Dragons * Serge Marshblade - Human - Lvl 5 Eldritch Knight - Hoard of the Dragon Queen
DM -(Homebrew) Heroes of Bardstown *Red Dead Annihilation: ToA *Where the Cold Winds Blow : DoIP * Covetous, Dragonish Thoughts: HotDQ * Red Wine, Black Rose: CoS * Greyhawk: Tides of War
"She's got to be taking the piss with that offer," Ran says. "That's a lot of magic for one spell. Hate to give all that up and find out this bird was originally just a monkey."
He pauses and looks at each of them.
"Is any of that restoration type magic something you could learn?" Ran asks Danica.
Meili watched Hew, who simply suddenly sat up and then left without a word to her or Danica. The talk was definitely in order but not now.
"If not our Captain, there are more people who can help. I would give up every item, but, Nanny," Meili raised her voice enough that the hag could hear. "Neither of these things is ours to give, nor yours to take. Spirit of K'rer N'busa gave it to us to fight the evil of this land - the very purpose we are here and you know it. The jug was wasted for years in its hiding place. Now it will serve the same purpose - help us to help the land. We are not thieves who came to plunder Chult. If we lose - then all things will remain forever buried in jungles, just as you wish. But if we do what we came to do and live... Take off the curse from the burd and I will swear to bring every single item back here to your treasure well."
Meili sounded (and was) very sincere about her promise.
Ran nods. He almost opens his mouth to ask if Nanny was the one that put the curse there in the first place, but decides that might be better used as a question after the fact. The hag wasn't going to lift the curse for free, whether she did it or not.
Mica groans again “Little good that did us, we have no way to perform those rituals and no ready access to that magic. We are no closer to finding anything.” He looks over at the others as if to ask now what?
Danica is also grateful for the breather, even though she felt like she couldn't allow herself to rest with another member of the crew missing. She was right behind Hew as they made their way back to the deserted village, only stopping at hearing the shrill cry, her grip tight on the pommel of her scimitar as she clenched her jaw and continued to follow Hew. Knowing he was right didn't make it feel any more wrong. Every part of her screaming that that could have been Inete. But they pressed on and the sight that greeted them was eerie indeed.
Eyes flicking to Ran as he got her attention, the sailor nodded but still didn't speak, taking her time in attempting to consider the right question. Eyes closing in a wince as Meili blurts out a question, though she holds her breath and watches the hag closely for her answer. Huffing and holding a hand to her forehead when she finally gave it. It wasn't that she was surprised at the curt answer, but she couldn't hold back her frustration. The uncanny perfect mimicry of Meili's voice sent a shiver up Danica's spine. Stirring warily as Hew steps forward with hand on his weapon, the elf is grateful that Mica stops him. "She's doin' as agreed. Whether we like it or not. The devil is in the details, innit?" Eyeing their surroundings, twitching every time her voice had changed direction and trying her hardest to determine where she actually was. Walking over to the illuminated well, Danica gently extracts the steaming cup from the oddly huge acorn before glancing down into the well. Assuming she doesn't see anything amiss, she would focus on the potion and once again make sure that it was safe.
Guidance: 1
Perception: 7
Medicine: 16
Impressed at Ran's methodical question, Danica tries to follow the hag's answer, latching onto one specific method that sounded familiar. Looking over at Mica as he groans in ready defeat she admits, "I've seen my mentor perform a ritual similar to that. It has to be the spell she speaks of to get rid of what I could only assume was a curse on another sailor. It's been so long though, I don't remember it..."
Attention flicking to the well, Danica then glances over the Seekers and murmurs, "Those Sewn Sisters are at the root of it all, yeah? Velan said that it was one o' them that was stealin' Inete's hair before the zombies attacked that one night. Him an Amphyretta both thought they were connected to the Death Curse, or the cause of it at least. When Nanny brought up this whole question deal, she said that she could teach us how to hide from those other hags. It won't actually help us find anything, but it's no small feat either." And perhaps they could still barter for more afterwards. But for now....
Danica turns towards the well and asks the area at large, "How do we blind the eyes of the Sewn Sisters so that we can pass unseen and defeat them and the Death Curse they're likely a part of?"
((OOC: I don't think I've ever agonized over a post for so long before))
Nym Durnodel - Aspiring Heroes of Faerûn // Danica Amastacia - Red Dead Annihilation
[For clarification, no one is looking at the hag. While her voice is moving around the village, she is not anywhere to be seen. Whether she is invisible, or just hiding and 'throwing' her voice, is anyone's guess.]
Danica:
Looking down the well, you see that is continues far past the limits of your vision, down into darkness without any sign of water or bottom. But... just at the limits of your darkvision, you think you can see something in the wall of the well... a defect or hole, possibly a tunnel.
Picking up the concoction in the acorn cup and tasting a drop, Danica recognizes the same medicinal drink the hag offered before, this time - as promised - absent the extra enchantment.
After Danica asks her question, you can all almost feel a smile spreading across Nanny's unseen face.
...
"Such a wise question. So very wise indeed...".
The torch near the well flares again, and suddenly there is another object there, sitting where the acorn cup had been just moments before. It is a figure woven of sticks and palm fronds and... other less-identifiable fibers. Vaguely humanoid in shape, with a large head and four limbs. But the 'limbs' are all bent inward and twisted together into a knot, like it has been hog-tied. It is small enough to sit in the palm of a hand and weighs less than a pound.
"Take this fetish. Each evening, as the sun sets, you must cast a spell upon it to ward off evil spirits. You know the spell, Wood Elf; your mistress of the moon will share it with you if you ask."
"Through the night and through the next day, keep this close and the Sewn Sisters will be thwarted in their attempts to observe you. Neither will their scrying see you in the light of day, nor will their powers grant them access to your sleeping minds at night. And should they locate you through other means and choose to visit you in the flesh, they will be weakened in the presence of this fetish."
...
"Now... it is not fool proof. Nothing is."
"The magic emanates from the fetish. Stray more than 30 feet away, and if the Sewn Sisters are looking, they will see you."
"Forget to refresh the spell at sunset, and the fetish will be worth no more than dirt and straw."
"But used wisely, this will allow you to approach, unseen by the witches until you have already cut their wretched heads from their bodies."
...
"And with this, our contract is satisfied. If you wish, you may shelter here in M'bala while you rest and plan your next foray into the jungle."
PC - Ethel - Human - Lvl 4 Necromancer - Undying Dragons * Serge Marshblade - Human - Lvl 5 Eldritch Knight - Hoard of the Dragon Queen
DM - (Homebrew) Heroes of Bardstown * Red Dead Annihilation: ToA * Where the Cold Winds Blow : DoIP * Covetous, Dragonish Thoughts: HotDQ * Red Wine, Black Rose: CoS * Greyhawk: Tides of War
Ran feels a little over his head with the talk of the Sewn Sisters and how to stop them from seeing the group. His only experience to prevent being seen was to stay quiet in the shadows until the person you were looking for showed themselves. Then you dealt with them with muscle and steel. He's beginning to wonder how much he can really help this group in their quest.
He looks around into the dark wondering where the hag really is. He focuses on where her voice last came from.
"Nanny," Ran calls out. "You know these curses. And can clearly handle the jandal out here. If you wanted to, could you lift the curse on this wee birdie? And if you can what would it take to get you to want to?"
For a long time there is no answer. Then from somewhere further away then before, the hag's voice calls out, "You ask much of me, jingle jangle man. Such a feat would carry a steep cost indeed. Nanny will need to think it over."
PC - Ethel - Human - Lvl 4 Necromancer - Undying Dragons * Serge Marshblade - Human - Lvl 5 Eldritch Knight - Hoard of the Dragon Queen
DM - (Homebrew) Heroes of Bardstown * Red Dead Annihilation: ToA * Where the Cold Winds Blow : DoIP * Covetous, Dragonish Thoughts: HotDQ * Red Wine, Black Rose: CoS * Greyhawk: Tides of War
"I guess it means we are sleeping here." Meili broke her silence and looked around for the most suitable patch of land in this ruined village for a relatively safe camp. "It is unlikely any creature will attack us here now." The unspoken "the hag can do so at any moment anyway" hung in the air. "But I can keep the first watch." She would do so, should others agree to take a rest.
Meili Liang Lvl 5 Monk
Dice
Ran settles in and finds a bit of ruined wall that provides a bit of shelter from any wind coming across the plateau.
"Wake me for the next watch, Meili," Ran says before he closes his eyes.
He opens them a moment later and looks over at the bird.
"We'll get you changed back. Don't worry."
Then he closes his eyes again.
(Perception for Watch 2: 12 )
(Meili Perception: 22, she is using mask, of course)
Meili Liang Lvl 5 Monk
Dice
Mica looks over Danica’s shoulder to take in the ‘protection’ Nanny offered them from the sisters, looking at it with a mixture of curiosity and doubt. As the group makes camp in the village for the night, hopefully awaiting the answer to Ran’s question, he spreads out his bedroll and makes himself as comfortable as he can for the night. “I will take the third watch after you, Ran”. Perception for watch: 21.
.
Grimacing at the taste of the concoction, Danica turns to Hew, carefully pressing the acorn cup into his one hand. Meeting the dwarf's eye she assures, "It's safe."
Slowly approaching the object that had just appeared on the well where she had taken the cup from, Danica listens fully as she studies the thing, hairs raising on the back of her neck as the hag suggested she ask Selûne to share to her the spell needed. Was it as simple as that? Selûne already offered her much, it seemed rude to press her Goddess for more. Lips thinned, the elf took the fetish, turning it over in her hands. If they had this simple thing from the beginning, would they still have Velan and Inete?
Gaze turning to Ran, the sailor waits for the answer to his question with hope, chewing on the inside of her cheek at the hag's answer. "Wasn't a flat out 'no' at least." She tries to appease the mercenary. Still, in the wake of the contract 'being satisfied', Danica couldn't say that felt that way. No better leads on their missing friends, Ran's sister or how to cure the actual Death Curse. But at least she had a way to help keep the rest of the crew safe now.
As Meili offered to take first watch even as she surmised that they wouldn't be attacked by any creature, Danica was quick to tack on, "Unless whatever pterafolk survivors there are track us down. Keep a keen eye out." Unshouldering her pack, the elf begins setting up camp with the rest of the Seekers, making sure to check the weather using Druidcraft and see if the rain catchers should be set out, and setting up the incense to repel insects. "I'll take last watch then." She states after Mica.
Looking over at Hew, she would advise, "Don't worry about taking a watch tonight. Just rest up. And don't hesitate to come to me if you feel off, alright?"
Settling down for the night, it takes her a while to find inner calm enough to truly pray. One hand around the fetish and the other her holy symbol.
'Selûne Moonmother. Please guide this daughter of yours along the right path. I don't trust this hag, but a deal is a deal and the enemy of my enemy is my friend, at least temporarily. Please grant me the power to protect my crew. Share the knowledge of the spell I need to use this...thing.' ....And guide two lost souls, Velan and Inete , back to safety. Wherever that may be.
During Danica's watch, she's going to find a small stone, cast Light on it and drop it down the well to check for anything interesting.
Perception: 23
Nym Durnodel - Aspiring Heroes of Faerûn // Danica Amastacia - Red Dead Annihilation
Hew looks down at the cup with contempt. "You cannot expect me to drink from that witch's brew?" Even as he asks the question, his hand trembles and he nearly spills the drink. His face hardens and he goes to stand by the well, seeming to wrestle over whether to dump the cup. In the end he throws his head back and downs the concoction, grimacing at the bitter taste.
Meanwhile, Danica's connection to nature suggests rain in the offing, so the raincatchers are deployed.
By the time this is complete, Hew is flexing his shoulders and marveling at the pace of his recovery. "No doubt a curse of some kind, still. Perhaps I'll grow a snail's shell or turn into a frog." He laughs. As Meili settles down to take first watch, Hew sits up with her for a while.
FIRST WATCH
After the others have fallen asleep and a rumble in the distance heralds a small incoming storm, Hew takes a seat beside Meili. His initial miraculous recovery has receded into a troublesome stomach ache and he shifts uncomfortably.
"We are in the middle of a rough stretch. Its a shame about the wizard but I blame myself for Inete. I never should have left her up there alone. I just...". He looks up at the sky. "You're a good group. A better guide would have seen this mess coming." He leans back and then tries to stand, beginning to sweat. "Ugh. Did the witch say something about it making me sicker before I get better...?" He sits back down. "Anyway, I want to tell you... with those eggs... Your group has paid me coin to be your guide. There are sometimes things that have to be done to survive out here. Let me do those things. You shouldn't... " he grabs his stomach. "I - I need to lie down."
Almost immediately, Hew falls asleep.
SECOND WATCH
When Meili wakes Ran for his watch the rain has started, soft but steady. The pittering sound on the empty streets of M'bala play havoc with Ran's nerves. He can't shake the feeling that something, the hag perhaps, is creeping up behind him, using the rain as cover. The bird is no help, tucked under cover of foiliage and fast alsleep.
To make matters worse, Hew is laughing and mumbling in his sleep. Upon inspection, the old dwarf is burning with fever and sweating profusely. Attempts to rouse him are inneffective. From time to time he lets out a little dwarven chuckle. Coming from the usually dour Hew, its unsettling.
Ran has no choice but to make do, sitting in the dark, in the rain, with unknown horrors lurking about and the laughter of a dwarf playing at his fraying nerves.
THIRD WATCH
Mica takes over. Ran looks in rough shape when he turns back in.
The rain has grown heavier and the ground is mud and puddles in all directions. There's been no sign of the hag, though it looks like a candle may be lit inside her hut.
After an hour, Mica hears a voice. It takes a moment to realize it is Hew. He is talking to himself quietly... mumbling mostly but also carrying on one sided conversations with no one. Mica also discovers Hew is burning with fever.
...
"... Will a rich Haggin still be the same honest lad I grew up with?"
...
"What shall you call it? It needs a new name, I say!"
...
"... Leave the kids. You can always bring them later. I don't want the responsibility."
...
"Because that's the way it has to be, damn it... damn it..."
...
"What's his name, Jaquemon? Can he do tricks? Hah..."
...
"Imagine if our fathers could see us now? Proper dwarves, eh?"
...
...
...
FOURTH WATCH
Mica hands the last watch over to Danica. Remembering her curiosity from the evening before, she quietly approaches the well. The rain continues but has let up some since its peak during Mica's watch. She lifts a pebble, casts her cantrip and drops the glowing stone into the well. She can follow the light down 50'... 100'... 150'... and then it is gone. As it fell, she does get a better look. There is definitely something down there in the side of the well. An opening of some kind, perhaps 50' down.
When she returns to camp, Hew raises his voice. When she goes to see what's wrong, she sees he is still asleep. But he is burning with fever and sweating madly, even in the rain.
...
...I said smoke! What's burning!?
...
"Bugger all that! Its inside the mine! We have to get out!"
...
Where's Molly? Who's seen Molly!
...
"...HAGGIN! Where's your damn daughter!?"
By now, the shouting has awakened the entire party. Hew is thrashing in his sleeping bag, delirious and unresponsive to attempts to rouse him. Suddenly, he howls. Its an awful sound. Some of you may have heard it before... a sound of heartbraking loss.
...
The he screams.
"I'M FOR YOU, WORM! DEATH! DEATH! DEATH!" Then he rolls across the ground, screaming and clutching at the stump of his left arm. He begins to pound his head back on the muddy ground. "Eat me then! Eat me! EAT ME! EAAAAHHHHHHHHHH!" His shouting turns to ragged breathing, then slowly relaxes and he is still. It takes checking to confirm he is still breathing. Already the fever seems to have loosened its grip on him, but he cannot be roused.
...
"A fragile thing, that one." The appearance of the old hag just outside your camp is nearly enough to burst all your hearts. She is standing, hunched, in the rain, just 15' away. "Less a man, and more a set of skin, stretched taut as a snare drum over a frame of rage. 'Tis a small miracle it hasn't snapped on you, yet." She turns and retreats toward her hut. Its hard to tell with the rain, but you think she may be laughing softly.
The rain is letting up. In the east, the horizon glows to herald morning.
[You may all take a LONG REST.]
PC - Ethel - Human - Lvl 4 Necromancer - Undying Dragons * Serge Marshblade - Human - Lvl 5 Eldritch Knight - Hoard of the Dragon Queen
DM - (Homebrew) Heroes of Bardstown * Red Dead Annihilation: ToA * Where the Cold Winds Blow : DoIP * Covetous, Dragonish Thoughts: HotDQ * Red Wine, Black Rose: CoS * Greyhawk: Tides of War
Ran stretches a few times as the sun comes up, looking around at the others and Hew.
"I'm going to suggest we don't stop here in the future," Ran says. "I'm more tired than when I went to sleep."
He checks on the raincatchers and starts collecting the rainwater into waterskins.
"Is he still hot?" Ran asks about Hew.
Meili was tired in every possible way the word can describe. She could only listen to Hew's explanations, nodding or shaking her head in appropriate pieces. "Thank you." Meili managed to smile, not arguing about anything - doubtfully, Hew needed any discussions here. Not in his condition anyway. The hag warned about fever, bad dreams and suffering. So far her words proved to be right and though the healer in Meili demanded actions to help at least with the fever, the logic commanded to wait. The witch could not possibly try to kill one of them like this.
Hew's condition was the first thing she checked in the morning. "He is better. But can not be woken yet." Answered Meili to Ran. She sighed. "I'm afraid we are not done with this place just yet but do hope too this night was the last one here."
Packing did not take long, eating a ration even less so. All the group could do now is to wait for Hew to fully join them, so, Meili was sitting near the dwarf, watching him and waiting. Nanny's words reminded the last time they all heard the warning about Hew. "It all sounds like he lost someone and still wants revenge, though thinks he will die when he tries to get it. Amphiretta said as much. Maybe it is time for us to talk to Hew."
Meili Liang Lvl 5 Monk
Dice
Danica stared at Hew as he deliberated whether to drink the hag's brew or not and said simply, "It is your decision." Nodding as he drank, trying to give their guide a reassuring smile at his joke cracking. Her rest was blissfully uneventful, though when she relieved Mica, she was concerned to hear what he warned her about Hew's condition.
It was impossible to forget that they were basically spending the night in a ghost town, the stillness of it all making the elf restless. Her investigation of the well didn't provide any comfort either, wondering if she should bring up what she found or not.
At first when she returned to Hew's thrashing, she tried to sit by his side and put a hand on his brow, whispering calming placations. But as his volume increased, Danica began trying to shake him awake to rouse him from his nightmare, to no avail. His screams put the sailor on edge and stomach clenched with forbidden knowledge. But his following silence gave her a sinking feeling. What if it killed him? What if the concoction was poison after all and she had told him it was safe, condemning him to death? Frantically checking his breathing and pulse, Danica couldn't help but let out a breath of relief upon finding it. Head whipping around at the sound of Nanny's voice, Danica's lips were pressed thin at her unkind analogy.
After helping pick up camp, she sat opposite Meili on Hew's other side, both women munching on the bland rations and glancing at the dwarf every now and then. Danica shrugged at the other healer's idea. "Suppose I jus' don' see th' point in it. We might not know the details, but we know the gist. He was either in a party like ours or guiding one, fought a red dragon, the 'worm', it killed someone he clearly cares about deeply, tore off his arm and then left him." Staring down at the battered man with empathy. "Wouldn't it just hurt him more to dig up the past?"
Nym Durnodel - Aspiring Heroes of Faerûn // Danica Amastacia - Red Dead Annihilation
Meili plucked at the blades of grass, lost in thoughts. "It might. But would not you want to know if he is guiding us towards that dragon to try to kill him, or towards our own goal?" Finally said she left the grass alone and looked at Hew again.
Meili Liang Lvl 5 Monk
Dice
Ran lets Danica and Meili debate what to bring up with Hew. He helps break down their makeshift camp but keeps an eye out for the hag while he does so. If he spots her, he will ask if she's thought of what payment would be required to change the bird back to whoever or whatever she was before.
As the last of camp is being loaded back into packs, Hew stirs. He collects his things quietly, lifting his pack and donning his helmet. His eyes are red and bloodshot, but otherwise he looks well enough. Indeed, there is no trace of the shivers or cough that had plagued him the last two days.
Ran, the hag emerges from her hut and begins digging in her root garden, as when you first came upon her yesterday.
"I've considered your request, young jangling man," she says as the tugs a long, gnarled turnip out of the ground.
"You have collected some interesting items in your travels. A jug of wondrous power. The trappings of K'rer N'busa. Powerful and also tied significantly to this land - a land to which you are all strangers."
...
"Throw them all down the well. The jug, the cloak, the mask, the boomerang. All of them."
"That is my price."
PC - Ethel - Human - Lvl 4 Necromancer - Undying Dragons * Serge Marshblade - Human - Lvl 5 Eldritch Knight - Hoard of the Dragon Queen
DM - (Homebrew) Heroes of Bardstown * Red Dead Annihilation: ToA * Where the Cold Winds Blow : DoIP * Covetous, Dragonish Thoughts: HotDQ * Red Wine, Black Rose: CoS * Greyhawk: Tides of War
Ran nods and moves back to the others.
"She's got to be taking the piss with that offer," Ran says. "That's a lot of magic for one spell. Hate to give all that up and find out this bird was originally just a monkey."
He pauses and looks at each of them.
"Is any of that restoration type magic something you could learn?" Ran asks Danica.
Meili watched Hew, who simply suddenly sat up and then left without a word to her or Danica. The talk was definitely in order but not now.
"If not our Captain, there are more people who can help. I would give up every item, but, Nanny," Meili raised her voice enough that the hag could hear. "Neither of these things is ours to give, nor yours to take. Spirit of K'rer N'busa gave it to us to fight the evil of this land - the very purpose we are here and you know it. The jug was wasted for years in its hiding place. Now it will serve the same purpose - help us to help the land. We are not thieves who came to plunder Chult. If we lose - then all things will remain forever buried in jungles, just as you wish. But if we do what we came to do and live... Take off the curse from the burd and I will swear to bring every single item back here to your treasure well."
Meili sounded (and was) very sincere about her promise.
Meili Liang Lvl 5 Monk
Dice