But she still doesn't know of what sort of folk this land even consists. "I'm glad you like me pipes," she says to the goblin. "I don't remember much myself, but I'm remembering to be fond of 'em for sure. But, ah... what's all this about 'we'? You keep on about that, but who are you? Who are these folk you've met up with? Who's the cat and the lizard? Is there a town here nearby? Who's the king of these parts? Are your people at peace with mine? Have I even got people---well, I must've, there was Donnyl, rest his weary soul, poor chap."And, I know we were of the same kin. He sure knew the song I was playing. She sighs. "You're right that we'll go his way if we don't start makin' some kind of plan. Still, I need to know who you are... and what's the state of things around here." As much as she'd like to go looking for a hidden spot and some food, she waits for Shin's answer to her questions.
"Based on the comments of those with whom I have conversed since awakening here, and through inductive reasoning, my working hypothesis thus far is that most or all of us are not locals, and have been deprived of most or all of our memories. Perhaps thanks to this green-hued device most or all of us appear to share." Shin holds up his hand with the strange greenish thing showing distinct from his own green-gray skin.
Up in the trees, the owl visibly rolls her eyes and begins preening herself.
"Consequently Euphemia, I find it difficult to answer who I am, beyond that I am a Bladesinger and adventurer named Shin, vaguely also remembering that I have not been around 'my people', or any other goblins for that matter, far longer than I have been in this strange tropical land. Nor do I know who rules here or the proximity of the nearest town. I included that cat and the lizard among the 'we', because regardless of our disparate pasts, we all seem to share a common present, and an apparently risky one at that. Logic suggests that mutual cooperation and trust increase our probability of survival."
Shin cocks his head as if listening to something (telepathic message from Pinky-toe, based on her Perception of 22above).
"And this also goes for the somewhat abrasive yet ultimately cooperative aquatic humanoid I encountered earlier by the river and who Pinky-toe spied shooting arrows at the raptors. He appears concealed in the bushes nearby, or so my owl familiar tells me."
Slightly louder, addressing Korrinth, Silvana and Atax: "Aquatic humanoid who I know to be hiding in the bushes, sneaky Tabaxi and Lizardfolk who thinks only the aquatic humanoid is 'useful.' Please return to the clearing where we met and help me harvest what we can from this dead raptor before further scavengers descend on the corpse. I hope we can come to an accord that will increase our collective likelihood of avoiding untimely death here. If any of you are in need of healing, which I know Monsieur Lizardfolk likely is, I still have the healer's kit here and am happy to share."
(Shin'sBladesong remains active for the next few moments, though he dearly hopes he will not need it).
Korinth closes his eyes, wishes for a drink, or three, then withdraws from the clearing, electing instead to retrace his steps back to the river. Dealing with a cat and a lizard sounds easier than... this. He regrets not being able to greet the comely lass in the tree, but that's how waves roll.
Folding the collected fungi in her clothes, Silvana pulls the arrow out of the bird and slings the dead thing over her shoulder. Her ears twitch and she hears the goblin address them. An annoyance creeps up as the sound might draw back the predators or even new ones, she starts heading that way if just to quiet him.
But she remembers Atax and how bad he was hit before he ran off from the alpha and starts heading in his direction. Finding the lizardfolk unconscious, she gets a bit worried and heads over to the goblin as he stated he had a medicine kit.
Seeing Euphemia she smiles, "Good to see you're fine. Your friend, however... well, I don't think he suffered much." Turning to the goblin, "You might not want to raise your voice around here, could draw in unwanted creatures. But you said you had a medicine kit? Atax could use it, please follow me." and she turns to lead them over to where Atax lies.
Before anyone else returns, Korinth finds the lizard for himself. He's not in the best shape. He gently lifts the wounded man's shirt. It didn't seem too bad, but he wouldn't mess with things beyond removing the bloodied shirt. Rather than discard it, he keeps the ragged thing, throwing it over his shoulder to use later.
Rubbing his arms, he considers starting a small fire. The materials are easy enough -- a reed, a bough (log), a branch and some fabric. He tears a small shred off the sleeve of his own shirt. Tearing it further into strips, he etches a narrow groove into the bough and plants them within it. Placing the branch over the top, he loops the reed around his bow in place of his bowstring, wrapping it around the branch. He grabs a river stone nearby and places it over the top of the branch. Moving his bow laterally to the branch, the reed spins it with surprising haste. Smoke forms at the base of the groove as the cloth begins to ignite. A small spark glitters in the groove. Quickly casting his bow aside, Korinth cups his hands around the delicate spark. He blows softly, feeding it air, and gently nestles more fabric around the glowing speck. For a brief moment, there's nothing...
Then, soft red wisps form at the edges of the cloth, charring the fringes black. The scent of burning wood slowly drifts up and out as the tiny plume gains form. Feeding it more, he slowly coaxes the fledgling wisp, tossing dry leaves, grass, twigs, whatever he can find, a smile forming as it grows.
Removing the reed from his bow, he snaps the branch in half, throwing it and the reed in as well. Soon, a healthy flame sits crackling in the clearing. Restringing his bow, he returns to the unconscious man. He gingerly pulls him over, closer to the fire. Removing his own shirt, still damp from the river, he rolls it into a makeshift pillow and places it under the lizard's head. Stepping back, he notices the fire eating through it's kindling rather fast. He retreats to the treeline in search of a dead tree or felled branches, something to keep the blaze going. He is absent when Silvana inevitably arrives.
Euphemia listens to Shin's monologue, partly with rapt attention, and partly with a suspicious twist to her brow as she tries to follow his meandering logic. As he speaks, she looks down at her own left arm, pushing up the threadbare black sleeve for a minute to look at the bit of metal implanted in her skin. Oi, saw that before, forgot about it in the rush of things... well, it's a mystery, make no mistake. And, with a sigh, she lets her sleeve fall back down.
"All right. So none of us remember very much, and we don't know why. Might be there's a king here, or a clan, or a town or two, but we won't know it, one way or the other. I'm gettin' a few recollections back, here and there, but not one of them has anything to do with a place like this, or animals like these. Like a whole separate story. And, speakin' of separate stories, you're making an awfully long leap for those short legs of yours, that we're all in a common predicament and therefore each other's best chance for survival in this weird place. I don't know you from a green fellow who once tried to stab me with a spear, and I don't know that lizardman from the orange-feathered muskrat that I near convinced not to eat me."
The halfling draws herself up to her full, rather insubstantial height. "Maybe we don't remember where we came from, and maybe we got no credentials, no connections, nothin' to recommend us as trustworthy. But here's what we do got. We got our manners. We got our virtues. We got our character. That's all we got, to recommend us to each other. And I haven't seen much to give me any warm fuzzy feelin' about anybody I've met here yet, save poor old Donnyl, rest his soul. I haven't met your ascerbic acquatic, but he sure sounds like someone not too interested in anyone but himself. The lizardman said clear as day that he thought we weren't worth much, and he was sure lookin' for someone who could be of better use to him. And the cat... well, seems like she's hungry and predatory soon as she's anything else. And you... beggin' your pardon, lad, you be livin' in an imaginary world of your own concocting inside your head, where everyone's friends and comrades, unproved, for not one reason that makes a lick of sense."
"Not much of a resume, any of you. And I've sure done nothin' to recommend myself to any of ye either. Mostly just been avoidin' every one of you. It's sure not clear to me that my survival depends on any of you. Now, I've got my charitable duty, of course, but an odder collection of critters I think I've never met, and not one of them very interested in anything a little halfling piper can do for 'em." Euphemia chuckles, but it's clearly, at this point, a gesture to cover her flustered frustration.
As Silvana runs back up to them, Euphemia looks up to greet her, giving a flourishing bow. "Good to see you intact, lass. I'm for sure wishin' none of us end up like poor Donnyl... rest his soul." And as the tabaxi and the goblin rush back to tend to the lizardman, she sighs and climbs back up into her tree again, pulling her hood down over her head and huddling up in the crook of a large branch well-appointed with thick foliage, to hide her from view.
"Well," Shin observes mildly to Euphemia. "We all have different frames of reference, so I can hardly object to yours, though I do not share it."
He scratches his chin before following Silvana. "Though mademoiselle halfling, I submit that you have done something to recommend yourself. Your beast friendship magic on the lead raptor, convincing it to call its pack off from assaulting us all at once in the clearing. It was in your power to have its pack attack the rest of us and spare yourself and perhaps Donnyl, yet you did not. A low bar, admittedly. That, and I do like your strange music. And perhaps am irrationally hopeful in the better angels of fellow strangers, regardless of background, pulling together in times of need."
With that, Shin heads off with his Healer's Kit in his Mage Hand, ostensibly to help the lizardfolk that did not think most of them were worth much. Pinky-toe follows through the canopy above, watching for threats, but otherwise uncharacteristically quiet for once, telepathically.
Euphemia sits quietly in the crook of the tree branch, her hood pulled low over her head, as she watches Shin and Silvana depart. It ain't like that in the world. Everyone ain't just friends. We were set apart; the Northmen did terrible things, so we had to stop them... Brow furrowed, she struggles to recall something, anything. Nothing fits here. I remember the monastery. That imposing stone place in the mountains. No Northmen there. Nobody at all, really, except us. A lot of monks, dressed like me, scholars, priests... but it was a long time ago, now, since I been there. I was somewhere else. I was with other people. Travelers. Soldiers? No. At least, not exactly. Something is nagging at the edge of her consciousness, something terrible. Why do I feel so alone? Her throat closes up and she draws a ragged breath remembering the scream of the poor halfling torn to pieces by the raptor pack. I didn't know him. But we knew something of the same world. Something's missing, I was... she looks up as Shin's owl circles above the canopy, following the trajectory of its master as he disappears into the jungle.
Pinky-toe, what a silly name. The thought breaks through her concerted but fruitless efforts to remember something. As if it's important. Euphemia wiggles her own bare toes, staring at them under the hem of her robe. Pinky-toe. A flash of something breaks into Euphemia's memory, and suddenly her hands are searching at her waist, for her belt, her pouch---I'm supposed to have a pouch!---finding nothing but a thin cord girding her threadbare black robe. A terrible sense of grief and loss suddenly chokes her. No! The little leather pouch. With the pinky-toe bone in it. The halfling doesn't know, or doesn't remember, whose pinky-toe it was. Why she had it. Why it was important. Or where it went. But she knew it was gone, and, devastated, her hands still grabbing at the cord around her waist where it was supposed to be, she starts to sob.
With Atax being down for the count, memories of different time fade across his mind in his wound-induced unconsciousness. Hazily, his mind drifts through memories forgetting them the instant after his consciousness passes over them. Except for one memory. He latches on to one memory that will stay with him for the rest of his existence.
His mind stays hooked to the memory of his wife’s scent as he held her close to him as life fades from her eyes. The anguish of a father as he takes what he took from him. The screams of the children as he murders them in front of the horrified father. The grief-stricken face looking up at him as Atax thrusts his bone knife through his chest and into his heart. He feels as if he is there, feeling the heat of the flames as they lick across the remains of the man who ended his life and replaced it with revenge, hatred, and bloodshed. He can still remember the scene as crisply as the day it happened, and he’s horrified at himself for what levels of debauchery he fell to in order to avenge his wife. He never wants to go back to the way he was before.
Silvana makes her way back to Atax and stops short at the sight of the fire. She looks around, trying to find who could have made that, was it the man the goblin talked about? Or was there another one out here they hadn't run across?
No matter, she thinks to herself and continues forward to Atax. She gives a little smirk as she sees the makeshift pillow underneath the lizardfolk's head. She turns around and sees that the goblin is indeed following her, so she leaves Atax for ... was it Shin? to deal with.
Taking the bird from her shoulder, she plucks the feathers from it (how many does she get?) then finds a stick to shove into it's beak as far as she can and holds it over the fire for now to cook it. Absently to Shin, "We should probably find a more sheltered spot to camp for the evening? I'm not sure about any of this."
As Korinth gets a fire going, the rest of the group (minus Euphemia) makes their way over to Korinth's fire near the unconscious Atax. There's no sign of Korinth himself, however. Maybe he went to go fetch some more fuel for the fire?
The scent of freshly-spilled blood hangs heavy on the air, a heady perfume for any would-be scavengers or predators in the area. Inspecting the lizardman's wounds, Shin and Silvana determine that they aren't life threatening. It's mostly just a lot of ripped and chewed-up scales along the man's chest and left shoulder. You do find that several deep puncture marks along his chest and back that seem to be the worst. They ooze blood, and you assume Atax fell unconscious after the short fight due to simple blood loss. It should be a simple enough fix, though Shin's not quite sure how long Atax will remain unconscious after he's all patched up.
EUPHEMIA
The halfling's weeping atop the tree was a quiet thing, memories and the unfamiliar environment proving to be too much. After several moments of weeping and sniffling, Euphemia notices a soft golden light descending upon her. Looking up, she sees a moth about the size of her head flitting slowly towards her on elegant, ephemeral wings. A gentle, golden light emanates from it, and a motes of light trail from it with each flap of its wings. She watches as it lands on her leg, its soft glow enveloping her. As it does, Euphemia feels her sorrow begin to fade away, and feeling of peace and joy washes over her. As it does, the golden glow from the moth begins to fade into a mellow blue aura, almost like it was soaking up Euphemia's sorrows. It rests upon Euphemia's leg for a few moments, almost seeming to regard the halfling before it starts to flap away, a deep, vibrant blue glow emanating from it now. The peace Euphemia felt fades a bit, but most of it stays with her as the moth flies away.
To Silvana: "Agreed. We should depart as soon as we are able to rouse the lizardfolk. The aquatic humanoid may be secure as he can retreat to the river if further predators or scavengers are drawn by the carnage, but the rest of us would be safer away from this abattoir. Moreover, there is an intact raptor corpse back at the clearing that we can attempt to harvest with only a few freezing effects and no conventional wounds."
Pinky-toe continues to keep watch above for both humanoids and/or threats.
At the goblin’s administration, Atax is stitched back up and his wounds are cleaned. Now, he just needs some rest. As he slumbers on, the thought keeps crossing everyone’s mind: what now? Do they try to find a place for shelter, or do you cook up these raptors first?
As Euphemia weeps, gripping at the cord around her waist, a montage of images begins to tumble through her mind.
A hidden cave, the entrance bristling with spears thrust butt-end into the ground, and severed heads on their points facing outwards.
The rotted, acrid stench of blood and the hot fires lighting in an orange gleam the terrible altars of robed priests, crying children spread-eagled on their cold faces as the Northmen priests lifted awful stone knives.
A flurry of notes, her fingers flying on the bagpipes, her lungs burning with the effort of her playing her loud, sustained battle march into that place. That place.
A red-bearded dwarf, in the armor of a paladin, silver and blue, leading the charge into the unholy temple, shouting at the top of his lungs, "TALOS IS A WANKER!"
A terrible battle. A crackle of lightning, spells from the high priest's hand.
The dwarf, laying scorched in a pool of his own blood. Her own nimble fingers, struggling to staunch the flow, to save his life, and her panicked desperation as she felt it ebb away under her fingers.
A grateful child, weeping as they bore her back out of that place.
But the dwarf didn't come out alive. Who was he? Someone very dear to her, her broken heart tells her. A few more images. He was an irritable fellow. Always yelling, always calling us codswallops and daft potsherds. But he didn't compromise on what was right. Not a bit. He was part of an Order of knights. The Order of Righteous Indignation. That was it. They came to my monastery and I went away with them. But he died in the line of duty. He went to the Fields. We wept, we bore his remains back to the Order.
Another image. Euphemia, crying at his tomb, weeping and carrying on. And then she knows. The pinky-toe bone was his. A holy relic of a martyr against the corrosive plague of Talos worshippers. What was his name? Sir Rannik Wrathhammer. That was it! Saint Rannik! He's in the Fields now!
The halfling opens her eyes and sees the soft golden glow, and the moth landing on her leg. I bet there's moths like this in the Fields. I wonder...and she gazes at it, mesmerized. The feeling of peace that washes over her makes her sigh. All right, so, I lost it. Or someone took it. The relic. But... at least I remember now. Worse to lose the memory. Worse to forget him. But now I remember. And the Valorous Knight tells us we can pray to those in the Fields, they watch over us. Saint Rannik... watch over me in this weird jungle, would you, I'm nothin' but codswallop on my own. And, as the moth flutters back away, now blue, Euphemia curls up in the crook of the branch, and she closes her eyes, finally able to relax into some much-needed rest.
"Welcome back to the living Atax, feeling alright?" She hands him and Shin some of the bird she cooked. Turning to Shin, "Anywhere you want to head to set up a camp? Some rest would probably be good for all of us. Speaking of, how's the other halfling? You were talking?"
Atax can still see the burning lizardman as he slips back towards consciousness. As the scene starts to fade around him slowly, he bolts upright, flinching as his wounds stretch, remembering that he was running away from a massive reptile. Glancing around, he can see some creatures guts to the side as well as a dead raptor a little bit farther off. Right in front of him is the fire that he thought was the man’s burning corpse. ‘Wonder where my shirts gone to?’ He thinks to himself as he glances down at himself and sees that he’s bare chested with someone else’s shirt on the ground next to him.
When Silvana hands him the bird, he takes the proffered food with obvious hunger. “Thank you my feline friend.” He then turns to Shin and says “I’m sorry for underestimating your value” then after a pause he speaks again, “You are worthy to be a warrior.”
Korinth emerges from the thicket, several dozen dead branches slung over his shoulder. The lizard's shirt sits under them, preventing the bundle from tearing his flesh.
"You're awake then? Good. 'Took your shirt. Might use it as bait later. You can have mine. 'Probably doesn't fit, though." He grins. "Don't let that stop you from tryin'."
He turns to Silvana. His grin doesn't vanish as he mocks a formal bow. He's clearly flirting, though not well. "Well hello, m'dear! I'd offer you a drink, but well--" he waves a hand around.
His grin disappears slightly at the sight of Shin. "Yes, well... you won the race, I suppose. Congrats."
He looks around as he drops the wood bundle by the bonfire. "Wasn't there another one?"
"Welcome back to the living Atax, feeling alright?" She hands him and Shin some of the bird she cooked. Turning to Shin, "Anywhere you want to head to set up a camp? Some rest would probably be good for all of us. Speaking of, how's the other halfling? You were talking?"
Shin is distractedly mumbling something to himself about his own folly in not memorizing the Prestidigitation cantrip as he attempts to wipe the worst of the lizardfolk and raptor blood from his hands when Silvana hands him some roasted predatory bird. Taken aback, he responds:
"Thank you... Silvana, was it? I vaguely recall meeting a tabaxi or two in what remains of my memories, all of them quick, though perhaps none so quick as you." And the lizardfolk's name is Atax. Euphemia, Silvana, Atax and anonymous aquatic person... not to mention hapless dead halfling.
He bites into the bird's cooked flesh with savor. "Yes, I was speaking with Euphemia from where she perched up on her tree by the clearing where I met all of you, and where she yet remained when last I glimpsed her. I was quite impressed with her quick thinking, charming the alpha with her pipes, and expressed such to her, though she seemed unmoved by my compliments - on her magic or on the sounds emanating from her peculiar wind instrument. My inference from her ensuing exposition is that she originates from a land beset by conflict between groups with disparate beliefs, ancestry or background. Likely all three. Accordingly, she appears quite reluctant to trust any in our group - of me, due to the reputation of my people, of you perhaps due to the predatory nature of cats, of Atax due to his dismissal of our value, and of the aquatic humanoid as well. Much less trusting than myself, anyway. She is unconvinced there is a 'we'. I cannot say for certain she is wrong, though I choose to be optimistic!"
"Speaking of 'we', I argue we should leave the riverbank immediately, despite having a fire here. The blood will attract further predators and scavengers, and while the aquatic humanoid can retreat to the river if need be, we are not so fortunate. Furthermore, there is a relatively intact raptor corpse back at the clearing where I slew it with my Ray of Frost. Others more skilled than I may be able to harvest food and tools from it."
Atax can still see the burning lizardman as he slips back towards consciousness. As the scene starts to fade around him slowly, he bolts upright, flinching as his wounds stretch, remembering that he was running away from a massive reptile. Glancing around, he can see some creatures guts to the side as well as a dead raptor a little bit farther off. Right in front of him is the fire that he thought was the man’s burning corpse. ‘Wonder where my shirts gone to?’ He thinks to himself as he glances down at himself and sees that he’s bare chested with someone else’s shirt on the ground next to him.
When Silvana hands him the bird, he takes the proffered food with obvious hunger. “Thank you my feline friend.” He then turns to Shin and says “I’m sorry for underestimating your value” then after a pause he speaks again, “You are worthy to be a warrior.”
Shin grins, vaguely remembering from his past, analogous back and forth as part of a similar set of... adventurers was it?
"On the contrary, Atax, it is you who are the courageous warrior, though perhaps a touch reckless charging in amidst the raptors as you did. My sense is that Silvana and I prefer the hit-and-run, sneaky approach to combat. Nor should one so quickly dismiss the utility of Euphemia's pipe-music-borne magic. And I believe you are correct about the aquatic humanoid being a useful fellow, though seemingly averse to my presence. Just now. he had crept up hidden to where I was conversing with Euphemia in the clearing and when I asked him to join us, he crept away. Back here, apparently."
Korinth emerges from the thicket, several dozen dead branches slung over his shoulder. The lizard's shirt sits under them, preventing the bundle from tearing his flesh.
"You're awake then? Good. 'Took your shirt. Might use it as bait later. You can have mine. 'Probably doesn't fit, though." He grins. "Don't let that stop you from tryin'."
He turns to Silvana. His grin doesn't vanish as he mocks a formal bow. He's clearly flirting, though not well. "Well hello, m'dear! I'd offer you a drink, but well--" he waves a hand around.
His grin disappears slightly at the sight of Shin. "Yes, well... you won the race, I suppose. Congrats."
He looks around as he drops the wood bundle by the bonfire. "Wasn't there another one?"
Before anyone can answer, he shakes his head.
"Doesn't matter. Going hunting. Be back later."
He starts heading north, along the shoreline, bow in hand.
Shin tilts his head. The race? Ah, with the raptors. I suppose so, though in my mind, it was a tactical retreat.
"All things, considered, I do not think any of us have won much other than momentary survival. The female halfling lives, back at the cleari-"
But Korrinth has already left. Shaking his head, Shin turns to repeat his point to the others:
"As I was saying, I believe we should retreat to at least the clearing and harvest what we can from the intact raptor corpse. The blood here at the riverside will attract further predators and scavengers, and I expect the aquatic humanoid will be able to track us if he wishes to join."
Silvana smiles as the brisling lizardfolk calls her friend. In a place like this? She figures she could use all the friends she could garner. Then her smile broadens at Shin's compliment. Interesting companions so far for sure.
When the aquatic man bursts from the forest, she looks at him in quite surprise, "Well, hello.." she looks around and then figures the 'other one' is Euphemia, "Yes, she is back.." and the man has disappeared back into the forest.
Looking to Shin, "Well, good thing fire is mobile." and she takes the bundle of sticks, grabs a thick, long one out of the bunch, and tosses the rest to Atax. "How about you make yourself useful and lets head back to the other clearing." She sticks the one she kept into the fire and once it catches she starts heading back towards the clearing.
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"Based on the comments of those with whom I have conversed since awakening here, and through inductive reasoning, my working hypothesis thus far is that most or all of us are not locals, and have been deprived of most or all of our memories. Perhaps thanks to this green-hued device most or all of us appear to share." Shin holds up his hand with the strange greenish thing showing distinct from his own green-gray skin.
Up in the trees, the owl visibly rolls her eyes and begins preening herself.
"Consequently Euphemia, I find it difficult to answer who I am, beyond that I am a Bladesinger and adventurer named Shin, vaguely also remembering that I have not been around 'my people', or any other goblins for that matter, far longer than I have been in this strange tropical land. Nor do I know who rules here or the proximity of the nearest town. I included that cat and the lizard among the 'we', because regardless of our disparate pasts, we all seem to share a common present, and an apparently risky one at that. Logic suggests that mutual cooperation and trust increase our probability of survival."
Shin cocks his head as if listening to something (telepathic message from Pinky-toe, based on her Perception of 22 above).
"And this also goes for the somewhat abrasive yet ultimately cooperative aquatic humanoid I encountered earlier by the river and who Pinky-toe spied shooting arrows at the raptors. He appears concealed in the bushes nearby, or so my owl familiar tells me."
Slightly louder, addressing Korrinth, Silvana and Atax: "Aquatic humanoid who I know to be hiding in the bushes, sneaky Tabaxi and Lizardfolk who thinks only the aquatic humanoid is 'useful.' Please return to the clearing where we met and help me harvest what we can from this dead raptor before further scavengers descend on the corpse. I hope we can come to an accord that will increase our collective likelihood of avoiding untimely death here. If any of you are in need of healing, which I know Monsieur Lizardfolk likely is, I still have the healer's kit here and am happy to share."
(Shin's Bladesong remains active for the next few moments, though he dearly hopes he will not need it).
Tanis(Ranger1): Shiverquill's Tempest City | Xarian(Fighter2): NioNSwiper's Tyranny of Dragons
Dyson/Eleo(TwilightCleric4): Vos' Beyond the Veil | Soren(ShepherdDruid5): Bartjeebus' Ravenloft | Ophelia(WildMagicSorcerer4): Ashen_Age's Risen from the Sands
Joren(EchoKnightFighter6): NotDrizzt's Simple Request | Sabetha(MercyMonk3): Bedlymn's Murder Court | Seri(NatureCleric3/DivineSoulSorcerer1): Bartjeebus' Greyhawk
Korinth closes his eyes, wishes for a drink, or three, then withdraws from the clearing, electing instead to retrace his steps back to the river. Dealing with a cat and a lizard sounds easier than... this. He regrets not being able to greet the comely lass in the tree, but that's how waves roll.
Folding the collected fungi in her clothes, Silvana pulls the arrow out of the bird and slings the dead thing over her shoulder. Her ears twitch and she hears the goblin address them. An annoyance creeps up as the sound might draw back the predators or even new ones, she starts heading that way if just to quiet him.
But she remembers Atax and how bad he was hit before he ran off from the alpha and starts heading in his direction. Finding the lizardfolk unconscious, she gets a bit worried and heads over to the goblin as he stated he had a medicine kit.
Seeing Euphemia she smiles, "Good to see you're fine. Your friend, however... well, I don't think he suffered much." Turning to the goblin, "You might not want to raise your voice around here, could draw in unwanted creatures. But you said you had a medicine kit? Atax could use it, please follow me." and she turns to lead them over to where Atax lies.
Shin nods respectfully to the tabaxi and responds in a lower tone.
"My apologies. You are correct. I will speak more quietly, and did not realize that the lizardfolk was unconscious."
With a nod to Euphemia and the Healer's Kit being carried along by his Mage Hand, the goblin follows the tabaxi.
Tanis(Ranger1): Shiverquill's Tempest City | Xarian(Fighter2): NioNSwiper's Tyranny of Dragons
Dyson/Eleo(TwilightCleric4): Vos' Beyond the Veil | Soren(ShepherdDruid5): Bartjeebus' Ravenloft | Ophelia(WildMagicSorcerer4): Ashen_Age's Risen from the Sands
Joren(EchoKnightFighter6): NotDrizzt's Simple Request | Sabetha(MercyMonk3): Bedlymn's Murder Court | Seri(NatureCleric3/DivineSoulSorcerer1): Bartjeebus' Greyhawk
Before anyone else returns, Korinth finds the lizard for himself. He's not in the best shape. He gently lifts the wounded man's shirt. It didn't seem too bad, but he wouldn't mess with things beyond removing the bloodied shirt. Rather than discard it, he keeps the ragged thing, throwing it over his shoulder to use later.
Rubbing his arms, he considers starting a small fire. The materials are easy enough -- a reed, a bough (log), a branch and some fabric. He tears a small shred off the sleeve of his own shirt. Tearing it further into strips, he etches a narrow groove into the bough and plants them within it. Placing the branch over the top, he loops the reed around his bow in place of his bowstring, wrapping it around the branch. He grabs a river stone nearby and places it over the top of the branch. Moving his bow laterally to the branch, the reed spins it with surprising haste. Smoke forms at the base of the groove as the cloth begins to ignite. A small spark glitters in the groove. Quickly casting his bow aside, Korinth cups his hands around the delicate spark. He blows softly, feeding it air, and gently nestles more fabric around the glowing speck. For a brief moment, there's nothing...
Then, soft red wisps form at the edges of the cloth, charring the fringes black. The scent of burning wood slowly drifts up and out as the tiny plume gains form. Feeding it more, he slowly coaxes the fledgling wisp, tossing dry leaves, grass, twigs, whatever he can find, a smile forming as it grows.
Removing the reed from his bow, he snaps the branch in half, throwing it and the reed in as well. Soon, a healthy flame sits crackling in the clearing. Restringing his bow, he returns to the unconscious man. He gingerly pulls him over, closer to the fire. Removing his own shirt, still damp from the river, he rolls it into a makeshift pillow and places it under the lizard's head. Stepping back, he notices the fire eating through it's kindling rather fast. He retreats to the treeline in search of a dead tree or felled branches, something to keep the blaze going. He is absent when Silvana inevitably arrives.
Euphemia listens to Shin's monologue, partly with rapt attention, and partly with a suspicious twist to her brow as she tries to follow his meandering logic. As he speaks, she looks down at her own left arm, pushing up the threadbare black sleeve for a minute to look at the bit of metal implanted in her skin. Oi, saw that before, forgot about it in the rush of things... well, it's a mystery, make no mistake. And, with a sigh, she lets her sleeve fall back down.
"All right. So none of us remember very much, and we don't know why. Might be there's a king here, or a clan, or a town or two, but we won't know it, one way or the other. I'm gettin' a few recollections back, here and there, but not one of them has anything to do with a place like this, or animals like these. Like a whole separate story. And, speakin' of separate stories, you're making an awfully long leap for those short legs of yours, that we're all in a common predicament and therefore each other's best chance for survival in this weird place. I don't know you from a green fellow who once tried to stab me with a spear, and I don't know that lizardman from the orange-feathered muskrat that I near convinced not to eat me."
The halfling draws herself up to her full, rather insubstantial height. "Maybe we don't remember where we came from, and maybe we got no credentials, no connections, nothin' to recommend us as trustworthy. But here's what we do got. We got our manners. We got our virtues. We got our character. That's all we got, to recommend us to each other. And I haven't seen much to give me any warm fuzzy feelin' about anybody I've met here yet, save poor old Donnyl, rest his soul. I haven't met your ascerbic acquatic, but he sure sounds like someone not too interested in anyone but himself. The lizardman said clear as day that he thought we weren't worth much, and he was sure lookin' for someone who could be of better use to him. And the cat... well, seems like she's hungry and predatory soon as she's anything else. And you... beggin' your pardon, lad, you be livin' in an imaginary world of your own concocting inside your head, where everyone's friends and comrades, unproved, for not one reason that makes a lick of sense."
"Not much of a resume, any of you. And I've sure done nothin' to recommend myself to any of ye either. Mostly just been avoidin' every one of you. It's sure not clear to me that my survival depends on any of you. Now, I've got my charitable duty, of course, but an odder collection of critters I think I've never met, and not one of them very interested in anything a little halfling piper can do for 'em." Euphemia chuckles, but it's clearly, at this point, a gesture to cover her flustered frustration.
As Silvana runs back up to them, Euphemia looks up to greet her, giving a flourishing bow. "Good to see you intact, lass. I'm for sure wishin' none of us end up like poor Donnyl... rest his soul." And as the tabaxi and the goblin rush back to tend to the lizardman, she sighs and climbs back up into her tree again, pulling her hood down over her head and huddling up in the crook of a large branch well-appointed with thick foliage, to hide her from view.
Stealth: 14
"Well," Shin observes mildly to Euphemia. "We all have different frames of reference, so I can hardly object to yours, though I do not share it."
He scratches his chin before following Silvana. "Though mademoiselle halfling, I submit that you have done something to recommend yourself. Your beast friendship magic on the lead raptor, convincing it to call its pack off from assaulting us all at once in the clearing. It was in your power to have its pack attack the rest of us and spare yourself and perhaps Donnyl, yet you did not. A low bar, admittedly. That, and I do like your strange music. And perhaps am irrationally hopeful in the better angels of fellow strangers, regardless of background, pulling together in times of need."
With that, Shin heads off with his Healer's Kit in his Mage Hand, ostensibly to help the lizardfolk that did not think most of them were worth much. Pinky-toe follows through the canopy above, watching for threats, but otherwise uncharacteristically quiet for once, telepathically.
Tanis(Ranger1): Shiverquill's Tempest City | Xarian(Fighter2): NioNSwiper's Tyranny of Dragons
Dyson/Eleo(TwilightCleric4): Vos' Beyond the Veil | Soren(ShepherdDruid5): Bartjeebus' Ravenloft | Ophelia(WildMagicSorcerer4): Ashen_Age's Risen from the Sands
Joren(EchoKnightFighter6): NotDrizzt's Simple Request | Sabetha(MercyMonk3): Bedlymn's Murder Court | Seri(NatureCleric3/DivineSoulSorcerer1): Bartjeebus' Greyhawk
Euphemia sits quietly in the crook of the tree branch, her hood pulled low over her head, as she watches Shin and Silvana depart. It ain't like that in the world. Everyone ain't just friends. We were set apart; the Northmen did terrible things, so we had to stop them... Brow furrowed, she struggles to recall something, anything. Nothing fits here. I remember the monastery. That imposing stone place in the mountains. No Northmen there. Nobody at all, really, except us. A lot of monks, dressed like me, scholars, priests... but it was a long time ago, now, since I been there. I was somewhere else. I was with other people. Travelers. Soldiers? No. At least, not exactly. Something is nagging at the edge of her consciousness, something terrible. Why do I feel so alone? Her throat closes up and she draws a ragged breath remembering the scream of the poor halfling torn to pieces by the raptor pack. I didn't know him. But we knew something of the same world. Something's missing, I was... she looks up as Shin's owl circles above the canopy, following the trajectory of its master as he disappears into the jungle.
Pinky-toe, what a silly name. The thought breaks through her concerted but fruitless efforts to remember something. As if it's important. Euphemia wiggles her own bare toes, staring at them under the hem of her robe. Pinky-toe. A flash of something breaks into Euphemia's memory, and suddenly her hands are searching at her waist, for her belt, her pouch---I'm supposed to have a pouch!---finding nothing but a thin cord girding her threadbare black robe. A terrible sense of grief and loss suddenly chokes her. No! The little leather pouch. With the pinky-toe bone in it. The halfling doesn't know, or doesn't remember, whose pinky-toe it was. Why she had it. Why it was important. Or where it went. But she knew it was gone, and, devastated, her hands still grabbing at the cord around her waist where it was supposed to be, she starts to sob.
With Atax being down for the count, memories of different time fade across his mind in his wound-induced unconsciousness. Hazily, his mind drifts through memories forgetting them the instant after his consciousness passes over them. Except for one memory. He latches on to one memory that will stay with him for the rest of his existence.
His mind stays hooked to the memory of his wife’s scent as he held her close to him as life fades from her eyes. The anguish of a father as he takes what he took from him. The screams of the children as he murders them in front of the horrified father. The grief-stricken face looking up at him as Atax thrusts his bone knife through his chest and into his heart. He feels as if he is there, feeling the heat of the flames as they lick across the remains of the man who ended his life and replaced it with revenge, hatred, and bloodshed. He can still remember the scene as crisply as the day it happened, and he’s horrified at himself for what levels of debauchery he fell to in order to avenge his wife. He never wants to go back to the way he was before.
Silvana makes her way back to Atax and stops short at the sight of the fire. She looks around, trying to find who could have made that, was it the man the goblin talked about? Or was there another one out here they hadn't run across?
No matter, she thinks to herself and continues forward to Atax. She gives a little smirk as she sees the makeshift pillow underneath the lizardfolk's head. She turns around and sees that the goblin is indeed following her, so she leaves Atax for ... was it Shin? to deal with.
Taking the bird from her shoulder, she plucks the feathers from it (how many does she get?) then finds a stick to shove into it's beak as far as she can and holds it over the fire for now to cook it. Absently to Shin, "We should probably find a more sheltered spot to camp for the evening? I'm not sure about any of this."
EVERYONE
As Korinth gets a fire going, the rest of the group (minus Euphemia) makes their way over to Korinth's fire near the unconscious Atax. There's no sign of Korinth himself, however. Maybe he went to go fetch some more fuel for the fire?
The scent of freshly-spilled blood hangs heavy on the air, a heady perfume for any would-be scavengers or predators in the area. Inspecting the lizardman's wounds, Shin and Silvana determine that they aren't life threatening. It's mostly just a lot of ripped and chewed-up scales along the man's chest and left shoulder. You do find that several deep puncture marks along his chest and back that seem to be the worst. They ooze blood, and you assume Atax fell unconscious after the short fight due to simple blood loss. It should be a simple enough fix, though Shin's not quite sure how long Atax will remain unconscious after he's all patched up.
EUPHEMIA
The halfling's weeping atop the tree was a quiet thing, memories and the unfamiliar environment proving to be too much. After several moments of weeping and sniffling, Euphemia notices a soft golden light descending upon her. Looking up, she sees a moth about the size of her head flitting slowly towards her on elegant, ephemeral wings. A gentle, golden light emanates from it, and a motes of light trail from it with each flap of its wings. She watches as it lands on her leg, its soft glow enveloping her. As it does, Euphemia feels her sorrow begin to fade away, and feeling of peace and joy washes over her. As it does, the golden glow from the moth begins to fade into a mellow blue aura, almost like it was soaking up Euphemia's sorrows. It rests upon Euphemia's leg for a few moments, almost seeming to regard the halfling before it starts to flap away, a deep, vibrant blue glow emanating from it now. The peace Euphemia felt fades a bit, but most of it stays with her as the moth flies away.
DM- Azalin's Doom
DM- Surviving the Unsurvivable
"If I ever had knowledge on how best to stitch up a titanic, utilitarian lizardman with a Healer's Kit, it has fled like the alpha raptor did."
Nevertheless, Shin does his best patching up the worst of Atax's bleeding, softly humming an odd mix of his own bladesong and Euphemia's music.
Shin Medicine plus Bardic Inspiration: 9 + 4 = 13
To Silvana: "Agreed. We should depart as soon as we are able to rouse the lizardfolk. The aquatic humanoid may be secure as he can retreat to the river if further predators or scavengers are drawn by the carnage, but the rest of us would be safer away from this abattoir. Moreover, there is an intact raptor corpse back at the clearing that we can attempt to harvest with only a few freezing effects and no conventional wounds."
Pinky-toe continues to keep watch above for both humanoids and/or threats.
Tanis(Ranger1): Shiverquill's Tempest City | Xarian(Fighter2): NioNSwiper's Tyranny of Dragons
Dyson/Eleo(TwilightCleric4): Vos' Beyond the Veil | Soren(ShepherdDruid5): Bartjeebus' Ravenloft | Ophelia(WildMagicSorcerer4): Ashen_Age's Risen from the Sands
Joren(EchoKnightFighter6): NotDrizzt's Simple Request | Sabetha(MercyMonk3): Bedlymn's Murder Court | Seri(NatureCleric3/DivineSoulSorcerer1): Bartjeebus' Greyhawk
SHIN
At the goblin’s administration, Atax is stitched back up and his wounds are cleaned. Now, he just needs some rest. As he slumbers on, the thought keeps crossing everyone’s mind: what now? Do they try to find a place for shelter, or do you cook up these raptors first?
DM- Azalin's Doom
DM- Surviving the Unsurvivable
As Euphemia weeps, gripping at the cord around her waist, a montage of images begins to tumble through her mind.
A hidden cave, the entrance bristling with spears thrust butt-end into the ground, and severed heads on their points facing outwards.
The rotted, acrid stench of blood and the hot fires lighting in an orange gleam the terrible altars of robed priests, crying children spread-eagled on their cold faces as the Northmen priests lifted awful stone knives.
A flurry of notes, her fingers flying on the bagpipes, her lungs burning with the effort of her playing her loud, sustained battle march into that place. That place.
A red-bearded dwarf, in the armor of a paladin, silver and blue, leading the charge into the unholy temple, shouting at the top of his lungs, "TALOS IS A WANKER!"
A terrible battle. A crackle of lightning, spells from the high priest's hand.
The dwarf, laying scorched in a pool of his own blood. Her own nimble fingers, struggling to staunch the flow, to save his life, and her panicked desperation as she felt it ebb away under her fingers.
A grateful child, weeping as they bore her back out of that place.
But the dwarf didn't come out alive. Who was he? Someone very dear to her, her broken heart tells her. A few more images. He was an irritable fellow. Always yelling, always calling us codswallops and daft potsherds. But he didn't compromise on what was right. Not a bit. He was part of an Order of knights. The Order of Righteous Indignation. That was it. They came to my monastery and I went away with them. But he died in the line of duty. He went to the Fields. We wept, we bore his remains back to the Order.
Another image. Euphemia, crying at his tomb, weeping and carrying on. And then she knows. The pinky-toe bone was his. A holy relic of a martyr against the corrosive plague of Talos worshippers. What was his name? Sir Rannik Wrathhammer. That was it! Saint Rannik! He's in the Fields now!
The halfling opens her eyes and sees the soft golden glow, and the moth landing on her leg. I bet there's moths like this in the Fields. I wonder... and she gazes at it, mesmerized. The feeling of peace that washes over her makes her sigh. All right, so, I lost it. Or someone took it. The relic. But... at least I remember now. Worse to lose the memory. Worse to forget him. But now I remember. And the Valorous Knight tells us we can pray to those in the Fields, they watch over us. Saint Rannik... watch over me in this weird jungle, would you, I'm nothin' but codswallop on my own. And, as the moth flutters back away, now blue, Euphemia curls up in the crook of the branch, and she closes her eyes, finally able to relax into some much-needed rest.
"Welcome back to the living Atax, feeling alright?" She hands him and Shin some of the bird she cooked. Turning to Shin, "Anywhere you want to head to set up a camp? Some rest would probably be good for all of us. Speaking of, how's the other halfling? You were talking?"
Atax can still see the burning lizardman as he slips back towards consciousness. As the scene starts to fade around him slowly, he bolts upright, flinching as his wounds stretch, remembering that he was running away from a massive reptile. Glancing around, he can see some creatures guts to the side as well as a dead raptor a little bit farther off. Right in front of him is the fire that he thought was the man’s burning corpse. ‘Wonder where my shirts gone to?’ He thinks to himself as he glances down at himself and sees that he’s bare chested with someone else’s shirt on the ground next to him.
When Silvana hands him the bird, he takes the proffered food with obvious hunger. “Thank you my feline friend.” He then turns to Shin and says “I’m sorry for underestimating your value” then after a pause he speaks again, “You are worthy to be a warrior.”
Korinth emerges from the thicket, several dozen dead branches slung over his shoulder. The lizard's shirt sits under them, preventing the bundle from tearing his flesh.
"You're awake then? Good. 'Took your shirt. Might use it as bait later. You can have mine. 'Probably doesn't fit, though." He grins. "Don't let that stop you from tryin'."
He turns to Silvana. His grin doesn't vanish as he mocks a formal bow. He's clearly flirting, though not well. "Well hello, m'dear! I'd offer you a drink, but well--" he waves a hand around.
His grin disappears slightly at the sight of Shin. "Yes, well... you won the race, I suppose. Congrats."
He looks around as he drops the wood bundle by the bonfire. "Wasn't there another one?"
Before anyone can answer, he shakes his head.
"Doesn't matter. Going hunting. Be back later."
He starts heading north, along the shoreline, bow in hand.
Shin is distractedly mumbling something to himself about his own folly in not memorizing the Prestidigitation cantrip as he attempts to wipe the worst of the lizardfolk and raptor blood from his hands when Silvana hands him some roasted predatory bird. Taken aback, he responds:
"Thank you... Silvana, was it? I vaguely recall meeting a tabaxi or two in what remains of my memories, all of them quick, though perhaps none so quick as you." And the lizardfolk's name is Atax. Euphemia, Silvana, Atax and anonymous aquatic person... not to mention hapless dead halfling.
He bites into the bird's cooked flesh with savor. "Yes, I was speaking with Euphemia from where she perched up on her tree by the clearing where I met all of you, and where she yet remained when last I glimpsed her. I was quite impressed with her quick thinking, charming the alpha with her pipes, and expressed such to her, though she seemed unmoved by my compliments - on her magic or on the sounds emanating from her peculiar wind instrument. My inference from her ensuing exposition is that she originates from a land beset by conflict between groups with disparate beliefs, ancestry or background. Likely all three. Accordingly, she appears quite reluctant to trust any in our group - of me, due to the reputation of my people, of you perhaps due to the predatory nature of cats, of Atax due to his dismissal of our value, and of the aquatic humanoid as well. Much less trusting than myself, anyway. She is unconvinced there is a 'we'. I cannot say for certain she is wrong, though I choose to be optimistic!"
"Speaking of 'we', I argue we should leave the riverbank immediately, despite having a fire here. The blood will attract further predators and scavengers, and while the aquatic humanoid can retreat to the river if need be, we are not so fortunate. Furthermore, there is a relatively intact raptor corpse back at the clearing where I slew it with my Ray of Frost. Others more skilled than I may be able to harvest food and tools from it."
Shin grins, vaguely remembering from his past, analogous back and forth as part of a similar set of... adventurers was it?
"On the contrary, Atax, it is you who are the courageous warrior, though perhaps a touch reckless charging in amidst the raptors as you did. My sense is that Silvana and I prefer the hit-and-run, sneaky approach to combat. Nor should one so quickly dismiss the utility of Euphemia's pipe-music-borne magic. And I believe you are correct about the aquatic humanoid being a useful fellow, though seemingly averse to my presence. Just now. he had crept up hidden to where I was conversing with Euphemia in the clearing and when I asked him to join us, he crept away. Back here, apparently."
Shin tilts his head. The race? Ah, with the raptors. I suppose so, though in my mind, it was a tactical retreat.
"All things, considered, I do not think any of us have won much other than momentary survival. The female halfling lives, back at the cleari-"
But Korrinth has already left. Shaking his head, Shin turns to repeat his point to the others:
"As I was saying, I believe we should retreat to at least the clearing and harvest what we can from the intact raptor corpse. The blood here at the riverside will attract further predators and scavengers, and I expect the aquatic humanoid will be able to track us if he wishes to join."
Tanis(Ranger1): Shiverquill's Tempest City | Xarian(Fighter2): NioNSwiper's Tyranny of Dragons
Dyson/Eleo(TwilightCleric4): Vos' Beyond the Veil | Soren(ShepherdDruid5): Bartjeebus' Ravenloft | Ophelia(WildMagicSorcerer4): Ashen_Age's Risen from the Sands
Joren(EchoKnightFighter6): NotDrizzt's Simple Request | Sabetha(MercyMonk3): Bedlymn's Murder Court | Seri(NatureCleric3/DivineSoulSorcerer1): Bartjeebus' Greyhawk
Silvana smiles as the brisling lizardfolk calls her friend. In a place like this? She figures she could use all the friends she could garner. Then her smile broadens at Shin's compliment. Interesting companions so far for sure.
When the aquatic man bursts from the forest, she looks at him in quite surprise, "Well, hello.." she looks around and then figures the 'other one' is Euphemia, "Yes, she is back.." and the man has disappeared back into the forest.
Looking to Shin, "Well, good thing fire is mobile." and she takes the bundle of sticks, grabs a thick, long one out of the bunch, and tosses the rest to Atax. "How about you make yourself useful and lets head back to the other clearing." She sticks the one she kept into the fire and once it catches she starts heading back towards the clearing.