Arc 1 - Beast of a Thousand Knives (Completed)

[Rain Yupa]

And Revenge would sigh as Gloom turned invisible right in front of him.

And he would stand there and wait. What else could he do? Internally, he weighed the option of giving them a 10 count before calling out.  

[Kowsauni]

Unknown Girls

As Kuori studies the two girls from her lofty perch in the trees, it is hard for her to tell much. However it is clear that the slightly taller girl with red eyes is the more dominant personality between the two of them. Their talking sounds quite tense. The blue-eyed girl still seems flustered, but the red-eyed girl seems much calmer, especially from when she first entered the clearing. The two girls speak to each other in the unknown language for a little longer before the red-eyed girl leaves the clearing in the direction Gloom and Revenge left. The blue-eyed girl stays behind.

Gloom becomes truly invisible to everyone and sneaks back into the trees without even the insects taking notice. From his position he sees that the blue-eyed girl is now fully dressed and that a new girl with a spear has entered the clearing. This girl looks very similar to the other girl with the same tan skin, blond hair and a slim athletic build. The main differences are she is a few inches taller with red eyes instead of blue and she looks to be a few years older. Her face bears a fierce expression compared to the other girls much more timid one. After talking with the blue eyed girl for a bit, Gloom sees the red eyed girl begin to move in his direction. For a moment it seems she is going walk right through his position but she then pushes through the underbrush in a different spot and disappears from his sight. The blue-eyed girl remains in the clearing near the pond's edge. After casting a worried glance in the other girl's direction, she squats down and begins to draw in the muddy dirt with a stick.

As Revenge waits, he sees a girl emerge from the thick underbrush around the clearing. Although she looks very similar to the bathing girl, this is obviously a different girl. She looks a bit older with crimson colored eyes and a serious expression. She also carries a spear in her hands, though she isn't wielding it in a menacing manner. Spotting the dragonborn and the paladin in shiny platemail, she moves over to them and calmly speaks in slightly accented Common.

"Greetings. I am Corsica. My sister gave me quite a scare when I heard her scream. She said two men approached her while bathing, and they were talking of a deadly monster." The girl looks around in all directions. You see her gaze pause on a tree next to the underbrush where she had just emerged from. She then turns her attention back to Revenge and Thava. "I see only one man. Where is the other? And what is this monster you speak of?"  

[Rain Yupa]

This wasn't quite something Revenge had expected; he had not picked up his halberd since he figured he'd be back for it in moments, and wanted to seem less likely that he was planning an ambush or attack by taking it with him out of the girl's sight. Or it could be his player grasping at straws since he actually forgot about it. Either or.

He wasn't defenseless, he still had a back-up weapon, but of course made no motion to go for it. If she lunged, hey, that's what full plate's for.

"I am Revenge, paladin of Sehanine. And that's Thava," he would say, gesturing towards the Dragonborn slowly with one hand in her direction. "There's two others; a shady man named Gloom, whom your, ah, sister saw, and a big goliath woman with a bow. Currently, I have no idea where either is. Gloom turned invisible when I tried to discuss this matter with him and gods know where he is now, and I haven't seen the goliath for a few minutes. She saw a fox that she seems intent to kill, and I think she's either tracking it down despite my wishes or sulking about it somewhere. I don't know her very well though, so that's just an educated guess."

Quote:

Diplomacy of 19 to indicate that I'm not holding anything back. Insight of 12 to gauge the level of hostility she's feeling towards us me, but I think the roll's not going to tell me anything I can't figure out on my own.

"We're what I suppose you could call, 'envoys' from the nearby town of Lupa. There's been something raiding their livestock at nights and carrying off whatever it captures. We tracked it to... well, right over there," he would say, shifting his body away from the girl and gesturing with his arm in the direction they came from. "Whatever carried off the bull it took last night has already devoured it down to the bones, which is a frightenly small amount of time. I heard singing and went to investigate; that is when I frightened your sister, and please convey my apologies to her." He would turn back to face Corsica at this point.

"With that all said, would you be courteous enough to enlighten me to your half of the story? I find it odd two girls are all alone out here in woods that the locals insist are quite dangerous."  

[Ryssa Blackblood]

It was quite to he contrary from what was expected, but the fox had not run off at the threat of being hunted. Instead,it seemed as though the big people had caught the critter's interest, for it had watched the goings on in the clearing from the brush, apparently unnoticed in the hustle and bustle of nakedness and shouting. Personally, Hakka never really understood why humans got so embarrassed about being seen without clothes. When the horned guy an the creepy guy made their way back out, Hakka had followed their lead, albeit from the safe stance she was maintaining, and then she watched the rest of the proceedings while sitting beside the base of a tree, head tipped to the side in curiosity.  

[Kowsauni]

Unknown Girls

Revenge does not perceive any hostile feelings from the girl--nor any fear. In fact she seems quite confident in herself. She would go on to scoff at Revenge's last words and slam the butt of her spear to ground. "Hah, dangerous? No daughters of the Othkryza'm Tribe would fear any forest. This place is our home now. If the forest rebels against us our presence here, we will bend it to our will. You are an honest man and I like that. There are many such beasts in this forest that could do such a thing to a bull. Tell me what you know of this creature and perhaps I can point you in the right direction."

Back in the clearing the blue-eyed girl continues to draw in the dirt, ever so often glancing in the direction of the voices.  

[Rain Yupa]

Quote:

History of 12. The Klaatu Barada Njsghxjk Tribe? Something like that? What?

"Well, we haven't actually encountered it yet. We thought we might have been hot on its trail when we bumped into you two," Revenge explained. "The current running theory is that it's a drider. Whatever it is, it leaves dagger-like cuts in buildings it can apparently scale with ease. And it has to be big enough to carry off an adult bull, and quick enough to silence it before it could put up a fight."

He would upturn one hand as he gestured with it towards the forest. "Truthfully, I suspect the sooner we either deal with it, or we find a way to provide Lupa with information to shield themselves from it, the sooner we'll be out of your hair for good."  

[PupSage]

Athletics=29
Acrobatics= 1+6

Kuori will move from the clearing and climb back down, heading for revenge and where she believes Gloom is as well.  

[Kowsauni]

Corsica and Sister

When Corsica mentions her tribe, Revenge thinks he might have heard of them before, some small tribe to the far north, but he cannot recall anything past that.

As Kuori tries to move from one tree to the next, she sways uneasily on a branch and finds herself unable to to make the jump.. However, she has no problem climbing down from the tree she was already in. The blue-eyed girl does notice the Goliath's descent to the ground. She moves over and grabs the halberd that the Paladin had conveniently left next to the pond. However, when she brandishes the weapon in the direction the noise came from, Kuori had already left. The girl stands there awkwardly for a moment, waiting for something to potentially rush her from the forest. When nothing happens for a bit, she seems to lose interest and begins to swing the halberd around playfully.

Corsica would see Kuori emerge from the forest and nod in her direction before turning her attention back to Revenge. "I see; this must be your Goliath friend. I do not know what a drider is, but you said the beast you seek can climb well and leaves sharp marks in its wake." Corsica puts a hand to her chin and considers this information. After a minute or so she takes her spear and begins to poke a series of holes in the ground. Revenge and Kuori would immediately recognize them as looking familiar to the tracks they had followed from the barn house.

When Corsica finishes, she looks up at the party and asks, "Tell me: did the dagger-like marks look like that?"  

[Rain Yupa]

Revenge would shake his head at first when Corsica started talking. "I've not seen one before either. I think they're part spider but don't ask me how that works."

He would turn his head and look to the clearing; halberds weren't the most optimal 'swinging' weapons so odds are he'd probably hear the other girl exerting herself. But it's also incredibly difficult to skewer yourself on one, so he wasn't too worried, not until he heard it go sploosh!

"Truth be told, I don't have the best eye for these sorts of things. I want to say yes? Our Tree Goliath can probably confirm better than I can."  

[PupSage]

Kuori looked down at the marks and said, "Yeah, looks like it." She looked at Revenge and said, "And for the record, I could care less about the fox, I was in a tree with an arrow aimed at this one and her sister ..." She was guessing, but looked at her for confirmation, "But they seem to check out." She pointed at the markings and said, "So obviously you have information on the beast. What do you know?"  

[Kowsauni]

Corsica and her Sister

After her comment Corsica looks directly at Kuori. However, by her expression she looks more amused than anything. "Well I'm glad we passed your judgment. You must be quite skilled to move around the forest like that unnoticed. If you recognize those tracks, the creature you seek we call Razorclaw. He lives deeper in the forest. My sister and I know how to get to his den, but we do our best to avoid him. His body is long like a snake, but covered in chitinous armor. He has dozens of spindly legs as sharp as daggers, and many of them end in claws. His mouth is one gaping maw of teeth with a long, whip-like tongue. He has several beady little red eyes that look in all directions at once. He is as long as a tree is tall, quite the creature to behold. I would not take him lightly in any circumstance. That is the creature you seek."

As Corsica speaks, she once again draws in the ground with her spear. She traces a picture in the dirt of a centipede-like creature with a large circular mouth and a long tongue. Several of its feet also end in claws.  

[I Drink Blue Moon]

Gloom continues to watch the younger sister.  

[Rain Yupa]

The paladin shoots Kuori a glare before turning back to Corsica.

"If you would be able to give us directions and you think the path is easily navigable, perhaps we can resolve the issue of it's mere presence for everyone. If you and yours avoid it, I wouldn't ask you to put yourself at risk for our sake if it can be helped," he offered her. "Even if we were not successful, perhaps we can at least drive it from its home. What my companions lack in tact, I'm hopeful they make up for with combat prowess."  

[Kowsauni]

Corsica and her Sister

Corsica would grab her chin again and consider Revenge's words. "The path to Razorclaw's den is quite difficult, and it would be hard to describe how to get there. It would be easiest for my sister and I to just lead you." The girl would then smile shrewdly. "However, if we take you to Razorclaw and you slay him, we want his body. Take what trophies you will need prove your victory, but his meat will be for us. A creature of that size would feed my sister and I for a week. "

Back by the pond, Corsica's sister seems to have gotten bored with swinging around the halberd and sits down on a nearby stump. She examines the sharp blade and seems to get an idea. She sits down on a rock and arranges the halberd so its shaft points away from her, and she pins the blade between her knees, propping it sharp side up. Using its sharp edge, she begins to idly whittle away at a stick she's grabbed off the ground.  

[Ryssa Blackblood]

Hakka listened to the conversation between the big people she was following and the bigger of the two wild-looking girls. It looked like they knew something about what was going on and could show the group where to head. It was a very useful encounter, it seemed. However, Hakka got curious what the younger one was up too, all by herself. The fox pushed back through the brush into the clearing and peeked at the girl playing with a stick and a big weapon. The fox cautiously approached the girl, in plain sight.