Quivering Corruption (DM Lerus)

Looking over the edge of the forest, Utar can only guess about what might be found in there or how capable someone might have to be to live there.

Nature 14

As the other guests from the previous night appear, Utar nods confirmation to Lord Valero.

Neya looks to the forest and thinks back on the time she camped on the outskirts of in an unsuccessful attempt to investigate not long after the incident that closed the Tea Kettle. She finds it ironic that she is to do something like that again, and after a visit to the Tea Kettle, no less.

Nature: 11

"I have no questions, our role is crystal clear." She nods with conviction.

Graxx inhales through his nose deeply.

”It’s good to be back in the wild.  I’m ready to be on the hunt.”

Graxx is happy to be out of the fancy clothes and back in the wilderness.  He peers into the forest seeing if he notices what dangers may be present in this type of forest.

Nature: 7

CRAP takes a collective moment to try to make sense of the decay that is taking over a portion of the Quivering Forest. They discuss among themselves for a bit but can only agree on what Seranolla had already hinted at the night before: the green dragon's presence is magically infecting the natural life in its vicinity in an adverse manner. The more nitty-gritty details of how that transformation is taking place, and what exactly they might imply to their mission's chances of success, escape the adventuring party. In terms of dangerous wildlife, they can only guess at a number of strong beasts that could live within.

Lord Velro says: "Make your final preparations and leave to your tasks once ready. I will stay behind with Lady Dala and our retinues. We shall wait here until one of the groups sends word back regarding the exact location of the stronghold. Then, we will move in quickly and attack."

In terms of preparations, Dornal Whitebeard approaches CRAP with a small piece of parchment in hand. Brother Keefe is close behind, but remains silent. The dwarf still looks like he is under the influence of alcohol from the prior night, though his speech is quite clear: "This is a crude map the Lords' Alliance agents were able to draw. It shows nothing more than two separate paths leading into the forest. One hugs its southern edge, the other would lead you deeper into the forest." He pauses for a moment, noticing that his explanation needs a bit more context: "You see, the two supply wagons were taken two days ago. The Old Cult claimed ownership over one of them, the New Cult over the other. They each seem to prefer one of the routes I marked on this parchment, not allowing the other faction to use the one they picked. I guess their fundamental disagreement leads them into a petty rivalries like these. It will be their downfall."

He points to the route that hugs the southern edge of the forest: "We have learned that the Old Cult favors this path, while the New Cult prefers the one the leads deeper into the forest. They should eventually lead to the same place, we believe. It might be a storage cave or, if we are lucky, the stronghold itself. Unfortunately, you will only have enough time to follow one of the routes and, therefore, intercept only one of the supply wagons. You better take your pick now. Leaving one path and trying to find the other is not only dangerous but it is certain to delay our joint attack on the stronghold."

Dornal Whitebeard sounds much more serious than he did last night. Perhaps he is more focused on "game days." His breath still stinks of alcohol, though, and he is swaying a bit on his heels.

(OOC: After you make your collective choice, you can then start following the selected trail. All teams are waiting for your signal, now that Lord Valero gave you his blessing.)

"I could perhaps lead us through the deeper portions of the forest with relative ease, changed though it may be. But... one wrong mistake, and it would increase the odds of us running into all manner of malcontents." Doozey admits with some concern to his voice. "So with that in mind, if there's to be some sort of vote taken on this, mines would be we deal with the Old Cult and go from there." He then looks to Dornal and gives a small but grateful smile. "You have our thanks for this, Mr., er... Dornal, sir... ahem.. Sincerely."

Passing his thanks onto Dornal and Keefe, 

"Skirting the edge of the forest might allow us to pass unseen from the road and hopefully not draw too much attention. Although if the Cult is choosing to ambush traders as well, we might do well to disguise ourselves as such, travel in plain sight on the road itself."

Graxx takes his pike places on hand on it and let’s the end rest on the ground like a walking stick.

”If they’ve already got a load of goods we’d be better off just sticking to the trail in hopes to catch them.  Once we do however your disguising may be a good idea”

Graxx scratches his chin.

”If both trails lead to the same place we need to run one down before it reaches the destination or we’ll be fighting two groups at once.  If we run one down we can take their robes and continue to the main spot.  The disguises may allow us to get allow us to get close enough to decimate their ranks before they realize we are the enemy.”

”I say we choose the old cultist path.  They may be more complacent in their ways and be an easier target.”

"We should probably assume that the ones by the wagon are not the only ones in the immediate area. Since both factions of the cult are in the forest, they would probably be expecting an ambush from the other faction."

Dornal Whitebeard and Brother Keefe leave with a nod, allowing CRAP to deliberate and decide on their path. It doesn't take too long. Perhaps their unfinished business with the Wearer of Purple and the fact she sailed on the Third Dracolich are subconsciously making that decision for them. CRAP will seek to ambush the Old Cult's wagon.

Doozey ponders on the possibility of making his own path through the forest but decides against exposing the party to unnecessary danger. Utar wonders if they should follow the edge of the forest instead of the path, but Graxx prefers not to risk missing the cultists and advises the group to stay on the road. The party considers disguising themselves as cultist after completing their ambush, but Neya warns of potential infighting within the Cult. With the sketches of a plan, CRAP departs and the other teams use that as their signal to do the same.

(OOC: Because you have a map for this first section of the forest, I'll go ahead and use Doozey's passive survival score of 21 in his Favored Terrain in lieu of a roll. Between the map, Doozey's Natural Explorer feature, and Graxx's Wanderer feature, CRAP would not get lost. If the group gets to areas beyond their map or areas that are more magically corrupted, this assumption may no longer hold.)

Following the parchment delivered to them by Dornal Whitebeard, the adventurers trek through the Quivering Forest. As the expert on the matter, Doozey leads them at first through a patch that does not seem to be as corrupted as others. Nonetheless, the gloom deepens as the party travels farther into the woods. The trees thicken and twist closer together the more CRAP advances, often creating maze-like pathways. Villonah is in the middle on the marching order: "I'm adept at wilderness exploration myself, but I am glad to be following the four of you. The vegetation here has gotten out of hand!"

After 15 or so minutes of traversing the forest, the group reaches the pathway indicated on the map. A light fog hangs in the air, bringing with it the distinguishable acrid smell usually associated with poison. It is dispersed enough not to cause harm, though the warning is pretty clear. The group advances down the path a bit, counting on their early morning start to be indicative of them being well ahead of their target.

A few more minutes of walking lead the group into a bit of a clearing. The few shafts of sunlight that reach the ground are a sickly emerald green. There are several large stones in this clearing, placed in a circular form around a central stone that supports a dilapidated statue. The obvious brownish-red colors of blood stains adorn a few of the stones, especially the one supporting the weathered statue. This clearing does not show on the crude map you carry.

(OOC: Plenty of ability checks available folks. Have at it!)

Graxx sniffs the air...

"Poison... It's best to let me lead from here as my belt helps me resist poison.  If we want into a cloud that's more dense than another I'll have a better shot at survival than the rest of you."

Graxx walks a lap around the stone. 

"It's best not to linger here as we need to catch the cultist but his is most curious.  Maybe a sacrificial area?  I wonder how long it's been since they used it.  If it's fresh then maybe we are closer to the Old Cult than we thought."

Graxx leans down and rubs the blood stain with his fingers to see if any comes off.  If it does, how old does it seem to be?

Survival:  13

Weird arrangement of stones? Check. Blood stains visible on said weird arrangement of stones? Double check. Statue that makes him wish he paid more attention during his training?

Utar's hand is on his amulet before he can even begin mentally running through first deities associated with, at best, blood sacrifice. Casting guidance he begins running through possible contenders for this shrine.

Religion 19 plus 2

Neya will look around the stones, looking for any sort of engraving or other sort of marking on them.

Investigation: 6

"Can't say I'm exactly eager to bathe in poison for long myself, dwarven blood within me or not, and you're likely aren't far off. Though if so-..." Doozey trailed off there to look around. Though not so closely at the stone as he was on the area nearby, searching for any signs of either cultist or some other guardian potentially left in hiding in the area. It's at that point that Taters, pops out the pack and squeezes its way out to do the same. As soon as even the slightest sound or sight it jabs Doozey lightly in warning, then uses the same horn to direct the stoutling's gaze.

Before either can perhaps be lured into wandering a short distance away to make sure nothing is missed, Doozey sidles up to Villonah long enough to whispers, "In case I forgot to say this before... which knowing me, I probably did... I'm.. glad that we finally got to work together. It's not often I get to work together with someone that I don't need to crane my head up to speak with as much."

Doozey's Perception: 10.

Tater's Keen Senses: 25.

DM's Screen:

(OOC: What a series of fantastic rolls! Good job, gang.)

@Utar & @Neya: You divide and conquer while trying to make sense of the display in front of you. Neya identifies some ancient-looking script on the stones, but can't quite tell what the words say. She is aware, however, that the gentle swerves and precise carvings shape letters that resemble those most commonly used by elves. When she points this out to Utar, a spark goes off in his mind. Given the geographical location of the forest, it is not completely out of the ordinary to venture a guess that this was a shrine built by the elves of old, perhaps from Illefarn or Rilithar. The deity displayed in the central statue is, unfortunately, beyond recognition, but if his guess is accurate, this statue could be at least 1,200 years old. The blood stains, however, are certainly much more recent than that.

@Graxx: You examine some of the clues around you. You have already determined that this fog is, as of yet, not poisonous enough to cause any harm. That said, you also notice that the fog is quite opaque in nature. If a creature was to find a specially thick pocket of fog to hide within, it would be hard to spot them for that moment. Moving on to the brownish-red stains, you realize that the blood seems thinner than normal, almost as if it was mixed with something. Your belt-provided link with the dwarven folk allows you to deduce that some sort of venom has diluted the blood on these stones. You even note some venom spots that are not mixed with the blood, suggesting that they are a newer addition to the aesthetic of the place than the blood itself. The venom spots seem more random, almost drip-like, while the blood stain seem more purposefully placed.

@Doozey: You keep an eye out for danger while the others investigate. You can't stop thinking about saying something to Villonah though, so for the moment you don't seem too focused. Before she approaches you, however, you do spot something worth noting. At the edges of the clearing, dense thickets obscure anything beyond them. Their placement is still spotty in this area, so there are ways around them, but it would be easy to hide behind them. You also imagine that going through them would require some extra effort (difficult terrain.) Then, Villonah approaches. She tells you that she has noticed something about the trees. They are bent and twisted in ways that are unnatural for their type. Though this is not necessarily news to you, she seems convinced that this type of unnatural corruption is linked with the green dragon's presence within the forest. You agree, but can't help changing the subject. You mention how nice it is to be working with someone your size and she replies with a smile: "I know the feeling." Before she can say more, Taters interrupts both of you.

@All: Taters pokes Doozey and begins to make scared bunny noises such that every one notices his concern. Something is approaching the clearing and it seems large judging by the almiraj's reaction. Taters points west, the direction the threat is coming from. It is still obscured, for now, by a combination of the fog patches Graxx noticed and the thickets Doozey spotted. The party has but a few seconds to either run or prepare for a fight.

WHAT DO YOU DO?

(OOC: If fighting, feel free to go ahead and roll your own initiative as part of your preparations.)

Graxx raises his pike and tries to move to the side of the opening to the west so that he can face the threat.

Initiative:  13

The moment Tater's points out the target Doozey makes a sharp, low 'Kss!' sound to send him hiding in the underbrush away from noise. The Almiraj's time would come, but for now... "Whatever's coming will likely run us down. So ready yourselves." He warns any who seemed more hesitant than Graxx while drawing forth Pip and immediately slitting a non-essential finger for the crimson rite.

Initiative: 24.

Bonus Action/Free Action: Draw Pip and activate Crimson Rite, taking 2 damage in the process.

Action: Command Taters to Hide for 17.

Finding himself close to one of the large stones in the clearing Utar decides to take cover before making Lightbringer ready.

Initiative: 16

Neya turns her attention to the west prepares herself for what may emerge, with claws sprouting from her knuckles.

Initiative: 18

The party braces for a fight, quickly finding advantageous spots and gripping their weapons tightly. Doozey goes a step further by sacrificing some of his blood and ordering Taters to find a hiding spot. (Doozey takes 2 damage.)

Villonah straps her shield around one arm and makes her blade magically appear in her other hand, just like she did when she attacked Aleyd.

No more than a handful of seconds later, a large, lumbering green giant enters the clearing. It is bloated and misshapen. Its gut is larger on one side than the other, and its limbs look fragile in some places and robust in others. Pustules fester the creature's entire body, popping randomly and letting out blackish venom. It leaks from its pores to coat its fangs and claws too. It doesn't look natural; instead it looks like it has been ravaged by massive doses of venom and mutated into this aberration. The green-skinned giant looks around taking stock of its offering, and Graxx understands that it is counting out loud in the Giant language. The creature counts up to six, and Graxx (but not necessarily Doozey) realizes that this means the huge malformed beast has even smelled Taters' presence among the thickets.

ROLLING FOR INITIATIVE: