Anachain is slow to react to Grimrin's arrow striking true and is blinded when his target explodes. Before she can even begin to consider her options she feels a sharp pain in her back. The good news is the pain doesn't last long. The bad news is that's because she falls to the ground like a heavy object falling to the ground. (Hey! She's not THAT heavy!!) She is felled by the darkling's blade, collapsing to the ground unconscious...
(Even assuming Anachain get's the benefit of Deniz' Healing Word she still loses concentration on the web spell and is still blind so I'll assume she is basically ineffective this round and just awakening / gathering her wits.)
Kulloda sees the arrow pierce the Darkling and turns his head away, growling at the brightness again but avoiding any of the blinding effects.
The Darkling he threw manages to pierce his calf. His rage is keeping the damage in check but he isn’t going to be able to keep this up for long.
He slashes out recklessly at the remaining Darkling. If he manages to kill it, Kulloda will grab Anachain and carry / drag her across the circle to avoid letting the creatures encircle them again.
Reckless Attack - Godsbane - (26 to hit for 18 damage - 4 of which is necrotic).
As Kulloda slashes out, he kills the darkling next to him and successfully hefts Anachain's very heavy body off to safety. As the thing flashes behind him Deniz makes his way around, able to infuse some natural health into his fallen friend as he goes. The longstrider spell still in full effect, Deniz finds that it certainly paid off, at the end of his movement he is pouring water upon the first wet stone where he began the ritual.
A tense moment as Deniz wonders of he did the ritual correctly, looking over to the unconscious Anachain and the bloodied Kulloda, the group cannot afford to do it again... But as the seconds tick by and doubt grabs a hold of the druid. The stones begin to vibrate, as if singing back to him the intonations of the prayer that he was chanting. A moment later the stones illuminate similar to the flashes of the dead darklings. Once the blinding light fades from the stones the group look around to find each darkling fallen and sleeping. All aside from one who's wounds had just neatly sewn themselves back together. The small creature sits up, the redness gone from around it's dark eyes, the madness having left it's visage. It scratches its head with a dagger and stands making it's way to try to rouse it's friends from their sleep.
Deniz slumps down against the final stone, relieved and spent. He throws a weak smile (always a rarity) to the others, then sits and watches the darkling for a moment. Then eventually Deniz calls out to it, trying the Sylvan tongue:
Your protector, Jordgubb, has died. There is none other to perform your rituals. Do you understand?
Then if the darkling indicates comprehension, Deniz adds:
We must return and see to the chernomoi. It may have turned violent once again. Will you come with us?
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
How does a red dragon blow out the candles on its birthday cake?
The Darkling indeed gives a nod and responds in sylvan for all to hear, (should they be able to understand it) "we knew that something had gone awry, the druid stopped coming, our stones remained dry. So we did what we could to avoid others demise, and we buried our strongest, and said our goodbyes.
But thanks to you we are free before our actions got worse, we will dig up our leader and help you of course."
As the other darklings are focused from their sleep they realise what has happened and give gestures of thanks to the group, before they all congregate in the center of the circle and begin digging with their little daggers and ther bare hands.
Kulloda watches the Darklings as they dig up more of the little creatures, while letting his breathing and heart rate return to normal. He looks down at the stab wounds from the Darklings and shakes his head.
"Why want more?" Kulloda asks Deniz. "Not good when not stay dead."
Then he adjusts his gear, rolls his shoulders, wipes away some of the blood and gets ready to head out.
"Why want more?" Kulloda asks Deniz. "Not good when not stay dead."
"Maybe they can help against the chernomoi?" Anachain suggests weakly. "But if burying them works, that does seem like a possible solution?"
But Anachain isn't really arguing for that, she is mostly just getting herself back together after having been so soundly put down and then raised up again. It's... a bit like the bad parts or being a yo-yo with none of the fun or glory.
Deniz suggests they take some time to rest and recover, then head back to the druid's shack. With any luck, they haven't been away too long, and the chernomoi might still be lucid, but it would be prudent to take the darklings along for support just in case. At least the creature was sufficiently self-aware to ask for baked goods and dairy the last time they met it, so perhaps this time it would consume the cakes Deniz left out for it.
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
How does a red dragon blow out the candles on its birthday cake?
The group watch as the darklings dig up another of their group, a larger Darkling, their leader. He rises from the ground and dusts off the soil from his jacket before approaching the resting group. "you are who we have to thank for this generous action, what knowledge have you of our cursed abstraction? any assistance you require or escort from here, we will do as you wish, that much, I wish to make clear."
If the group wishes, the Darklings can easily go out and hunt a few small animals to cook and eat in the stead of rations for the short rest, and as conversation develops between the darkling leader and yourselves you find out that the fey here are very much stuck, they can feel their curse coming on and have had the forethought to prepare themselves but cannot fulfil the rites of the ritual themselves, their curse burdening them upon others forever. The druid Jordgubb had indeed spoken to the Cave bear at the bottom of the hill and it had agreed to protect the darklings from wandering passersby, it had also likely kept hidden or attacked some darklings as they were afflicted by their curse. When rest is taken and some health resored, the Darklings insist on escorting you all through the forest, (at a distance if required) and see to it that your travel is not disturbed. as you head towars the shack you find nothing more of note, the shack abandoned now that the magic holding Pom to this place had finally dissapated.
Heading out once more to check on the Chernomoi the group hear voices comin from the clearing, unfamiliar voices...
The rest and food does wonders for both Kulloda's wounds and his disposition (2HD - 18 HP healed). With a full stomach he looks on the Darklings more as nuisances than as enemies. While he doesn't trust them completely he's not wasting energy worrying that they will attack at any moment any longer.
The sound of voices makes Kulloda stop and look to the woods around the clearing, searching for a quiet route to see what's happening. But knowing that he's a little louder than the others, he looks around to see who's going to take a quick look ahead.
Deniz nods at the darkling leader's offer for help, but says: Although your minds were not your own, still much ill has been done here. The village may for their own sake agree to continue the rituals. But you should consider how you may offer to reciprocate, both for the aid they will provide, and to repay the hurt that has been done.
After returning to the shack, Deniz hears the called greeting. Togar! the elf shouts in response. This way! The forest is safe for now!
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
How does a red dragon blow out the candles on its birthday cake?
"Togar?" Anachain asks. At first she is unsure and a bit confused before the fact that he called out to them really sinks in. "Togar!" she calls out again with more surety, getting to her feet and looking around for the Owlin. As her eyes scan the sky and the tree line for their friend she also looks for Myrth. At least she does for a moment before chiding herself for her own foolishness. He'd be invisible, you fool, she reminds herself in her head.
Myrth? She calls out mentally. Her familiar should be able to hear her once he is within a hundred feet. They had been tasked with catching up to Togar in town and assisting in any way they could while remaining invisible and unknown... As well as spying on him so Anachain would know just how things went in town, of course. Myrth, you here somewhere?
Kulloda looks around at the others who are all shouting now and frowns. Then he looks over at Grimrin.
"No need sneak now. Everyone shout. Everyone know where we are." Kulloda says and just walks to the clearing, hand on his great sword in case there is a trap of some kind.
As kulloda leads the group into the clearing they do indeed see Togar, and he has indeed brought help, two Goliath, one muscular male wielding a great axe in preparation watches as the group approaches though it seems whatever willingness to fight whatever he had perceived before the group arrives has now worn off some. The other Goliath is a more lithe female with a bow strung across her back. The last of the 'help' is an elderly gnome who sits atop a carpet which seems to be hovering just above eyeline. The chernomoi waves lazily at the group not really knowing what is going on but happy to have company.
"The rituals are complete then? These creatures are no longer doing all this?" The female Goliath asks gesturing around the gore pit that is the chernomoi's clearing. "This is the bloody ore that I ordered!" The male Goliath exclaims as he kicks open a half broken crate that lays in amongst the wreckage.
Togar watches as behind the group a creature wrapped in black leather crouches at the treeline, not getting involved just yet, (see the darkling picture in the discord)
Kulloda eyes the Goliath's when he enters the clearing. He didn't overly care for any of the Goliath gladiators he'd run into in the arenas. It wasn't personal, he just didn't like standing next to them and feeling small.
Kulloda looks back at Deniz then to the female Goliath and shrugs.
"We do two," Kulloda says then he looks back to Deniz and asks "One more? What do now?"
The half-orc laughs at the mention of bloody ore and points at the other signs of gore and viscera "More than bloody. Some guts. Some brains."
"Welcome, welcome," Anachain calls out. "I presume the mayor has sent you here to carry out the town's interests? Or was our friend Togar just that persuasive?" She smiles to the newcomers and gives a wink to her feathered companion.
"I am sure Deniz can explain more fully but... The rituals are never complete, as I understand it. Done for a time, yes, but always need repeating again to ensure their effectiveness..."
"repeated rituals? How fascinating!" The gnome on the carpet chimes with a smile, before turning to the chernomoi and engaging the fey half goat thing in conversation on its history.
The male Goliath shows his axe and picks up several lumps of ore, chipping away at the dried blood and viscera that does indeed cover it. "These things can be salvaged, anything what don't go rotten from these here crates and barrels should be taken back with us, that'll show the townfolk that the roads is safe. Just a shame we didn't get to kill nothin... I'm Kedren by the way, that over there is me lovely wife Kia. And the tiny one who's chattin that creature into a long sleep is the wizard Brimwattle." The Goliath says pointing to himself, the female foliat and then the gnome in turn.
Anachain is slow to react to Grimrin's arrow striking true and is blinded when his target explodes. Before she can even begin to consider her options she feels a sharp pain in her back. The good news is the pain doesn't last long. The bad news is that's because she falls to the ground like a heavy object falling to the ground. (Hey! She's not THAT heavy!!) She is felled by the darkling's blade, collapsing to the ground unconscious...
(Even assuming Anachain get's the benefit of Deniz' Healing Word she still loses concentration on the web spell and is still blind so I'll assume she is basically ineffective this round and just awakening / gathering her wits.)
Kulloda sees the arrow pierce the Darkling and turns his head away, growling at the brightness again but avoiding any of the blinding effects.
The Darkling he threw manages to pierce his calf. His rage is keeping the damage in check but he isn’t going to be able to keep this up for long.
He slashes out recklessly at the remaining Darkling. If he manages to kill it, Kulloda will grab Anachain and carry / drag her across the circle to avoid letting the creatures encircle them again.
Reckless Attack - Godsbane - (26 to hit for 18 damage - 4 of which is necrotic).
As Kulloda slashes out, he kills the darkling next to him and successfully hefts Anachain's very heavy body off to safety. As the thing flashes behind him Deniz makes his way around, able to infuse some natural health into his fallen friend as he goes. The longstrider spell still in full effect, Deniz finds that it certainly paid off, at the end of his movement he is pouring water upon the first wet stone where he began the ritual.
A tense moment as Deniz wonders of he did the ritual correctly, looking over to the unconscious Anachain and the bloodied Kulloda, the group cannot afford to do it again... But as the seconds tick by and doubt grabs a hold of the druid. The stones begin to vibrate, as if singing back to him the intonations of the prayer that he was chanting. A moment later the stones illuminate similar to the flashes of the dead darklings. Once the blinding light fades from the stones the group look around to find each darkling fallen and sleeping. All aside from one who's wounds had just neatly sewn themselves back together. The small creature sits up, the redness gone from around it's dark eyes, the madness having left it's visage. It scratches its head with a dagger and stands making it's way to try to rouse it's friends from their sleep.
Initiative over.
Deniz slumps down against the final stone, relieved and spent. He throws a weak smile (always a rarity) to the others, then sits and watches the darkling for a moment. Then eventually Deniz calls out to it, trying the Sylvan tongue:
Your protector, Jordgubb, has died. There is none other to perform your rituals. Do you understand?
Then if the darkling indicates comprehension, Deniz adds:
We must return and see to the chernomoi. It may have turned violent once again. Will you come with us?
How does a red dragon blow out the candles on its birthday cake?
The Darkling indeed gives a nod and responds in sylvan for all to hear, (should they be able to understand it) "we knew that something had gone awry, the druid stopped coming, our stones remained dry. So we did what we could to avoid others demise, and we buried our strongest, and said our goodbyes.
But thanks to you we are free before our actions got worse, we will dig up our leader and help you of course."
As the other darklings are focused from their sleep they realise what has happened and give gestures of thanks to the group, before they all congregate in the center of the circle and begin digging with their little daggers and ther bare hands.
Kulloda watches the Darklings as they dig up more of the little creatures, while letting his breathing and heart rate return to normal. He looks down at the stab wounds from the Darklings and shakes his head.
"Why want more?" Kulloda asks Deniz. "Not good when not stay dead."
Then he adjusts his gear, rolls his shoulders, wipes away some of the blood and gets ready to head out.
"Now what?"
"Maybe they can help against the chernomoi?" Anachain suggests weakly. "But if burying them works, that does seem like a possible solution?"
But Anachain isn't really arguing for that, she is mostly just getting herself back together after having been so soundly put down and then raised up again. It's... a bit like the bad parts or being a yo-yo with none of the fun or glory.
"What do with Chernomoi now?" Kulloda asks as the group gets ready to leave. "Sprinkle more water? Sing song? Kill him too?"
Deniz suggests they take some time to rest and recover, then head back to the druid's shack. With any luck, they haven't been away too long, and the chernomoi might still be lucid, but it would be prudent to take the darklings along for support just in case. At least the creature was sufficiently self-aware to ask for baked goods and dairy the last time they met it, so perhaps this time it would consume the cakes Deniz left out for it.
How does a red dragon blow out the candles on its birthday cake?
Kulloda grunts his agreement and sits down on the ground, sits with his back to the stone circle and closes his eyes.
The group watch as the darklings dig up another of their group, a larger Darkling, their leader. He rises from the ground and dusts off the soil from his jacket before approaching the resting group.
"you are who we have to thank for this generous action, what knowledge have you of our cursed abstraction?
any assistance you require or escort from here, we will do as you wish, that much, I wish to make clear."
If the group wishes, the Darklings can easily go out and hunt a few small animals to cook and eat in the stead of rations for the short rest, and as conversation develops between the darkling leader and yourselves you find out that the fey here are very much stuck, they can feel their curse coming on and have had the forethought to prepare themselves but cannot fulfil the rites of the ritual themselves, their curse burdening them upon others forever. The druid Jordgubb had indeed spoken to the Cave bear at the bottom of the hill and it had agreed to protect the darklings from wandering passersby, it had also likely kept hidden or attacked some darklings as they were afflicted by their curse.
When rest is taken and some health resored, the Darklings insist on escorting you all through the forest, (at a distance if required) and see to it that your travel is not disturbed. as you head towars the shack you find nothing more of note, the shack abandoned now that the magic holding Pom to this place had finally dissapated.
Heading out once more to check on the Chernomoi the group hear voices comin from the clearing, unfamiliar voices...
The rest and food does wonders for both Kulloda's wounds and his disposition (2HD - 18 HP healed). With a full stomach he looks on the Darklings more as nuisances than as enemies. While he doesn't trust them completely he's not wasting energy worrying that they will attack at any moment any longer.
The sound of voices makes Kulloda stop and look to the woods around the clearing, searching for a quiet route to see what's happening. But knowing that he's a little louder than the others, he looks around to see who's going to take a quick look ahead.
When he spots Grimrin he nods ahead.
"Little Grim quiet. Should see what ahead."
You hear some talking in the distance, then with a shout you recognize your names. “Kulloda! Deniz! Anachain! Where are you, I’ve brought help!”
A wizard is never late, nor is he early, he arrives precisely when he means to.
Deniz nods at the darkling leader's offer for help, but says: Although your minds were not your own, still much ill has been done here. The village may for their own sake agree to continue the rituals. But you should consider how you may offer to reciprocate, both for the aid they will provide, and to repay the hurt that has been done.
After returning to the shack, Deniz hears the called greeting. Togar! the elf shouts in response. This way! The forest is safe for now!
How does a red dragon blow out the candles on its birthday cake?
"Togar?" Anachain asks. At first she is unsure and a bit confused before the fact that he called out to them really sinks in. "Togar!" she calls out again with more surety, getting to her feet and looking around for the Owlin. As her eyes scan the sky and the tree line for their friend she also looks for Myrth. At least she does for a moment before chiding herself for her own foolishness. He'd be invisible, you fool, she reminds herself in her head.
Myrth? She calls out mentally. Her familiar should be able to hear her once he is within a hundred feet. They had been tasked with catching up to Togar in town and assisting in any way they could while remaining invisible and unknown... As well as spying on him so Anachain would know just how things went in town, of course. Myrth, you here somewhere?
Kulloda looks around at the others who are all shouting now and frowns. Then he looks over at Grimrin.
"No need sneak now. Everyone shout. Everyone know where we are." Kulloda says and just walks to the clearing, hand on his great sword in case there is a trap of some kind.
As kulloda leads the group into the clearing they do indeed see Togar, and he has indeed brought help, two Goliath, one muscular male wielding a great axe in preparation watches as the group approaches though it seems whatever willingness to fight whatever he had perceived before the group arrives has now worn off some. The other Goliath is a more lithe female with a bow strung across her back. The last of the 'help' is an elderly gnome who sits atop a carpet which seems to be hovering just above eyeline. The chernomoi waves lazily at the group not really knowing what is going on but happy to have company.
"The rituals are complete then? These creatures are no longer doing all this?" The female Goliath asks gesturing around the gore pit that is the chernomoi's clearing. "This is the bloody ore that I ordered!" The male Goliath exclaims as he kicks open a half broken crate that lays in amongst the wreckage.
Togar watches as behind the group a creature wrapped in black leather crouches at the treeline, not getting involved just yet, (see the darkling picture in the discord)
Kulloda eyes the Goliath's when he enters the clearing. He didn't overly care for any of the Goliath gladiators he'd run into in the arenas. It wasn't personal, he just didn't like standing next to them and feeling small.
Kulloda looks back at Deniz then to the female Goliath and shrugs.
"We do two," Kulloda says then he looks back to Deniz and asks "One more? What do now?"
The half-orc laughs at the mention of bloody ore and points at the other signs of gore and viscera "More than bloody. Some guts. Some brains."
"Welcome, welcome," Anachain calls out. "I presume the mayor has sent you here to carry out the town's interests? Or was our friend Togar just that persuasive?" She smiles to the newcomers and gives a wink to her feathered companion.
"I am sure Deniz can explain more fully but... The rituals are never complete, as I understand it. Done for a time, yes, but always need repeating again to ensure their effectiveness..."
"repeated rituals? How fascinating!" The gnome on the carpet chimes with a smile, before turning to the chernomoi and engaging the fey half goat thing in conversation on its history.
The male Goliath shows his axe and picks up several lumps of ore, chipping away at the dried blood and viscera that does indeed cover it. "These things can be salvaged, anything what don't go rotten from these here crates and barrels should be taken back with us, that'll show the townfolk that the roads is safe. Just a shame we didn't get to kill nothin... I'm Kedren by the way, that over there is me lovely wife Kia. And the tiny one who's chattin that creature into a long sleep is the wizard Brimwattle." The Goliath says pointing to himself, the female foliat and then the gnome in turn.
"Please, tell us more..." Kia asks politely.