The tortle turned to his Elvish companion and in an ominous voice said, "something is preventing the creature from being healed. It seems when I spoke of restless spirits earlier I was more right than even I knew."Then as the deer legs kicked air then stopped Genesh thought the creature had died only to see it rise again. The tortle once more turned to Irenia, "in any event I think it safe to say, this one we don't eat, I think I will definitely stick to fish in these woods."
Genesh sat down an for the next ten minutes attempts to cast Detect Magic as a ritual so that if the deer stays around long enough look at it and the woods with it active.
The catfish agrees to the terms and raises one hand pointing down the river. It resumes its course and you all begin floating that direction as it jumps into the water. For a moment, it appears as if the cheeky giant was going to let you float all the way as it disappeared into the depths, only for Elisha, then John, and finally Olwer to be pulled into the water without it surfacing once. Each of you just kind of pop below the surface of the murky depths and feel yourselves pulled into a watery void. You don't even have enough time to go into shock from being eaten as you are violently vomited onto the shore in the same gush of water that pulled you under. From your current position, you can see that the time has not changed, yet you are across the river from the Elf village, three hours down river.
You see that the gates have closed for the night and there are no fires burning. The town is sleeping and sure to be under intense guard for at least a few more hours.
It would appear you have come to your destination before it opens, but, this is of little concern to the Catfish mystic. It turns to Olwer the moment he gathers his bearings.
“I realize that my method of transport can be uncomfortable. For that, I sincerely apologize, but we must move on if there's any hope of making this deal.”
It grins, pulling a scroll, inkwell and pen from a bag in his robe. You see that he has to untie a series of lace work that pulls tight several layers of differing colors of leather.
For all his efforts, the bag appears to be waterproof, and you could understand how someone like him would find that useful.
“So, what would you like more than anything in the world? I'd like to start there, then we can talk about what you can actually afford.”
It licks the tip of the pen, dipping it the ink, and sits down, legs crossed so that only the soles of its webbed feet shown.
At the Camp
Genesh's ritual does indeed reveal a magic that is consistent with how Necromancy is described. He can see an aura is coming from both the deer, and the specks of blood on the floor it left from when it walked up. They lead out of the camp.
The mystic pulls its chin for a moment considering the possibilities.
"Such a thing is within my power, yes."
There is a slight hesitation in its voice,
"May I ask, how did she depart this world? Specifically, was she at peace with how her passing came to be?
While this conversation is taking place, John is eyeing that river and locked guarded gate. He's thinking to himself that such a waterway is awful short considering on the other side is potential freedom. He looks over at Elisha and whispers something...
"Hey!...Hey!....Hi! I'm John, local investor, probable innocent man, mind helping me out?"
He ruffles his clothes about a bit, and pulls out a gold coin with some heavy markings on one side.
"If you let me go, you can have this, and one day you'll be richer than you can imagine!"
He shrugs his head towards the giant fish,
"C'mon, you don't really want to be involved with this anymore right? And, you don't even know why they arrested me. THEY don't even know why they arrested me. Just let me swim over to that town and you can have the coin."
At the Camp...
The night wind continues to blow as Genesh surveys the glowing blood and deer. Irenia sees it stall here and there, often sniffing about the ground with an unsure gate.
''At peace? She was hanged as a spy. I can't be sure how'd she'd react to...."
Olwer frowns
''I've heard stories about the dead who come backangry, dangerous. I don't know the truth of such tales. I knowI'd never want such a fate to befall Arbella. I want her back, but... If you cannot bring her safely back to me, could you somehow let me see her or go to her, wherever she is now, so that I could at least say goodbye, talk to her one last time. One kiss... She died alone on that scaffold.''
The being takes a moment to conjure the proper response. Its hesitation clear,
“Anytime the living and dead interact, safety is expressly a concern of the former. I cannot predict the outcome, merely provide an opportunity, the scale of which is a matter of cost.”
Elisha...
John's telling as much of the truth as he is able to, yet his words were about as carefully chosen as the gigantic fish. He's clearly trying to evade a specific response and invoke your sympathy.
Whether or not that condemns him to a crime he's yet to be proven of committing, who can say?
He's definitely guilty of something...
At the Camp... (Genesh Passive Perception 15) (Irenia Passive Perception 13)
You both can see\hear the group returning. They carry nothing, yet they seem satisficed. Before the last of them can fully catch up, however, he beckons a second person over. They look into the trees and follow out of sight for a moment. Then they return, one wiping his boot heavily into the dirt.
The rest of them wait for the two in-between yourselves and the deer, none of them giving it any particular attention. Genesh can see that this necrotic aura is smothered all over the dirt he just wiped from his boot. Each step that one takes leaves similar foot shaped pattern of aura glowing as the deer's blood print.
As they return to full, the leader walks right up to the deer and places a hand on its neck gently stroking its fur. It leans into him like it knows him, and for a moment calms and stops walking.
Then it crumbles into in his lap, slowly closing its bleached pupils. He sits down to accommodate the animals form, continuing to brush its fur as he does. Before long, the deer's legs stop moving again, its aura fading to a dull flicker, and the leader nods to two of the others. The two run to the right of him and pull a blanket off of one of the beds to help wrap the deer up. When finished, the leader lowered the red bundle down near the fire.
Genesh looks at the warm blanket, and sees the fainting aura finally disappear.
“If you can believe it, such things are a normal occurrence during winter. The darkness just becomes a little more so, and the cold brings out the truest desperation to stay alive. Tonight, we drove off a very dangerous creature, and we have you two to thank for our ability to hunt it with a clear mind. I thank you.”
He bows graciously before you, the rest follow even lower than he. They begin pouring drinks, offering you two a pair of glasses with a single shot of alcohol. Whether you take them or not, they solemnly lift their glasses above the deer, high into the air, and down it without a word. The leader walks into his tent, the others making small talk with each other, or similarly sitting down at their spot. As they do so, one of them removes their arm bands, and a small trinket falls to the ground. When he lean over to retrieve it, Irenia notices a symbol.
Its something she hasn't seen since she was a child. A tattoo. More specifically, a gang tattoo. A gang tattoo from the City of Croplyn. His withered arm skin was wrinkled, but there was no mistaking it.
He makes nothing of it, placing the item into his pocket and removing his other arm band and leaning back on his straw made bed, hands behind his head staring at the stars. He exhales deeply, a man content.
Elisha will reply to John: "I grow tired of everyone dancing around the events of what happened the night of the fire. I want answers.....What happened that night? You say you didn't start the fire but you are guilty of other things. Start with what happened to cause the fire and who caused it. And after that what are you guilty of? In our questioning of members of the town everyone seemed to have a pretty high opinion of you....that you where doing good things....'investing' in the town. Where did that go wrong? I don't want to see someone convicted of a crime they did not do so, now is the time for truth."
John immediately raises his arms trying to wave without drawing attention. He whispers back...
"Hey hey hey! They'll hear you!! Alright, I'd admit, I slept with Catherine and I kind of goaded Chris on about it that night at the tavern. He was being extremely rude and I'd honestly just had it with that pathetic loser. We got into it and I knocked over a lantern running to him but i swear that it looked like the place literally exploded, there's no way that one little lamp could have burned the whole thing down!"
He puzzles uncomfortably,
"Ok maybe I started the fire but there's no way that it could have done that much damage! I'm being framed! It was the elves!"
Olwer and the Catfish are made immediately aware of John and Elisha's conversation when he suddenly erupts into the air running for the water shouting half hearted apologies that sound more like a pleading not to be beaten than an actual show of remorse.
The tortle attentively watched the proceedings with the deer until finished, when the leader lowered the red bundle with the deer inside down near the fire. Genesh observed the aura eventually disappear. The tortle reflected on the leader's words. Genesh does not ordinarily drink alcohol but not wishing to offend his hosts the tortle graciously accepted the glass offered him and followed their example by solemnly lifting his glass as well above the deer, high into the air, and downed the contents of his glass...
When an appropriate moment, presented itself... the tortle politely spoke to the group leader. "You are a very gracious host, and my companion and I are pleased to assist you any way that we are able... thus looking after your camp was the very least we could do as grateful guests. I am curious though... about the deer... perhaps you could enlighten me. The deer is or was no longer truly living... but in some sort of state of undeath? But now is it truly dead and no longer alive or in an undead state... if so what did you do if anything to release it? I am a newcomer to these woods and a servant of Azuth, Lord of Spells, and the God of Wizards, and very keen to hear more about this dangerous creature which you drove away that you are willing to share. I am curious as to what exactly it is and it's nature, what is it called or does it have a name?"
The Leader does not recognize this name, Azuth, claiming that such beings are beyond his comprehension regarding Wizards. He explains that he spoke with it (Speak with Dead) and that its internal voice was mostly silent. When this occurs, the being has accepted death and the body is running off the magic in its system like a battery. At that point all you have to do is wait, and keep the body warm because it lasts longer in the cold.
He explains that when they walked into camp, one of the rangers had heard something rubbing, like hair against wood, and invetisgated. He found the zombified head of a human in the mud, it's broken body lay some distance from its former owner. A rope and snapped branch were close as well, and he suspects the deer bumped into it before it dropped on the poor creature. Luckily it had been there for some time and the muscles turned paper thin, allowing for the deer's escape.
Unfortunately, the bite wound and broken antlers prove it was a struggle, one that the deer didn't lose but definitely didn't win either.
The leader finishes stating the ranger who found the head booted it into a greasy smear. The monster didn't make a sound.
"C'mon!! Let me go!!" John shouted back as Elisha tackled him to the ground. Bound and recaptured, the prisoner looked out once again at his freedom's watery gaze, and was promptly sat upon the ground.
The catfish mystic turned to the surprised Olwer and with a raised eyebrow simply purred, "Shall we continue? You were determining the scope of her...return."
Genesh listened intently as the group leader answered the tortle's questions. Genesh turned his gaze to his companion Irenia and then back again at the leader, "thank you for informing us of this monster... or is it monsters that prowl these gloomy woods? Tell me, is all it takes is a bite alone from one of these monsters to turn someone else into a monster as well or rather a bite and injuries, etc. severe enough to cause death for the victim to become a monster? Or are these wood truly cursed so that anything that dies within even without a bite become monsters? Please do excuse my ignorance, I just wish to determine specifically to be careful about. Are there many such monsters in these woods? Are you and your companions' guardians of these woods that hunting them falls to all of you?"
"C'mon!! Let me go!!" John shouted back as Elisha tackled him to the ground. Bound and recaptured, the prisoner looked out once again at his freedom's watery gaze, and was promptly sat upon the ground.
The catfish mystic turned to the surprised Olwer and with a raised eyebrow simply purred, "Shall we continue? You were determining the scope of her...return."
"Yes. I want her back, living, breathing, warm--a real woman, not a ghost. Can you do that? And at what price?"
Irenia curiously watches the deer, waiting to see what it does.
I have an intelligence of six, I know what I'm doing.
The tortle turned to his Elvish companion and in an ominous voice said, "something is preventing the creature from being healed. It seems when I spoke of restless spirits earlier I was more right than even I knew." Then as the deer legs kicked air then stopped Genesh thought the creature had died only to see it rise again. The tortle once more turned to Irenia, "in any event I think it safe to say, this one we don't eat, I think I will definitely stick to fish in these woods."
Genesh sat down an for the next ten minutes attempts to cast Detect Magic as a ritual so that if the deer stays around long enough look at it and the woods with it active.
At the River
The catfish agrees to the terms and raises one hand pointing down the river. It resumes its course and you all begin floating that direction as it jumps into the water. For a moment, it appears as if the cheeky giant was going to let you float all the way as it disappeared into the depths, only for Elisha, then John, and finally Olwer to be pulled into the water without it surfacing once. Each of you just kind of pop below the surface of the murky depths and feel yourselves pulled into a watery void. You don't even have enough time to go into shock from being eaten as you are violently vomited onto the shore in the same gush of water that pulled you under. From your current position, you can see that the time has not changed, yet you are across the river from the Elf village, three hours down river.
You see that the gates have closed for the night and there are no fires burning. The town is sleeping and sure to be under intense guard for at least a few more hours.
It would appear you have come to your destination before it opens, but, this is of little concern to the Catfish mystic. It turns to Olwer the moment he gathers his bearings.
“I realize that my method of transport can be uncomfortable. For that, I sincerely apologize, but we must move on if there's any hope of making this deal.”
It grins, pulling a scroll, inkwell and pen from a bag in his robe. You see that he has to untie a series of lace work that pulls tight several layers of differing colors of leather.
For all his efforts, the bag appears to be waterproof, and you could understand how someone like him would find that useful.
“So, what would you like more than anything in the world? I'd like to start there, then we can talk about what you can actually afford.”
It licks the tip of the pen, dipping it the ink, and sits down, legs crossed so that only the soles of its webbed feet shown.
At the Camp
Genesh's ritual does indeed reveal a magic that is consistent with how Necromancy is described. He can see an aura is coming from both the deer, and the specks of blood on the floor it left from when it walked up. They lead out of the camp.
At the River
"More than anything?"
Olwer stares at the Bargainer for the space of three long, ragged breaths. He shivers.
"There was a woman, Arbella. She's dead now. I want you to bring her back to me. Can you do that?"
At the River
The mystic pulls its chin for a moment considering the possibilities.
"Such a thing is within my power, yes."
There is a slight hesitation in its voice,
"May I ask, how did she depart this world? Specifically, was she at peace with how her passing came to be?
While this conversation is taking place, John is eyeing that river and locked guarded gate. He's thinking to himself that such a waterway is awful short considering on the other side is potential freedom. He looks over at Elisha and whispers something...
"Hey!...Hey!....Hi! I'm John, local investor, probable innocent man, mind helping me out?"
He ruffles his clothes about a bit, and pulls out a gold coin with some heavy markings on one side.
"If you let me go, you can have this, and one day you'll be richer than you can imagine!"
He shrugs his head towards the giant fish,
"C'mon, you don't really want to be involved with this anymore right? And, you don't even know why they arrested me. THEY don't even know why they arrested me. Just let me swim over to that town and you can have the coin."
At the Camp...
The night wind continues to blow as Genesh surveys the glowing blood and deer. Irenia sees it stall here and there, often sniffing about the ground with an unsure gate.
AT THE RIVER
''At peace? She was hanged as a spy. I can't be sure how'd she'd react to...."
Olwer frowns
''I've heard stories about the dead who come back angry, dangerous. I don't know the truth of such tales. I know I'd never want such a fate to befall Arbella. I want her back, but... If you cannot bring her safely back to me, could you somehow let me see her or go to her, wherever she is now, so that I could at least say goodbye, talk to her one last time. One kiss... She died alone on that scaffold.''
Elisha would like to insight check John. 10
It is odd that after he was captured his reply was "I am guilty of something" and now he is trying to barter for his freedom
At the River...
The being takes a moment to conjure the proper response. Its hesitation clear,
“Anytime the living and dead interact, safety is expressly a concern of the former. I cannot predict the outcome, merely provide an opportunity, the scale of which is a matter of cost.”
Elisha...
John's telling as much of the truth as he is able to, yet his words were about as carefully chosen as the gigantic fish. He's clearly trying to evade a specific response and invoke your sympathy.
Whether or not that condemns him to a crime he's yet to be proven of committing, who can say?
He's definitely guilty of something...
At the Camp...
(Genesh Passive Perception 15)
(Irenia Passive Perception 13)
You both can see\hear the group returning. They carry nothing, yet they seem satisficed. Before the last of them can fully catch up, however, he beckons a second person over. They look into the trees and follow out of sight for a moment. Then they return, one wiping his boot heavily into the dirt.
The rest of them wait for the two in-between yourselves and the deer, none of them giving it any particular attention. Genesh can see that this necrotic aura is smothered all over the dirt he just wiped from his boot. Each step that one takes leaves similar foot shaped pattern of aura glowing as the deer's blood print.
As they return to full, the leader walks right up to the deer and places a hand on its neck gently stroking its fur. It leans into him like it knows him, and for a moment calms and stops walking.
Then it crumbles into in his lap, slowly closing its bleached pupils. He sits down to accommodate the animals form, continuing to brush its fur as he does. Before long, the deer's legs stop moving again, its aura fading to a dull flicker, and the leader nods to two of the others. The two run to the right of him and pull a blanket off of one of the beds to help wrap the deer up. When finished, the leader lowered the red bundle down near the fire.
Genesh looks at the warm blanket, and sees the fainting aura finally disappear.
“If you can believe it, such things are a normal occurrence during winter. The darkness just becomes a little more so, and the cold brings out the truest desperation to stay alive. Tonight, we drove off a very dangerous creature, and we have you two to thank for our ability to hunt it with a clear mind. I thank you.”
He bows graciously before you, the rest follow even lower than he. They begin pouring drinks, offering you two a pair of glasses with a single shot of alcohol. Whether you take them or not, they solemnly lift their glasses above the deer, high into the air, and down it without a word. The leader walks into his tent, the others making small talk with each other, or similarly sitting down at their spot. As they do so, one of them removes their arm bands, and a small trinket falls to the ground. When he lean over to retrieve it, Irenia notices a symbol.
Its something she hasn't seen since she was a child. A tattoo. More specifically, a gang tattoo. A gang tattoo from the City of Croplyn. His withered arm skin was wrinkled, but there was no mistaking it.
He makes nothing of it, placing the item into his pocket and removing his other arm band and leaning back on his straw made bed, hands behind his head staring at the stars. He exhales deeply, a man content.
Elisha will reply to John: "I grow tired of everyone dancing around the events of what happened the night of the fire. I want answers.....What happened that night? You say you didn't start the fire but you are guilty of other things. Start with what happened to cause the fire and who caused it. And after that what are you guilty of? In our questioning of members of the town everyone seemed to have a pretty high opinion of you....that you where doing good things....'investing' in the town. Where did that go wrong? I don't want to see someone convicted of a crime they did not do so, now is the time for truth."
John immediately raises his arms trying to wave without drawing attention. He whispers back...
"Hey hey hey! They'll hear you!! Alright, I'd admit, I slept with Catherine and I kind of goaded Chris on about it that night at the tavern. He was being extremely rude and I'd honestly just had it with that pathetic loser. We got into it and I knocked over a lantern running to him but i swear that it looked like the place literally exploded, there's no way that one little lamp could have burned the whole thing down!"
He puzzles uncomfortably,
"Ok maybe I started the fire but there's no way that it could have done that much damage! I'm being framed! It was the elves!"
HE LOOKS AT YOU STUNNED.
"I mean-Ah sh*t!"
Olwer and the Catfish are made immediately aware of John and Elisha's conversation when he suddenly erupts into the air running for the water shouting half hearted apologies that sound more like a pleading not to be beaten than an actual show of remorse.
Elisha will give chase. I assume he is still bound (hands at least). What do I need to roll to try and subdue him without hurting him?
(He is! Roll Acrobatics or Athletics with advantage to catch up to him depending on how you go about it)
The tortle attentively watched the proceedings with the deer until finished, when the leader lowered the red bundle with the deer inside down near the fire. Genesh observed the aura eventually disappear. The tortle reflected on the leader's words. Genesh does not ordinarily drink alcohol but not wishing to offend his hosts the tortle graciously accepted the glass offered him and followed their example by solemnly lifting his glass as well above the deer, high into the air, and downed the contents of his glass...
When an appropriate moment, presented itself... the tortle politely spoke to the group leader. "You are a very gracious host, and my companion and I are pleased to assist you any way that we are able... thus looking after your camp was the very least we could do as grateful guests. I am curious though... about the deer... perhaps you could enlighten me. The deer is or was no longer truly living... but in some sort of state of undeath? But now is it truly dead and no longer alive or in an undead state... if so what did you do if anything to release it? I am a newcomer to these woods and a servant of Azuth, Lord of Spells, and the God of Wizards, and very keen to hear more about this dangerous creature which you drove away that you are willing to share. I am curious as to what exactly it is and it's nature, what is it called or does it have a name?"
Olwer stifles a curse as John flees.
ignore, as per DM notes/advice
20
acrobatics
*At the Camp...*
The Leader does not recognize this name, Azuth, claiming that such beings are beyond his comprehension regarding Wizards. He explains that he spoke with it (Speak with Dead) and that its internal voice was mostly silent. When this occurs, the being has accepted death and the body is running off the magic in its system like a battery. At that point all you have to do is wait, and keep the body warm because it lasts longer in the cold.
He explains that when they walked into camp, one of the rangers had heard something rubbing, like hair against wood, and invetisgated. He found the zombified head of a human in the mud, it's broken body lay some distance from its former owner. A rope and snapped branch were close as well, and he suspects the deer bumped into it before it dropped on the poor creature. Luckily it had been there for some time and the muscles turned paper thin, allowing for the deer's escape.
Unfortunately, the bite wound and broken antlers prove it was a struggle, one that the deer didn't lose but definitely didn't win either.
The leader finishes stating the ranger who found the head booted it into a greasy smear. The monster didn't make a sound.
Elisha acrobatics: 18
He will say: "Stop we are trying to help you!"
He will try to trip him as he starts to run as he was carefully watching him as he answered Elisha's questions.
At the River:
"C'mon!! Let me go!!" John shouted back as Elisha tackled him to the ground. Bound and recaptured, the prisoner looked out once again at his freedom's watery gaze, and was promptly sat upon the ground.
The catfish mystic turned to the surprised Olwer and with a raised eyebrow simply purred, "Shall we continue? You were determining the scope of her...return."
Genesh listened intently as the group leader answered the tortle's questions. Genesh turned his gaze to his companion Irenia and then back again at the leader, "thank you for informing us of this monster... or is it monsters that prowl these gloomy woods? Tell me, is all it takes is a bite alone from one of these monsters to turn someone else into a monster as well or rather a bite and injuries, etc. severe enough to cause death for the victim to become a monster? Or are these wood truly cursed so that anything that dies within even without a bite become monsters? Please do excuse my ignorance, I just wish to determine specifically to be careful about. Are there many such monsters in these woods? Are you and your companions' guardians of these woods that hunting them falls to all of you?"
"Yes. I want her back, living, breathing, warm--a real woman, not a ghost. Can you do that? And at what price?"