(Caelen) “We have to also be willing to accept that if we do that, we may not find her alive again when we come back...are you all okay with that?"
Barn exhales and his white-knuckled grip on the haft of his halberd loosens slightly. For once, he looks the more experienced man directly in the eyes.
"No. No I'm n-not okay, Caelen," the big man whispers. "But w-we have no choice. There's... there's nothing we can d-do here right now. Other than m-maybe breaking into that c-cottage and likely getting ourselves and maybe Macha k-killed. So f-for now, let's go find Clotha."
He stands ready to follow whichever path his companions choose, just behind the leader once more, intending to at least protect the people he can protect.
Ardwynn lets out her held breath. "Let us away. My skills came from being town based; I leave tracking and wood lore to you others. BUT, I will be watching and listening in the hopes of learning along the way!" She steps off back toward the clearing and crows.
Slowly, carefully the group edge away from the cottage toward the southern edge of the clearing following Smling Jacks lead.....
Barn is somewhat relieved to hear no signs of struggle or violence within the cottage at this point, he does catch brief snippets of one sided conversation as Macha describes her day in an overly pleasant tone.....
As the group follows the path Jack points out the mist is still extremely thick all around and you can barely see the person in front of you. Without warning the tree trunks are no longer hedging you in and a cool fresh wind chills your faces. Though you can see little, it seems the path has opened out into a large clearing.
A moment later the gentle wind rolls away enough of the fogbank to reveal a glade about 100 metres long. A small stream meanders down the centre of the glade and a dark mere, about 20 metres across, lies in the middle of it. Three low mounds can be seen by the mere’s edge.
The mist seems to hang back at the edge of the wood. A path crosses and recrosses the stream running down to the mere. A roughly made coracle sits on the mere’s banks.
Smiling Jack, Follows the others into the clearing, looking at the 3 mounds, wondering if they are buried pirate treasure or graves or a weird coincidence?
Jack stages whispers to the person in front, "Pirate treasure in the 3 mounds? But in only one...like 3 card monte"...giggles a bit in a nervous/stress release sort of way.
Barn thinks he knows what a barrow is, though not a white. Or wight. or whatever it was that pockmarked Jack just said. But he does know that he has a sinister feeling about the mounds. And about whatever may be lurking beneath the dark waters of the mere.
"I think Wynn m-might be right. And anyway, we aren't here to d-dig for treasure. So unless Clotha is buried under one of those m-mounds, I'd j-just as soon leave them alone. B-but that little boat in the water. Does it mean s-someone else comes here? Or else why the b-boat?"
Barn peers around the glade, looking for any other living things besides the trees in the woods. Unfortunately, the sheer strangeness of the situation gets the best of the big man, and he is too skittish to focus his attention on anything long enough to give it a good look.
This post has potentially manipulated dice roll results.
Smiling Jack
"If there are paths that cross the water, is it shallow enough to ford?" ..."But if there is a boat, does it mean it is too deep to cross?" Jack walks to the shore to see how deep the stream is to cross and if one can jump over it. "Can we just walk around the "mere" (pond) and not get in that little raft?"
Keeping an eye on if something pops out of the mist and to gauge the stream and walking around the pond instead of crossing it. Perception 19
Smiling Jack, Follows the others into the clearing, looking at the 3 mounds, wondering if they are buried pirate treasure or graves or a weird coincidence?
Jack stages whispers to the person in front, "Pirate treasure in the 3 mounds? But in only one...like 3 card monte"...giggles a bit in a nervous/stress release sort of way.
The mist is thick around the edge of the clearing for a moment Jack thinks he glimpses the terror frozen face of a young boy before it is gone again....
Barn thinks he knows what a barrow is, though not a white. Or wight. or whatever it was that pockmarked Jack just said. But he does know that he has a sinister feeling about the mounds. And about whatever may be lurking beneath the dark waters of the mere.
"I think Wynn m-might be right. And anyway, we aren't here to d-dig for treasure. So unless Clotha is buried under one of those m-mounds, I'd j-just as soon leave them alone. B-but that little boat in the water. Does it mean s-someone else comes here? Or else why the b-boat?"
Barn peers around the glade, looking for any other living things besides the trees in the woods. Unfortunately, the sheer strangeness of the situation gets the best of the big man, and he is too skittish to focus his attention on anything long enough to give it a good look.
"If there are paths that cross the water, is it shallow enough to ford?" ..."But if there is a boat, does it mean it is too deep to cross?" Jack walks to the shore to see how deep the stream is to cross and if one can jump over it. "Can we just walk around the "mere" (pond) and not get in that little raft?"
Keeping an eye on if something pops out of the mist and to gauge the stream and walking around the pond instead of crossing it. Perception 19
Jack sees the stream itself is easily fordable......as he draws closer to the mere he sees a pale hand come to the surface, grasped in its palm a jewelled necklace of gold......
This post has potentially manipulated dice roll results.
Smiling Jack sees the golden necklace, and quickly runs through the scenarios to be able to acquire it, from a quick hand grab to an amputation....Jack breathes deep...exhales remembers Clotha is the objective....and does not remember her having that necklace...doesn't think that is Clotha's hand that has served him plates many times...his young boyish mind thinking of her hand as she dropped plates or mugs in front of him..
Jack states rather loudly to the others, "I found a very wet gold & jeweled necklace attached to a rising hand! Don't think the hand or the necklace belongs to Clotha or Ned."
If needed Perception e.g survey want is around including other things rising out of the water and escape paths as well as were my friends are located. Perception 24
If Jack can have the action, Jack steps back a pace or two and draws his Rapier.
Ardwynn snorts. "There are any number of fae or water spirits that try to lure folks into the water to die. Best curb any thoughts of quick riches until we find and save Clotha."
Smiling Jack sees the golden necklace, and quickly runs through the scenarios to be able to acquire it, from a quick hand grab to an amputation....Jack breathes deep...exhales remembers Clotha is the objective....and does not remember her having that necklace...doesn't think that is Clotha's hand that has served him plates many times...his young boyish mind thinking of her hand as she dropped plates or mugs in front of him..
Jack states rather loudly to the others, "I found a very wet gold & jeweled necklace attached to a rising hand! Don't think the hand or the necklace belongs to Clotha or Ned."
If needed Perception e.g survey want is around including other things rising out of the water and escape paths as well as were my friends are located. Perception 15
If Jack can have the action, Jack steps back a pace or two and draws his Rapier.
As Jack looks for paths out of the glade he sees one off to the west and two others south and southwest....as always there are numerous animal trails leading in all directions....
Barn is still squinting through the mists. He has a vague sense that jewels and gold do not usually appear freely on offer in the middle of the forest (or anywhere, really), so he nods as Wynn calls out her warning of fey and water spirits to Smiling Jack. We need to look for Clotha...
As the big man follows Jack down the path, instinctively careful to minimize contact with the water, he tries to look for humanoid or animal tracks along the path or near the barrows. But the sheer strangeness of the situation distracts him and he becomes unsure which are his own tracks.
This post has potentially manipulated dice roll results.
Smiling Jack says to the halted party, "I see paths out of this glade off to the west is one and two others south and southwest."
OOC- based on an earlier post #136 we were heading south. so do i assume the west path is along the stream?
"Seeing how we are heading south, ...we should probably ignore the west path....There may be more temptations along the stream...We should probably head..." looks at the the two potential paths, and not seeing one way over the other Perception 18 Survival 6"I ...guess...south?"
The air hung heavy with the scent of stagnant water and ancient reeds as the narrow, dirt track skirted the edge of the glassy, dark mere. To the left, the water stretched out like a sheet of hammered iron, unbroken by wind and reflecting the sullen, gray sky. The path was barely a ribbon of dry ground, winding between the encroaching mudflats and a dense, whispering thicket of willow trees. Ardwynn's head was on a swivel as she followed the group while trying to keep an eye on the mere and surroundings.
Perception: 10
Following the trail south, the silence was broken only by the sucking sound of muddy boots and the faint, melancholic calling of unseen waterfowl. The sun, a pale disc behind the mist, provided just enough light to catch the occasional, uncanny glint of sunlight on the distant, unruffled surface. Further down, the track curved around a moss-covered, rocky promontory, where ancient, gnarled roots had created natural, treacherous steps, forcing a slower, careful pace along the water's edge.
As the path continued southward, the terrain became more open, allowing a sullen, cold wind to sweep across the marshy land. The far bank of the mere was barely visible, a smudge of dark green against the gray, and with each step, Ardwynn felt as though they were being pulled deeper into a forgotten, untamed land, with the water serving as a watchful presence at their back.
Caelan let the talk of paths and bootprints fall away behind them as the glade opened like a held breath. He did not like open ground in Gallows Wood, too exposed, too staged. The mere sat in the center of it like an unblinking eye. His gaze tracked the three low mounds without lingering. Barrows, likely. Old things. The sort of places folk whispered around rather than approached. When Jack called out the jeweled hand, Caelan’s posture tightened instantly. “Don’t,” he said, voice flat as iron, before anyone could even think to move closer. “Eyes off the water. Hands off anything it offers.” He stepped laterally, putting himself between the group and the mere’s edge, bow held low, every sense turned outward. He did not look at the necklace again. Bait was bait, whether gold or grief. “Ardwynn’s right,” he added quietly.“Nothing in these woods lies in wait for kindness. Only for curiosity.” When the decision turned south, Caelan nodded once and took the lead again, not hurried, but firm. “South,” he agreed. “No stopping. No testing depths. No heroics.” As they moved along the narrow track, Caelan kept them off the waterline by a few extra paces, forcing the path even tighter rather than risking the mere’s reach. His eyes never stopped working, treeline, reeds, the mud for signs of passage. “Clotha’s trail won’t be loud,” he murmured, half to himself. “But it’ll exist somewhere. Ned wants us tired, frightened, chasing shine instead of sense.” He glanced back once, checking spacing through the mist. “Same order,” he said calmly. “No one drifts toward the water. If you hear something call your name, you ignore it.” Then forward again, boots careful on treacherous roots, voice lowered to the simple truth of it. “We keep moving. The girl is ahead. This place is only meant to slow us.”
This post has potentially manipulated dice roll results.
Smiling Jack acknowledges Caelan's orders and falls into the the last person spot pulling rear guard.
Jack is mindlessly following, thinking about that necklace...then releases he is fantasying...not pulling his weight in the search for Clotha. Jack does a semi loud deep breath then focuses on the surroundings again. Jack stutter steps in a bit of a shock when he realizes he forgot to count heads. He tries to count from the rear, but can't tell if all the party are ahead.
From the rear position
Survival 11
Perception 23
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
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Barn exhales and his white-knuckled grip on the haft of his halberd loosens slightly. For once, he looks the more experienced man directly in the eyes.
"No. No I'm n-not okay, Caelen," the big man whispers. "But w-we have no choice. There's... there's nothing we can d-do here right now. Other than m-maybe breaking into that c-cottage and likely getting ourselves and maybe Macha k-killed. So f-for now, let's go find Clotha."
He stands ready to follow whichever path his companions choose, just behind the leader once more, intending to at least protect the people he can protect.
Barn(Paladin1):Damian_May's Ereworn Under the Shadow | Lyra(Warlock2/Bard4):VitusW's Silverwood Forest | Nivi(Rogue5):Erik_Soong's Netherdeep
Joren(Fighter6):NotDrizzt's Simple Request | Quyen(Adept1, ba5ic system):ConstancePhokas' Nentir Vale (Discord) | Seri(Druid1):Hunter_Orien's Saltmarsh
Xarian (Fighter3):Luna_Dust's Marks on the Map | Ophelia (Sorcerer2):BillM's Icewind Dale | Shin(Wizard1):Culuril's Strixhaven
Ardwynn lets out her held breath. "Let us away. My skills came from being town based; I leave tracking and wood lore to you others. BUT, I will be watching and listening in the hopes of learning along the way!" She steps off back toward the clearing and crows.
Slowly, carefully the group edge away from the cottage toward the southern edge of the clearing following Smling Jacks lead.....
Barn is somewhat relieved to hear no signs of struggle or violence within the cottage at this point, he does catch brief snippets of one sided conversation as Macha describes her day in an overly pleasant tone.....
As the group follows the path Jack points out the mist is still extremely thick all around and you can barely see the person in front of you. Without warning the tree trunks are no longer hedging you in and a cool fresh wind chills your faces. Though you can see little, it seems the path has opened out into a large clearing.
A moment later the gentle wind rolls away enough of the fogbank to reveal a glade about 100 metres long. A small stream meanders down the centre of the glade and a dark mere, about 20 metres across, lies in the middle of it. Three low mounds can be seen by the mere’s edge.
The mist seems to hang back at the edge of the wood. A path crosses and recrosses the stream running down to the mere. A roughly made coracle sits on the mere’s banks.
Smiling Jack, Follows the others into the clearing, looking at the 3 mounds, wondering if they are buried pirate treasure or graves or a weird coincidence?
Jack stages whispers to the person in front, "Pirate treasure in the 3 mounds? But in only one...like 3 card monte"...giggles a bit in a nervous/stress release sort of way.
"Or three burial mounds... with something nasty waiting for grave robbers," Ardwynn gave a crooked smile as she watched for Jack's reaction.
"Barrow Wights?"
"Sooner or later, your Players are going to smash your railroad into a sandbox."
-Vedexent
"real life is a super high CR."
-OboeLauren
"............anybody got any potatoes? We could drop a potato in each hole an' see which ones get viciously mauled by horrible monsters?"
-Ilyara Thundertale
Barn thinks he knows what a barrow is, though not a white. Or wight. or whatever it was that pockmarked Jack just said. But he does know that he has a sinister feeling about the mounds. And about whatever may be lurking beneath the dark waters of the mere.
"I think Wynn m-might be right. And anyway, we aren't here to d-dig for treasure. So unless Clotha is buried under one of those m-mounds, I'd j-just as soon leave them alone. B-but that little boat in the water. Does it mean s-someone else comes here? Or else why the b-boat?"
Barn peers around the glade, looking for any other living things besides the trees in the woods. Unfortunately, the sheer strangeness of the situation gets the best of the big man, and he is too skittish to focus his attention on anything long enough to give it a good look.
Barn's Perception: 4 (Nat. 1)
Barn(Paladin1):Damian_May's Ereworn Under the Shadow | Lyra(Warlock2/Bard4):VitusW's Silverwood Forest | Nivi(Rogue5):Erik_Soong's Netherdeep
Joren(Fighter6):NotDrizzt's Simple Request | Quyen(Adept1, ba5ic system):ConstancePhokas' Nentir Vale (Discord) | Seri(Druid1):Hunter_Orien's Saltmarsh
Xarian (Fighter3):Luna_Dust's Marks on the Map | Ophelia (Sorcerer2):BillM's Icewind Dale | Shin(Wizard1):Culuril's Strixhaven
Smiling Jack
"If there are paths that cross the water, is it shallow enough to ford?" ..."But if there is a boat, does it mean it is too deep to cross?" Jack walks to the shore to see how deep the stream is to cross and if one can jump over it. "Can we just walk around the "mere" (pond) and not get in that little raft?"
Keeping an eye on if something pops out of the mist and to gauge the stream and walking around the pond instead of crossing it. Perception 19
The mist is thick around the edge of the clearing for a moment Jack thinks he glimpses the terror frozen face of a young boy before it is gone again....
Indeed the air in the glade grows chill as she looks over the mounds....
Wights? Wights? Wights?
The words seem to hang in the air as Jack speaks.
Barn can see nothing but the mist....are there figured moving through it?....no.....trick of the light.....surely...
Jack sees the stream itself is easily fordable......as he draws closer to the mere he sees a pale hand come to the surface, grasped in its palm a jewelled necklace of gold......
Smiling Jack sees the golden necklace, and quickly runs through the scenarios to be able to acquire it, from a quick hand grab to an amputation....Jack breathes deep...exhales remembers Clotha is the objective....and does not remember her having that necklace...doesn't think that is Clotha's hand that has served him plates many times...his young boyish mind thinking of her hand as she dropped plates or mugs in front of him..
Jack states rather loudly to the others, "I found a very wet gold & jeweled necklace attached to a rising hand! Don't think the hand or the necklace belongs to Clotha or Ned."
If needed Perception e.g survey want is around including other things rising out of the water and escape paths as well as were my friends are located. Perception 24
If Jack can have the action, Jack steps back a pace or two and draws his Rapier.
Ardwynn snorts. "There are any number of fae or water spirits that try to lure folks into the water to die. Best curb any thoughts of quick riches until we find and save Clotha."
As Jack looks for paths out of the glade he sees one off to the west and two others south and southwest....as always there are numerous animal trails leading in all directions....
Barn is still squinting through the mists. He has a vague sense that jewels and gold do not usually appear freely on offer in the middle of the forest (or anywhere, really), so he nods as Wynn calls out her warning of fey and water spirits to Smiling Jack. We need to look for Clotha...
As the big man follows Jack down the path, instinctively careful to minimize contact with the water, he tries to look for humanoid or animal tracks along the path or near the barrows. But the sheer strangeness of the situation distracts him and he becomes unsure which are his own tracks.
Barn's Survival to look for tracks: 9
"The b-barrows look creepy and jeweled necklaces in ponds sound creepier, If one of y-you wants to look at the barrows, I can help and stand g-guard."
Barn(Paladin1):Damian_May's Ereworn Under the Shadow | Lyra(Warlock2/Bard4):VitusW's Silverwood Forest | Nivi(Rogue5):Erik_Soong's Netherdeep
Joren(Fighter6):NotDrizzt's Simple Request | Quyen(Adept1, ba5ic system):ConstancePhokas' Nentir Vale (Discord) | Seri(Druid1):Hunter_Orien's Saltmarsh
Xarian (Fighter3):Luna_Dust's Marks on the Map | Ophelia (Sorcerer2):BillM's Icewind Dale | Shin(Wizard1):Culuril's Strixhaven
There is no scenario that Jack can think of where grabbing treasure from a creepy swamp ends well. He will absolutely ignore any such bait.
"Sooner or later, your Players are going to smash your railroad into a sandbox."
-Vedexent
"real life is a super high CR."
-OboeLauren
"............anybody got any potatoes? We could drop a potato in each hole an' see which ones get viciously mauled by horrible monsters?"
-Ilyara Thundertale
Smiling Jack says to the halted party, "I see paths out of this glade off to the west is one and two others south and southwest."
OOC- based on an earlier post #136 we were heading south. so do i assume the west path is along the stream?
"Seeing how we are heading south, ...we should probably ignore the west path....There may be more temptations along the stream...We should probably head..." looks at the the two potential paths, and not seeing one way over the other Perception 18 Survival 6 "I ...guess...south?"
( The western path is a little north of the stream and somewhat overgrown.)
"South it is!"
"Let's go, this place is creeping me out."
"Sooner or later, your Players are going to smash your railroad into a sandbox."
-Vedexent
"real life is a super high CR."
-OboeLauren
"............anybody got any potatoes? We could drop a potato in each hole an' see which ones get viciously mauled by horrible monsters?"
-Ilyara Thundertale
Caelan let the talk of paths and bootprints fall away behind them as the glade opened like a held breath. He did not like open ground in Gallows Wood, too exposed, too staged. The mere sat in the center of it like an unblinking eye. His gaze tracked the three low mounds without lingering. Barrows, likely. Old things. The sort of places folk whispered around rather than approached. When Jack called out the jeweled hand, Caelan’s posture tightened instantly. “Don’t,” he said, voice flat as iron, before anyone could even think to move closer. “Eyes off the water. Hands off anything it offers.” He stepped laterally, putting himself between the group and the mere’s edge, bow held low, every sense turned outward. He did not look at the necklace again. Bait was bait, whether gold or grief. “Ardwynn’s right,” he added quietly. “Nothing in these woods lies in wait for kindness. Only for curiosity.” When the decision turned south, Caelan nodded once and took the lead again, not hurried, but firm. “South,” he agreed. “No stopping. No testing depths. No heroics.” As they moved along the narrow track, Caelan kept them off the waterline by a few extra paces, forcing the path even tighter rather than risking the mere’s reach. His eyes never stopped working, treeline, reeds, the mud for signs of passage. “Clotha’s trail won’t be loud,” he murmured, half to himself. “But it’ll exist somewhere. Ned wants us tired, frightened, chasing shine instead of sense.” He glanced back once, checking spacing through the mist. “Same order,” he said calmly. “No one drifts toward the water. If you hear something call your name, you ignore it.” Then forward again, boots careful on treacherous roots, voice lowered to the simple truth of it. “We keep moving. The girl is ahead. This place is only meant to slow us.”
OOC:
Survival: 9
Perception: 18
Smiling Jack acknowledges Caelan's orders and falls into the the last person spot pulling rear guard.
Jack is mindlessly following, thinking about that necklace...then releases he is fantasying...not pulling his weight in the search for Clotha. Jack does a semi loud deep breath then focuses on the surroundings again. Jack stutter steps in a bit of a shock when he realizes he forgot to count heads. He tries to count from the rear, but can't tell if all the party are ahead.
From the rear position
Survival 11
Perception 23