The journey home

[at]

Rake steps forward past one of the other men to peer into the hole, "you can't rest here for long. The undead stalk the town at night and only the roofs are safe, or at least they were"

Looking across to Vadania, "we were still planning on making a run for it, the forests to the east would give us some cover but there are several hundred yards of open ground to cover first."[rand=1879662014109303424187082487229464588087162222929438321259306505]

[harknail]

"How long have we been down there?" asked Vadania. "And what time of day is it? It still feels like midmorning to me."

We may have exhausted our spells, but I think it's still far too early in the morning for us to be getting spells anytime soon.

[at]

"Less than an hour, there is still a lot of daylight left to get clear of the town"[rand=73708415745669857657049032567196354693752888627260837261601927114]

[harknail]

"That sounds like a good idea to me. The Wilderness I know, even if it is just as dangerous as the city below here."

[at]

Rakes men make final preparations to leave, reloading their crossbows and securing their packs.

"The dragons are still out there, we think - they've not overflown the city since they landed", Rake peers out of the door, "we'll head out through the west gate and then circle north along the edge of the stream until we reach the forest."


It takes nearly an hour to circle the town, but the dragons are nowhere to be seen - perhaps lost amongst the buildings or departed long ago.

Once into the forest Rakes men organise themselves into a marching formation and start east, intending to sleep amongst the trees this night and reach a camp near the old monistary of the flame the following morning, "will you be coming east with us or did you have other plans?"[rand=28633746734648624664790226387595173665947907932113752477443464485]

[harknail]

Vadania replied, "East works for me, that's where the remaining priests are so we can tell them what happened. What about you Ka'lion? Did you want to stay with us or head out on your own to go back to your monastery?"

[at]

Ka'lion decides to mull over the matter in the night. The day is cautious but uneventful and Rake expands a little on the events of the past days after the rise of the undead - the towns inhabitants had evacuated and split into four groups - towards the borders with Woldegard and Merebas, Burr Town, and the old monastery of the silver flame (not Ka'lions home).

One of Rakes group has a merchant brother, Kreed, waiting at the monastery with a small caravan to head southto the coast and the group have plans on escaping to the southlands before the situation here gets much worse.

The monastery itself was constructed long ago across the old southeast passage to the desert and had long served as a way station for the few travellers to come this far west from the desert settlements. It had long housed a force of priests and knights dedicated to battling an ancient demon said to rise on a specific date, but when that date passed without incident the group became disillusioned and fragmented.


As night approaches the group set up ropes and hammocks in the trees out of reach of any lurking undead.


[rememorise spells][rand=1803728486559697573601667322079488328170201779082129367839302434]

[harknail]

Spell list updated. Swapped out speak with animals with Bark Skin to protect Ka'lion for a fight. Also went back go Goodberry spell, and she'll be looking for berries.

[at]

The night passes without incident and the following morning Vadania collects a handful of berries to eat while Aelos heals some of the groups injuries (3 cure lights)

The walk to the pass takes several more hours, Vadania notes a general absence of wildlife but the storms that had wracked the area have been replaced by a light cover of cloud and patchy mists.

As the group clear a rise the temple comes into sight, a broad stone fortress stretched across the pass with inhospitable rocky cliffs on either side - though the fort could likely be bypassed on foot any caravan would need to come through here or take a lengthy detour.

Ka'lion notes a concerned look on Rakes face as he calls for a spyglass and peering at the distant building Vadania can guess the reason - parts of the temple walls appear blackened and there is movement on the plains below.
Rake curses and speaks up, "the undead are here, out in the sun though scattered, and something else as well - goblins I think", he turns to the right, "the merchant camp still stands, I can see Kreeds caravan and some of the priestesses from the temple, and they have some of the cattle in there."
Lowering his spyglass he looks to his men.[rand=8272530451806034667051080260306469292893654706176244084960972673]

[harknail]

Vadania casts her GoodBerry spell on the berries she finds. [dice=4][dice=4]
Only 4 are enchanted by the spell, so she gives one each to Ka'lion, Aelos, Ylva and eats the last one herself. That little bit of healing may make a difference later.

After the report of what's out there she asks, "How many Zombies and Goblins do you see out there? We have some spells and abilities to help us get though if there aren't too many."

OOC: Thinking turn undead from Aelos, entangle to slow down goblins, and BarkSkin for Ka'lion.[rand=444324842886999257862157456111163734637635760009324626728240400553]

[at]

"Hundreds perhaps in the mists and caves. I can see fires, camps for the goblins but they are scattered all over the plains." Rake raises the spyglass once more, "I can't see any camps on this side of the river, a few stragglers but it looks like most of them are fortifying their position closer to the temple"[rand=21972079213890094552691471952893614151224148912997052810602420805]

[sageaqua]

Ka'lion's four spells are 3 cure minor wounds which he'll save in case the parties healers fall and 1 light spell should the party get stuck in the dark again.

Ka'lion's going to start tracking foot prints in the area. He knows about the goblins and zombies and is going to use this hike to learn to identify them from other creatures. He has used up about 1/3rd of his 600 feet of rope. So he has about 400 feet left. Finding Rakes men putting hammicks in the trees a reason to gloat he spends the time trying not to say. "I told you so."

"Did we block the door to the pit before we left? We'd never be able to catch or stop the imp out here."

[at]

Rake and his men step aside to discuss their next move, from what you can hear some are in favour of joining the caravan while others wish to double back and head for Burr town.

Ka'lion can see no evidence of goblins here, just distant movement of them below - he is able to borrow Rakes spyglass for a closer look and while still hard to make out he can see that they are organised into small roaming patrols of around a half dozen to a dozen goblins and larger encamped groups. They appear to have a number of trained mountain bears amongst their number.

The merchants encampment is a large rectangular palisade with a river running to the east and a single defended entrance to the west. There are several carts and makeshift shelters inside but it looks to have withstood any goblin actions so far and the goblins are not massing outside.

Rake returns, "some of us are going to try for the camp, the rest for burr town. Make your choice now as it's not safe to linger here"

Aug 10, 2013 22:13:32 GMT -5 sageaqua said:

"Did we block the door to the pit before we left? We'd never be able to catch or stop the imp out here."

No, the imp had more than enough time to fly out any away before you left should it have wished to, and the shadow at least appeared to be able to bypass physical barriers so any barricade would have been temporary at best.

[sageaqua]

"They are going to be hungry inside. The bears would be a nice meal for anyone inside but we are not strong enough to fight them and the goblin's are in small war parties. They'd close on anyone trying to get to the people inside and the people inside don't know us. My nightmare would be to get in and find my grandma inside. I have no reason to think she's inside though. But I should look. I really don't think going to Bur town is going to be any better. It's bound to be as over run as the town we just left." says Ka'lion

[harknail]

Vadania answers, "I'll help the group trying for the camp. I think Aelos will be wanting to rejoin the other clerics. What about you Ka'lion? Sounds like you want to held for the camp too?"

[sageaqua]

"The camp, but we need to bring extra food and water just in case they have none to spare." said Ki'lion, "How much salt are we carrying?"

[harknail]

"I've a bit of food and I can make water, but I don't have salt," admitted Vadania. "What do you need salt for?"

[at]

Rake points out, "they have livestock down there. I can see cows and chicken, enough for a while."

Looking through the spyglass again, "if we go now we should have a clear run, there are a few goblin patrols this side of the camp but nothing serious."[rand=275496774191790366533682102037174421830652833693715248125769906673]

[sageaqua]

"Then let's keep moving. The salt is to preserve food. It keeps fish and meat from going bad." said Ka'kion
Before refrigeration from the early 1800's going back 1,000's of years. Salt was used to keep meat and fish from spoiling."

[at]

Rake quickly points out a route, following the tree line as far as possible and then ducking through the sparse undergrowth towards the ruins of a farmhouse, about half way to the camp.

The sun is high over head but the brush and uneven landscape aid the group in concealing themselves from the goblins. The scrub works both ways however as the stunted creatures are quickly lost from sight.

Reaching the ruined building Rake climbs higher to get a look at the surroundings but as he does part of the scorched wall gives way, falling inwards. Rakes quick reflexes save him from a nasty fall but from within the rubble there is a flurry of movement as rats - huge rats - swarm up from beneath the debris and make straight for the party.


[Roll init][rand=23330096429904024396206539990452351536449078805694163355432464846]