Torke leads with much confidence, but is unsure of the overall direction. Every so often, Wilcox will slightly point towards the correct path in amazement, expositing about the scenery, with Torke maintaining a lead just far off enough to see the subtle hints as to not betray himself to Wilcox or the group at large.
While there is not much in terms of usable vegetation, Torke has also harvested two green mushrooms from a dying tree that was passed. They appear to be still quiet fresh, as opposed to the rabbit which will likely have another day of use, at best, before the smell starts to actively repeal living things instead of attracting them.
Meanwhile, finishing the sentence, a shiver runs up Sam's spine, and he swings around staring into the dark air about the tops of the trees. It felt like something was observing them directly from a stationary position just above one tree in particular but there is nothing there.
Moments pass, and as the group continues along, the tree remains absolutely still save for the swaying in the wind. Sam moves on, weary.
Wilcox continues his even pace, maintaining a steady flow of "fun facts" about the nearby forest. Spirits, mythology, herbalism, and more all fill the air as he tells tale after tale. Eventually, he mentions again Father Lucas, and you find that the group of Undead at that Church were actually once mages. Lucas survived for years alone in that Church feasting on the magical energy of travelers seeking refuge. Once, long ago, Wilcox himself went there and put the mad Priest down, leaving many of the walking dead to stay, believing they would have simply rotted away. He took the Father to a hole Lucas had dug to hide another's body, and threw him in after etching protective runes over the casket.
He remarks that it may have been due to the magic left within the once Holy magician that the bodies of the undead managed to survive for so long. He then laughs, commenting that,
"As the only magical body LEFT in that area, surely that must be the case!"
A recipe taught to him by his tribe begins to surface in his thoughts: a mushroom stew with a rabbit devoid of its organs left with only its meat, mixed with some other few herbal spices and ingredients in his homeland. He quickly loses interest in Wilcox's ramblings as a form of hunger overtakes his thoughts. He turns toward the group suddenly to stop them, "I mayhaps to know a recipe for a rather invigorating stew from my homeland's ingredients. Would you mind if I were to detract from the trail and search for these ingredients? I am sure that even folk like you will enjoy it, to its least," Torke says, sprinkling a tone of sentiment as he speaks. His composure seems to loosen, and before he waits for a reply of approval, he strides away from the group to continue a personal search within the forests flora and fauna. He searches for firewood, simply cutting it down via clean and proficient cuts through weakened parts. Next, he searches for these herbal spices in mind, yet knows that it would not exactly be the same. Nonetheless, he aims to find enough to make one stew that all of them can have a portion of.
His longsword continues to glow slightly with each cut into the firewood, as if the blade reacts to it being used in a strange way, but willfully accepts Torke's duty. It seems as though Torke's demeanor has changed since the thought with one of his homeland's food crossed his path once more, like a sense of homesickness overshadowed by a wanderlust that led to where he is now.
Torke allows the Human Fighter Sam, to aid him as he searches for his recipe. Complacent with the results, he gingerly stores the three mushrooms and two green herbs into a medium-sized belt-pouch directly next to the rabbit cadaver hanging on his silk-leather belt.
Torke appreciates the change of the wind, removing the soggy effect and discomfort he only slightly really notices. He looks to the horizon to see that dull red now cracks the sky, and he grins slightly at the refreshing view, muttering under his breath, "Dawn breaks under the still-moving night," the longsword reacts to the sun via its tendrils showing without Torke's hands on the blade's hilt, but quickly fade afterward. Among those short moments however, it seems as though some of the tendrils have now begun to point upwards and dig itself directly into the white crystal of the longsword.
The Yuan-Ti still continues a watchful eye as the night begins to pass at a normal pace for both his movement and time. His tense posture lightens, yet there is no change on the upright position on his reptilian feet.
As Torke and Sam work towards a future meal, Wilcox continued to lead on, rambling about the valley to come. In his youth, it, along with the rest of this land, was covered in an ever present Winter, and the river that runs through it was the only recognizable thing that has endured. The forest, swamp, and hills that you had previously gone through, are all the results of imbalanced amounts of ice melting rapidly. Some areas flooded, some ares grew.
"At some point in time, before I came back for good but after I had come frequently, this land experienced a tremendous amount of heat, and loss of cold weather at the exact same time."
He explained how the inhabitants adapted or didn't, and how many of the more civilized tribes only moved in long after the ice had gone. He has a theory that the older peoples who traded in the highly rare goods, such as the gold and silver, were driven off by something directly related to the event but he has no evidence other than there disappearance not long after.
"It could have just as easily been that they didn't like the hot weather, and left."
As he finishes his tale, you all arrive at the edge of the Forest, and have come to the Valley.
The dull red sky has given way to a burnt orange, and dawn is close. For miles in both directions lie forest, a thick section of flat lands, and a mountain range, with the largest being directly in front of you all in the distance.
(One more post till river, feel free to explore the Valley)
With the ever growing light if dawn closing in, Sam wanders left of the group, walking alongside while surveying the land off the beaten path. In good fortunate, Sam stumbles across an ore outcrop thats apart of a string that have recently been mined. From the remains, he salvaged (4) iron ore and a single peice of a broken sapphire.
It is large enough to maintain a low level enchantment, such as upon a ring or amulet but not such as a staff or wand. There is a bright blue glow inside it.
FrostBite is disappointed to hear that the cold is gone. He looks at the view imagining what it would look like covered in the blinding starkness of white once again. Now that there is light on the horizon the Dragonborn is glad to be able to see where they are going. He will also take a look around to help collect resources. While looking he will keep an ear out for the voice on the wind.
This post has potentially manipulated dice roll results.
Torke Aldrehas
Torke takes the moment to abide his time, allowing his companions to roam about the unfamiliar landscape laid before him. This time, he does try to pay attention to Mr. Wilcox's ramblings, allowing him to finish his tale or whatnot. He speaks as the valley becomes clear to them, "A brief explanation of this valley would be helpful. I am not familar with this land form. Before we head onward towards the village, I would like to share a delicacy of my tribe's homelands once we reach the river," Torke says indirectly to Wilcox, glancing slightly to his direction as he speaks in the same cold manner of speech. He waits for his reply before a small pulse from his longsword registers into his mind, pulling him to reach within the valley to find what Sam found. He carefully strides away from the group, taking his liberty to search the valley specifically for the ore Sam had found.
He eventually catches up with Sam's pace, saying, "The Human Sam, was it? Right, well, I have an idea in mind for that ore of yours to be put to use, but we will need quite a few for the idea to be valid, trust me," Torke's tone becomes confident, unusual for his mannerisms, yet he strides past his companions to begin his own search.
Frostbite can notice that while that yes, the rain has stopped and the Dawn is rising, its getting unnaturally warmer as you all get closer to the river. Not uncomfortably so, but its there, and the wind seems silent, though it hasn't stopped since it began in the forest.
Meanwhile, while Torke's efforts are valiant, there is simply no more ore to be found in that small chain of rocks. Sam, trained well in the art of noticing good metal, had already expertly moved through the outcropping, picking it clean.
Sam smiles, politely but cautiously at Torke. "Yeah, Sam." He listens to Torke's vague proposal. "Perhaps. Have my own ideas, but I'm happy to keep looking with you.
I also found...this." He pulls the sapphire from his pack and turns to the rest of the group. "I don't have an ounce of magic flowing through me, but it seems like it could be useful at some point."
Prosinet joins the wanderings and heads right of the path. Wilcox takes special interest in the last member of the group to wander off, as this left him walking the path alone, and he follows Prosinet.
Muttering along behind him, Wilcox adds to Prosinet's search, mentioning the appearance of a rare kind of bee that appears in the fruit bearing bushes of the valley. Coming across the hive may yield ingredients that make healing potions more potent, and food taste much sweeter.
Unfortunately they do not come across a hive, or even a single bee, instead only finding a small patch of wild growing roots that are said to aid in digestion, and slow\reverse the spread of the poisons that occur in most snakes. By pulling the stalks above ground they manage to harvest enough to brew a full potion of the stuff.
Torke, through his efforts in vain, resorts to putting his focus onto Sam. Untrained with metallurgy and its craft, he relies on Sam's ability to find ore, of which he realizes soon afterward has already been picked clean. He does however, pay a good glance toward the broken sapphire, coming into thought of perhaps using it on a leather-ring he could try to make. Alas, he does not have the materials to do so, returning his gaze back to the view of the vast valley, indirectly talking to the Human Sam, "We could use that sapphire for perhaps some enhancing qualities on rather normal pieces such as necklaces, rings, the rest is up to my idea,"Torke briefly glances toward his masterpiece: the wolf-hide necklace of a charm, inlaid with varying gemstones that compliment its gray appearance, he visibly points his chin towards it for Sam to understand what he means, before continuing, "Anyway, my idea would require somewhere to process these ores you have found. I do not know the specifics of the nomenclature of your talent, but we will need to find somewhere suited for the process, yes?" Torke replies, unsure but believing that Sam knows enough to fill in the details he has not disclosed.
Torke tries to rally his party together to continue the path together, the uncertainty of this landscape driving him to be more tense than usual, the sense of cautious behaviour emanating from his facial expression and body language.
"If we find a forge somewhere along the way, I can work with them," Sam considers Torke's proposal. "You can tell me more of your idea along the way, too. And about this sapphire...do you mean you can make something magic that isn't magic? So I could wear some kind of enchanted ring or something?"
"If we find a forge somewhere along the way, I can work with them," Sam considers Torke's proposal. "You can tell me more of your idea along the way, too. And about this sapphire...do you mean you can make something magic that isn't magic? So I could wear some kind of enchanted ring or something?"
"I cannot be completely certain: I am no master of jewelry by my appearance, but there is some form of magic we could use to our advantage," Torke replies without making eye-contact with Sam, keeping a stern eye among their surroundings while he is kept at his edge of caution.
With everyone having explored a bit, and the trail coming to an end, the massive bridge crossing the lake-wide river in front of you sits. A guard stands in the middle, spear in one hand, and horn in the other.
Wilcox explains that the Bridge defenses are exactly why he wanted to make haste to the river. While you won't find an inn accommodating within the village, they won't rent rooms to strangers, they allow many visitors to setup camp near the bridge so that they may enjoy some level of protection...and observation.
He offers everyone a rest, and explains that the next space they'll setup for one is base camp at the mountain.
3 small post signs denote a camp, a fishing rod, and large "X" over a person swimming near the bridge.
(You can now explore the river, choose to rest, etc. If you choose not to rest, I heavily advise you not engage the guard in a hostile manner. You won't be crossing just yet...)
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
To post a comment, please login or register a new account.
"...voice?" Sam turns and looks behind them. "I didn't hear any voice."
Sam generally looks around as they move. Perception: 17
"Let me know what you want me to be on the lookout for," he says to the group.
DM - Above & Below
Torke leads with much confidence, but is unsure of the overall direction. Every so often, Wilcox will slightly point towards the correct path in amazement, expositing about the scenery, with Torke maintaining a lead just far off enough to see the subtle hints as to not betray himself to Wilcox or the group at large.
While there is not much in terms of usable vegetation, Torke has also harvested two green mushrooms from a dying tree that was passed. They appear to be still quiet fresh, as opposed to the rabbit which will likely have another day of use, at best, before the smell starts to actively repeal living things instead of attracting them.
Meanwhile, finishing the sentence, a shiver runs up Sam's spine, and he swings around staring into the dark air about the tops of the trees. It felt like something was observing them directly from a stationary position just above one tree in particular but there is nothing there.
Moments pass, and as the group continues along, the tree remains absolutely still save for the swaying in the wind. Sam moves on, weary.
Wilcox continues his even pace, maintaining a steady flow of "fun facts" about the nearby forest. Spirits, mythology, herbalism, and more all fill the air as he tells tale after tale. Eventually, he mentions again Father Lucas, and you find that the group of Undead at that Church were actually once mages. Lucas survived for years alone in that Church feasting on the magical energy of travelers seeking refuge. Once, long ago, Wilcox himself went there and put the mad Priest down, leaving many of the walking dead to stay, believing they would have simply rotted away. He took the Father to a hole Lucas had dug to hide another's body, and threw him in after etching protective runes over the casket.
He remarks that it may have been due to the magic left within the once Holy magician that the bodies of the undead managed to survive for so long. He then laughs, commenting that,
"As the only magical body LEFT in that area, surely that must be the case!"
He then begins in on another topic...
(First hour gone, one more hour in the Forest)
Torke Aldrehas
A recipe taught to him by his tribe begins to surface in his thoughts: a mushroom stew with a rabbit devoid of its organs left with only its meat, mixed with some other few herbal spices and ingredients in his homeland. He quickly loses interest in Wilcox's ramblings as a form of hunger overtakes his thoughts. He turns toward the group suddenly to stop them, "I mayhaps to know a recipe for a rather invigorating stew from my homeland's ingredients. Would you mind if I were to detract from the trail and search for these ingredients? I am sure that even folk like you will enjoy it, to its least," Torke says, sprinkling a tone of sentiment as he speaks. His composure seems to loosen, and before he waits for a reply of approval, he strides away from the group to continue a personal search within the forests flora and fauna. He searches for firewood, simply cutting it down via clean and proficient cuts through weakened parts. Next, he searches for these herbal spices in mind, yet knows that it would not exactly be the same. Nonetheless, he aims to find enough to make one stew that all of them can have a portion of.
His longsword continues to glow slightly with each cut into the firewood, as if the blade reacts to it being used in a strange way, but willfully accepts Torke's duty. It seems as though Torke's demeanor has changed since the thought with one of his homeland's food crossed his path once more, like a sense of homesickness overshadowed by a wanderlust that led to where he is now.
Survival: roll value- 15
Sam will alternate between helping Torke search for ingredients, and generally scanning the trees for anything that might be watching them.
11
DM - Above & Below
Sam and Torkes combined efforts produce a healthy mixture of herbs and mushrooms suitable for crafting.
Sam finds a green mushroom and Torke finds two green herbs. [Enough to make a single serving of stew for each person with some water]
As Wilcox continues his stories, and the other two search about the woods, the rain seems to lessen, and the darkness seems to grow into a dull red.
A wind has picked up, and in a welcoming gesture, seems to be blowing the slowing rain atop the trees into others away from you all.
In this way, it almost feels like it isn't raining, even though the trees surrounding you seem to be dripping.
Torke Aldrehas
Torke allows the Human Fighter Sam, to aid him as he searches for his recipe. Complacent with the results, he gingerly stores the three mushrooms and two green herbs into a medium-sized belt-pouch directly next to the rabbit cadaver hanging on his silk-leather belt.
Torke appreciates the change of the wind, removing the soggy effect and discomfort he only slightly really notices. He looks to the horizon to see that dull red now cracks the sky, and he grins slightly at the refreshing view, muttering under his breath, "Dawn breaks under the still-moving night," the longsword reacts to the sun via its tendrils showing without Torke's hands on the blade's hilt, but quickly fade afterward. Among those short moments however, it seems as though some of the tendrils have now begun to point upwards and dig itself directly into the white crystal of the longsword.
The Yuan-Ti still continues a watchful eye as the night begins to pass at a normal pace for both his movement and time. His tense posture lightens, yet there is no change on the upright position on his reptilian feet.
Perception: roll value- 5
Torke looks into the dull crimson air and sees clouds moving in the wind.
As Torke and Sam work towards a future meal, Wilcox continued to lead on, rambling about the valley to come. In his youth, it, along with the rest of this land, was covered in an ever present Winter, and the river that runs through it was the only recognizable thing that has endured. The forest, swamp, and hills that you had previously gone through, are all the results of imbalanced amounts of ice melting rapidly. Some areas flooded, some ares grew.
"At some point in time, before I came back for good but after I had come frequently, this land experienced a tremendous amount of heat, and loss of cold weather at the exact same time."
He explained how the inhabitants adapted or didn't, and how many of the more civilized tribes only moved in long after the ice had gone. He has a theory that the older peoples who traded in the highly rare goods, such as the gold and silver, were driven off by something directly related to the event but he has no evidence other than there disappearance not long after.
"It could have just as easily been that they didn't like the hot weather, and left."
As he finishes his tale, you all arrive at the edge of the Forest, and have come to the Valley.
The dull red sky has given way to a burnt orange, and dawn is close. For miles in both directions lie forest, a thick section of flat lands, and a mountain range, with the largest being directly in front of you all in the distance.
(One more post till river, feel free to explore the Valley)
Sam's Valley perception: 20
DM - Above & Below
With the ever growing light if dawn closing in, Sam wanders left of the group, walking alongside while surveying the land off the beaten path. In good fortunate, Sam stumbles across an ore outcrop thats apart of a string that have recently been mined. From the remains, he salvaged (4) iron ore and a single peice of a broken sapphire.
It is large enough to maintain a low level enchantment, such as upon a ring or amulet but not such as a staff or wand. There is a bright blue glow inside it.
FrostBite is disappointed to hear that the cold is gone. He looks at the view imagining what it would look like covered in the blinding starkness of white once again. Now that there is light on the horizon the Dragonborn is glad to be able to see where they are going. He will also take a look around to help collect resources. While looking he will keep an ear out for the voice on the wind.
Perception 8
Torke Aldrehas
Torke takes the moment to abide his time, allowing his companions to roam about the unfamiliar landscape laid before him. This time, he does try to pay attention to Mr. Wilcox's ramblings, allowing him to finish his tale or whatnot. He speaks as the valley becomes clear to them, "A brief explanation of this valley would be helpful. I am not familar with this land form. Before we head onward towards the village, I would like to share a delicacy of my tribe's homelands once we reach the river," Torke says indirectly to Wilcox, glancing slightly to his direction as he speaks in the same cold manner of speech. He waits for his reply before a small pulse from his longsword registers into his mind, pulling him to reach within the valley to find what Sam found. He carefully strides away from the group, taking his liberty to search the valley specifically for the ore Sam had found.
He eventually catches up with Sam's pace, saying, "The Human Sam, was it? Right, well, I have an idea in mind for that ore of yours to be put to use, but we will need quite a few for the idea to be valid, trust me," Torke's tone becomes confident, unusual for his mannerisms, yet he strides past his companions to begin his own search.
Perception: roll value - 6
Frostbite can notice that while that yes, the rain has stopped and the Dawn is rising, its getting unnaturally warmer as you all get closer to the river. Not uncomfortably so, but its there, and the wind seems silent, though it hasn't stopped since it began in the forest.
Meanwhile, while Torke's efforts are valiant, there is simply no more ore to be found in that small chain of rocks. Sam, trained well in the art of noticing good metal, had already expertly moved through the outcropping, picking it clean.
Prosinet will spend the journey searching for herbs and plants in the valley.
Survival 11
Trumann Bloth | Loxodon Grave Cleric | War of the Green
Prosinet Fizzlepurtet | Gnome Wizard | The Wilcox Experiment
Sam smiles, politely but cautiously at Torke. "Yeah, Sam." He listens to Torke's vague proposal. "Perhaps. Have my own ideas, but I'm happy to keep looking with you.
I also found...this." He pulls the sapphire from his pack and turns to the rest of the group. "I don't have an ounce of magic flowing through me, but it seems like it could be useful at some point."
DM - Above & Below
Prosinet joins the wanderings and heads right of the path. Wilcox takes special interest in the last member of the group to wander off, as this left him walking the path alone, and he follows Prosinet.
Muttering along behind him, Wilcox adds to Prosinet's search, mentioning the appearance of a rare kind of bee that appears in the fruit bearing bushes of the valley. Coming across the hive may yield ingredients that make healing potions more potent, and food taste much sweeter.
Unfortunately they do not come across a hive, or even a single bee, instead only finding a small patch of wild growing roots that are said to aid in digestion, and slow\reverse the spread of the poisons that occur in most snakes. By pulling the stalks above ground they manage to harvest enough to brew a full potion of the stuff.
Torke Aldrehas
Torke, through his efforts in vain, resorts to putting his focus onto Sam. Untrained with metallurgy and its craft, he relies on Sam's ability to find ore, of which he realizes soon afterward has already been picked clean. He does however, pay a good glance toward the broken sapphire, coming into thought of perhaps using it on a leather-ring he could try to make. Alas, he does not have the materials to do so, returning his gaze back to the view of the vast valley, indirectly talking to the Human Sam, "We could use that sapphire for perhaps some enhancing qualities on rather normal pieces such as necklaces, rings, the rest is up to my idea," Torke briefly glances toward his masterpiece: the wolf-hide necklace of a charm, inlaid with varying gemstones that compliment its gray appearance, he visibly points his chin towards it for Sam to understand what he means, before continuing, "Anyway, my idea would require somewhere to process these ores you have found. I do not know the specifics of the nomenclature of your talent, but we will need to find somewhere suited for the process, yes?" Torke replies, unsure but believing that Sam knows enough to fill in the details he has not disclosed.
Torke tries to rally his party together to continue the path together, the uncertainty of this landscape driving him to be more tense than usual, the sense of cautious behaviour emanating from his facial expression and body language.
"If we find a forge somewhere along the way, I can work with them," Sam considers Torke's proposal. "You can tell me more of your idea along the way, too. And about this sapphire...do you mean you can make something magic that isn't magic? So I could wear some kind of enchanted ring or something?"
DM - Above & Below
"I cannot be completely certain: I am no master of jewelry by my appearance, but there is some form of magic we could use to our advantage," Torke replies without making eye-contact with Sam, keeping a stern eye among their surroundings while he is kept at his edge of caution.
With everyone having explored a bit, and the trail coming to an end, the massive bridge crossing the lake-wide river in front of you sits. A guard stands in the middle, spear in one hand, and horn in the other.
Wilcox explains that the Bridge defenses are exactly why he wanted to make haste to the river. While you won't find an inn accommodating within the village, they won't rent rooms to strangers, they allow many visitors to setup camp near the bridge so that they may enjoy some level of protection...and observation.
He offers everyone a rest, and explains that the next space they'll setup for one is base camp at the mountain.
3 small post signs denote a camp, a fishing rod, and large "X" over a person swimming near the bridge.
(You can now explore the river, choose to rest, etc. If you choose not to rest, I heavily advise you not engage the guard in a hostile manner. You won't be crossing just yet...)