Ulrich moves back to draw them away John, then casts Inflict Wounds on the one he can reach.

Attack: 14 Damage: 19

((Was the 100 xp for the last attack for me or Dula?))

Macgullicksons: ((I accidentally called the hare a rabbit last post, I'm not being tricky))

Jogs and Orina: 7 "I am too a hare!" says the hare that might not be.  "Although some of my friends do say I have some odd habbits, but some of them are rabbits, so whose to say.  As for why I'm a hare, that's a deep question." He suddenly slips his forlegs from your hands, and pulls, seemingly thin air, a deerstalker cap and pipe, and makes some attempt look euridite as you dangle him by the legs.  "Quite a deep question indeed."  

Road to Corvidae:

Pito:  You open up the bag, and inside, you see a thick stack of bound vellum.  You can see what appears to be ornate writing on it, you can see a very large well drawn 'O'  You move it forward to see if there is anything else there, but that seems to be the only thing there, then move it back to the front.  "OPERA" is written on the front in a bold cursive font on the front of the vellum stack.  

Powder Swamp:

Yaw: You heave with all your might, and with the amount of leverage you've gotten so far, you manage to push it ever so slightly further.  However, the force is poorly distributed, and it stuck fast in the mud.  You take a brief look back at the dragon, you don't know if it's spotted you yet, but it's looking about  18  ((that's it's perception roll, at disadvantage from being distracted and not looking for you specifically, at least for now, and it needs to get a bit above your stealth from earlier, which was like 23.))

You either need to get this thing moving, or you better think of something!  If your pushing this thing,make a strength check, and make it count!

Greenport - Lush Mountain:

Noldeme:  The voice says:  "Yes, indeed, it is a fragment of coalescence , this one in particular is ancient, belonging to the old god of protection, a combination of collective mind and soul that gives a god their power.  It has shaped itself into a form that allows it's power to be channeled through a wielder to exercise their locked away powers on the mortal realm.  Most likely, the vision you saw was a brief view into their ancient past, a slow integration of their being into yours, for through the empowering of the fragment, the god can essentially ressurect themselves by using your body as a vessel..."

 "...She really didn't tell you anything, did she?"  the voice suddenly doesn't sound so familiar.

Blackport - Powder Swamp:

Leshanna:  You make a break for it out of the gazebo, with the hydra just behind you.  You don't even take a chance losing Rattles to the ocean cave, let alone getting past the hydra heads that are coming out of the cave openings above the water.  You run to the swamp, and once your a safe distance, you take Rattles, who has been sticking close to you, and is catching his breath, and begin to tie and hobble him.  "Hey, what kind of rescue operation is this anyway?  Do you expect to hop me back to town, you don't really think I'm going to-oh." He begins to ramble  "Oh, you aren't here to rescue me are you, oh no.  You don't think I'm a member of that cult, do you?  I'm telling you that's just a misunderstanding, you know, I didn't know, I don't know anything about that, I swear!"  as he hops, trying to catch up to you, he falls face first in the mud. "Oh...oh fantastic, could this day be any worse?"

Resolve:

Zacharias:  "Well, to be honest, that's not the answer I was expecting, but I can't say it's not a good one."  Dr. Winter adjusts his glasses, and looks up at the tower.  " 'Nothing is your own' huh...that certainly is a way to live.  Just don't forget that your mind, body, and soul, no matter how much you devote that , is still yours.  There may be a time where you will need to make a decision of your own, not Illmater, and you may need to cast aside what is good for what is right.  I think, above all, you need someone to teach what it means to be free to make those choices, and if you want to do that, scale the tower, and acheive your desires, then Rosebush is a damn good place to go."  You come to the clearing, just before the tower, and walk across it, there is a structure built against it, far larger than any other in resolve, but still bearing the shoddy quality of the rest of the town. that bears a painted symbol of a red rose on its side.  Dr. Winter goes around to a large front entrance, opening the door and walking inside, just at the threshold.  You can see quite a bit of activity in there, you just breifly hear of talking, laughter, and the sight of a glowing hearth, before Dr. Winter turns to you, looks you dead the eyes, and with the grimest tone, says  "If you don't want that, then you have come this far, but no further." before shutting the door in your face.

Rafon's Run Settlement: With a brush of your fingers as you step in front of john, you place a hand on each wretch, and their skin is turned to a fine ashes in an instant and carried off into the wind.  +100XP ((for everyone, including you, not split)).  All that remains of the wretches is their warped and broken skeletons.  Though the bile river still flows, the smell is covered up by the smell of smoke and ash, and the water is blackened with soot.  "Seems my intuition about you was right."  Says John, only slightly tremoring.  Dula resigns "It is a shame...perhaps they could have been saved, but, it is better they be at peace now then suffer...I'm sorry I hesitated." +100 XP for all once more You are now level 2 (as well as Dula and John)

John says  "You get a message from the Archbishop yet?  Even with you here, we could really use an asset delivery right now."  Looking towards the source of the bile.  "Whatever made this mess is probably going to be a whole lot worse than those, if that's what made those things."

Jogs and Orina - Macgullickson's

Jogs, confused, holds the hare up so she can see eye to eye with it.  "We want to talk.  If I put you down, will you run?  We want to know what's been happening in these fields; let's talk man to man...well, hare to dragonwoman."  She adds, "You're curious but I like your cap."

Orina and Jogs | Outer Corvidae - Macgullickson Field:

"Huh," Orina says, dropping her finger and her imposing expression.  "I think he really is a hare, at least physically," she tells Jogs.  Turning her head slightly so she can match the angle of the hare's head, and wondering how he can keep the hat on while hanging upsidedown, she says, "Hey, do you have a name?"

Then, scrunching her brows, she adds "And no shame?  You're a very, very bad hare!  You've been scaring the pants off of the farmers here, not to mention their vegetables!  You're a talking hare that wears clothes, for Light's sake!  If you wanted carrots that badly, you could've just asked for them!"

Pito - Road to Corvidae 

Pito blinks at the document. “Verdue...? This wouldn’t be... that... opera... would it?”

Pito hands the document over and starts to pace a bit.

Noldeme pauses to hear her patron's explanation when suddenly a second voice is heard, she pauses and starts looking around, asking in confusion. "What? Who?" In the first instance, she isn't sure if this voice was only inside her head or somewhere around her, so she starts examining every side of her.

Perception 6

Rafon's Run Settlement

Ulrich will cast cure wounds on John 9. He shakes his head.

"No word as yet. Let's continue to the house. It will provide cover at least. Provided there are no undead within. The people were beyond our help, Dula. Their wounds were too grievous. And yes. I hope to hear from her soon."

He'll lead them toward the baron's house, his mace and shield at the ready.

Blackport...

Leshanna speaks little as she walks Rattle back towards Blackport.  She considers the hydra and the cult, wondering just what else was going on with this swamp.  She keeps her eyes on alert as they travel, not wishing to risk losing the quarry this close to completion of her contract.

Perception:  5

Zacharias listens, not commenting on the doctor's speech. And when the door is closed in his face, the paladin sighs. He turns, looks up into the sky, and says, "To the unbeliever, your way makes no sense. But I will not let them cloud my mind and turn my heart. Both are yours." He draws his flail and looks at it. Viscera of the beast still clings to the spiked end. "This isn't exactly what I thought you were preparing me for, but prepare me, you have." Putting the weapon away, he turns and looks up at the tower and sighs again. "May I always follow your will." He looks at the Rosebush entrance. "Have you closed this door? Or are you simply inviting me to knock?" After a few heartbeats, he steps forward and knocks on the door.

Powder Swamp - Yaw:

Defeated, I decide that a loss today is worth a win tomorrow. I pause, taking a moment to remember this place so that some day, when I am better prepared, I may return and best this dragon. whether it be by trickery or combat! I leave the object where it stuck in the mud and dash off back in the direction of Blackport. When it comes to quieting this noise pollution, maybe I should start smaller!

Macgullickson's

Jogs and Orina: The hare, looking at his cap and pipe, realizes how strange it is, and it vanishes as quickly as it appears.  "Unfortunately, that just seems to be one of my odd habits, I seem to only be able to do it when the moment is right, without thinking about it.  Funny to think I could think, I never really thought about it. " a distressed look crosses the hare's face.  "Just asking for them?  no, no, that's just not something that hares do, right?  No, never something like that, I play tricks and steal carrots, that's what I've always done, so that's what I'm supposed to do.  This thinking thing is really something, I could swear my head is spinning." he looks physically dizzy for a moment, but shakes it off.  "Oh, my name?  Hainsly, and honestly, I wouldn't put me down if I were you, I might take off just out of instinct."

Road to Corvidae:

Pito: As you hand the document to Verdue, there is a cacophany of emotions that slide across his face, and his speech seems suddenly enfeebled. "Op-pp-op" he seems to go on.  He flips through the pages, seemingly scanning for certain sections, looking it front and back, he seems quite sweaty and might keel over.  "I-I- I can't beleive it, this seems, though all fragments I can recall, to be that opera.  Concerto Major!  This is the very reward we were supposed to earn for our performance and it's right here!  I can die a happy man, oh even to read just the first page.  It's right here in my hands it's. Right here?  In my hands?"  At the end of the cacophany, there seems to be an expression of horrid realization, like catching a cannonball.  "If...if we have it here then, then what's...is it, do they think?"  Bush #1 seems to help him spit it out.  "So...we have this thing...but we can't keep it, but we can't really just give it back either.  So..." he looks at the only other person who seems to be in a partially solid state of mind, Pito, and asks.  "...what do we do now?"

Resolve - Rosebed:

It seems that after knocking, there is a period of silence, and nobody answers. 

It seems that nobody will open this door for you.  You must open it yourself.  

You rememberfinding the window in the windowless place.  You remember that desire to leave, that contrarian thought, if ever so brief, that led you here.  You flet it as Illmaters will, but he claims it only your own.  Is Illmater willing you to open this door, as his hand, or as your own, through his will our yours, perhaps that-

Oh, somebody opened the door for you "Edgar trying to convince to think the way he thinks, huh?"  A surly red dragonborn with an scattered array of scales.  "Hope that wasn't too grating, you've much bigger things to do than whatever test he thinks he needs to put you through, come on in!"  They wave a hand, urging you to follow them inside.

Powder Swamp:

Leshanna:  You half force march and half drag through the mud your quarry, who keeps trying to blab or make some excuse, or just rambling on about his life story or seomthing.  Your not really listening anyway, since he hasn't had intresting to say.  You are moving thorough the swamp and a slow pace, since he has to come with you, and he's not helping you stay stealthy either. Have 10 XP for your troubles

Yaw:  You escape in the nick of time, leaving whatever strange valuble artifact that may have been forlorn but not forgotten.  That danger wass certainly exillerating while it lasted, and what a story to tell!  +1000 XP, enough to go all the way to level 3.

As you trudge through the swamp, making sure you don't run into any danger at the dragon doesn't follow, you hear what appears to be someone chittering on about some life story, something about how he got a small scar, or some other story like that.  

Rafon's run settlement:

Ulrich:  While you head towards the baron's house, Dula cautiously peaks into houses for survivors, while John sticks close to you.  You see now where the river is spilling from, the source of it has cause the enitre fenced in yard of the mansion to fill like some sort of moat, with odd lawn ornaments and fancy shrubbery sticking like strange sunk ships.  "All the houses are empty, at least as far as I could tell.  Might be some hiding in basements." 

it's been about 10 minutes, you finally get a sending message from the Archbishop you were expecting.  "First report, have you located any hints to the demon activity or their source?  I hear at your location the local baron was acting strangely."  she says waiting for a response.

Greenport - Mountain Peak:

Noldeme:  There is nothing there you can see, but you don't feel like you are alone.  The unfamiliar woman's voice says.  "Well, it seems you aren't the brightest, but then again, you do listen to the voices in your head that tell you to climb mountains to retrive things.  In case you didn't catch my little impersonation there, your "patron" isn't aware of anything that's going on right around now.  It's just you and me, right now, giving you the answers you deserve.  Think about what I said carefully, dear."

Pito - Road to Corvidae 

Pito stares for a moment before realization hits him. ”oh. Oh! Ohh... f***...”

Pito paces for a minute. Pauses. Shakes his head. Stops. Tilts his head with reconsideration as he stares at Verdue and Bush #1.

”Well... we could... ya know. Make like someone else took it. Blame it all on someone evil. Let me finish!” He pauses for dramatic effect. “We blame it on someone evil. We gather heroes to defeat said evil person. Then when we are victorious, we pretend we found it among said wicked person’s belongings... thus we get the opera, defeat evil, and avoid unnecessary suspicion. This is a foolproof plan, right?”

Swamp near Blackport...

"You do realize there are dangers in this swamp, right?" Leshanna remarks to her quarry after a few minutes.  "Logically, since you are hobbled and tied, I would think you would try to be a little more quiet, since, if I fall, you probably would be a quick snack for whatever finds us..."  She says this in a logical, emotionless, tone.  She is not trying to influence him, just stating a fact.

Greenport - Mountain Peak:

Noldeme gnarls at the woman's tone, feeling offended by the way she was called, but then trying to keep a serious tone. "Look, I'm trying to do a good thing here for once, and solve the town's problems, you don't need to talk to me like that. Now, okay, so you're saying you're gonna give me answers? Good, because I have a lot of questions. Who are you? Where are you? And what are you even doing inside my head?"

Orina and Jogs | Outer Corvidae - Macgullickson Field:

Orina leans over to Jogs and stage-whispers "Maybe he's an absent-minded mage who accidentally transformed himself into a hare, or a normal hare who pleased or angered some deity and got cursed with being half-sentient.  Oh, or maybe he ate a magic carrot!  Anyway, I think he's cursed somehow, and that's beyond my ability to cure."  Taking out her hempen rope, she begins to wind it around the hare in a leash/snare of sorts that isn't particularly uncomfortable, but will tighten like a noose and quickly become very uncomfortable should Hainsly try to make a run for it.  "He doesn't seem malevolent, but if he's really just a cursed animal, he may be the first of many."

To Hainsly, she says "I'm really sorry about this, but we have to figure out why you can speak, think, and summon magic clothing.  No hare that I know can do that."  Thinking for a moment, she uses her Speech of Beast and Leaf again to ask him "Can you still understand... uh... I suppose this is hare-ish speech?"

As she's working, Orina is trying to determine if Hainsly is lying or hiding anything from them.
Insight: 12

Orina and Jogs | Outer Corvidae - Macgullickson Field:

"Orina," says Jogs, setting down the tied hare, "this is the strangest hare I've ever seen.  It talks and seems to have jumped out of a picture book.  I don't think pictures are supposed to do that.  Even if I hammer this hare on the head and it stops scaring people... won't the book still be out there?  Do you think the book could be at the Macgullickson's house?  I... this hurts my head.  Why is it drawn?"

She turns to the hare.  "Where did you come from?  Where do you live?  Do you have a family?"

Yaw: I quietly follow the sound of idle chatter. Are they crazy making all that racket?! I come across two figures, one bound and being dragged along by the other. The bound figure was the one I had heard.

"You do realize there are dangers in this swamp, right? Logically, since you are hobbled and tied, I would think you would try to be a little more quiet, since, if I fall, you probably would be a quick snack for whatever finds us...", the captor remarked, looking completely disinterested in the story he had been telling.

The pair seem harmless enough. Almost comical with his endless chatter and her stern, can’t-be-bothered expression. Though I would think anyone would look pretty unassuming after facing a dragon!

It is clear that inaction isn’t an option here. I step out from behind cover, “She’s right, you know. There are more dangerous beasts lurking in this swamp than rats and frogs. To hear their songs would be magic but you’re lucky it was me that found you or you would be listening from inside their belly!”

I look from one to the other, taking in the scene, “What did this one do to deserve treatment like this? He doesn’t look like a threat to me and he’s making so much noise”

Yaw: I quietly follow the sound of idle chatter. Are they crazy making all that racket?! I come across two figures, one bound and being dragged along by the other. The bound figure was the one I had heard.

"You do realize there are dangers in this swamp, right? Logically, since you are hobbled and tied, I would think you would try to be a little more quiet, since, if I fall, you probably would be a quick snack for whatever finds us...", the captor remarked, looking completely disinterested in the story he had been telling.

The pair seem harmless enough. Almost comical with his endless chatter and her stern, can’t-be-bothered expression. Though I would think anyone would look pretty unassuming after facing a dragon!

It is clear that inaction isn’t an option here. I step out from behind cover, “She’s right, you know. There are more dangerous beasts lurking in this swamp than rats and frogs. To hear their songs would be magic but you’re lucky it was me that found you or you would be listening from inside their belly!”

I look from one to the other, taking in the scene, “What did this one do to deserve treatment like this? He doesn’t look like a threat to me and he’s making so much noise”

Still recruiting?

Rafon's Run Settlement:

"The Baron's house is overflowing with rivers of blood and bile. We've had to deal with the undead and we have yet to find anyone alive. Nor see any demons."

Ulrich will start to circle the fence, seeing if there is a back or side entrance. He will wave the others to stay close and to keep their eyes open.