Quote from Grotex >>

Laieivis may roll a Religion check to perform a funeral rite for the deceased.

 OOC (Cough) I think you mean Edeleth. :D

Edeleth starts a bonfire on the edge of the devastated area, on the border between life and death. and speaks an invocation in memory of the murdered villagers of Oakfields, asking the gods to remember them and comfort the survivors. He asks that the souls of the fallen be blessed, including all the plants and creatures whose lives were drained in the cataclysm, and that the gods also treat the killed hyenas and even the gnolls with mercy.

Religion check: 6

When the magical bonfire is gone, Edeleth digs a small hole in the thawed earth beneath where it stood.  Carefully selecting one of the Naranda cuttings from his pouch, he plants it on the spot, speaking the Druidic words that will release the magic High Druid Vithan has placed on the twigs.  The twig takes root and starts to grow, slowly reaching upward as Edeleth asks the tree to remember those who died here, to look after travelers passing this way, and to help bring new life to the destroyed region.

It is not the sort of place or situation he had expected to plant any of his trees in, let alone the first. He had imagined some grand garden, with druids and gardeners to tend it, and scholars coming to visit it in awe and wonder. Here, it might be chewed to the ground by deer, or carelessly cut down by a passing traveler to make an axe handle, or even firewood.  But he feels it is somehow necessary to create at least one new life here to make up for all that was lost.

The sapling grows to about eight feet tall, fully leaved in the winter cold.  By the time the High Druid's protective spell wears off, it will have shed its leaves and gone dormant, to sleep until spring with the rest of the forest. Edeleth feels a terrible temptation to stay here and look after it.

But there are 99 more trees to find homes for, and the wagon is full of other people who need his protection.  Whispering a final wish of good luck to the tree, Edeleth returns to the  wagon.

As Rosri inspects the dagger, he starts to try to puzzle the mystery of this cult together.

• Who is ‘The Red Lord’?
• Is he connected to ‘the Red Dragon Threat’ that Shorgreg mentioned in his letter? 
• Why would they kidnap an entier village? 

He pockets the dagger in his backpack. He needs to ask the others about it later. He then heads back to the wagon, takes out a carrot from his pack on Butterscotch and gives it to her. “Are we ready to leave soon? I’d rather be out of here as soon as possible. This place gives me the creeps.” 

As he is looking back over the dead zone, he can see Edeleth magically growing a tree out of the earth. He smiles as this show that the ground isn’t completely dead and with time it will grow back to how it was. 

OOC: is the dagger better then the ones he has? 

Roscoe nods to Rosri after giving his gear a wipe down to remove the blood left on it from the prior evening. "I agree. I's thirsting to leave this place too."

"I have nothing holding me back to this reminder of my failure. Lead on."

Since everyone seems ready to leave, Edeleth helps the dwarves aboard the wagon, and when everyone is settled, tells the driver he can get moving. He sits on the back of the wagon, gloomily watching the Naranda sapling receding into the distance. Zyman's revelation has reminded him that he barely knows these people.

Zyman appears to have truly horrifying dark powers, and he said he had done this before. On the other hand, Edeleth, and possibly all the others, seem to owe their survival to those powers.  And he makes very good stew.

Edeleth has come to accept Rosri as a well-meaning and timid friend.  The rogue's unexpectedly deadly hand with a crossbow had helped them through two battles, battles that would have been much more difficult without him.  But his whispered comment about 'the Family' proves that he is keeping secrets..if not very well. And the fact that he seems to have no problem keeping treasure that he knows belongs to Gavin Mc Kullick shows that his policy of not stealing from friends has certain loopholes in it.

Grunda's power and ferocity had been devastating against the gnolls, and without her aid, Edeleth is quite certain that at least some of them would have died in combat. But she never speaks an unnecessary word.  He knows nothing about her.

Roscoe is the only one among them who seems open, honest, simple, pure and uncomplicated.  And that might be the deadliest deception of all.

And now their cart is full of strange dwarves.  The odds are that they are perfectly good people, but who knows?

Edeleth drops off the back of the cart.  He has decided to go part of the journey on foot.  Or, in any case, on paw.

 And so, the Party and the Villagers, accompanied by Pebbles, packs up and heads back towards the City of the 3 Peaks.

Edeleth's newborn Naranda Tree now "guards" the entrance to the Shadowland created by the recent events, standing as the only living thing in that area. As you depart, a couple of small flowers and a bit of green moss have already started to sprout at its feet...and next to it, in the distance, the faintly glowing silhouette of a winged hyena appears, and seems to wave goodbye from a distance...

The Journey home is a lot easier now that the blizzard has ceased. Just a slight cold breeze, and the feeling that you are back in the world of the living. The Sun slowly rises above the Nâr Barhâk Mountains, in all of its Glory. Birds start chirping, deers and rabbits randomly hop around the small valley, squirrels come out of the trees to search for acorns.

After a full day of traveling all together (14 people total), the Sun starts to set and casts a dark pink light across the sky. Taren's daughter Arthia shouts "Look! Up on the Mountains!" pointing at the Three Peaks in the horizon. Minuscule dots and shapes can be seen on top, connected by what looks like strings from here...

Taren smiles. "Yes dear, that's the City of the 3 Peaks! That's where we will make a new life for ourselves. A better life!" Arthia's eyes widen. "Wooow! Its even bigger than I thought! Will they have Castles there? And Temples? And shops?And Bards? And Carnivals? And Taverns? And Knights? And Wizards? And other kids? ...

Arthia's mother/Taren's wife interrupts her. "Yes sweetheart, they will have all of that! But I think we need to find a place to camp for the night. Taren, love, I think we're at a safe distance from the City now. And the wee ones are exhausted. So am I, frankly."

Taren halts the Villagers 

"You're right...Everyone, lets set up camp somewhere for the night!"

The Villagers all let out a sigh of release, and start looking for a spot.

Pebbles sniffs around, and his ears pop up..."I hear music in the distance...happy music...I smell roasted boar, potatoes, and wine...I hear voices singing..."

Rosri, the dagger you found is about the same quality as the one you have. Just "scarier"...

As Tarden and the others starting to slow down and looking for a place to camp, Rosri is up ahead of the party scouting. Upon hearing Pebbles telling everyone that there is a camp up ahead he will demount Butterscotch and stealthily sneak ahead to take a look and see if he can determine the threat level.

“I’ll go take a look, the rest of you should wait here until we know if it is safe to approach them.” Rosri is a bit anxious to go alone, but if none goes it will put the villagers in danger. Although that have proven themself ample fighters. With a smile he says “Maybe they will share that wine of theirs.”

 OOC: For now, Rosri will keep the red dagger wraped in his pack. 

Quote from gosset92 >>

As Tarden and the others starting to slow down and looking for a place to camp, Rosri is up ahead of the party scouting. Upon hearing Pebbles telling everyone that there is a camp up ahead he will demount Butterscotch and stealthily sneak ahead to take a look and see if he can determine the threat level.

“I’ll go take a look, the rest of you should wait here until we know if it is safe to approach them.” Rosri is a bit anxious to go alone, but if none goes it will put the villagers in danger. Although that have proven themself ample fighters. With a smile he says “Maybe they will share that wine of theirs.”

Stealth: 14

I'm still confused as to when my passive kicks in.  (21 PASSIVE PERCEPTION)

 

 

Perception: 16

Also I can read lips: Observant

Quick to notice details of your environment, you gain the following benefits:

• Increase your Intelligence or Wisdom score by 1, to a maximum of 20.
• If you can see a creature's mouth while it is speaking a language you understand, you can interpret what it's saying by reading its lips.
• You have a +5 bonus to your passive Wisdom (Perception) and passive Intelligence (Investigation) scores.

 OOC: For now, Rosri will keep the red dagger wraped in his pack. 

   

Without having to roll, Rosri can hear music a few hundred yards away from the road. Some oddly familiar Gypsie music....

As Rosri gets closer, he sees a caravan of Halfling Gypsies, playing music, dancing, and feasting in a small clearing. They are clearly members of The Family...

When Rosri creeps closer, he sees a circle of wagons surrounding the camp. They're full of colorful tarps typical for 'the Family'. Around the fire he sees a dozen of halflings dancing and singing, cooking and eating. After studying the camp for a few minutes he decides to walk up to them and see if he can pursuade them to let him and his friends join in the festivitets. 

As Rosri come out of the shadows of the forest with his hand held high the guarding halfling raises his bow towards him. "Who goes there?" He asks Rosri. 

In cant: "Hi there friend. I come in piece." As he has only done this once when he left home Rosri is a little nervous.

He remembers that Master Loker told him that, to prove you are one of them, you need to go through a ritual of sorts. It stats with you greeting them and tell them you come in piece. Then you need to offer them a gift. What the gift is doesn't matter. Once you have presented your gift, they will offer a gift in return. Once the gifts has been exchanged you need to give thanks by giving the gifter a kiss on each cheek and the gifter will do the same. Once that is done you will be welcome by their fire. 

In cant: "My name is Rosri Fastfoot. I come in hope of joining you by the fire. Me and my party has had a rough time lately, have you heard what has happend at Oakfields? If not then I would like to gift your group a tragic story about a land that disappeared. If you have heard of it I will find you an other gift." Rosris heart is pounding. One wrong word and he will have an arrow in his guts. 

Answer in cant: "Oy, you speek our words do ya? Well no I haven't heard about it. Florence Freewater is the name by the way" He looks suspiciously at Rosri. "Well if you have a gift for me then it be rude not to gift ya back woudn't it? Well then I will give you a clap on the back and call you me friend, how about that?" 

Florence lowers his bow and walks over to Rosri, still a hand on his dagger. He stops a few inches from Rosris face and looks at him. 

Rosri leans in and gives him a kiss on both cheeks and Florence does likewise, then he grins and clap Rosri on the back. 

"Welcome to the Family my friend! Always good to meet one of our own. Go and get your friends, tonight you feast with us!"   

Suddenly Rosri realize that it the music and singing has stopped and everyone had turned toward him and the guard, every one with a hand on their daggers or bows. But upon seeing Florance claping Rosri on the back they broke out in a loude cheer and the festivitets resumed.

Going back to the others Rosri can feel his heart beating three times it usual pace and the sweat gushes from his pits and forhead despite the cold. Ipon reaching the wagon he calls out to everyone that he has found a place to stay, and there is warm food and drink for everyone. He keeps quiet of the fact that it is the Family though. 

Roscoe smiles at his companions ability to find food and fire. "Well done. Yous done good," he says as he gives Rosri a hug. Roscoe begins to move with the others to the camp, hoping to find a nice place to lay out his bedroll when the time for sleep comes. For now though, Roscoe is looking to partake in the festivities and see how different they are from his own.

He's excited to see that the group is made up of halflings reminds him of home. The thought that this might be a group of travelling halflings like he'd known The Family to be didn't cross his mind. He partook in the drink and dance being offered and even did a bit of his own tribal dancing he'd learned. He wasn't great at it, but it was more about the meaning than the beauty. 

A day of running beside the wagon in wolf shape has cleared Edeleth's head of his suspicions a bit. He is delighted to discover that his transformations now last much longer.

A band of halflings...gyspy music...caravans....hmmmm... 

Edeleth vaguely wonders if this might be Rosri's 'Family,' but they seem so friendly and welcoming. And he's heard no music but Dwarf tavern songs since  he got to Talaveroth.  He joins in the dancing for a little while then, sits and watches his companions enjoying themselves. Roscoe seems completely happy in the moment, as usual.  Rosri seems as happy as Edeleth has ever seen him. Possibly because he has lured a large number of targets in to be murdered and robbed by his allies.

Shut up, Edeleth tells his brain as he accepts a plate of roasted boar and potatoes from one of the halflings. Whenever caravans of the Family had drifted into Lomalos, his father and uncles had called them worthless, thieving, shiftless rascals and had planned to run them off if they ever camped on Aldalire lands. ( The halflings had the sense to camp instead on the lands of the Naica family, whom the Aldalires also called worthless, thieving, shiftless rascals.) But Edeleth has been making a career of rejecting his family's principles, and refuses to be a slave to their teachings.

All the same, he is carrying 100 gold pieces that don't belong to him and which he can't afford to replace.  He keeps carefully aware of his surroundings.  And when it's time for sleep, he will look for a tall tree with broad boughs to rest in.

After a few hours of feasting and dancing he sees Edeleth alone on a log watching/guarding against thieving hands. He walks up beside Edeleth and sit down.

“You don’t trust them, do you? Or me?” He looks him in the eyes. There is less then a few places Rosri feel completely safe, unafraid. And among the Family is one of those places. “Well I understand why. the Family doesn’t have a good reputation.”

Earlier that evening he talked with Florence and asked if it was ok if he talked about them to his friends. 

“You do know that their reputation comes from the high society right? From the rich and noble people. They see them as trash just because they have a different way of living. I thought like that as well, until Master Loker thought me differently.” He takes a pause before continue. “They are like pilgrims, walking from one place to an other, trading and performs. Spreading love. The nobles think this way because they don’t live their life controlled by money or belongings, but by love for one an other and travel. And this makes it impossible for the nobles to control them. And because of there secret lifestyle there’re not many who know this and thous think of them as thieves. I hope that you will talk to some of them tonight and maybe, with time, you will change your way of thinking as well. 

Edeleth is shocked that he has apparently been so obvious.  One thing he HAD thought he had learned from his childhood was never to show your real emotions.

"I'm sorry," he says. "I will try to do as you ask.  But don't take it personally, I suppose I don't really trust anybody.  When you grow up in the middle of court politics, where everybody has a secret agenda, and every action has hidden motives, well..." He shrugs and stops speaking.  He has already given the halfling information he doesn't need to know, and he can almost hear his Uncle Gaercraban screaming about his lack of caution in the back of his mind.

“I know exactly where you are coming from..” Rosri answers cryptically. He knew that it wouldn’t harm to talk about his fathers business to Edeleth, he trusted him. But Loker had taught him that is was better for a rogue to keep a few secrets. 

Instead he opened his backpack and took out the dagger. A large red dagger with draconic inscriptions. “What do you make of this? I found it in the snow up by the cave. I meant to show it to you earlier but That place gave me goosebumps..” and he proceeds to tell Edeleth about his thoughts connecting Shorgregs letter and the red lord and this dagger.

”It isn’t a coincidence is it?” He finishes 

Roscoe chuckles as he dances along. He really did feel like he was back at home. Though the customs here were a bit different than his tribe, it was nice to be among halflings again. During his time here, he wanted to focus on the present. The obligations of his pilgrimage he'd been sent out on from his own tribe seemed to melt away for the time being. It was nice to be able to relax and not worry about wild hyenas attacking him. When he found his cup empty, he decided it was time for a bit more food and a bit more to drink.

Roscoe, following the aroma of smoked meats,  finds his way over to where some food is being prepared. He smiles and says, "Quite the feast yous got here. Are yous celebrating sumthing?"

Edeleth examines the dagger.  "I'm afraid I can't read this script," he says.

He tries to infer something from the dagger's style.

Grunda seems to relax for the first time, oddly, the warm comforts remind her of her own tribe, despite the size difference.

She finds the caravan's smith, and starts to ask about buying something and he tells her, "Tonight is for music and companionship, see me in the morning and we can do business."
She continues talking to him for a bit about how she is trying to learn smithing, and they have a pleasant conversation.

The conversation is interrupted my a child fascinated by how tall Grunda is, and before too long, Grunda is giving multiple children rides on her shoulder and back, while surrounded by a small pack of kids shouting "Me next! Me next!"

Rosri approaches the Caravan. At first, the Gypsies seem highly suspicious of the group of 14 individuals coming out of nowhere, and a few daggers and crossbows even get pulled out... but they quickly open up to the Halfling rogue, as he starts speaking their language, a confusing mix of almost every language in the Continent. And as soon as they see the beaten up peasants and Children, they grow even more accepting. 

"Ye look like ye've been through Hell, brother...why don't ye and yer friends hang out with us for a bit? Where you goin', anyway? We just got back from the Bolgen Hills, headin' to the 3 Peaks. Big Carnival happenin' right now!"

The Halflings resume their merrymaking, and gladly welcome the Pcs. All of them are dressed in a ragged but colorful fashion, similar to their tents, and wear their hair long and braded.

A group of them is playing cards by the tents, while the rest are dancing and laughing wildly around the fire.

The Children are all obsessed with Grunda and Pebbles, and cannot seem to leave them alone for one second...

Near the biggest tent in the Caravan, an old Gypsie Halfling lady with a glass eye sits at a wooden table, with Tarot cards and a Crystal ball, staring intensely at the Party...