Arc 3 - Glimmers in the Dark (Main Roleplay)

[PupSage]

After grabbing supplies Kuori heads to the gates to meet the others. Looking at the map her brother had left her.  

[SCN_ Grey_fox]

Placing one of the miner's helmets on his noggin(unlit). He would proceed to rack the remainder of his goods, in one of the bags, before slinging everything over a shoulder and following after Kuori.

“What are you gawking at?” Ruin would ask, trying to start a conversation with the larger.  

[PupSage]

She looks up and says solemnly, "My brother Augmahl drew me a map to were my eldest brother's corpse lies. I intend to find him on our way to Lightlost and give him a proper burial."  

[Kowsauni]

In the alleyway...

Vivian

As Valac loomed forward, Vivian looked tempted to flee but she stayed and listened to what he had to say. She stood there in silence for a long while afterwards before looking up at Valac once again. "I... I know Tristan is hiding things from me, but you don't know him like I do. If he is keeping a secret from me it must be for a good reason. And I don't believe he was trying to sell you. Tristan often tries to find good homes for orphan children he comes across in his work. He was an orphan himself as a child and never was adopted. I think... I think he just wanted you to have the family he never had and then something must have happened."

Vivan turns to walk away but pauses briefly to to say one more thing. "I'll think about what you said and see what I can find out about Aria. Thank you for your help, I guess."

Vivian then rounds a corner and disappears from sight.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

At the medical ward...

From her bed the half elf would turn to look at Revenge again. Her eyes were a bit unfocused now. "I...I think I would appreciate that. My name is Faeleen, Faeleen Starsong.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

In the fort courtyard...

The soldier would respond back to Ilikan. "Oh, I wouldn't say she is missing, though we haven't heard from them for a bit. If your secret mission wasn't to find them, then Valmist can't be that worried. Last we saw of them from the walls of the fort they were over towards the Underdark entrance by where we rescued that goliath boy."

Kuori and Ruin return to the entrench of the fort with their bags of supplies. They see Ilikan talking to another soldier; Revenge and Valac remain to be seen.  

[SCN_ Grey_fox]

"Oh..." Ruin said looking away, "Sooo... How far off the path are we going to have to walk? To retrieve him, I mean."  

[PupSage]

She looks at the map again, "He should be between here and Lightlost, but if things out there are as cluttered as they say, it may take some searching."  

[Mongooseh]

Valac watched Vivian disappear around the corner before grunting, "Runt..."

Valac then retraced his steps to see if he could find the rest of them again and maybe finally get that answer from Ilk.  

[Psychofish]

"I see. I'll let you know, if they don't beat me back," he offered, giving the soldier a hard, friendly thump between the shoulders before returning to relaxing, letting the others slowly gather up again so he could be ready to get on his way.

Everyone got friendly nods as they returned, except the barbarian- "Beholder," he said, nodding in the direction of the passage down into the earth rather than looking at him. "If you can find one, and survive. Lots of nasty things down there, but those scare me the most. The nonsense they can do- wasn't pretty, them in the midst of the army. Half of the things on the list would make a nice trophy, all the same."

He could have told him something less suicidal to try, but honestly he was a poor liar and of little patience for most sorts of skullduggery.  

[Mongooseh]

"Whats it look like? Or can I count on you to to point it out for me?" Asked Valac now eager.  

[Psychofish]

Ilikan considered that a moment, hesitance giving way to a simple rueful laugh.

"If it's got more eyes than the lot of us, and takes someone out of the fight before you can get in striking distance, it'll probably be a beholder."

Well, this one was a maniac, but he sounded like a fun maniac.  

[Rain Yupa]

"It's a lovely name," Revenge would say in acknowledgement. "Rest, Ms. Starsong, and I will pray to Sehanine on your behalf. She has answered my prayers before, so I'm hopeful that she will give heed to you, if able."

He would clasp his hands together, closing his eyes after Faeleen did the same, and prayed in silent devotion to Sehanine to assist her follower in her time of need to give her the strength to recover, and reunite her with those whom she loved and loved her in return.

After adequate prayer, he would gently place a hand on her shoulder, before standing up and heading out to meet the others at the gate.  

[Kowsauni]

At the medical ward...

By the time Revenge finishes his prayer, Faeleen has fallen fast asleep. She peacefully lies in her bed breathing quietly. Her interactions with him had taken more of a toll on her than he would have been expected but by the smile on her face he feels his words have brought her fractured mind some measure of peace.

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In the fort courtyard...

As Revenge leaves the medical building he sees the rest of his companions gathered at the gate. He sees Kuori and Ruin have secured several large bags of supplies for their journey into the Underdark.

Now with everyone present the party may finally set out. Though the directions are rough, Kuori knows the lay of the land well enough to use the map her brother gave her to get the party to the approximate location of her older brother's body. On the way there they see all manner of corpses consisting of the creatures Ilikan had described earlier strewn across the broken and battered land. The place stinks to high heaven and at times the air is almost unbreathable. It was apparent to everyone that quite the battle had taken place out here. For Ilikan, who had actually participated in the fighting, it was like retracing his steps. He would come to spot where he remembers fending off a blow or slaying a foe. All the dead bodies seen so far appear to from the Underdark. Ilikan would know his army had already gone around and reclaimed their own for burial, but have not yet had time to clean up the rest of the field of battle.

After about 20 minutes of walking though this hazardous terrain the party spots an ornate carriage parked beside a hill and missing its horses. As the party gets a little closer they see the carriage is surrounded by five armed men who are fending off several large worm-like creatures. The battle does not seem like it is going in their favor--they are in danger of being overrun!

 

[PupSage]

Kuori will start to jog towards the worms, making noise to distract them and possible attract them.

--If within 12 squares--
Kuori will drop a Daunting light on the closest one. 17 vs reflex.

Kuori raises her morningstar, calling down a beam of light as the clouds part.

--If within 7 squares--
Kuori will drop a Sacred flame on the closest one. 17 vs reflex.

Kuori raises her morningstar, calling down a beam of light as the clouds part.

--If too far away--
Kuori does a monster knowledge check to figure out what these are (Carrion Crawlers), and what they can do and/or how to kill them.

Dungeoneering: 23
Nature: 21  

[Rain Yupa]

(Running off the assumption that we spotted this long before we were upon them and aren't close enough to influence this battle yet...)

Quote:

Rolls: Initiative +2 = 17, Dungeoneering +7 = 26

Shield already donned and sword being drawn from its scabbard, Revenge would say aloud before breaking into a run:

"Ilikan, stay back if you are uncertain. Valac, Ruin, let's go! Kuori, cover fire while we adv-"

Though likely, the 'ranger' would be jogging towards them rather than drawing her bow, causing Revenge to pause before he would start to charge (via Run actions).  

[Psychofish]

It seemed as though the wayward noblewoman hadn't strayed too far at all- Ilikan would have put coin on this being her card, right off their path, and surrounded by some particularly aggressive carrion eaters. Shield on his arm, he'd hear the paladin issuing him warning about the same time as he started trying to close that gap as quickly as possible-

"Nervous, friend? I can take the fore for you-"

[Initiative: 1d20+5=17]
[If actions allow, approach as quickly as possible, then ready his hammer, or draw and charge if in range.]