“I’m sorry for losing my cool back there, everyone,” Kess would say once they were all out from Braida’s wretched hole. “I... she got into my head. I felt so violated. Kessdarra, by the way... Kessdarra Lorrath. I am sorry if I seemed overtly cautious or callous back there, it’s just... well, not every day that one sees a drow wandering the surface.”
While Kess had explicitly noted the newcomer’s heritage, it wasn’t stated with apparent contempt; more than anything, Kess seemed both curious and puzzled.
Before leaving the witch's home, he asks her, "when did you first notice the poison, the slime, the infestation arrive at the lake, and from what direction? How does it spread? I understand you said Grumbar and his stone, but from here, how did you experience the infestation? How fast, was it overnight, did the spiders and ettercaps and other creatures come first, or after?"
Then, outside, he introduces himself to Nym (whose name he doesn't know, I don't think yet?)
"I am Lumen Vork, dour troubadour, musical experimenter, and warrior born in the mountains. If you have a better idea for the name of this group of ours, I'd welcome it,"Lumen says, with a half grin at Chrys. Lumen's a tall half-orc with blue-green skin, a mop of once-well-styled-but-now-covered-in-grit-and-slime black hair, carrying a scary-looking longsword and a somehow scarier-looking massive lute. He is baritone voice is easy to listen to.
He explains how they came to help a dryad friend of a friend of theirs back in Yartar, who had been trapped by ettercaps, spiders, and slime. They followed the source of the infestation to more ettercaps, and this lake, and Gusof, who seems to perhaps be Haddie, and evidently a good liar, and then Braida. "How did you come to be traveling here? You are looking into the poison, for a friend. Who's the friend, and what did they know about it? And you asked about Shar earlier. We had a run-in with some of her cultist followers who were harassing a village. We defeated them, and have been trying to safely dispose of a mask that we broke into pieces. You should know that there are more of her followers who have been looking for the mask, and on our way into the forest, we killed one of them who attacked us, while the last one, the sneaky one, got away. He might still be out there hunting us."
He looks around for any possible place of refuge, still waiting for Braida to bring whatever she's bringing to the group so they can get away. He looks once again to see if the slime and rot and infestation is worse around the lake. He's very curious about how it spreads, and if it's feasible that its source is an orc tribe two days' travel away.
The witch answers Lumen's final inquiries with somewhat ambiguous answers. As she had previously indicated, she considers the slime to be part of the natural environment of this area. It's always been here. Regarding the spiders and ettercaps, she tells you that those creatures always exist in the forest, but more have appeared recently. It's tough to get a feel for what that means, since, by her words, she's lived here for centuries. If you've lived that long, what would be considered "recent?" Regarding the direction, again, she's vague, saying that spiders go everywhere.
You all wait outside in the cool, damp air for about 45 minutes before Braida finally returns, this time in the form you saw her earlier, as a very old and unsightly woman, quite unpleasant to look at, but not nearly as horrifying as she was in her true form. She hands Chrys a small vial full of dark grayish blue liquid. The vial itself looks very old, and the outside is covered with dust and a few crusted on smudges that look like they've been there for a very long time.
If Kess had accepted her offer for a "goof faith gift," she would move slowly over to the elf, reach out with one of her withered, bony hands and briefly lay her palm on Kess's shoulder, before backing away, turning around and quickly departing to climb back into the tree and disappear. Kess feels no specific effects of the touch, although it's definitely creepy to actually be so close her, feel the brush of her long claws against her clothing and smell the foul, almost rotten odor of her breath.
All this time, Krackle watches warily from a "safe" vantage point, having moved over to hide behind Lumen. When the witch is gone, he pokes his head out and asks Chrys, "What did she give you?"
Before Braida emerged again from the base of the tree, Krackle had nodded with a happy, but slightly nervous greeting towards Nym, while still remaining close to Chrys. "Hi! I'm Krackle! I'm a kobold and a good helper! You look like an adventurer too! Did that bad witch lady hurt you?" he adds, with a concerned tone.
When he hears the groans from the other party members, he says, "I think the Pie Pals is a great name! It reminds me of the time we all met during Shieldmeet, when me and Vesper won our contests! And besides, everyone likes pie, right?" To Nym, his vocal styling sounds very much like that of a child.
This post has potentially manipulated dice roll results.
As the group exited the cypress tree covered cave entrance, Nym squints, her eyes taking time to adjust even the cloudy overcast afternoon light of the forest. The thick fog around the lake heavier than what she was used to underground, though the cool damp feeling was familiar. It wasn't but a moment after the five of them emerge that a sixth scaled figure scampers up to them, seeming to have popped up out of the ground itself. A kobold. Wearing...children's clothing? He asks a lot of questions in quick succession and the drow wasn't sure if he was asking her or his companions so stays silent, letting them reply.
She didn't know much about kobolds, but this one seemed inherently young to the elf, her gaze lingering on the caring gesture of the dwarven woman patting him on the head. Belatedly realizing that the dwarf, Chrysoberyl, was speaking to her, the woman bowed her head in greeting. "Ah, I'm....alright more or less. Yes, I can heal myself, but..." In the daylight, even dim as it was for people of normal sight and with her dark skin, it was plain to see the bags under the drow's eyes and weariness in her frame, "I think I do need a 'breather'. Thank you for your help. All of you."She says with genuine gratitude in her soft smiling expression as she looked at each of them, if a little worn.
Krackle...Chersobyl Vos'rorn...Kessdarra Lorrath...Lumen Vork...and Vesper. It was plain to see Nym mouthing their names to herself after they introduced themselves to her, trying to make sure she remembered them. Though the name 'Pie Pals' definitely stuck out the most, especially with the mixed reactions to the name.
It seemed everyone was fairly interested in her name and story. She wasn't used to such attention and fidgeted with the strap of leather belt slung diagonally over her torso. "My name is Nym. Nym Durnodel. Um..." Glancing between the five mercenaries, she tried to think of what to answer first.
"I haven't been wandering the surface for very long truth be told. I'm from the Upperdark. I came into this part of the forest on behalf of a friend of mine, Duaric. He's a druid that has helped my- me before. Older dragonborn fellow that was kind to me. He mentioned being worried about strange infestation of spiders and ettercaps in the forest. I'm not sure if he encountered some or merely sensed or heard of them from his animal friends. But I told him I would try and find out more to get to the bottom of it for him. I had to kill some spiders but I was attacked by those two hounds as soon as I approached the lake and then that witch showed up and dragged me into her cave. That was three days ago. She didn't rough me up too much other than her dogs during that time. Other than when she came back down after I'm assuming she fought you. She was...trying to kill me then I think."Nym stated flatly, expression blank as she recalled the moment, "Stabbed me. Because I wouldn't keep quiet. I was trying to get your attention because I heard you. But my armor took the brunt of it. Healed myself a little already."The dark elf looked down at her side, poking at where there was a puncture in her robes and leather, but not the chain underneath.
Nym then becomes singularly focused on Lumen as he spoke of Shar's cultist followers that his group had run into, interested and yet apprehensive of the news. But finally Braida came out with her offerings to both Chrysobyl and Kessdarra. Hands tightening around the leather strap across her chest, shoulders square and rigid until the disguised creature was out of sight once more. Yet she couldn't stop the soft smile lifting the corners of her mouth at Krackle's affable introduction. "Hello Krackle. You seem like a good helper too. I've never met a kobold before. I've never been on an adventure before so I don't think I qualify as an adventurer...but thank you for the compliment. It's good to meet you as well Vesper."
Lips pursing at his question of the witch, Nym paused a moment before answering, "Yes, but I think she might have just been afraid. Maybe. Sometimes people lash out when they're scared."
"....What's pie?"
(Religion Check to see if Nym knows of Marthammor Duin: 6
And not sure what I would roll to try and see if a Mask of Shar rings any bells for Nym. History or religion? That is, if I can make two separate checks in one post.)
You've encountered enough dwarves traders and engineers in the Upperdark, many who have built roads and bridges in the deep places below the surface. Quite a few of these dwarves actually keep land and livestock on the surface, and travel back and forth on a regular basis. Through your interaction with them, you know that Marthammor Duin is the dwaven deity of wanderers, and those intrepid souls who don't take up lives underground being engineers and salt of the earth traders and who have left their clans to become "Trail Blazers" and who adventure and often live among humans and other races.
You've heard that dwarves who follow Duin are often looked down by most conservative dwarves as foolish, but they are the ones who are most curious about the world and actually venture forth to see more of it.
Regarding the mask, you have enough knowledge about about Shar to know that there are a number of different orders and sects who follow the dark goddess, and that they all have different traditions, rituals and devices they use in their actions of devotion. However, you don't know anything specific and haven't heard of Shar followers using masks.
Lumen
You have absolute no idea what Braida did to Kess.
When Nyn speaks, Krackle's eyes light up at her mentions of Duaric.
"You met a Dragonborn who's also a druid! I'm a druid, too!" he says, excitedly. "I've only met one other Dragonborn... my friend Silver."
At this, his large eyes begin to droop and his body slumps down a bit. "I really miss Silver, and I want to go back and try to find him. I don't think I like this forest, and I don't like spiders, the ones in here are really big and scary and they almost killed me. And that witch is really frightening."
"I don't want to leave you because you're all my friends, but I think about Silver every day. He was the first person ever to treat me nice, besides my sister, and I keep wondering why he left us back in Yartar. Maybe he needs my help. And it looks like you have someone else to help you now. I've never met an elf who has dark skin, but Kess is an elf, and she's really strong and she's always been really nice to me, even when I make mistakes... like when I tried to keep the mask and I caused trouble for everyone."
"I heard Nym call out to Selûne when she was in the witch's cave. Remember, Chrys found that pretty blue rock in the dirt when we were camping, and she gave it to me and told me that Selûne might have left it there for me. That makes me feel a little better about wanting to leave, because if Selûne really is watching over us, then Nym will be a good person to take my place. She says she can heal you, and she looks really strong.”
"Is it ok with you that I want to leave and go back to Yartar? I will really miss you and I know we'll see each other again, but I don't want you all to be mad at me."
“Nym, if you talk to Selûne, will you ask her to keep my friends safe? And will you try to keep them safe if anything bad happens?”
Chrys nods at Nym companionably. „Good ta meet ya, Nym. Selune‘s a right nice goddess, so I‘ll trust you must be similar if she sees fit ta let ya channel her holy powers.“ She listens to the group chatting, tensing up when Braida returns with the potion. Inspecting it, she frowns and shrugs. „I guess we‘ll find out whether Braida‘s tellin‘ the truth or spinnin‘ us a false one when I try this thing out,“ she says. „Lest anybody got a way to figure out what this potion here does ‚side o‘ drinkin‘ it.“
When Krackle asks about that potion, she shows it to the little kobold, but doesn‘t let him touch it. „Might be dangerous. We dwarves are used to all sorts o‘ nasty stuff, we got strong stomachs that can take it better than most. I‘d still be careful ‚round it, though,“ she says.
When Nym admits that she doesn‘t know what pie is, Chrys has an aggreived expression on her face. „We‘re gonna have to remedy that first chance we get back in town,“ she declares. „After all, you‘re an honorary Pie Pal for the moment, you gotta experience the pie to earn the name!“. Her good humor drops slightly when Krackle admits his feelings about wanting to leave and find Silver, though.
“I understand,“ she tells the little kobold sadly. „I miss Silver too... my first mentor, an‘ the one who set me on this path, really. I worry ‚bout him too. Still, I think you should stick with us ‚till we get back to Phelannie‘s tree, at the least. I don‘t want you gettin‘ hurt on the way out o‘ this forest. After that, though, you should do what yer heart tells ya to,“ she admits, giving Krackle a warm smile.
Nym noticeably brightens at Chrysobyl's simple, "Nice ta meet ya." reply before nodding enthusiastically about Selûne. "I try my best to be a Cleric deserving of her Light. I've heard of Marthammor Duin as well. I was quite interested in the idea of a dwarven god helping adventurers find their way. I'm quite curious about the surface myself."
The little kobold's raw enthusiasm elicits a grin from the Drow, "Now I know two druids. Duaric is the only other Dragonborn I've met so far. And you're the first Kobold I've met. Not a lot of other people to run into even in the Upperdark."Grin fading as Krackle droops, missing his friend, Nym glanced between the little one and his companions, not sure what to say. It seems that a lot was going on for them and she didn't want to say anything wrong, being a stranger to them.
She couldn't help but to rub at her hands, conscious of the dark skin mentioned before meeting Kessdarra's eyes uncertainly. Though they snapped back to Krackle when he mentioned taking his place. Eyebrows raised, Nym stated, "I don't want to replace anyone. And I don't know that I'm that strong to be honest. But healing, yes."
Now dubbed an honorary Pie Pal, the corner's of the woman's mouth twitched upwards. "I look forward to...'experiencing the pie'." Nodding at Chrysobyl's suggestion of waiting, though she didn't know what or where 'Phelannie's tree' was, the dark elf stated, "This forest is dangerous, but there is safety in numbers."
Heart constricting at the kobold's large eyes and sincere plea of asking Selune to look after his friends, Nym replied solemnly, "I will." Suddenly feeling heavier, her shoulders squared as she took a breath, looking around.
(Would I know of any nearby caves to take shelter in? Other than Braida's of course. Not sure if that'd be a roll for Nature or Survival or something else. )
Lumen simply walks over to Krackle and gives the small kobold a long, meaningful hug. The little bandicoot had driven him bonkers more than a few times on their journeys, but he really did care for him. How far is Phelannie's tree from here? I think the lakeside was a short walk from it, and we're on the other side of the lake. "It might be a good thing to rest there, check in with her, ask her a few more questions, and then set off for these orcs. I'd be shocked if she really didn't know anything about these sisters, and perhaps she can put our minds at ease a bit before we proceed."
((From here, you estimate that it would be about a five hour walk back to Phelannie's grove. And that's if you don't get lost, which you almost did yesterday when you returned after the giant snake encounter. Given the time of day, even if you didn't get lost, you would likely not make it back to the dryad's tree before dark.))
Hearing Lumen's idea, Nym nodded agreeably before recalling something. "Um...I'm not sure if it's closer or not but when I was exploring this area a few days ago, I found a little outcropping of boulders on a plateau. It seemed raised up above all the wet. Looked like it could possibly be a good place to camp, certainly drier than the rest of the swamp, and the rocks provide some sense of cover." She cleared her throat, not sure if she spoke out of turn. "Just another option."
"It was near a narrow raised trail that cuts through the swamp. I actually followed the trail to here. I'm pretty sure if I walk east, I could find it again. Once you hit the trail, the rocks woods be about another two hour walk, so a total of about five miles total from the lake, and it's in the direction we'd need to travel to find the orcs as well."
”Ideally, I don’t think that we want to be about in this place after dark; those serpents that the rest of us fought earlier nearly killed us, and the gods only know what could be about once the sun goes down... so honestly, I think your plan is for the best .” Kess rubbed at her temples as she spoke her piece, looking at Nym with... guilt? It was clear that she was mentally drained by the day’s events. “I’m sorry if my attitude made you worry that I was of a prejudiced mind against you. Given what has happened here in the North in the last decade, I hope you don’t begrudge me being cautious? It’s not that I don’t want to give you a fair shake, but I was told by a friend to be careful in dealing with, well... I’m sure you understand?”
"I'm with the rest o' ya. We've roughed it before, we can do it again, so long as we're not caught up in this muck," Chrys says. "Sorry, Krackle... we'll get ya back to Phelannie as soon as possible, but I'd rather we all be safe when we go 'bout doin' it."
She will keep an eye out for danger as the group moves, as usual: Perception 19
At mention of the sun, Nym glances upwards with a squint at the cloudy sky. "Ah, yes. I keep forgetting. The surface takes some getting used to." Rubbing the back of her neck awkwardly, the drow suddenly freezes mid motion at Kessdarra's apology. Giving a wan smile, Nym states, "I understand more than most. Lolth sworn drow are quickest to enslave or subjugate their own before other 'inferior races'. Especially darthiir such as my- er, I." Making sure to use air quotes to make clear that wasn't her personal view. "So I don't begrudge you and encourage you to continue to be cautious. Just know that there are a some that would be abban to you."
Nodding as Lumen and Chrysobyl spoke, the cleric glances between them, Krackle and Vesper before belatedly realizing they were waiting on her. "Oh! Right, yes, sorry. Um, just thi-, no. This way." Pointing to the opposite direction she had been facing, beginning to lead the way towards the path that cut through the swamp. Trying her best not to get lost or lead her newfound companions through too much muck.
Krackle nods, but with an obvious sign of disappointment. Nonetheless, he falls in once again and follows along with the rest of you, staying close to Lumen. At one point, Krackle approaches Nym and asks, "Nym, you said you come from the Upperdark. Does that mean you live underground? Most kobolds live underground, which is why I don't see very well above ground either when it's bright out. The sun kind of hurts my eyes, too."
With the decision to push on and hopfully find the campsite that Nym told you about, you begin walking way from the edge of the lake and leave Braida's tree behind. The fog remains thick, even as you head away from the water, but after about a half hour of walking, you notice that the slime is no longer coating the ground. A little bit further and the mist slowly begins to lift. At first, you see the faint outline of the sun through the haze, and eventually the skies clear and the sun becomes visible in the sky. It's at your backs now, so it casts long shadows in front of you, which tells you that the hour is getting to be early evening, with sunset in a couple of hours.
With Nym sharing the space out front, and relying on the memory of her travels here a few days go, she leads you through the marshland, which is still pretty boggy. The landscape is not so muddy here as it was near the lake, it's more of a spongy, wet tundra that's squishy and wet under your feet, with numerous larger puddles dotting the area around you.
The air is cool, even as the sun shines on you, and the dampness of the bog increases the damp chill that you feel. At one point, you pass by a large pond about 50 feet across, that has a large willow tree growing right out of the center of the pool. The waters of the pond are still, but you can see the occasional disturbance of some unknown creature that's apparently swimming just below the surface.
As you pass around the other side of the pond, Nym spots the trail. It's just as she described, a small, faint raised path following along a natural dry grassy ridge that sits about a foot or two above the wet, marshy ground.
(Did Braida actually tell us where to find Grumbar and the Red Claws could be found? XD)
"Let's get to this plateau,"Chrys says, watching the setting sun with a frown on her face. "This trail is better than nothin', but we're still too close to the swamp for my likin'. We can talk 'bout how the party's goin' to split tomorrow mornin', if we're getting closer to the orcs. Probably also should be careful 'bout any fires we set, though I ain't eager to go campin' in the wet an' cold without one." She shoulders her pack, offers Krackle another lift, and begins traveling down the trail in the direction Nym indicates.
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“I’m sorry for losing my cool back there, everyone,” Kess would say once they were all out from Braida’s wretched hole. “I... she got into my head. I felt so violated. Kessdarra, by the way... Kessdarra Lorrath. I am sorry if I seemed overtly cautious or callous back there, it’s just... well, not every day that one sees a drow wandering the surface.”
While Kess had explicitly noted the newcomer’s heritage, it wasn’t stated with apparent contempt; more than anything, Kess seemed both curious and puzzled.
Before leaving the witch's home, he asks her, "when did you first notice the poison, the slime, the infestation arrive at the lake, and from what direction? How does it spread? I understand you said Grumbar and his stone, but from here, how did you experience the infestation? How fast, was it overnight, did the spiders and ettercaps and other creatures come first, or after?"
Then, outside, he introduces himself to Nym (whose name he doesn't know, I don't think yet?)
"I am Lumen Vork, dour troubadour, musical experimenter, and warrior born in the mountains. If you have a better idea for the name of this group of ours, I'd welcome it," Lumen says, with a half grin at Chrys. Lumen's a tall half-orc with blue-green skin, a mop of once-well-styled-but-now-covered-in-grit-and-slime black hair, carrying a scary-looking longsword and a somehow scarier-looking massive lute. He is baritone voice is easy to listen to.
He explains how they came to help a dryad friend of a friend of theirs back in Yartar, who had been trapped by ettercaps, spiders, and slime. They followed the source of the infestation to more ettercaps, and this lake, and Gusof, who seems to perhaps be Haddie, and evidently a good liar, and then Braida. "How did you come to be traveling here? You are looking into the poison, for a friend. Who's the friend, and what did they know about it? And you asked about Shar earlier. We had a run-in with some of her cultist followers who were harassing a village. We defeated them, and have been trying to safely dispose of a mask that we broke into pieces. You should know that there are more of her followers who have been looking for the mask, and on our way into the forest, we killed one of them who attacked us, while the last one, the sneaky one, got away. He might still be out there hunting us."
He looks around for any possible place of refuge, still waiting for Braida to bring whatever she's bringing to the group so they can get away. He looks once again to see if the slime and rot and infestation is worse around the lake. He's very curious about how it spreads, and if it's feasible that its source is an orc tribe two days' travel away.
The witch answers Lumen's final inquiries with somewhat ambiguous answers. As she had previously indicated, she considers the slime to be part of the natural environment of this area. It's always been here. Regarding the spiders and ettercaps, she tells you that those creatures always exist in the forest, but more have appeared recently. It's tough to get a feel for what that means, since, by her words, she's lived here for centuries. If you've lived that long, what would be considered "recent?" Regarding the direction, again, she's vague, saying that spiders go everywhere.
You all wait outside in the cool, damp air for about 45 minutes before Braida finally returns, this time in the form you saw her earlier, as a very old and unsightly woman, quite unpleasant to look at, but not nearly as horrifying as she was in her true form. She hands Chrys a small vial full of dark grayish blue liquid. The vial itself looks very old, and the outside is covered with dust and a few crusted on smudges that look like they've been there for a very long time.
If Kess had accepted her offer for a "goof faith gift," she would move slowly over to the elf, reach out with one of her withered, bony hands and briefly lay her palm on Kess's shoulder, before backing away, turning around and quickly departing to climb back into the tree and disappear. Kess feels no specific effects of the touch, although it's definitely creepy to actually be so close her, feel the brush of her long claws against her clothing and smell the foul, almost rotten odor of her breath.
All this time, Krackle watches warily from a "safe" vantage point, having moved over to hide behind Lumen. When the witch is gone, he pokes his head out and asks Chrys, "What did she give you?"
Before Braida emerged again from the base of the tree, Krackle had nodded with a happy, but slightly nervous greeting towards Nym, while still remaining close to Chrys. "Hi! I'm Krackle! I'm a kobold and a good helper! You look like an adventurer too! Did that bad witch lady hurt you?" he adds, with a concerned tone.
When he hears the groans from the other party members, he says, "I think the Pie Pals is a great name! It reminds me of the time we all met during Shieldmeet, when me and Vesper won our contests! And besides, everyone likes pie, right?" To Nym, his vocal styling sounds very much like that of a child.
"I think that there are better names than Pie Pals. I'm Vesper, nice to meet you."
Xenophon: Topaz Dragonborn Fighter (ixi's Dragon of Icespire Peak)
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As the group exited the cypress tree covered cave entrance, Nym squints, her eyes taking time to adjust even the cloudy overcast afternoon light of the forest. The thick fog around the lake heavier than what she was used to underground, though the cool damp feeling was familiar. It wasn't but a moment after the five of them emerge that a sixth scaled figure scampers up to them, seeming to have popped up out of the ground itself. A kobold. Wearing...children's clothing? He asks a lot of questions in quick succession and the drow wasn't sure if he was asking her or his companions so stays silent, letting them reply.
She didn't know much about kobolds, but this one seemed inherently young to the elf, her gaze lingering on the caring gesture of the dwarven woman patting him on the head. Belatedly realizing that the dwarf, Chrysoberyl, was speaking to her, the woman bowed her head in greeting. "Ah, I'm....alright more or less. Yes, I can heal myself, but..." In the daylight, even dim as it was for people of normal sight and with her dark skin, it was plain to see the bags under the drow's eyes and weariness in her frame, "I think I do need a 'breather'. Thank you for your help. All of you." She says with genuine gratitude in her soft smiling expression as she looked at each of them, if a little worn.
Krackle...Chersobyl Vos'rorn...Kessdarra Lorrath...Lumen Vork...and Vesper. It was plain to see Nym mouthing their names to herself after they introduced themselves to her, trying to make sure she remembered them. Though the name 'Pie Pals' definitely stuck out the most, especially with the mixed reactions to the name.
It seemed everyone was fairly interested in her name and story. She wasn't used to such attention and fidgeted with the strap of leather belt slung diagonally over her torso. "My name is Nym. Nym Durnodel. Um..." Glancing between the five mercenaries, she tried to think of what to answer first.
"I haven't been wandering the surface for very long truth be told. I'm from the Upperdark. I came into this part of the forest on behalf of a friend of mine, Duaric. He's a druid that has helped my- me before. Older dragonborn fellow that was kind to me. He mentioned being worried about strange infestation of spiders and ettercaps in the forest. I'm not sure if he encountered some or merely sensed or heard of them from his animal friends. But I told him I would try and find out more to get to the bottom of it for him. I had to kill some spiders but I was attacked by those two hounds as soon as I approached the lake and then that witch showed up and dragged me into her cave. That was three days ago. She didn't rough me up too much other than her dogs during that time. Other than when she came back down after I'm assuming she fought you. She was...trying to kill me then I think." Nym stated flatly, expression blank as she recalled the moment, "Stabbed me. Because I wouldn't keep quiet. I was trying to get your attention because I heard you. But my armor took the brunt of it. Healed myself a little already." The dark elf looked down at her side, poking at where there was a puncture in her robes and leather, but not the chain underneath.
Nym then becomes singularly focused on Lumen as he spoke of Shar's cultist followers that his group had run into, interested and yet apprehensive of the news. But finally Braida came out with her offerings to both Chrysobyl and Kessdarra. Hands tightening around the leather strap across her chest, shoulders square and rigid until the disguised creature was out of sight once more. Yet she couldn't stop the soft smile lifting the corners of her mouth at Krackle's affable introduction. "Hello Krackle. You seem like a good helper too. I've never met a kobold before. I've never been on an adventure before so I don't think I qualify as an adventurer...but thank you for the compliment. It's good to meet you as well Vesper."
Lips pursing at his question of the witch, Nym paused a moment before answering, "Yes, but I think she might have just been afraid. Maybe. Sometimes people lash out when they're scared."
"....What's pie?"
(Religion Check to see if Nym knows of Marthammor Duin: 6
And not sure what I would roll to try and see if a Mask of Shar rings any bells for Nym. History or religion? That is, if I can make two separate checks in one post.)
Nym Durnodel - Aspiring Heroes of Faerûn // Danica Amastacia - Red Dead Annihilation
Kess tenses a bit but otherwise does nothing aggressive, making no point to hide the fact she's uncomfortable just being around Braida.
Lumen tries to figure out what Braida did to Kess.
Nym
You've encountered enough dwarves traders and engineers in the Upperdark, many who have built roads and bridges in the deep places below the surface. Quite a few of these dwarves actually keep land and livestock on the surface, and travel back and forth on a regular basis. Through your interaction with them, you know that Marthammor Duin is the dwaven deity of wanderers, and those intrepid souls who don't take up lives underground being engineers and salt of the earth traders and who have left their clans to become "Trail Blazers" and who adventure and often live among humans and other races.
You've heard that dwarves who follow Duin are often looked down by most conservative dwarves as foolish, but they are the ones who are most curious about the world and actually venture forth to see more of it.
Regarding the mask, you have enough knowledge about about Shar to know that there are a number of different orders and sects who follow the dark goddess, and that they all have different traditions, rituals and devices they use in their actions of devotion. However, you don't know anything specific and haven't heard of Shar followers using masks.
Lumen
You have absolute no idea what Braida did to Kess.
When Nyn speaks, Krackle's eyes light up at her mentions of Duaric.
"You met a Dragonborn who's also a druid! I'm a druid, too!" he says, excitedly. "I've only met one other Dragonborn... my friend Silver."
At this, his large eyes begin to droop and his body slumps down a bit. "I really miss Silver, and I want to go back and try to find him. I don't think I like this forest, and I don't like spiders, the ones in here are really big and scary and they almost killed me. And that witch is really frightening."
"I don't want to leave you because you're all my friends, but I think about Silver every day. He was the first person ever to treat me nice, besides my sister, and I keep wondering why he left us back in Yartar. Maybe he needs my help. And it looks like you have someone else to help you now. I've never met an elf who has dark skin, but Kess is an elf, and she's really strong and she's always been really nice to me, even when I make mistakes... like when I tried to keep the mask and I caused trouble for everyone."
"I heard Nym call out to Selûne when she was in the witch's cave. Remember, Chrys found that pretty blue rock in the dirt when we were camping, and she gave it to me and told me that Selûne might have left it there for me. That makes me feel a little better about wanting to leave, because if Selûne really is watching over us, then Nym will be a good person to take my place. She says she can heal you, and she looks really strong.”
"Is it ok with you that I want to leave and go back to Yartar? I will really miss you and I know we'll see each other again, but I don't want you all to be mad at me."
“Nym, if you talk to Selûne, will you ask her to keep my friends safe? And will you try to keep them safe if anything bad happens?”
Chrys nods at Nym companionably. „Good ta meet ya, Nym. Selune‘s a right nice goddess, so I‘ll trust you must be similar if she sees fit ta let ya channel her holy powers.“ She listens to the group chatting, tensing up when Braida returns with the potion. Inspecting it, she frowns and shrugs. „I guess we‘ll find out whether Braida‘s tellin‘ the truth or spinnin‘ us a false one when I try this thing out,“ she says. „Lest anybody got a way to figure out what this potion here does ‚side o‘ drinkin‘ it.“
When Krackle asks about that potion, she shows it to the little kobold, but doesn‘t let him touch it. „Might be dangerous. We dwarves are used to all sorts o‘ nasty stuff, we got strong stomachs that can take it better than most. I‘d still be careful ‚round it, though,“ she says.
When Nym admits that she doesn‘t know what pie is, Chrys has an aggreived expression on her face. „We‘re gonna have to remedy that first chance we get back in town,“ she declares. „After all, you‘re an honorary Pie Pal for the moment, you gotta experience the pie to earn the name!“. Her good humor drops slightly when Krackle admits his feelings about wanting to leave and find Silver, though.
“I understand,“ she tells the little kobold sadly. „I miss Silver too... my first mentor, an‘ the one who set me on this path, really. I worry ‚bout him too. Still, I think you should stick with us ‚till we get back to Phelannie‘s tree, at the least. I don‘t want you gettin‘ hurt on the way out o‘ this forest. After that, though, you should do what yer heart tells ya to,“ she admits, giving Krackle a warm smile.
Nym noticeably brightens at Chrysobyl's simple, "Nice ta meet ya." reply before nodding enthusiastically about Selûne. "I try my best to be a Cleric deserving of her Light. I've heard of Marthammor Duin as well. I was quite interested in the idea of a dwarven god helping adventurers find their way. I'm quite curious about the surface myself."
The little kobold's raw enthusiasm elicits a grin from the Drow, "Now I know two druids. Duaric is the only other Dragonborn I've met so far. And you're the first Kobold I've met. Not a lot of other people to run into even in the Upperdark." Grin fading as Krackle droops, missing his friend, Nym glanced between the little one and his companions, not sure what to say. It seems that a lot was going on for them and she didn't want to say anything wrong, being a stranger to them.
She couldn't help but to rub at her hands, conscious of the dark skin mentioned before meeting Kessdarra's eyes uncertainly. Though they snapped back to Krackle when he mentioned taking his place. Eyebrows raised, Nym stated, "I don't want to replace anyone. And I don't know that I'm that strong to be honest. But healing, yes."
Now dubbed an honorary Pie Pal, the corner's of the woman's mouth twitched upwards. "I look forward to...'experiencing the pie'." Nodding at Chrysobyl's suggestion of waiting, though she didn't know what or where 'Phelannie's tree' was, the dark elf stated, "This forest is dangerous, but there is safety in numbers."
Heart constricting at the kobold's large eyes and sincere plea of asking Selune to look after his friends, Nym replied solemnly, "I will." Suddenly feeling heavier, her shoulders squared as she took a breath, looking around.
(Would I know of any nearby caves to take shelter in? Other than Braida's of course. Not sure if that'd be a roll for Nature or Survival or something else. )
Nym Durnodel - Aspiring Heroes of Faerûn // Danica Amastacia - Red Dead Annihilation
Lumen simply walks over to Krackle and gives the small kobold a long, meaningful hug. The little bandicoot had driven him bonkers more than a few times on their journeys, but he really did care for him. How far is Phelannie's tree from here? I think the lakeside was a short walk from it, and we're on the other side of the lake. "It might be a good thing to rest there, check in with her, ask her a few more questions, and then set off for these orcs. I'd be shocked if she really didn't know anything about these sisters, and perhaps she can put our minds at ease a bit before we proceed."
((From here, you estimate that it would be about a five hour walk back to Phelannie's grove. And that's if you don't get lost, which you almost did yesterday when you returned after the giant snake encounter. Given the time of day, even if you didn't get lost, you would likely not make it back to the dryad's tree before dark.))
Hearing Lumen's idea, Nym nodded agreeably before recalling something. "Um...I'm not sure if it's closer or not but when I was exploring this area a few days ago, I found a little outcropping of boulders on a plateau. It seemed raised up above all the wet. Looked like it could possibly be a good place to camp, certainly drier than the rest of the swamp, and the rocks provide some sense of cover." She cleared her throat, not sure if she spoke out of turn. "Just another option."
"It was near a narrow raised trail that cuts through the swamp. I actually followed the trail to here. I'm pretty sure if I walk east, I could find it again. Once you hit the trail, the rocks woods be about another two hour walk, so a total of about five miles total from the lake, and it's in the direction we'd need to travel to find the orcs as well."
Nym Durnodel - Aspiring Heroes of Faerûn // Danica Amastacia - Red Dead Annihilation
”Ideally, I don’t think that we want to be about in this place after dark; those serpents that the rest of us fought earlier nearly killed us, and the gods only know what could be about once the sun goes down... so honestly, I think your plan is for the best .” Kess rubbed at her temples as she spoke her piece, looking at Nym with... guilt? It was clear that she was mentally drained by the day’s events. “I’m sorry if my attitude made you worry that I was of a prejudiced mind against you. Given what has happened here in the North in the last decade, I hope you don’t begrudge me being cautious? It’s not that I don’t want to give you a fair shake, but I was told by a friend to be careful in dealing with, well... I’m sure you understand?”
Lumen nods. "That's probably better than trekking back to Phelannie, I suppose."
"I'm with the rest o' ya. We've roughed it before, we can do it again, so long as we're not caught up in this muck," Chrys says. "Sorry, Krackle... we'll get ya back to Phelannie as soon as possible, but I'd rather we all be safe when we go 'bout doin' it."
She will keep an eye out for danger as the group moves, as usual: Perception 19
At mention of the sun, Nym glances upwards with a squint at the cloudy sky. "Ah, yes. I keep forgetting. The surface takes some getting used to." Rubbing the back of her neck awkwardly, the drow suddenly freezes mid motion at Kessdarra's apology. Giving a wan smile, Nym states, "I understand more than most. Lolth sworn drow are quickest to enslave or subjugate their own before other 'inferior races'. Especially darthiir such as my- er, I." Making sure to use air quotes to make clear that wasn't her personal view. "So I don't begrudge you and encourage you to continue to be cautious. Just know that there are a some that would be abban to you."
Nodding as Lumen and Chrysobyl spoke, the cleric glances between them, Krackle and Vesper before belatedly realizing they were waiting on her. "Oh! Right, yes, sorry. Um, just thi-, no. This way." Pointing to the opposite direction she had been facing, beginning to lead the way towards the path that cut through the swamp. Trying her best not to get lost or lead her newfound companions through too much muck.
Nym Durnodel - Aspiring Heroes of Faerûn // Danica Amastacia - Red Dead Annihilation
Krackle nods, but with an obvious sign of disappointment. Nonetheless, he falls in once again and follows along with the rest of you, staying close to Lumen. At one point, Krackle approaches Nym and asks, "Nym, you said you come from the Upperdark. Does that mean you live underground? Most kobolds live underground, which is why I don't see very well above ground either when it's bright out. The sun kind of hurts my eyes, too."
With the decision to push on and hopfully find the campsite that Nym told you about, you begin walking way from the edge of the lake and leave Braida's tree behind. The fog remains thick, even as you head away from the water, but after about a half hour of walking, you notice that the slime is no longer coating the ground. A little bit further and the mist slowly begins to lift. At first, you see the faint outline of the sun through the haze, and eventually the skies clear and the sun becomes visible in the sky. It's at your backs now, so it casts long shadows in front of you, which tells you that the hour is getting to be early evening, with sunset in a couple of hours.
With Nym sharing the space out front, and relying on the memory of her travels here a few days go, she leads you through the marshland, which is still pretty boggy. The landscape is not so muddy here as it was near the lake, it's more of a spongy, wet tundra that's squishy and wet under your feet, with numerous larger puddles dotting the area around you.
The air is cool, even as the sun shines on you, and the dampness of the bog increases the damp chill that you feel. At one point, you pass by a large pond about 50 feet across, that has a large willow tree growing right out of the center of the pool. The waters of the pond are still, but you can see the occasional disturbance of some unknown creature that's apparently swimming just below the surface.
As you pass around the other side of the pond, Nym spots the trail. It's just as she described, a small, faint raised path following along a natural dry grassy ridge that sits about a foot or two above the wet, marshy ground.
(Did Braida actually tell us where to find Grumbar and the Red Claws could be found? XD)
"Let's get to this plateau," Chrys says, watching the setting sun with a frown on her face. "This trail is better than nothin', but we're still too close to the swamp for my likin'. We can talk 'bout how the party's goin' to split tomorrow mornin', if we're getting closer to the orcs. Probably also should be careful 'bout any fires we set, though I ain't eager to go campin' in the wet an' cold without one." She shoulders her pack, offers Krackle another lift, and begins traveling down the trail in the direction Nym indicates.