"No none of us want to deal with that. We should move on before anymore of those things try to come after us." Darya says as she waits for Parriwimple to get back on his feet, knowing she would only be pulled over if she tried to help get him up. She checks him over but nods as none of his wounds look really bad, letting Ireena look over them if she wants to. Once they all are ready to move on once more she will motion for Parriwimple to take the lead.

[Ireena can expend 1 Healer's Kit charge to heal for 1d6+4 as per the Healer Feat. Its your discretion if she uses it this time or not. I will usually defer to you when it comes to these things. She may act out of turn only if its incredibly in-character for her! Just let me know and you can roll the heal -- or I can, whichever works best for you!]

/--About 12 PM, Second of the 6th Moon, 735 BC, Ivlis Bridge--/

After another 2 hours of walking, thankfully nothing else attempts to ambush Darya and her party. Parriwimple leads the way until you reach the bridge. Parriwimple, personally, has never ventured this far. Ireena recalls coming through this area only a handful of times. As a child, did Darya's father ever take her to the other places in Barovia?

Parriwimple turns away from the bridge and looks southeastward. About an hour in that direction was a more marsh-like area that surrounded the river. He grimaces as he faces it and simply says, "Uncle says that's where he thinks the pack's gone..."

"What? In the marsh? Why would he think that?" Ireena seems incredulous about this.

"I'unno... That's just what he said."

Healing: 8

After the fight, Darya calls for a short rest to help Ireena clean some of Parriwimple's cut so the blood does not attention from anything else.

Darya wipes sweat from her brow as they continue the trek, truly hoping they would be able to return to the village before nightfall. The idea of being left to camp in the woods overnight was beyond unpleasant. To that point she foes what she can to increase their pace, only slowing it as they get to the outskirts of the marsh.

The first time she could recall going so far from the village was in her late childhood and early teenage years. At first her father would nevertheless her come along on his trips but once she started to study magic seriously he had brought her along, showing her that his own trips had been to gather components for his spells due to not being able to afford the prices of the greedy Bildrath. The last time she had been far from the village had ended badly but at least this time she had two people better suited for a physical fight.

"My only guess is either they told him this is where they would be going or perhaps he sent them here for some sort of task? I cannot say for sure but I do not know if we are prepared enough to venture into the marsh for very long. 

"I know you don't like to hear about it... but sometimes I really don't like your uncle." Ireena sighs. She takes a few steps towards the marsh. "We can do a quick scan and see what we see... but I agree, I don't want to be out here at night. Period. Think we should proceed?" She looks at Darya.

"I already agree to help him so and we came out this far so I do not wish to have traveled this far for nothing." Darya says as she put her hand on Ireena's shoulder. "I know this is much more real then the games we played as kids but I could still try and be the dashing knight that protects you. Although it will be with magic instead of a sword, armor or shield." She offers another smile after her joke, hoping to help her friend calm down. 

Once she finishes speaking with Ireena she moves over to Parriwimple. " I am ready to follow your lead. But if things get out of hand then we might want to have a plan to get away quickly."

(Sorry wasn't letting me edit posts earlier and I wanted to add her talking to Parriwimple as well so I made another post.)

(No worries!)

/--About 1 PM, Second of the 6th Moon, 735 BC, Ivlis Marsh--/

After about an hour of walking, Parriwimple stops dead and points. Up ahead, you see bloated corpses nearby the water bank. To put it simply, they look like a generic RPG party - wizard, cleric, rogue, and fighter. The bloating seems to be from when this river floods time to time. From here, its hard to determine much.

Ireena gasps while Parriwimple lets out a small scream. Living here, you are all no strangers to dead bodies unfortunately. However, you have never been in a position to get close... in between the adventurers, you see a big bundle of some kind. It seems to be something wrapped in several layers of leather. Parriwimple whimpers. "I think... that's it."

"How long have they been dead do you think?" Ireena asks as she begins to approach the bodies with the shock of seeing these bodies past her apparently.

Darya feels bile rise in her mouth at first but then forces it down as she remembered having to drag the mutilated corpse of her father for several hours. She moves to walk in step with Ireena, keeping a side view of Parriwimple as she walks forward. Once close she moves to look over the bodies more closely, doing her best to take a guess at how long ago the adventurers died.

Medicine: 5

From Darya's brief glance, its clear they were torn apart. There are definitely chunks of these people missing and the best Darya can tell is that these people were savagely attacked. 

Ireena [Medicine 10]

Ireena looks upon these corpses with a cold stare. Its hard to tell what's going on behind her eyes as she stays quiet. Meanwhile, Parriwimple is the last to approach. He looks nervously around. "You don't think... were they... eaten?"

"I honestly don't know but that is likely. Either whatever killed them could have done this or maybe the animals that came along after." Darya guesses with a shrug as she moves away from the bodies in order to gather up what they came for. 

"Ireena can you see any signs of whatever might have killed them and if it will come back?"

"They were slashed to death..." Ireena says examining the bodies. "What's more... check that out..." She points to a few different areas. You follow her hand and find bits of straw. "Perhaps I am paranoid, but... Where could that straw have come from? The nearest farm isn't for miles. My father told me a story about something like this once... scarecrows coming to life and reaping souls to become real themselves."

"Ahh..." Parriwimple pulls out his weapon, quite unnerved by the idea of his soul being reaped.

"Right... Well then we should grab what we came for and return to the village before we find out if the stories are true." Darya says as she moves to grab what they had come for, her hand moving towards her focus. "If anyone sees something that looks hostile it may be better to attack first."

Right on cue, one of the corpses starts to rattle and gurgle... and a creature bursts forth from its bowls!

Roll for initiative!

22

(Here is hoping my combat rolls are better then last time...)

Initiative: 19

[Go ahead and make your moves for yourself, Parry, and Ireena! I am going to bed now, but I will sort things out when I can!]

Seeing the thing suddenly appear, all three move about to prepare for a fight.

Parriwimple already on edge is the first to make a move, gripping his spear tightly in both hands. The large man rushes ahead, stabbing down hard towards it.

Attack: 16 Damage: 15

Following behind him, Ireea readies her longbow and quickly fires an arrow soon after Parriwimple makes his move.

Attack: 12 Damage: 6

Hoping it works better then it has, Darya quickly makes the arcane gestures in sync with words of power. Like before a small flame leaves her hand, forming to almost look as if it was a bolt form a crossbow.

Firebolt: Attack: 10 Damage: 10

[Thanks for bearing with me!]

/--Initiative--/
19 - Darya, Parriwimple, Ireena
17 - Creature (AC 14, -9)
/-------------/

Parry misses as this small creature leaps away from the thrust of his spear. Ireena is able to capitalize on its predictable movement and manages to land a shot -- snapping one of its tendrils off and leaving a streak of purple goo to slide across the earth. The creature gurgles in anger, allowing Darya the time to land her fiery crossbow bolt of arcane energies into the creature. It yet lives!

The creature lashes out twice with its remaining tendrils!
Creature -> Parriwimple (Attack: 18 Damage: 5 vs AC 14)
Creature -> Second Attack -> Parriwimple (Attack: 23 Damage: 4 vs AC 14)
                     SPECIAL: If Parriwimple is hit by either tentacle, the creature attaches itself to Parriwimple. [Intelligence check granted: If this happens, there is no doubt the creature will have an easier time attacking Parriwimple! Who knows what might happen if it stays attached -- probably not a good idea to find out! In any case, it's your turns!] 

 Blocking the tentacles with his weapon, Parriwimple reorients himself before readying an attack of his own. Gritting his teeth the large man moves to stab downwards once again at the bug like thing.

Spear: Attack: 18 Damage: 18

Seeing her arrow find its mark, Ireena quicly knocks another arrow into place, pulling the string of her longbow back in practiced motion. Once the string is back as far as she can pull it, she lets the arrow fly.

Longbow: Attack: 10 Damage: 6

For her part Darya focuses on pulling on the power of the weave to bring forth her magic, repeating the same gestures and arcane words. As before the heat of a small flame forms in her hand before flying out as small mote of flame.

Firebolt: Attack: 6 Damage: 6