This acceptance prompts an involuntary squeal from the young woman.
"Oh, how exciting!" she beams.
"I'm Mara, by the way. Mara Emberglow." She looks at each of you in turn, brow furrowed in concentration. "Aeran... Mayres.. erm," she looks at Alden and Lukuth, "I'm sorry, I didn't catch your names."
“Nice to meet you, Alden,” she grins. “What’s your quiet friend called?”
Whilst keeping an ear turned towards you in anticipation of a response to her question, she clucks at Malcolm and gently guides his head around until he is facing back the way he came.
The tabby cat, Willow, springs lithely up onto Malcolm’s rump and from there to Mara’s shoulder. She raises a hand for Willow to nuzzle, and gives her a scratch behind the ears.
"Luk," she repeats, then nods and smiles. "An auspicious name I think."
She falls into step with the group, leading the donkey by a short rope attached to his bridle. Her book is now stowed in the pack secured to its back, and her free hand moves expressively as her excitement bubbles out of her.
"So where are we going? What are we looking for? Ooh, do you think it'll be dangerous? Where have you come from? Do you live here? I bet we're going to have some adventures, Elara will NEVER believe it when I go back and tell her. Do you know the story of the Lost Mine? That's supposed to be around here somewhere, people have been looking for it for years apparently. Wouldn't it be funny if we found it? That's silly though, it's probably just a story. I'm sure we'll find lots of interesting things though."
The stream of questions seems endless and her energy is irrepressible. She is almost skipping at times as you walk along the road, unable to to contain her enthusiasm.
Aeran, with a renewed composure, meets the woman's uncontainable enthusiasm with his trademark polite and good-natured smile. "We got ambushed yesterday on our way to Phandalin. Today we are retracing our steps to gather more information about our assailants. It appears there might be more to this incident than what meets the eye. Yes, it's bound to be quite dangerous, " he briefly glances over Mara before returning his focus on the road ahead. The high elf tries to keep a friendly tone, answering her barrage of questions without overwhelming her with too much detail, but at the same time giving her enough information to satisfy some of her curiosity.
Of course, he is also curious to find out more about her. "So, Miss Emberglow, are you a wizard as well? And does this..., I presume your guardian, Elara, know you are here?" The paladin gives her a sidelong look and a small smile tugs at the corners of his lips.
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
Aeran Dormaris - L2 Paladin on his way to Phandelver
It would be a pleasant day for a stroll, if it weren't for the gravity of your mission. The warmth of the sun, the birdsong, the gentle rustle of leaves in the breeze all conspire to lull your minds away from thoughts of vicious goblins and dastardly schemes. The trees lining both sides of the road, however, could be hiding any sort of threat, a fact of which you are uncomfortably well aware. Mara seems free of such concerns, as far as you can tell.
"An ambush? Gosh!" she exclaims, "how awful!" She turns her head to scan the trees, but her eyes twinkle with excitement rather than fear. "I did see something in the road actually. Some arrows and bits and pieces. Willow gave them a bit of a sniff but it didn't seem to tell us much. Maybe that's where it happened?"
"Elara is my teacher," she says in reply to Aeran's comment. "She's an elf. She's had hundreds of years to go out and see the world and now she just wants to sit and read books. She's done all sorts of exciting things and knows a great many things too, but she thinks that I should stay safe in Fernhaven and not have any adventures like she did. As to whether I'm a wizard, well, Elara would say not yet, but I can do spells. I've been practicing and I think I'm pretty good. She's been teaching me some pretty dangerous things, so she must know that I'd want to go and test them out for real. I mean, what's the point, otherwise? What does she think I'm going to do? Sit around and set the forest on fire?"
After a couple more hours of travel, you come across the site of your previous misfortune, which is as Mara had described and much as you remember it. The marks in the road leading away to the North are still just about visible, as not much traffic has passed this way since yesterday afternoon. It is clear which way you need to go in pursuit of your attackers. Mara pulls Malcolm to a halt and looks around at your faces.
This post has potentially manipulated dice roll results.
Mayres tucked the spellbook in his satchel and started investigating the area, despite him knowing full well where they were headed next. (investigation check: 13) As he did so his thoughts returned to Elara. He was almost certain he'd heard the name before? Or perhaps he's even met her? (history check: 18) Mayres, thanks to a deal for immortality, was unnaturally long-lived for a human. It wouldn't surprise him at all if their paths had crossed in the six centuries Mayres had been alive.
"So she doesn't really know you are here, " Aeran offers a small mischievous grin to the wizard in making. "Mayres over there," he continues, nodding towards the wizard engrossed in investigating the ambush site, "is quite a studious fellow himself, always buried in his spellbook. But I am curious, you mentioned the Lost Mine. What is your version of the story?"
Aeran observes Mayres for a moment, gauging the wizard's meticulous examination of the area. He feels no urgency to interrupt the process and instead opts to maintain a guarded stance. His gauntleted hand casually moves to rest on the hilt of his sword as the elf focuses on the surrounding area , giving the other man some time to finish his investigation, before they set out to follow the tracks through the trees.
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
Aeran Dormaris - L2 Paladin on his way to Phandelver
This post has potentially manipulated dice roll results.
Mayres tucked the spellbook in his satchel and started investigating the area, despite him knowing full well where they were headed next. (investigation check: 19) As he did so his thoughts returned to Elara. He was almost certain he'd heard the name before? Or perhaps he's even met her? (history check: 16) Mayres, thanks to a deal for immortality, was unnaturally long-lived for a human. It wouldn't surprise him at all if their paths had crossed in the six centuries Mayres had been alive.
Mayres makes a remarkably thorough search of the area, including underneath the scraps of cloth on the road and around the edges of the road, where the land slopes up steeply to the trees. He finds a leather purse that had been hidden under a rag, which contains 4GP and 7SP. There is nothing else of note since Lukuth tidied up pretty effectively yesterday.
"So she doesn't really know you are here, " Aeran offers a small mischievous grin to the wizard in making. "Mayres over there," he continues, nodding towards the wizard engrossed in investigating the ambush site, "is quite a studious fellow himself, always buried in his spellbook. But I am curious, you mentioned the Lost Mine. What is your version of the story?"
Aeran observes Mayres for a moment, gauging the wizard's meticulous examination of the area. He feels no urgency to interrupt the process and instead opts to maintain a guarded stance. His gauntleted hand casually moves to rest on the hilt of his sword as the elf focuses on the surrounding area , giving the other man some time to finish his investigation, before they set out to follow the tracks through the trees.
"Oh, he certainly looks the type, doesn't he? You can't separate us wizards from our beloved books. I'll have to ask him if he minds sharing what's in his at some point. You have to be careful about that sort of thing though. Some wizards get very funny about sharing. Maybe they have guilty secrets in there, who knows?" She giggles, an act that makes her seem even younger than she first appeared.
"The Lost Mine? Oh, well, I suppose I've heard the usual stories. I'm sure you have too. There was some sort of pact between dwarves, gnomes and human wizards to share the riches and magical power of a place called... what was it? Wavy something? Wave Echo... something. There was apparently such a confluence of the weave at that point that it was possible to harness it in a concentration sufficient to craft powerful magic items. Blah, blah, some sort of battle, blah blah, cave-in and no-one can remember where it is. Or something." Her brow furrows as she remembers. "I asked Elara about it once actually. She got really funny about it. She normally can't stop herself from explaining everything in great depth," Mara rolls her eyes to indicate how she feels about Elara's in-depth expositions, "but that was one subject she decided wasn't for talking about."
Lukuth looks around. “Here was ambush, gone is goblins.”
"Ooh, look, Mayres has found something. Are we looking for clues? It sounds like Luk has it figured out already."
Willow leaps from her perch on Mara's shoulder and joins Mayres in searching the debris, sniffing delicately at the various bits of detritus left in the road.
At Alden's mention of trouble, Mara unstraps her staff from Malcolm and is now clutching it in both hands. She looks at Mayres expectantly, wondering if he will finish his sentence. After a few seconds, when it becomes clear that his mind has travelled elsewhere she turns back to Aeran and asks,
"What's the plan now? You said something about finding out more about your assailants? Do you think they're nearby?" She peers around, looking up at where the trees loom over the road from atop the earth banks.
The day is still warm and peaceful. If it wasn't for the debris in the road, you wouldn't imagine that any trouble could have occurred in such a spot.
"Finders keepers, " sensing what the end of his sentence might be, Aeran responds to Mayres with a light-hearted smile, nodding towards the coin purse in the wizard's hands. The elf switches his attention to Mara then.
"The tracks clearly head North from here," he explains, gesturing toward the trail left behind by the goblins. "You'll notice how the grass is bent and the brush broken. It seems like a considerable number of goblins passed through, likely dragging something hefty, possibly the people we're searching for." Aeran offers these insights, observing Mara's reaction.
Ready to move forward, Aeran scans the group for any objections before preparing to follow the tracks.
"Oh, is this a rescue mission?" Says Mara. "Is that what you meant by 'more to it than meets the eye'? Well, if the nasty goblins have got some friends of yours then we'd better get moving. I don't know much about goblins but what I do know is that it's unlikely to be much fun being their house guest for long." Her nose wrinkles at the thought of what that might mean for the captives.
"Come on Willow," she calls, and the cat comes trotting back from its investigations.
There are no goblin corpses in sight, though there are still traces of blood and the marks in the dust of the road where Lukuth gathered them. It appears that someone or something has carried them off overnight. There is no indication that they went in any direction other than North, where the scrape marks mingle with those of, you assume, Gundrun and Sildar.
If you are heading North following the goblin trail I need to know what order you are going in.
This acceptance prompts an involuntary squeal from the young woman.
"Oh, how exciting!" she beams.
"I'm Mara, by the way. Mara Emberglow." She looks at each of you in turn, brow furrowed in concentration. "Aeran... Mayres.. erm," she looks at Alden and Lukuth, "I'm sorry, I didn't catch your names."
Ah of course, sorry I forgot the essentials - I'm Alden, the ranger introduced himself with a smile and nodded in a friendly manner
“Nice to meet you, Alden,” she grins. “What’s your quiet friend called?”
Whilst keeping an ear turned towards you in anticipation of a response to her question, she clucks at Malcolm and gently guides his head around until he is facing back the way he came.
The tabby cat, Willow, springs lithely up onto Malcolm’s rump and from there to Mara’s shoulder. She raises a hand for Willow to nuzzle, and gives her a scratch behind the ears.
“Me called Luk.” He says pointing at his chest, “Nice to meet you Mara.”
Characters (Links!):
Faelin Nighthollow - 7th Sojourn
"Luk," she repeats, then nods and smiles. "An auspicious name I think."
She falls into step with the group, leading the donkey by a short rope attached to his bridle. Her book is now stowed in the pack secured to its back, and her free hand moves expressively as her excitement bubbles out of her.
"So where are we going? What are we looking for? Ooh, do you think it'll be dangerous? Where have you come from? Do you live here? I bet we're going to have some adventures, Elara will NEVER believe it when I go back and tell her. Do you know the story of the Lost Mine? That's supposed to be around here somewhere, people have been looking for it for years apparently. Wouldn't it be funny if we found it? That's silly though, it's probably just a story. I'm sure we'll find lots of interesting things though."
The stream of questions seems endless and her energy is irrepressible. She is almost skipping at times as you walk along the road, unable to to contain her enthusiasm.
Aeran, with a renewed composure, meets the woman's uncontainable enthusiasm with his trademark polite and good-natured smile. "We got ambushed yesterday on our way to Phandalin. Today we are retracing our steps to gather more information about our assailants. It appears there might be more to this incident than what meets the eye. Yes, it's bound to be quite dangerous, " he briefly glances over Mara before returning his focus on the road ahead. The high elf tries to keep a friendly tone, answering her barrage of questions without overwhelming her with too much detail, but at the same time giving her enough information to satisfy some of her curiosity.
Of course, he is also curious to find out more about her. "So, Miss Emberglow, are you a wizard as well? And does this..., I presume your guardian, Elara, know you are here?" The paladin gives her a sidelong look and a small smile tugs at the corners of his lips.
Aeran Dormaris - L2 Paladin on his way to Phandelver
Vesna March - L1 Cleric in Etharis
DM The Missing Farmer
It would be a pleasant day for a stroll, if it weren't for the gravity of your mission. The warmth of the sun, the birdsong, the gentle rustle of leaves in the breeze all conspire to lull your minds away from thoughts of vicious goblins and dastardly schemes. The trees lining both sides of the road, however, could be hiding any sort of threat, a fact of which you are uncomfortably well aware. Mara seems free of such concerns, as far as you can tell.
"An ambush? Gosh!" she exclaims, "how awful!" She turns her head to scan the trees, but her eyes twinkle with excitement rather than fear. "I did see something in the road actually. Some arrows and bits and pieces. Willow gave them a bit of a sniff but it didn't seem to tell us much. Maybe that's where it happened?"
"Elara is my teacher," she says in reply to Aeran's comment. "She's an elf. She's had hundreds of years to go out and see the world and now she just wants to sit and read books. She's done all sorts of exciting things and knows a great many things too, but she thinks that I should stay safe in Fernhaven and not have any adventures like she did. As to whether I'm a wizard, well, Elara would say not yet, but I can do spells. I've been practicing and I think I'm pretty good. She's been teaching me some pretty dangerous things, so she must know that I'd want to go and test them out for real. I mean, what's the point, otherwise? What does she think I'm going to do? Sit around and set the forest on fire?"
After a couple more hours of travel, you come across the site of your previous misfortune, which is as Mara had described and much as you remember it. The marks in the road leading away to the North are still just about visible, as not much traffic has passed this way since yesterday afternoon. It is clear which way you need to go in pursuit of your attackers. Mara pulls Malcolm to a halt and looks around at your faces.
Mayres tucked the spellbook in his satchel and started investigating the area, despite him knowing full well where they were headed next. (investigation check: 13) As he did so his thoughts returned to Elara. He was almost certain he'd heard the name before? Or perhaps he's even met her? (history check: 18) Mayres, thanks to a deal for immortality, was unnaturally long-lived for a human. It wouldn't surprise him at all if their paths had crossed in the six centuries Mayres had been alive.
"So she doesn't really know you are here, " Aeran offers a small mischievous grin to the wizard in making. "Mayres over there," he continues, nodding towards the wizard engrossed in investigating the ambush site, "is quite a studious fellow himself, always buried in his spellbook. But I am curious, you mentioned the Lost Mine. What is your version of the story?"
Aeran observes Mayres for a moment, gauging the wizard's meticulous examination of the area. He feels no urgency to interrupt the process and instead opts to maintain a guarded stance. His gauntleted hand casually moves to rest on the hilt of his sword as the elf focuses on the surrounding area , giving the other man some time to finish his investigation, before they set out to follow the tracks through the trees.
Aeran Dormaris - L2 Paladin on his way to Phandelver
Vesna March - L1 Cleric in Etharis
DM The Missing Farmer
Mayres makes a remarkably thorough search of the area, including underneath the scraps of cloth on the road and around the edges of the road, where the land slopes up steeply to the trees. He finds a leather purse that had been hidden under a rag, which contains 4GP and 7SP. There is nothing else of note since Lukuth tidied up pretty effectively yesterday.
Lukuth looks around. “Here was ambush, gone is goblins.”
Characters (Links!):
Faelin Nighthollow - 7th Sojourn
"Oh, he certainly looks the type, doesn't he? You can't separate us wizards from our beloved books. I'll have to ask him if he minds sharing what's in his at some point. You have to be careful about that sort of thing though. Some wizards get very funny about sharing. Maybe they have guilty secrets in there, who knows?" She giggles, an act that makes her seem even younger than she first appeared.
"The Lost Mine? Oh, well, I suppose I've heard the usual stories. I'm sure you have too. There was some sort of pact between dwarves, gnomes and human wizards to share the riches and magical power of a place called... what was it? Wavy something? Wave Echo... something. There was apparently such a confluence of the weave at that point that it was possible to harness it in a concentration sufficient to craft powerful magic items. Blah, blah, some sort of battle, blah blah, cave-in and no-one can remember where it is. Or something." Her brow furrows as she remembers. "I asked Elara about it once actually. She got really funny about it. She normally can't stop herself from explaining everything in great depth," Mara rolls her eyes to indicate how she feels about Elara's in-depth expositions, "but that was one subject she decided wasn't for talking about."
"Ooh, look, Mayres has found something. Are we looking for clues? It sounds like Luk has it figured out already."
Willow leaps from her perch on Mara's shoulder and joins Mayres in searching the debris, sniffing delicately at the various bits of detritus left in the road.
Lukuth smiles, “Yes, I just bash though. Others think.”
Characters (Links!):
Faelin Nighthollow - 7th Sojourn
My right ear always itches when there's trouble in the air - and guess what...my right ear itches
Alden grabbed his right earlobe
Mayres found anything that helps us?
Mayres scratched Willow behind the ears, before straightening up, the coin purse clutched in his grasp. "Yes, Alden, I think I did."
He walked back over to Aeran and Mara.
“I found some coins,” he said, “do you want to share them or . . .” His words quieted abruptly, Mayres seemingly distracted by a stray thought.
At Alden's mention of trouble, Mara unstraps her staff from Malcolm and is now clutching it in both hands. She looks at Mayres expectantly, wondering if he will finish his sentence. After a few seconds, when it becomes clear that his mind has travelled elsewhere she turns back to Aeran and asks,
"What's the plan now? You said something about finding out more about your assailants? Do you think they're nearby?" She peers around, looking up at where the trees loom over the road from atop the earth banks.
The day is still warm and peaceful. If it wasn't for the debris in the road, you wouldn't imagine that any trouble could have occurred in such a spot.
"Finders keepers, " sensing what the end of his sentence might be, Aeran responds to Mayres with a light-hearted smile, nodding towards the coin purse in the wizard's hands. The elf switches his attention to Mara then.
"The tracks clearly head North from here," he explains, gesturing toward the trail left behind by the goblins. "You'll notice how the grass is bent and the brush broken. It seems like a considerable number of goblins passed through, likely dragging something hefty, possibly the people we're searching for." Aeran offers these insights, observing Mara's reaction.
Ready to move forward, Aeran scans the group for any objections before preparing to follow the tracks.
//are the dead goblins still around?
Aeran Dormaris - L2 Paladin on his way to Phandelver
Vesna March - L1 Cleric in Etharis
DM The Missing Farmer
"Oh, is this a rescue mission?" Says Mara. "Is that what you meant by 'more to it than meets the eye'? Well, if the nasty goblins have got some friends of yours then we'd better get moving. I don't know much about goblins but what I do know is that it's unlikely to be much fun being their house guest for long." Her nose wrinkles at the thought of what that might mean for the captives.
"Come on Willow," she calls, and the cat comes trotting back from its investigations.
There are no goblin corpses in sight, though there are still traces of blood and the marks in the dust of the road where Lukuth gathered them. It appears that someone or something has carried them off overnight. There is no indication that they went in any direction other than North, where the scrape marks mingle with those of, you assume, Gundrun and Sildar.
If you are heading North following the goblin trail I need to know what order you are going in.
Then head north following the tracks.
This time it's best to stay close together and stay alert... not that the same thing happens to us, or rather to me, as last time
If Luk goes ahead, half of them will run off when they see him anyway, says the ranger with a laugh
Luk grins, “What should I do with the other half?”
Characters (Links!):
Faelin Nighthollow - 7th Sojourn