Gwin espies Rixton waving at their party and says to Mola and Rawley, It looks like the elf is having success, but before we join him I have a few more questions for this wounded Tree Ghost. And then we must decide what's to be done with him.
Gwin kneels down next to the injured Uthgardt and draws his head into her lap. Pulling out her water skin she pours a bit of refreshment into his parched mouth. Speaking slowly in Common she asks, Now friend, what is your name and how is it that you came here? What happened to you and the others? Have you seen any yikaria? Looking up toward where Rixton is making his climb she continues, My friend is making an ascent to the....well, I don't know if I'd call him friend, more like companion. Even companion sounds a bit too friendly. Perhaps ally? Comrade? I don't know. I never expected to trust a *mendûnost, knurlnien mebelkhags, but here we are. The first thing he ever said to me was an insult, which was wholly uncalled for. I was simply being friendly, yes? We could all use a bit more kindness in our lives. In fact, there was this one time.....Gwin's words trail off as she realizes by the looks on the faces of Mola, and especially Rawley (who had yet to be treated to one of the cleric's ramblings), that her tongue has once again run away with her. Oh dear, she says to the confused Tree Ghost, I'm afraid I've gotten off topic, haven't I? In short, that fellow up there (she points in the direction of Rixton), is he in any immediate danger?
Mola and Gwin set to work on conversing with the Tree Ghost while Rawley watches the canyon floor and walls for signs of anything unexpected or unpleasant. The sudden shift in circumstances--being saved from a near death experience and thrust into a world of stories and questions--cause the barbarian to be rather uncertain about formulating an appropriate response. "Therevan. Denevald," he mutters softly.
Then shaking himself free of Gwin's attention, he looks at his dead tribe members, then at Mola, then at Rawley, then at Gwin, and lastly at Rixton as he scrambles (awkwardly, at first) up the canyon wall. Rixtonslips on the rocks, giving himself a lovely goose egg on his forehead while simultaneously sending a shower of gravel and debris tumbling down the face of the cliff.
Whether the Tree Ghost is ignoring Gwin's litany of questions or simply can't recall what all of them are is unclear, but when he does speak, he points at one of the dead Tree Ghosts and says, "He is the one. Needletongue. He has done this...No, he did not do this...he was bewitched...he bewitched all of us...he...he..."
The Three Ghost's voice grows stronger and more frantic as he speaks. As his voice trails off, he stands up and stares toward Rixton, who has now reached the narrow crevasse. "There. That is where they are. They threw us from that place," he explains with an almost hollow tone in his voice.
Rawley sees no signs of trouble anywhere in the canyon, and Rixton, now at the mouth of the crevasse, stares into a narrow passage way that leads directly east. On the floor of the passageway he sees a few spears and a greataxe, which he immediately recognizes as weapons of the Tree Ghost tribe.
Rixtonsteps out and waves to the others to come to him. "If you are quite finished having tea, I think we've found the way forward," he says in a public speaking voice but not loud enough to be yelling.
"What's your name, friend? I'm Mola. I'm sorry for the loss of your fellows here. We're going to go do something bad to the yak-men. Trust you can make it home. Let Denevald know."
Mola begins to slowly climb up to join Rixton, using the ropes.
"I am called Anek," he replies. "Denevald and the tribe must know that Needletongue was not himself. A yak-folk took hold of his thoughts and actions. It is strange to say, but that is what happened. And now the yak-folk seek a different path beneath the Great Tree. Farewell."
Anek methodically continues to bury his dead, content to allow the menace of the yak-folk to be on someone else's shoulders.
Since Anek is performing his own rituals upon the dead, Gwin does not interfere with her own. With hands on hips, she looks up to where Rixton has saluted them and shakes her head. Dwarves were not made for climbing. Calling up to Rixton she asks, Can you secure the rope to something so at the very least I only have to climb 60 feet without rope? You know what they say, the harder they climb, the harder they'll fall, (one and all).
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
‘The hardest thing in this world is to live in it.’ - Buffy Summers
Could Mola shift to a giant spider and ferry everyone up? It's a last resort if the climbing's going to be too hard, but he's willing to do it. Been a long day though and he'll be out of wildshapes, for any later fights. "Do we think there's a whole nest of yaks up there? I wish we had some kind of way to protect our minds. They'll try to take ours."
Rixton's route up the canyon wall was direct and, therefore, more technical. Mola, Gwin, and Rawley are able to mark out a path that will cut back and forth across the canyon and allow them to reach the crevasse in the rock without using climbing equipment.
Roughly ten minutes later, the four adventurers stare into the narrow, pitch black tunnel that cuts into the rock. The Tree Ghosts' weapons lie upon the floor, and, if Anek is correct, five yikaria who are being led by a grey gnome, are somewhere ahead.
Once at the top, Gwin surveys the scene. Hmmmmm, she mutters quietly, rubbing her invisible beard. This might be an excellent time to use my third eye, my ARCANE eye. As 'arcane' comes out of her mouth, she swirls a hand above her and puts extra emphasis on the word as if she's a magician doing a trick. The cleric reaches into her backpack and pulls out what appears to be a tiny tuft of fur. Looking over at Mola she says, I promise, my friend, the bat was already dead when I harvested its fur. Then repeating the swirl pattern above her head, she utters a short incantation, Invisible eye go far from me, show me, show me, what you see, and as she does so Gwin releases the tuft of fur and it floats away down the tunnel.
Arcane Eye (she'll be using her Pearl of Power to regain the necessary spell slot)
Let's assume she sends the eye approximately 100 feet ahead of them.
For the next six or seven minutes, the four adventurers follow the narrow path through the rock, receiving periodic summaries from Gwinabout what her arcane eye is seeing on the path ahead. The path is, initially, straightforward, with no connecting passageways to the left or right. Eventually, however, Gwin's magical eye conveys to her that the tunnel through the rock comes to an end. The only way forward is to descend what seems to be a vertical shaft.
The cleric commands the magical eye to float down the shaft, and after what seems to be a drop of sixty or seventy feet, she sees a tunnel leading east (generally) that, after approximately 80' forks to the left and right. The walls, ceiling, and floor of the tunnel are jagged and rough.
Rixtonlooks back the way they came, reconstructing the events of their quarry. After a time, he says, "They seek an underground path to the Grandfather Tree," he says. Clapping Molaon the back, he adds, "Be a gent and lower us down, would you?"
Rixton unslings two coils of silk rope from his shoulder onto the floor. All the while, he tries to gauge the general direction of the grandfather tree to determine which path below will be more likely to take them towards it.
Survival: 9
He shakes his head, muttering to himself as they prepare their descent.
The tunnel has been, generally speaking, running in an eastward direction; so, where the tunnel splits, it seems one path leads northward and one southward. Harper headquarters lie to the northwest (in Everlund); the Grandfather Tree stands almost due west from Hellgate Keep.
Rawley just observes and follows quietly. He has a very keen sense of direction, but so far nothing the others have surmised of their path has been off too much.
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
To post a comment, please login or register a new account.
Gwin espies Rixton waving at their party and says to Mola and Rawley, It looks like the elf is having success, but before we join him I have a few more questions for this wounded Tree Ghost. And then we must decide what's to be done with him.
Gwin kneels down next to the injured Uthgardt and draws his head into her lap. Pulling out her water skin she pours a bit of refreshment into his parched mouth. Speaking slowly in Common she asks, Now friend, what is your name and how is it that you came here? What happened to you and the others? Have you seen any yikaria? Looking up toward where Rixton is making his climb she continues, My friend is making an ascent to the....well, I don't know if I'd call him friend, more like companion. Even companion sounds a bit too friendly. Perhaps ally? Comrade? I don't know. I never expected to trust a *mendûnost, knurlnien mebelkhags, but here we are. The first thing he ever said to me was an insult, which was wholly uncalled for. I was simply being friendly, yes? We could all use a bit more kindness in our lives. In fact, there was this one time.....Gwin's words trail off as she realizes by the looks on the faces of Mola, and especially Rawley (who had yet to be treated to one of the cleric's ramblings), that her tongue has once again run away with her. Oh dear, she says to the confused Tree Ghost, I'm afraid I've gotten off topic, haven't I? In short, that fellow up there (she points in the direction of Rixton), is he in any immediate danger?
*beardless, heart of stone elf
‘The hardest thing in this world is to live in it.’ - Buffy Summers
Mola's just grinning at Gwin, and listening.
Mola and Gwin set to work on conversing with the Tree Ghost while Rawley watches the canyon floor and walls for signs of anything unexpected or unpleasant. The sudden shift in circumstances--being saved from a near death experience and thrust into a world of stories and questions--cause the barbarian to be rather uncertain about formulating an appropriate response. "Therevan. Denevald," he mutters softly.
Then shaking himself free of Gwin's attention, he looks at his dead tribe members, then at Mola, then at Rawley, then at Gwin, and lastly at Rixton as he scrambles (awkwardly, at first) up the canyon wall. Rixton slips on the rocks, giving himself a lovely goose egg on his forehead while simultaneously sending a shower of gravel and debris tumbling down the face of the cliff.
Whether the Tree Ghost is ignoring Gwin's litany of questions or simply can't recall what all of them are is unclear, but when he does speak, he points at one of the dead Tree Ghosts and says, "He is the one. Needletongue. He has done this...No, he did not do this...he was bewitched...he bewitched all of us...he...he..."
The Three Ghost's voice grows stronger and more frantic as he speaks. As his voice trails off, he stands up and stares toward Rixton, who has now reached the narrow crevasse. "There. That is where they are. They threw us from that place," he explains with an almost hollow tone in his voice.
Rawley sees no signs of trouble anywhere in the canyon, and Rixton, now at the mouth of the crevasse, stares into a narrow passage way that leads directly east. On the floor of the passageway he sees a few spears and a greataxe, which he immediately recognizes as weapons of the Tree Ghost tribe.
Rawley says, "How many are there?"
Rixton steps out and waves to the others to come to him. "If you are quite finished having tea, I think we've found the way forward," he says in a public speaking voice but not loud enough to be yelling.
"Five," responds the barbarian flatly. "They follow a guide, the grey-skinned gnome. Curse them all."
He then begins picking up stones and placing them atop his slain tribe members, creating a small cairn over each of them.
"What's your name, friend? I'm Mola. I'm sorry for the loss of your fellows here. We're going to go do something bad to the yak-men. Trust you can make it home. Let Denevald know."
Mola begins to slowly climb up to join Rixton, using the ropes.
"I am called Anek," he replies. "Denevald and the tribe must know that Needletongue was not himself. A yak-folk took hold of his thoughts and actions. It is strange to say, but that is what happened. And now the yak-folk seek a different path beneath the Great Tree. Farewell."
Anek methodically continues to bury his dead, content to allow the menace of the yak-folk to be on someone else's shoulders.
"Different path beneath the tree. Hmm." Mola says aloud, more to himself than broadcasting it, as he climbs up.
Technically, Rixton only had 100' of rope, so that is not enough to get all the way up to where he is now without pulling it up after him.
Since Anek is performing his own rituals upon the dead, Gwin does not interfere with her own. With hands on hips, she looks up to where Rixton has saluted them and shakes her head. Dwarves were not made for climbing. Calling up to Rixton she asks, Can you secure the rope to something so at the very least I only have to climb 60 feet without rope? You know what they say, the harder they climb, the harder they'll fall, (one and all).
‘The hardest thing in this world is to live in it.’ - Buffy Summers
Could Mola shift to a giant spider and ferry everyone up? It's a last resort if the climbing's going to be too hard, but he's willing to do it. Been a long day though and he'll be out of wildshapes, for any later fights. "Do we think there's a whole nest of yaks up there? I wish we had some kind of way to protect our minds. They'll try to take ours."
Rixton's route up the canyon wall was direct and, therefore, more technical. Mola, Gwin, and Rawley are able to mark out a path that will cut back and forth across the canyon and allow them to reach the crevasse in the rock without using climbing equipment.
Roughly ten minutes later, the four adventurers stare into the narrow, pitch black tunnel that cuts into the rock. The Tree Ghosts' weapons lie upon the floor, and, if Anek is correct, five yikaria who are being led by a grey gnome, are somewhere ahead.
Once at the top, Gwin surveys the scene. Hmmmmm, she mutters quietly, rubbing her invisible beard. This might be an excellent time to use my third eye, my ARCANE eye. As 'arcane' comes out of her mouth, she swirls a hand above her and puts extra emphasis on the word as if she's a magician doing a trick. The cleric reaches into her backpack and pulls out what appears to be a tiny tuft of fur. Looking over at Mola she says, I promise, my friend, the bat was already dead when I harvested its fur. Then repeating the swirl pattern above her head, she utters a short incantation, Invisible eye go far from me, show me, show me, what you see, and as she does so Gwin releases the tuft of fur and it floats away down the tunnel.
Arcane Eye (she'll be using her Pearl of Power to regain the necessary spell slot)
Let's assume she sends the eye approximately 100 feet ahead of them.
‘The hardest thing in this world is to live in it.’ - Buffy Summers
For the next six or seven minutes, the four adventurers follow the narrow path through the rock, receiving periodic summaries from Gwin about what her arcane eye is seeing on the path ahead. The path is, initially, straightforward, with no connecting passageways to the left or right. Eventually, however, Gwin's magical eye conveys to her that the tunnel through the rock comes to an end. The only way forward is to descend what seems to be a vertical shaft.
The cleric commands the magical eye to float down the shaft, and after what seems to be a drop of sixty or seventy feet, she sees a tunnel leading east (generally) that, after approximately 80' forks to the left and right. The walls, ceiling, and floor of the tunnel are jagged and rough.
Rixton looks back the way they came, reconstructing the events of their quarry. After a time, he says, "They seek an underground path to the Grandfather Tree," he says. Clapping Mola on the back, he adds, "Be a gent and lower us down, would you?"
Rixton unslings two coils of silk rope from his shoulder onto the floor. All the while, he tries to gauge the general direction of the grandfather tree to determine which path below will be more likely to take them towards it.
Survival: 9
He shakes his head, muttering to himself as they prepare their descent.
Can Mola help figure out the direction based on where his compass is reading the direction back to Harper HQ?
The tunnel has been, generally speaking, running in an eastward direction; so, where the tunnel splits, it seems one path leads northward and one southward. Harper headquarters lie to the northwest (in Everlund); the Grandfather Tree stands almost due west from Hellgate Keep.
While everyone else is being lowered down the shaft, Rixton will investigate the fork for clues as to which direction their quarry may have gone.
Investigation: 10
Rawley just observes and follows quietly. He has a very keen sense of direction, but so far nothing the others have surmised of their path has been off too much.