Hex breathes a sigh of relief as one of the displacer beasts falls and Uragum manages to get Sylyra back up. Her hands much more steady, she aims and fires an arrow at the remaining beast, hoping it finally falls and the party can move on with their journey.

Bonus Action: Move Hunter's Mark onto remaining displacer beast.

Action: Longbow Attack - 9  Damage - 6   Colossus Slayer - 8  Hunter's Mark - 6

OOC: Sorry for the delay, had some unexpected work take over my week.

Sylyra's staff strikes the open air but finds solid purchase in a leg of the displacer beast, knocking it off balance. Without the second beast waylaying the party, Uragum and Auriel close in the opening, hammering at the creature as it tries in vain to stand back up. Carlthuzad blasts it a few feet away as his blast impacts its flank. The beast roars and stands, ready to leap right back at its attackers, seemingly unphased despite its wounds. It never gets the chance, as Hex dials up a perfect shot, loosing an arrow into its skull.

The odd quiet of the forest returns, disrupted only by your exerted breathing.

"Hiyaaaaah!" Pipyap emerges from invisibility again, stabbing his stinger into the neck of one of the fallen displacer beasts.

OOC: Each character has received 200 XP for defeating the displacer beasts.

Auriel stares at the bodies of the fallen beasts in silence, lips pursed and jaw still clenched with the tension of the battle. First Hex, then Sylyra. They had been too close to disaster twice, and they hadn't even reached Greenhall nor the hag who was supposed to be the cause of all the problems they wanted to solve.

Pipyap's shout shakes him from these thoughts, and the paladin turns to face him, grabbing the imp not very ceremoniously and saying, "It was funny at first, Pipyap, but I swear that if by your action or inaction any of us gets harmed, I will send you to the hellish pit you came from myself. We are your best shot at finding your master, so you'd better make yourself useful."

With that, the eladrin steps away from the imp and the bodies, giving a short but strong swing to the halberd to remove as much blood from it as possible. Then, taking a look at their surroundings, he adds "I'd say we need to find a place to rest. This fight has depleted us. Or at least, that is my case. Where should we go? Am I correct in thinking that these beasts would have had a lair somewhere nearby? Would that be a good place to rest now that we've dealt with its tenants?"

As the second displacer beast finally falls, Hex jumps put of the tree and immediately heads toward Sylyra, gently placing a hand on his arm to cast Cure Wounds. "Sylyra, I'm so sorry. I shouldn't have left you like that..." Her face is full of guilt as she heals him, barely able to even look at him.

Cure Wounds: 3

She's momentarily distracted when Auriel scolds Pipyap. She feels a bit bad for the imp, though she can't help but agree with Auriel. "I don't really know much about those beasts, so I can't say if they would've had a lair nearby or not." She glances at Serelis, expecting him to know more about where it may be safe to rest for a bit.

Sylyra looks down at Hex's touch, then back up at Auriel. "There's no reason to chastise the demon," the elf says evenly. "It was acting in its best interest ... as were we all." His emotionless eyes meet Hex's before walking past her. He puts a hand on Uragum's shoulder as he passes the goliath. "Let us return to the path. This forest already has it out for us. Let's not stray further than we need to." He coughs a small cough and continues forward, leaning on his staff a little as he goes.

Carl walks closer to the bodies of the beasts, kneeling down and examining them, musing to himself, “I wonder how they make themselves blurry, hard to hit like that…”

As a response to Sylyra's words, Auriel walks up to him and says, "How dare you say that, Sylyra. I get it that the beasts hurt you badly, but let me break the news to you: it could have happened to any of us. Don't use the fact that it happened to you to claim we're acting in our own best interest. Nor to treat Hex that way. She's apologized for what happened. She, who has been nothing but a good friend and has cared deeply for you all along. Hex doesn't deserve that cold treatment, and you know it."

After saying this, Auriel closes his eyes for a second and snorts in frustration. Why did he even say that? What was the point? When had he ever said anything that had the slightest impact on Sylyra? But there it was; he had spoken, and now it was too late to regret it.

Letting out a deep breath, the eladrin just waited for the rest to have a say on which path to follow. He did look curiously at Carl when he mused about the beast's displacement abilities. Could they make use of that effect somehow?

Sylyra stops and turns to face Auriel as he chastises him. The druid's face shows no emotion, and after Auriel closes his eyes, Sylyra looks past the paladin at Hex impassively. "I apologize if what I said was inappropriate. I forgot that while everyone else is allowed to live how they see fit, I'm limited to this one's moral code." He returns his gaze to Auriel's, but continues to address Hex. "You do not owe me anything. You can fight however you see fit." He turns and starts moving again, calling over his shoulder. "Be prepared. Tyr's disciple has already condemned me and Pipyap. Who's next?"

Hex looks extremely hurt by Sylyra's words but she doesn't say anything in response. It was the truth after all. She gives Auriel a strained smile as he tries to defend her and shakes her head. "It's alright, Auriel. He has every right to be upset with me after I left him like that. Let's just keep going."

She clears her throat, neutralising her expression to one of curiosity instead, and approaches Carl as he muses to himself. "Probably some sort of magic? I know there's a spell has a similar effect to their ability."

Carl peers around Hex, looking at Sylyra and mutters “I’ve given up trying to understand him….”  Then he turns and looks at Hex, giving a little smile, saying “Yeah.  Something to them, I wish I could do that trick!”  He stands, dusting off his hands, saying “Maybe someday I’ll read something more about it.  I’m sure someone else has studied these creatures or figured it out.  I guess we better get movin on.”

Auriel's expression hardens as Sylyra's words sink in. He opens his mouth to reply but, in the end, he changes his mind and turns back to look at Hex and Carl as he shakes his head in resignation. The dwarf's words echo in his head. "Giving up". That sounded like the wise thing to do. The paladin's shoulders slump slightly at this thought, and then he says, "Let's get this over with, yes."

"It was funny at first, Pipyap, but I swear that if by your action or inaction any of us gets harmed, I will send you to the hellish pit you came from myself. We are your best shot at finding your master, so you'd better make yourself useful."

Pipyap yelps in surprise and blinks invisible again. His disembodied voice barks back at Auriel from midair, "Need I remind you, you want to find Halvin just as bad as I do, and I'm your best chance at doing that. So hands off, bub."

"You won't be able to expect any more from his kind," Serelis adds. "He is incapable of acting in anything but his own interest."

"Darn straight," Pipyap says, as if it were a compliment.

"I'd say we need to find a place to rest. This fight has depleted us. Or at least, that is my case. Where should we go? Am I correct in thinking that these beasts would have had a lair somewhere nearby? Would that be a good place to rest now that we've dealt with its tenants?"

"I've never come across beasts of that ilk before, but most great cats will indeed have a place they claim, typically enclosed on all sides, like a small cave or mound. The panthers and lions of the mountains, however, would usually hunt alone; these predators were in a pair. It may be a safe place to find and rest, or there could be more there waiting for us," Serelis says.

"Be prepared. Tyr's disciple has already condemned me and Pipyap. Who's next?"

"The big guy!" Pipyap's voice shouts near Uragum. "He's got a suspicious look about him."

OOC: A couple different things were mentioned, want to make sure I know what the party wants to do before I advance. Looking for a lair, or continuing on toward Greenhall?

OOC: Sylyra votes for continuing to Greenhall and camping along the way like they've been doing.

As Sylyra starts to leave Uargum calls after him while kneeling by one of the beasts.  "Sylyra!  Hold up!  These cats got me wondering?  Is this something you can turn into now?  Or do you have to do something special for something like that?" Uragums eyes go wide and he pulls out his knife.  He stabs its into the chest of the beast and starts dragging it down.  "I got it, like those of my tribe, you have need to eat it's heart right.  Gain its strength."  He turns back to field dressing the displacer beast.  

As he continues to do so, hands already bloody.  He starts calling out some instructions.  "We got to do this quick, before  muscles seize up and things get too rubbery...  Someone go grab some water, enough wash up with and boil some of this.  Oh and a fire, we need a fire going.  I'm assuming these things are clean enough but we'll want to cook the meat to be on the safe side.  And this hide...  I bet if we took the hide, maybe we could make something magical from it, something with their innate blurring properties..."  No fully caught up in this, there is a pile of innards beside him.

Hex crosses her arms and cocks her head to the side as Uragum begins to take apart the displacer, not making any move to help the wizard but watching him curiously. "Are they even safe to eat? I know they look like big cats but... well the skin will probably be of some use at least, maybe profitable to sell."

Quote from BartyMcDougal >>"

OOC: A couple different things were mentioned, want to make sure I know what the party wants to do before I advance. Looking for a lair, or continuing on toward Greenhall?

OOC: Either way is fine by me. I'll go with the majority

Carl turns and sits down, watching Uragum, fascinated by what the wizard is doing.  “You think so?  You think something magical exists within the creature?  Amazing…”. He pulls out of his pack his journal and starts to make a crude drawing of the creature, remembering what they looked like when they were attacking.  After finishing, he stands and says “Let’s press on, Greenhall, shall we?”

Pipyap gleefully joins in with Uragum, taking out the small knife from his satchel and digging into the other side of the displacer beast. As Uragum pulls out innards, Pipyap does too, chowing down on raw displacer meat. Between the two of them, the beasts soon look no better than the farmer's cows from outside of Kabel's Hill.

As you continue following Serelis down the trail toward Greenhall, darkness soon settles over the forest in full. Aside from the unsettling noises prevalent throughout the forest, you are not disturbed throughout the night. "We will find Greenhall tomorrow," Serelis says. "It would appear our mysterious friends are content to leave us to the elves."

"How are you feeling, Auriel?" Serelis asks as you pick up the trail the following morning. "You know as well as I do that the elves of Greenhall are welcoming only to those they choose to be welcoming to. Do you think they will treat you any differently than the others?"

OOC: Characters have gained the benefits of a long rest.

Previously ...

Hearing Uragum call out to him, Sylyra halts and turns. There's an eye roll fighting to surface, but he refrains. "No," he responds. "They aren't beasts. They're monstrosities. I cannot wildshape into their form." Seeing the big man tear into the creature, the elf can't help but grin. And when Pipyap joins in, the druid squats to wait patiently.

Overnight ...

Sylyra wakes Hex when it is her turn to keep watch. As she struggles up out of slumberland, the elf sits down beside her. "I meant it when I said I don't hold anything against you about the fight," he says softly. She can tell he is fighting to stay neutral. There's a wall, and he's working very hard to keep it up. He isn't looking at her; his eyes stare into the dark forest around them. "I meant no ill will. You are welcome to fight as you see fit. Do not let ... anyone else persuade you that I am trying to hurt you." He folds his feet under his knees and prepares to enter a trance.

Today ...

Sylyra plods along silently, but can't help but be curious about Auriel's and Serelis's conversation.

Hex is slightly confused as she comes out of sleep. It takes her a moment to realise Sylyra is speaking to her. She props herself up on her elbows as he speaks, watching and listening quietly. After he closes his eyes but before fully entering into a trance, Hex pushes herself up completely to sit beside him and leans her head onto his shoulder. She speaks softly, trying not to wake up the others. "I know. I hope you know I'm not trying to hurt you either."

She sits there for a bit longer, waiting for Sylyra to go into trance before she takes her head off his shoulder and focusing on keeping watch for her shift.

When the party sets off the next day, she stays a little close to Sylyra. Not forcing him into conversation or trying to invade his space but just kind of being there. She listens to Auriel and Serelis' conversation with curiosity as well.