Jalt tenses up a bit after the slap on the back by Zelina. Its instinctual, he doesnt mean anything buy it but he's always tried to be on guard whenever he can. As everyone is resting, Jalt will try to find a peaceful quiet corner. Although not wearing his vestments, he still would like to take the time to kneel and pray. Not for long but enough to give praise to Bahamut for allowing them to so far safely traverse the road and caravan with little incident.
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Hoard of the Dragon Queen - Jalt Rhogar - Dragonborn Cleric (9)
Boar barely reacts at all to the nonreaction of the mention of 'black antlers.' She thought she was onto something.
When Fennet reappears, she rolls her eyes. "Downsides are that I don't have my gloves, you do, and there's a chance you still want to bother me about something I own. Upsides are... I have a small amount of gold? And you get to enjoy the gloves while I don't? Not sure that's any real kind of upside. What do you think they do? What in the dark bloody deerhorns do you really want?"
Jalt, you are able to pray quietly and without being disturbed. There's no particular sense of Bahamut's attention, beyond the general sense of warmth and comfort that you also feel when lost in prayer.
Fennet scowls. I must say, this is unreasonable, quite unreasonable indeed. I've said quite clearly what I want, and made a perfectly reasonable offer. I just can't understand why you would choose to be so selfish. Really, just impossible to fathom such strange behaviour. He walks off, muttering to himself, as several people look on.
The next day, the caravan resumes its journey. (If there's anything else you wanted to accomplish on the rest day, just let me know.)
The next few days on the road are quite miserable, as the heavens open and the rain falls. It's not too bad at first, and the first and second nights it relents and you pass the nights drying out a little. Everyone is well-equipped with tents or can rest in wagons, so there's little or no danger to health, it's just unpleasant. Arietta and Zelina are still with you, headed north to Daggerford, spending time with everyone in the caravan. They're friendly, but also practical and knowledgeable about the road, as though they have travelled it many times. They're good company, and Jalt in particular gets the opportunity to spend time with Zelina unless he objects.
The third night, you pass by Castle Dragonspear, set two miles back from the road but very visible on a tall rocky crag overlooking the High Moor to the east. A few of the merchants know a little about it, more than you do, and word gets around the caravan in rumour and warnings:
Undead, and that's the truth. Filled with skeletons and ghouls and the like...
Cursed, is what I heard. Step foot in there and you'll never...
Demons, they said. A portal to the Abyss. Only a fool would...
The stories don't agree on much except one point: Don't go to Castle Dragonspear. By the time the caravan is ready to camp for the night, distance and rain have obscured the view of the castle, much to everyone's relief.
The next two days, the rain becomes torrential and the caravan moves slowly, even stopping when the wind gets too strong. Most of the second day's travel is lost as the caravan shelters from the rain in a part of the road that offers no protection from the wind or rain. Everyone is complaining and it's hard to keep a fire going, though some of the merchants have larger tents that make this feasible. Nate, several people come and speak to you, complaining of chills, aches and other symptoms, though you can find no evidence of anything except tiredness and general unhappiness. The caravan remains stationery for most of the afternoon and through the night, as strange whistling sounds carry on the wind.
The following day, you wake to quite a sight. The rain has stopped, and the surrounding countryside - in all directions - is blanketed with fungus. It's not growing where the caravan is camped, but you are surrounded by little black mushroom-like growths, perhaps an inch high, but everywhere - including on the road. They definitely were not there the previous day, and there's no way you could have missed them.
From the caravan folk, there are whispers, that turn to murmurs, that turn to alarmed conversations and then arguments. No-one wants to approach the strange fungus, and no-one seems to know what to do.
This post has potentially manipulated dice roll results.
On the rest day, Nate would've tried to get some alone time with either Soar, Jalt or Elspeth if that might've been possible, and ask them about their progress, if they've learned anything about the cultists, and would also say that he himself hasn't learned anything other than they all seem like little *****es when the fight comes so maybe this war won't be so hard after all. He maybe would've said that to Soar to try and make her laugh as he heads back to his guard post.
During the rain and subsequent torrential downpours, Nate would happily check the folks as they come to him... not really knowing what he is doing but from the looks of it nothing seems unfamiliar and so he's able to help where he can.
The next morning, Nate sees the mushrooms.... and thinks mushrooms AGAIN..... well at least these ones aren't pink like the last ones... how bad could they be....
seeing the caravan become quite stressed, Cowboy Nate will go over and inspect a few of the shrooms...."Well holy hell, looky looky here! Howza bout I go and check these lil' mushrooms out!"
On the rest day, you would have had a chance to all meet up, maybe not together at the same time, but in pairs or threes, enough to pass any information between you that you wanted.
Nate, how are you going to inspect the mushrooms? Just looking?
Elspeth will spend her rest day in idle conversation with the other guards about nothing much of import. Her true goal is to discreetly, if possible, draw the cultists' guards into the conversation whenever they pass by closely, inviting them to jokingly complain about the raiding perytons from a few days ago. She'd ask after each of the guard's past experiences, and she herself will loudly boast of a completely fabricated encounter with a dragon, watching the cultists closely as she does so. (Not sure if deception or persuasion, but same modifier either way: 15).
If Nate manages to contact Elspeth on their rest day, Elspeth will suggest that since Nate seems to be the de facto healer of the group they can probably contact Nate without raising suspicions by claiming injuries.
To Jalt, she'd also say that if he doesn't mind covering for her Elspeth could find a quiet place to wildshape into a spider again to sneak into the cultists' caravan.
Singular rainy days never bothered Elspeth much, but the constant slog caused by the downpour is making travelling difficult and by the time the rains stop in the morning, Elspeth is grateful to see the last of it. She's already quite curious about the mushrooms when she first sees them, and the wariness of the other guards doesn't stop her from wanting to examine them further, both visually and, if no one stops her, she'll try to pick some of the smaller ones.
Elspeth and Jalt are at the front of the caravan, with a group of other guards, traders and travellers.
Elspeth, you have no idea what kind of mushroom this is. You stand with the others and watch, and you hear the strange, sometimes creaking, sometimes whistling noise around you, and realise that you are able to see the fungus growing - in real time. It's growing amazingly fast.
With Jalt, Eldkin, Losvius, and the other guards watching, you cautious reach out and pick one. There's a loud moan of pain, like the groan of someone on their death bed, and the fungus emits a cloud of black spores. Make a DEX save to avoid inhaling it.
Behind you, the others jump back in shock and fear. You also hear animal cries of a nearby horse and the oxen of Losvius's wagons, reacting to the noise.
Step back! commands Losvius, his voice rather higher in pitch that you are used to.
This post has potentially manipulated dice roll results.
Dex:13
When Elspeth heard the mushroom(?) make a sound as if it was in agony she almost leaps back from the field of black fungus before Losvius even mentions it, dropping whatever mushroom she'd managed to grab, if any, in the process.
Elspeth, you manage to avoid inhaling - you think. You back away, turn, and see that everyone is looking at you. Jalt, you see this and the rising sense of alarm among the folk of the caravan.
Boar, you see much the same kind of alarm towards the rear of the caravan. Edhelri, Nate's employer, watches on concerned as Nate approaches to inspect the fungus.
Elspeth sees the commotion she accidentally stirred up, and laughs a little awkwardly. "Never heard anything like this happening before, guess I've learned something today."She looks around, trying to gauge how unsettled her employer is. "Where did this all come from? Anyone know what it is?"
Elspeth, you don't need to make any checks to get a sense of Losvius's mood - he's terrified. The other guards and drivers are pretty scared too. Over the next minute you hear the same loud moaning noise coming from various spots in other parts of the caravan as others have the same experience, with the same result, as you.
Stay still. Don't... touch anything. Losvius heads back towards the other wagons, Eldkin at his side. You notice that although the area where the caravaners slept is mostly clear, there are a few clusters of fungus here and there, also growing at an amazingly fast speed, so people are having to watch their step.
Word gets around the caravan, and the merchants and some of the travellers meet up in the centre, to discuss what to do. None of you are invited to join, and you and the rest of the caravan are left to your own devices for a good half an hour.
This post has potentially manipulated dice roll results.
Before all of this happened, Nate would've for sure went ahead and tried to pick one of the mushrooms when he first inspected them, just like Elspeth did, so here's his DEX save: 7
Never seen the like before, Zelina says ot Jalt. Nor heard of it, neither. Nasty little things. She scowls at the fungus and then looks directly at Jalt. Not a clue. Sorry.
Nate, you experience much the same as Elspeth. You dart back, and you think you might have inhaled just a little of the black spores, but you don't feel any ill effects.
The merchants continue to discuss, and you can start to hear raised voices:
No WAY am I driving through that mess. Who knows what...
...bad luck on this trip, if you've no explanation for...
...mages, but they would never...
It doesn't seem as though anything substantial will emerge for a long time. Half an hour passes. The little mushrooms are now three inches tall and still growing. From part of the caravan near Soar, a moaning is heard; someone has accidentally trodden on a mushroom. People are looking panicky.
Boar, well, Soar really, would try to get a sense of what Fennet is really on about, and why he is so interested in the gloves... if he knows more than he lets on and this isn't really about the gloves. Insight: 12
Boar would pass any of her observations about the caravan to her friends such that they're basically caught up on what's been on this thread. Her suspicions/annoyance about Fennet, her attempts and failures to find out whatever creepy thing her boss is transporting, the gargoyle watching her, the guard maybe watching her, etc.
She's happy to complain about the constant rain to anyone who will hear, lapsing more and more into Boar's affect.
As the mushrooms grow, she tries to see if they seem dry or wet without touching them, (perception: 3) and then idly lights a torch and asks to herself, "wonder if they burn" loud and close enough to people that they would definitely hear her. Then she looks at the rest of the group and the other caravan folks, lifting the torch a bit higher and raising her eyebrows.
Elspeth gives a nod she hears Boar's suggestion. "I'd give quite a bit not to have to hear those awful shrieks all the time. If they burn easily and without all the noise I can help clear a path for us."
She is still keeping an eye on her employer, trying to gauge his reaction.
Boar, you're not able to learn much about Fennet, other than that he's probably a nasty entitled little sod.
You guess the fungus is wet from the rain. When you light a torch, folks nearby back away a little but don't make any move to stop you. When you raise your eyebrows, a few shrug their shoulders and nod, and a few others back away a little further.
Elspeth, you see that Losvius and the other merchants are still talking, and hear that they're not making much progress. The fungus is continuing to grow...
Elspeth stares at the growing fungus, obviously irritated, then steps away from the caravan a bit, raising a hand to cast a flaming sphere, so that it appears directly within a patch of fungus. Prudently, she's going to take a step back as she does to avoid breathing in fungal spores.
She's also getting ready to shove fingers in her ears if this doesn't go well.
Boar lowers the torch close to the fungus, not touching, and trying to see if there is any sort of reaction. She also pulls out a yew leaf from her bag, facing away from the caravan and toward the fungus, muttering under her breath and waving the torch around a bit more, and casts detect poison and disease.
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Jalt tenses up a bit after the slap on the back by Zelina. Its instinctual, he doesnt mean anything buy it but he's always tried to be on guard whenever he can. As everyone is resting, Jalt will try to find a peaceful quiet corner. Although not wearing his vestments, he still would like to take the time to kneel and pray. Not for long but enough to give praise to Bahamut for allowing them to so far safely traverse the road and caravan with little incident.
Hoard of the Dragon Queen - Jalt Rhogar - Dragonborn Cleric (9)
"Ive heard it both ways."
Boar barely reacts at all to the nonreaction of the mention of 'black antlers.' She thought she was onto something.
When Fennet reappears, she rolls her eyes. "Downsides are that I don't have my gloves, you do, and there's a chance you still want to bother me about something I own. Upsides are... I have a small amount of gold? And you get to enjoy the gloves while I don't? Not sure that's any real kind of upside. What do you think they do? What in the dark bloody deerhorns do you really want?"
Jalt, you are able to pray quietly and without being disturbed. There's no particular sense of Bahamut's attention, beyond the general sense of warmth and comfort that you also feel when lost in prayer.
Fennet scowls. I must say, this is unreasonable, quite unreasonable indeed. I've said quite clearly what I want, and made a perfectly reasonable offer. I just can't understand why you would choose to be so selfish. Really, just impossible to fathom such strange behaviour. He walks off, muttering to himself, as several people look on.
The next day, the caravan resumes its journey. (If there's anything else you wanted to accomplish on the rest day, just let me know.)
The next few days on the road are quite miserable, as the heavens open and the rain falls. It's not too bad at first, and the first and second nights it relents and you pass the nights drying out a little. Everyone is well-equipped with tents or can rest in wagons, so there's little or no danger to health, it's just unpleasant. Arietta and Zelina are still with you, headed north to Daggerford, spending time with everyone in the caravan. They're friendly, but also practical and knowledgeable about the road, as though they have travelled it many times. They're good company, and Jalt in particular gets the opportunity to spend time with Zelina unless he objects.
The third night, you pass by Castle Dragonspear, set two miles back from the road but very visible on a tall rocky crag overlooking the High Moor to the east. A few of the merchants know a little about it, more than you do, and word gets around the caravan in rumour and warnings:
Undead, and that's the truth. Filled with skeletons and ghouls and the like...
Cursed, is what I heard. Step foot in there and you'll never...
Demons, they said. A portal to the Abyss. Only a fool would...
The stories don't agree on much except one point: Don't go to Castle Dragonspear. By the time the caravan is ready to camp for the night, distance and rain have obscured the view of the castle, much to everyone's relief.
The next two days, the rain becomes torrential and the caravan moves slowly, even stopping when the wind gets too strong. Most of the second day's travel is lost as the caravan shelters from the rain in a part of the road that offers no protection from the wind or rain. Everyone is complaining and it's hard to keep a fire going, though some of the merchants have larger tents that make this feasible. Nate, several people come and speak to you, complaining of chills, aches and other symptoms, though you can find no evidence of anything except tiredness and general unhappiness. The caravan remains stationery for most of the afternoon and through the night, as strange whistling sounds carry on the wind.
The following day, you wake to quite a sight. The rain has stopped, and the surrounding countryside - in all directions - is blanketed with fungus. It's not growing where the caravan is camped, but you are surrounded by little black mushroom-like growths, perhaps an inch high, but everywhere - including on the road. They definitely were not there the previous day, and there's no way you could have missed them.
From the caravan folk, there are whispers, that turn to murmurs, that turn to alarmed conversations and then arguments. No-one wants to approach the strange fungus, and no-one seems to know what to do.
What would you like to do?
On the rest day, Nate would've tried to get some alone time with either Soar, Jalt or Elspeth if that might've been possible, and ask them about their progress, if they've learned anything about the cultists, and would also say that he himself hasn't learned anything other than they all seem like little *****es when the fight comes so maybe this war won't be so hard after all. He maybe would've said that to Soar to try and make her laugh as he heads back to his guard post.
During the rain and subsequent torrential downpours, Nate would happily check the folks as they come to him... not really knowing what he is doing but from the looks of it nothing seems unfamiliar and so he's able to help where he can.
The next morning, Nate sees the mushrooms.... and thinks mushrooms AGAIN..... well at least these ones aren't pink like the last ones... how bad could they be....
seeing the caravan become quite stressed, Cowboy Nate will go over and inspect a few of the shrooms...."Well holy hell, looky looky here! Howza bout I go and check these lil' mushrooms out!"
Nature 1
On the rest day, you would have had a chance to all meet up, maybe not together at the same time, but in pairs or threes, enough to pass any information between you that you wanted.
Nate, how are you going to inspect the mushrooms? Just looking?
Stealth check for conversation with Soar: 18
Elspeth will spend her rest day in idle conversation with the other guards about nothing much of import. Her true goal is to discreetly, if possible, draw the cultists' guards into the conversation whenever they pass by closely, inviting them to jokingly complain about the raiding perytons from a few days ago. She'd ask after each of the guard's past experiences, and she herself will loudly boast of a completely fabricated encounter with a dragon, watching the cultists closely as she does so. (Not sure if deception or persuasion, but same modifier either way: 15).
If Nate manages to contact Elspeth on their rest day, Elspeth will suggest that since Nate seems to be the de facto healer of the group they can probably contact Nate without raising suspicions by claiming injuries.
To Jalt, she'd also say that if he doesn't mind covering for her Elspeth could find a quiet place to wildshape into a spider again to sneak into the cultists' caravan.
Singular rainy days never bothered Elspeth much, but the constant slog caused by the downpour is making travelling difficult and by the time the rains stop in the morning, Elspeth is grateful to see the last of it. She's already quite curious about the mushrooms when she first sees them, and the wariness of the other guards doesn't stop her from wanting to examine them further, both visually and, if no one stops her, she'll try to pick some of the smaller ones.
((Nature: 7))
Elspeth and Jalt are at the front of the caravan, with a group of other guards, traders and travellers.
Elspeth, you have no idea what kind of mushroom this is. You stand with the others and watch, and you hear the strange, sometimes creaking, sometimes whistling noise around you, and realise that you are able to see the fungus growing - in real time. It's growing amazingly fast.
With Jalt, Eldkin, Losvius, and the other guards watching, you cautious reach out and pick one. There's a loud moan of pain, like the groan of someone on their death bed, and the fungus emits a cloud of black spores. Make a DEX save to avoid inhaling it.
Behind you, the others jump back in shock and fear. You also hear animal cries of a nearby horse and the oxen of Losvius's wagons, reacting to the noise.
Step back! commands Losvius, his voice rather higher in pitch that you are used to.
Dex: 13
When Elspeth heard the mushroom(?) make a sound as if it was in agony she almost leaps back from the field of black fungus before Losvius even mentions it, dropping whatever mushroom she'd managed to grab, if any, in the process.
Elspeth, you manage to avoid inhaling - you think. You back away, turn, and see that everyone is looking at you. Jalt, you see this and the rising sense of alarm among the folk of the caravan.
Boar, you see much the same kind of alarm towards the rear of the caravan. Edhelri, Nate's employer, watches on concerned as Nate approaches to inspect the fungus.
Elspeth sees the commotion she accidentally stirred up, and laughs a little awkwardly. "Never heard anything like this happening before, guess I've learned something today." She looks around, trying to gauge how unsettled her employer is. "Where did this all come from? Anyone know what it is?"
Elspeth, you don't need to make any checks to get a sense of Losvius's mood - he's terrified. The other guards and drivers are pretty scared too. Over the next minute you hear the same loud moaning noise coming from various spots in other parts of the caravan as others have the same experience, with the same result, as you.
Stay still. Don't... touch anything. Losvius heads back towards the other wagons, Eldkin at his side. You notice that although the area where the caravaners slept is mostly clear, there are a few clusters of fungus here and there, also growing at an amazingly fast speed, so people are having to watch their step.
Word gets around the caravan, and the merchants and some of the travellers meet up in the centre, to discuss what to do. None of you are invited to join, and you and the rest of the caravan are left to your own devices for a good half an hour.
Jalt will ask Zelina if she knows anything about these particular fungus as she has traveled this road many times.
Hoard of the Dragon Queen - Jalt Rhogar - Dragonborn Cleric (9)
"Ive heard it both ways."
Before all of this happened, Nate would've for sure went ahead and tried to pick one of the mushrooms when he first inspected them, just like Elspeth did, so here's his DEX save: 7
Never seen the like before, Zelina says ot Jalt. Nor heard of it, neither. Nasty little things. She scowls at the fungus and then looks directly at Jalt. Not a clue. Sorry.
Nate, you experience much the same as Elspeth. You dart back, and you think you might have inhaled just a little of the black spores, but you don't feel any ill effects.
The merchants continue to discuss, and you can start to hear raised voices:
No WAY am I driving through that mess. Who knows what...
...bad luck on this trip, if you've no explanation for...
...mages, but they would never...
It doesn't seem as though anything substantial will emerge for a long time. Half an hour passes. The little mushrooms are now three inches tall and still growing. From part of the caravan near Soar, a moaning is heard; someone has accidentally trodden on a mushroom. People are looking panicky.
(Sorry for the delay, just catching up.)
Boar, well, Soar really, would try to get a sense of what Fennet is really on about, and why he is so interested in the gloves... if he knows more than he lets on and this isn't really about the gloves. Insight: 12
Boar would pass any of her observations about the caravan to her friends such that they're basically caught up on what's been on this thread. Her suspicions/annoyance about Fennet, her attempts and failures to find out whatever creepy thing her boss is transporting, the gargoyle watching her, the guard maybe watching her, etc.
She's happy to complain about the constant rain to anyone who will hear, lapsing more and more into Boar's affect.
As the mushrooms grow, she tries to see if they seem dry or wet without touching them, (perception: 3) and then idly lights a torch and asks to herself, "wonder if they burn" loud and close enough to people that they would definitely hear her. Then she looks at the rest of the group and the other caravan folks, lifting the torch a bit higher and raising her eyebrows.
Elspeth gives a nod she hears Boar's suggestion. "I'd give quite a bit not to have to hear those awful shrieks all the time. If they burn easily and without all the noise I can help clear a path for us."
She is still keeping an eye on her employer, trying to gauge his reaction.
Boar, you're not able to learn much about Fennet, other than that he's probably a nasty entitled little sod.
You guess the fungus is wet from the rain. When you light a torch, folks nearby back away a little but don't make any move to stop you. When you raise your eyebrows, a few shrug their shoulders and nod, and a few others back away a little further.
Elspeth, you see that Losvius and the other merchants are still talking, and hear that they're not making much progress. The fungus is continuing to grow...
Elspeth stares at the growing fungus, obviously irritated, then steps away from the caravan a bit, raising a hand to cast a flaming sphere, so that it appears directly within a patch of fungus. Prudently, she's going to take a step back as she does to avoid breathing in fungal spores.
She's also getting ready to shove fingers in her ears if this doesn't go well.
Boar lowers the torch close to the fungus, not touching, and trying to see if there is any sort of reaction. She also pulls out a yew leaf from her bag, facing away from the caravan and toward the fungus, muttering under her breath and waving the torch around a bit more, and casts detect poison and disease.