This post has potentially manipulated dice roll results.
Chrys shoulders her pack, and spends her time keeping a sharp eye out on both the surroundings, and Krackle's behavior. She's especially alert about anything that might approach her packk feeling a deep disgust and mistrust of the contents Vesper placed there. Carryin' this thing around's a necessary evil,she thinks sullenly, but the weight on her mind is far more on her mind than the actual items she hauls around with her.
Perception: surroundings, and if any sticky hands travel towards her pack ;-) :4
While traveling, Vesper will use her Mage Hand to hold her pack 10 feet off and in front of her, just to keep it out of Krackles reach. Then she sends him a message. I know you still want the mask. Your asking to see the pieces at Melton gave it away.
This post has potentially manipulated dice roll results.
Krackle would walk along with the group, wondering why everyone seemed so nervous as he bounced alongside his companions. As the kobold hears Vespers message he would look around as though he were confused and stop his bouncing. "I just wanted to see the pieces. It was a neat looking mask" He would reply out loud in response to the whisper in his ear before continuing to bounce around. "If the mask had made you do bad things, wouldnt you want make sure it was broken too? He would ask before moving into the tall grass nearby and crouching down as though looking for something.
for dm
Krackle is going to find a rat or squirrel or something... while hidden if possible.
stealth 17
perception 4
nature 3
if I am able to hide in the tall grass and find a critter, Krackle would cast speak with animals and try to convince it to help him get a piece of the mask
if he fails to hide and they see him, he would try to convince it to sit on his shoulder while they walked so that he could ask it cor help later....
Vesper sends another message to the Kobold in response. It's caused enough trouble for you, and all of us already. You don't need to see the pieces. The mask isn't going to repair itself, so unless someone puts it back together, it's going to stay broken.
You continue to plod along through the mid summer heat of the afternoon, with the sun fully in your faces, passing the time by visiting with each other, pondering your own dark concerns, watching the occasionally bird of prey soar overhead and keeping an eye on Krackle. He frolicks along, doing his best to keep his own sensitive eyes shielded from the direct sun, rarely walking in a straight line right into its bold, bright rays.
At one point, he dips into the tall grass at the side of the path and scurries around for a couple of minutes before emerging with a small traveling companion, a cute little red squirrel that’s perched on his shoulder.
(Ok... I read your OOC, messages, so I’ll try to move on a little bit.)
Throughout the next few hours, you keep heading west and following the sun and doing your best to keep a close eye on the little kobold. He walks with the little red squirrel in his shoulder for awhile, which would seem to be an innocent act, until, more than once, he wanders close to Chrys and Lumen and lets the squirrel climb from his shoulder into your rucksacks.
The squirrel then attempts to dig into your pack, as they often do when you leave packs unattended on the trail and return to fund them burrowing inside and scrounging for food, often after they’ve chewed a hole in the side.
Only, this little squirrel, being prodded on by Krackle, as you quickly realize, isn’t being told to look for food. However, squirrels being squirrels, with their simple minds, have no idea what a mask is, and he ends up rummaging for whatever food you have in there anyway, until you catch him and realize what’s going on.
Eventually, Krackle’s spell ends, and the squirrel jumps off and scampers away.
This kind of “toddler vigilance” continues, until the sun finally kisses the horizon, and the day comes to an end. Looking around, the options for camping seem plentiful... pretty much anywhere off the road, you’d be able to find a flat area where you can stamp down the grass and camp for the night.
“We need four watches, each watch a mother hen sitting on her eggs to make sure that no more squirrelfoxes try to make off with them. Krackle, you have the night off. It would be most helpful if you got a full night’s sleep. No need for anything else. We will get you fixed. Until then: cut it out.”
He relies on Kess to pick a campsite, volunteers for first watch. During dinner prep, he will pass the following to Chrys, Kess, and Vesper only:
“So this is fun. He’s still caught. It’s not over. Need to watch for outside threats and an unstable shapeshifting kobold. I’m getting tired of the act but I don’t want to get eaten by whatever he turns into next. Talk to me, well, even three weeks ago and I’d have said we are leaving him behind in the night and he can fend for himself without the mask. I don’t think that would fly here so we can try the helping option. How about we make it seem as though whoever is keeping watch is sitting on a pack containing the mask pieces. But we actually hide them up in a tree nook or under a rock somewhere around here or both - Kess maybe you can find a good spot without notice. Then even if he manages to get where he thinks they are, they aren’t there. Is there a better option? Agh. Do we really think Dundragon will be able to fix this? Yartar can’t come soon enough but boy he is going to be a handful in a city, shapeshifting in a crowd if the mask takes hold again. I’m sorry. You don’t deserve my complaining, it’s just, I thought we were through this and here we are again.”
He sets up a little ways away from the campsite, sitting on a pile of rocks and a pack, watching the road, the trees, and the campsite.
Vesper notices the kobold placing the squirrel in Chrys and Lumens packs and pulls it out before it eats all their food. It doesn't take any effort for her to figure out that this was another scheme from Krackle to get the mask. She turns to the Kobold, not trying to sugarcoat it for him. "You're not being a nice Kobold, or a helper. Nice kobolds don't put squirrels in their friends bags in an attempt to steal a mask that we've repeatedly told you you can't have. This right here is why you can't see the mask. It's corrupted you. You're addicted to it.
Chrys, after telling Kess to watch Krackle closely, speaks to Lumen and Vesper privately.
"So," she says wearily. "Krackle ain't gettin' better. I don't have much in tha way of suggestions, 'cept that I think it's a terrible idea to take 'im like this into a city. He might turn into a bear again, an' attack the civilians in Yartar."
She rubs her chin, thinking. "Now… I don't know too much 'bout how that animal stuff works, but in my experience, any bit o' channelin' the arcane always takes it right outta the host. It's as true for me as a vessel of the Duin as it is for a sorcerer channelin' the wild magics runnin' through 'em. I gotta believe it's true for Krackle as well. I know this ain't nice, but... well, I didn't have a reputation for bein' nice as a guard, just effective. I say we force him to shift into a beast as many times as he can handle, then we knock him out an' bring him in to Dundragon, an' maybe a temple next. He won't like it, an' even if he gets cured, he may not trust us again. Or, well, me, if ya want me to do this alone. But I can't chose savin' a friend over savin' a town when both are at risk. He's got to be unconscious, lest his greed extend to more than just gettin' them mask fragments back."
Agreeing with Lumen, she says "O' course I don't want ta test his strength by provokin' him with a battle, but if we can talk him into showin' off his new powers 'til he's exhausted, that would go a long way to help with things."
"... an' it goes without sayin', I'd expect the same sort o' treatment for anyone who feel under the influence o' that evil mask. Even myself. If I ever go down... get my weapons away from me first, that's the key. If we're friends, I expect you all to do whatever it takes so none o' us end up like Frida. I don't want somethin' like Harriet an' her friends on my soul, and I don't think Krackle or any o' you would, either."
That's a very harsh solution that you're proposing, but if we're going down that road, I think that we could get him to expend his animal powers so that we could knock him out. Hopefully when this is over he'll understand that we didn't do this because we wanted to hurt or scare him.
Krackle would look to Kess as she acuses him of using the squirrel to steal the mask. "maybe he was looking for food..I dont know why he didnt just ask..." The kobold would reply as he pulls out a bit of stinky food from his pocket and pushes it towards the squirrel before it jumps away. The kobold would continue to follow his companions as they travel, walking a but slower than normal as the bounce in his step disappears and he hangs his head as he walks. his normally wiggly tail dragging along behind him. When they setup camp, he would eat most of the leftovers in his pockets and begin digging a small hole to sleep in for the night. "Look! It is like a little dragons lair" He would say excitedly as he points to the small den he has created. In the middle of the den is his pack and his few other belongings which he lays on top of. "Do you need me to help make you guys a dirt house too before bed? He would ask from on top of his treasure.
"Nah, we're good." Vesper would be grossed out as Krackle eats the leftovers that he'd been carrying his pockets for the better part of a day. This is probably heartless, but if he gets sick from this, maybe he won't have it in him to try and steal the mask.
She'll volunteer for first watch.
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Xenophon: Topaz Dragonborn Fighter (ixi's Dragon of Icespire Peak)
As Krackle munches on stale food from his pocket and curls up on top of his makeshift loot pile in his little "dragon's lair," the rest of you converse and make nervous preparations and considerations for how to carry forward during the next few days and beyond. After a short, unceremonious dinner under the stars, Vesper agrees to take the first watch while the rest of you settle down for a night's rest, however, peaceful that may end up being.
She sits under the wide open sky, listening to the wind blow small breezes through the tall grass all around you. Aside from the faint rustling of grass, though, she hears nothing that would cause any alarm, and her keen eyes spot no danger during her shift.
Whoever takes the next two shifts can make perception checks.
Chrys
Although the day wasn't particularly difficult, it was quite stressful nonetheless, and you find that it was still rather stressful, and the whole episode of Krackle and the mask is certainly weighing on heavily on your mind. Despite the stress, sleep hits you quickly, and you fall into a heavy, but fitful rest and dream the following...
Despite the trouble that you've all been having, you're all able to make it through the night and wake up the next morning to sunshine and minimal tension. The next day's journey goes quickly and uneventfully, and in fact, so does the next one. Even Krackle seems to fall into line and his shenanigans appear to lesson during the rest of the journey back to Yatar. In fact, the closer you get, the more well behaved he seems to be getting, and his regular helpful demeanor actually returns in what appears to be a genuine way.
Eventually, you finish the final few miles into Yartar, and you walk through the gates of the town... and are suddenly horrified a the sight. As you enter, you see that everyone in sight is wearing a grotesque black mask and they're all staring right at you. You can feel the malice and strange ambience that you've felt when you were inside the temple, but magnified by a thousand.
Slowly, you turn around and you see Krackle standing there behind you, with the mask on his face and the sharp dirk in his hand...
Then you wake up with a shake and a shiver and find yourselves lying under the stars, with your companions sleeping beside you. Even Krackle is sleeping deeply on top of his little "lair pile." As you look over at Vesper, she's still sitting up, and by the position of the moon, you can tell that about four hours have passed since she started her watch and you went to sleep.
This post has potentially manipulated dice roll results.
Chrys gets up and taps Vesper on the shoulder. "Can't sleep. Nightmares,"she grumbles. "Probably plaguin' any o' us carryin' a piece o' this evil with us. Guard yer dreams well… I'll take it from here."
As she sets up for the watch, Chrys looks up at the moon ruefully. Pulling out her hammer, she plants the hilt in the ground next to her and falls to one knee, head bowed in prayer.
"I don't usually do this," she says quietly. "I dedicated my life to the Duin, an' I ain't no religious expert or nothin', but even I know what the moon represents. An' I know you're ever in the good fight with yer evil sister. Well, we got mixed up in cleanin' up after the messes she left, an' we're tryin' to make it right. But we could use a lil' o' yer support down here. Our friend Krackle's in a bad way, an' I got a feelin' in my gut that yer the one who knows the way outta this pickle. So I'm askin' ya, Moonmaiden Selûne, to watch over all o' us by yer light as we sleep. 'Specially the little one. Show some o' that mercy that yer so famous for, an' give us the strength to ward off yer sister's evil ways, 'cause this isn't just our battle right now. It's also yer battle right up close an' personal here."
Clasping her hands in prayer, she finishes her supplication.
"Though there are birds that sing this night, white beams 'cross their throats, Let my deep silence speak fer me more than their sweetest notes: My worship for ya 'till music fails, is greater than yer nightingales."
She remains silent for a few moments, head bowed, before standing up stiffly, and walking over to check on Krackle. When she's sure he's safe, she sets herself up against the rock, hammer propped on one shoulder, and takes her watch.
As Vesper marches along, she remembers how this group really needs to get horses or something of the sort.
Xenophon: Topaz Dragonborn Fighter (ixi's Dragon of Icespire Peak)
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Lumen keeps an eye on his pack, making small talk about their previous interactions on the road, and keeping a close eye into the trees.
Perception: 21
Chrys shoulders her pack, and spends her time keeping a sharp eye out on both the surroundings, and Krackle's behavior. She's especially alert about anything that might approach her packk feeling a deep disgust and mistrust of the contents Vesper placed there. Carryin' this thing around's a necessary evil, she thinks sullenly, but the weight on her mind is far more on her mind than the actual items she hauls around with her.
Perception: surroundings, and if any sticky hands travel towards her pack ;-) :4
edit: hey dice roller hey hey
While traveling, Vesper will use her Mage Hand to hold her pack 10 feet off and in front of her, just to keep it out of Krackles reach. Then she sends him a message. I know you still want the mask. Your asking to see the pieces at Melton gave it away.
Xenophon: Topaz Dragonborn Fighter (ixi's Dragon of Icespire Peak)
More
Krackle would walk along with the group, wondering why everyone seemed so nervous as he bounced alongside his companions. As the kobold hears Vespers message he would look around as though he were confused and stop his bouncing. "I just wanted to see the pieces. It was a neat looking mask" He would reply out loud in response to the whisper in his ear before continuing to bounce around. "If the mask had made you do bad things, wouldnt you want make sure it was broken too? He would ask before moving into the tall grass nearby and crouching down as though looking for something.
for dm
Krackle is going to find a rat or squirrel or something... while hidden if possible.
stealth 17
perception 4
nature 3
if I am able to hide in the tall grass and find a critter, Krackle would cast speak with animals and try to convince it to help him get a piece of the mask
if he fails to hide and they see him, he would try to convince it to sit on his shoulder while they walked so that he could ask it cor help later....
“See something, Krackle?” Lumen stops and scans the grass.
Vesper sends another message to the Kobold in response. It's caused enough trouble for you, and all of us already. You don't need to see the pieces. The mask isn't going to repair itself, so unless someone puts it back together, it's going to stay broken.
Xenophon: Topaz Dragonborn Fighter (ixi's Dragon of Icespire Peak)
More
You continue to plod along through the mid summer heat of the afternoon, with the sun fully in your faces, passing the time by visiting with each other, pondering your own dark concerns, watching the occasionally bird of prey soar overhead and keeping an eye on Krackle. He frolicks along, doing his best to keep his own sensitive eyes shielded from the direct sun, rarely walking in a straight line right into its bold, bright rays.
At one point, he dips into the tall grass at the side of the path and scurries around for a couple of minutes before emerging with a small traveling companion, a cute little red squirrel that’s perched on his shoulder.
(Ok... I read your OOC, messages, so I’ll try to move on a little bit.)
Throughout the next few hours, you keep heading west and following the sun and doing your best to keep a close eye on the little kobold. He walks with the little red squirrel in his shoulder for awhile, which would seem to be an innocent act, until, more than once, he wanders close to Chrys and Lumen and lets the squirrel climb from his shoulder into your rucksacks.
The squirrel then attempts to dig into your pack, as they often do when you leave packs unattended on the trail and return to fund them burrowing inside and scrounging for food, often after they’ve chewed a hole in the side.
Only, this little squirrel, being prodded on by Krackle, as you quickly realize, isn’t being told to look for food. However, squirrels being squirrels, with their simple minds, have no idea what a mask is, and he ends up rummaging for whatever food you have in there anyway, until you catch him and realize what’s going on.
Eventually, Krackle’s spell ends, and the squirrel jumps off and scampers away.
This kind of “toddler vigilance” continues, until the sun finally kisses the horizon, and the day comes to an end. Looking around, the options for camping seem plentiful... pretty much anywhere off the road, you’d be able to find a flat area where you can stamp down the grass and camp for the night.
“We need four watches, each watch a mother hen sitting on her eggs to make sure that no more squirrelfoxes try to make off with them. Krackle, you have the night off. It would be most helpful if you got a full night’s sleep. No need for anything else. We will get you fixed. Until then: cut it out.”
He relies on Kess to pick a campsite, volunteers for first watch. During dinner prep, he will pass the following to Chrys, Kess, and Vesper only:
“So this is fun. He’s still caught. It’s not over. Need to watch for outside threats and an unstable shapeshifting kobold. I’m getting tired of the act but I don’t want to get eaten by whatever he turns into next. Talk to me, well, even three weeks ago and I’d have said we are leaving him behind in the night and he can fend for himself without the mask. I don’t think that would fly here so we can try the helping option. How about we make it seem as though whoever is keeping watch is sitting on a pack containing the mask pieces. But we actually hide them up in a tree nook or under a rock somewhere around here or both - Kess maybe you can find a good spot without notice. Then even if he manages to get where he thinks they are, they aren’t there. Is there a better option? Agh. Do we really think Dundragon will be able to fix this? Yartar can’t come soon enough but boy he is going to be a handful in a city, shapeshifting in a crowd if the mask takes hold again. I’m sorry. You don’t deserve my complaining, it’s just, I thought we were through this and here we are again.”
He sets up a little ways away from the campsite, sitting on a pile of rocks and a pack, watching the road, the trees, and the campsite.
Vesper notices the kobold placing the squirrel in Chrys and Lumens packs and pulls it out before it eats all their food. It doesn't take any effort for her to figure out that this was another scheme from Krackle to get the mask. She turns to the Kobold, not trying to sugarcoat it for him. "You're not being a nice Kobold, or a helper. Nice kobolds don't put squirrels in their friends bags in an attempt to steal a mask that we've repeatedly told you you can't have. This right here is why you can't see the mask. It's corrupted you. You're addicted to it.
At dinner, Vesper will send a Message to Lumen.
We might have to knock him out and tie him up again, honestly. He's getting more brazen in his attempts.
Xenophon: Topaz Dragonborn Fighter (ixi's Dragon of Icespire Peak)
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Lumen responds to the message:
May come to that. But he could wake up as a mouse, then bear, then yikes. Let's try this, knockout's a backup. Keep messaging tonight.
Vesper sends another message.
Obviously it's not one of my top options. This is only if he gets more brazen in his attempts to get the mask.
Xenophon: Topaz Dragonborn Fighter (ixi's Dragon of Icespire Peak)
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Chrys, after telling Kess to watch Krackle closely, speaks to Lumen and Vesper privately.
"So," she says wearily. "Krackle ain't gettin' better. I don't have much in tha way of suggestions, 'cept that I think it's a terrible idea to take 'im like this into a city. He might turn into a bear again, an' attack the civilians in Yartar."
She rubs her chin, thinking. "Now… I don't know too much 'bout how that animal stuff works, but in my experience, any bit o' channelin' the arcane always takes it right outta the host. It's as true for me as a vessel of the Duin as it is for a sorcerer channelin' the wild magics runnin' through 'em. I gotta believe it's true for Krackle as well. I know this ain't nice, but... well, I didn't have a reputation for bein' nice as a guard, just effective. I say we force him to shift into a beast as many times as he can handle, then we knock him out an' bring him in to Dundragon, an' maybe a temple next. He won't like it, an' even if he gets cured, he may not trust us again. Or, well, me, if ya want me to do this alone. But I can't chose savin' a friend over savin' a town when both are at risk. He's got to be unconscious, lest his greed extend to more than just gettin' them mask fragments back."
Agreeing with Lumen, she says "O' course I don't want ta test his strength by provokin' him with a battle, but if we can talk him into showin' off his new powers 'til he's exhausted, that would go a long way to help with things."
"... an' it goes without sayin', I'd expect the same sort o' treatment for anyone who feel under the influence o' that evil mask. Even myself. If I ever go down... get my weapons away from me first, that's the key. If we're friends, I expect you all to do whatever it takes so none o' us end up like Frida. I don't want somethin' like Harriet an' her friends on my soul, and I don't think Krackle or any o' you would, either."
She leans back and waits for the others to reply.
Vesper replies to Chrys with a message.
That's a very harsh solution that you're proposing, but if we're going down that road, I think that we could get him to expend his animal powers so that we could knock him out. Hopefully when this is over he'll understand that we didn't do this because we wanted to hurt or scare him.
Xenophon: Topaz Dragonborn Fighter (ixi's Dragon of Icespire Peak)
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Krackle would look to Kess as she acuses him of using the squirrel to steal the mask. "maybe he was looking for food..I dont know why he didnt just ask..." The kobold would reply as he pulls out a bit of stinky food from his pocket and pushes it towards the squirrel before it jumps away. The kobold would continue to follow his companions as they travel, walking a but slower than normal as the bounce in his step disappears and he hangs his head as he walks. his normally wiggly tail dragging along behind him. When they setup camp, he would eat most of the leftovers in his pockets and begin digging a small hole to sleep in for the night. "Look! It is like a little dragons lair" He would say excitedly as he points to the small den he has created. In the middle of the den is his pack and his few other belongings which he lays on top of. "Do you need me to help make you guys a dirt house too before bed? He would ask from on top of his treasure.
"Nah, we're good." Vesper would be grossed out as Krackle eats the leftovers that he'd been carrying his pockets for the better part of a day. This is probably heartless, but if he gets sick from this, maybe he won't have it in him to try and steal the mask.
She'll volunteer for first watch.
Xenophon: Topaz Dragonborn Fighter (ixi's Dragon of Icespire Peak)
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As Krackle munches on stale food from his pocket and curls up on top of his makeshift loot pile in his little "dragon's lair," the rest of you converse and make nervous preparations and considerations for how to carry forward during the next few days and beyond. After a short, unceremonious dinner under the stars, Vesper agrees to take the first watch while the rest of you settle down for a night's rest, however, peaceful that may end up being.
She sits under the wide open sky, listening to the wind blow small breezes through the tall grass all around you. Aside from the faint rustling of grass, though, she hears nothing that would cause any alarm, and her keen eyes spot no danger during her shift.
Whoever takes the next two shifts can make perception checks.
Chrys
Although the day wasn't particularly difficult, it was quite stressful nonetheless, and you find that it was still rather stressful, and the whole episode of Krackle and the mask is certainly weighing on heavily on your mind. Despite the stress, sleep hits you quickly, and you fall into a heavy, but fitful rest and dream the following...
Despite the trouble that you've all been having, you're all able to make it through the night and wake up the next morning to sunshine and minimal tension. The next day's journey goes quickly and uneventfully, and in fact, so does the next one. Even Krackle seems to fall into line and his shenanigans appear to lesson during the rest of the journey back to Yatar. In fact, the closer you get, the more well behaved he seems to be getting, and his regular helpful demeanor actually returns in what appears to be a genuine way.
Eventually, you finish the final few miles into Yartar, and you walk through the gates of the town... and are suddenly horrified a the sight. As you enter, you see that everyone in sight is wearing a grotesque black mask and they're all staring right at you. You can feel the malice and strange ambience that you've felt when you were inside the temple, but magnified by a thousand.
Slowly, you turn around and you see Krackle standing there behind you, with the mask on his face and the sharp dirk in his hand...
Then you wake up with a shake and a shiver and find yourselves lying under the stars, with your companions sleeping beside you. Even Krackle is sleeping deeply on top of his little "lair pile." As you look over at Vesper, she's still sitting up, and by the position of the moon, you can tell that about four hours have passed since she started her watch and you went to sleep.
Chrys gets up and taps Vesper on the shoulder. "Can't sleep. Nightmares," she grumbles. "Probably plaguin' any o' us carryin' a piece o' this evil with us. Guard yer dreams well… I'll take it from here."
As she sets up for the watch, Chrys looks up at the moon ruefully. Pulling out her hammer, she plants the hilt in the ground next to her and falls to one knee, head bowed in prayer.
"I don't usually do this," she says quietly. "I dedicated my life to the Duin, an' I ain't no religious expert or nothin', but even I know what the moon represents. An' I know you're ever in the good fight with yer evil sister. Well, we got mixed up in cleanin' up after the messes she left, an' we're tryin' to make it right. But we could use a lil' o' yer support down here. Our friend Krackle's in a bad way, an' I got a feelin' in my gut that yer the one who knows the way outta this pickle. So I'm askin' ya, Moonmaiden Selûne, to watch over all o' us by yer light as we sleep. 'Specially the little one. Show some o' that mercy that yer so famous for, an' give us the strength to ward off yer sister's evil ways, 'cause this isn't just our battle right now. It's also yer battle right up close an' personal here."
Clasping her hands in prayer, she finishes her supplication.
"Though there are birds that sing this night, white beams 'cross their throats,
Let my deep silence speak fer me more than their sweetest notes:
My worship for ya 'till music fails, is greater than yer nightingales."
She remains silent for a few moments, head bowed, before standing up stiffly, and walking over to check on Krackle. When she's sure he's safe, she sets herself up against the rock, hammer propped on one shoulder, and takes her watch.
Perception: 4
** sort of William Henry Davies but not really
Before Vesper heads to sleep, she joins Chrys in prayer and asks her to cast the Protection against Evil spell that she talked about on her.
Xenophon: Topaz Dragonborn Fighter (ixi's Dragon of Icespire Peak)
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