Grant snapped his fingers, having a good idea of what was going on. He walked over to Phara and Koras, pulling out a notebook. "Do either of you have anything that can remedy simple poisons or venoms? What we've got going here is called a Malice potion. It's generally intended as a projectile to be inhaled, but if consumed by a host, it can be kept fresh for extended periods of time. A buddy of mine back at Wizard High School wrote his term paper on the stuff." He spoke quickly, almost not stopping to take a breath.
Koras looked towards the sound of Grant's voice. "I have an herbalism kit, if it will help," Koras replied, sounding rather gruff. "It is in my bag. I would get it out, but as I cannot see..." He grabbed a bag from his robe (fumbling around a bit), then dropped it at his feet. "I trust you not to steal anything you find in there. If you do, I will not be pleased," he growled in a low voice.
I can still hail the Horde even though the company has shamed us. Strength and Honor even if Blizzard has neither.Grant did some math in his head, realizing how inefficient it would be to make a remedy for the potion. He wasn't sure how Vanis knew about the potion's duration, but that was beside the point. With a shrug, he nodded to the pirate. "May as well. Your vision should come back within the hour, and by then we'll all have a chance to lick our wounds."
Koras proceeded to fumble onto the ground until he picked up his bag, holding it close. "Very well then," Koras responded, somewhat grumpily, then he sat cross-legged on the ground, He put his hands on his knees, closing his eyes (despite him really not needing to), and mumbling a low chant in Druidic. If he had time, he would spend it meditating and pondering the great thoughts of the wilds.
I can still hail the Horde even though the company has shamed us. Strength and Honor even if Blizzard has neither.After about an hour of rest, Koras's vision finally came back while the rest of the party took a breather. Resuming their journey, they spent an hour and a half following the trail.
While they were in a heavily wooded area, they could begin to hear something in the distance, while the air had a faint smell to it.
As soon as Koras heard the noise and caught the whiff, he snorted slightly in disgust, then gestured to the others to stop, without making another sound. He rubbed his hands together. He muttered something under his breath in the ancient tongue. His form shuddered, then he hunched over, his fur turning a darker shade as his arms became more spindly. His size began to decrease as well, and his face melted into his body, his horns moving down to become a pair of fangs. Finally, surprisingly quickly, Koras seemed to shrink down into the foliage until he was barely visible. Then a little spider crawled off towards the sounds and the smell.
Koras uses his wild shape to turn into a spider.
I can still hail the Horde even though the company has shamed us. Strength and Honor even if Blizzard has neither.The moment Grant heard the argument, he held his hand up, signalling for everyone to stop. He held up four fingers, and then one to his lips. After a moment, he pulled an imp out from nowhere, and whispered to it to move ahead. Then, he focused on it.
With a nod, the imp fluttered ahead, peering through the trees at the source of the ruckus ahead.
Sensory link with the imp as part of the find familiar spell. Grant can see and hear everything it does, at the cost of being unaware of his own senses while doing so.
Fifty yards ahead, the treeline broke into another clearing. Tall grass made it difficult for anything at eye level to make out too many details of what lay further ahead. There was a river about a hundred feet away, though it seemed on the verge of drying up. The smoke of a campfire being tended to by a group of people could be seen on the other side of the water.
Vanis skulked up to the edge of the treeline and took cover in the tall grass, signalling for the others to hold back the moment he saw the campfire.
Well, that explains the smell and the noise, he thought, but not what they're doing here. He squinted hard and pricked his ears up, trying to discern their intent - and work out if there was a way to get closer.
Stealth check if required to stay hidden, then Perception check on the people across the river - and if there's any available cover to get closer.
edited 7th May '16 3:42:44 AM by Pyrite
Not a substitute for a formal medical consultation.Nukklebud had heard the noise and smelled the cooking meat like everybody else and he silently approached the group of people, getting as close as he possibly could so as to not be seen. To anyone within earshot of him, he put a finger up to his lips and began to speak.
"We'll need to cross that river. Any ideas? I don't much like the thought of some random group of people around us in bandit territory that are just sitting around when we don't know much about them."
edited 7th May '16 1:30:29 PM by FantasyLiver
Vanis caught sight of something... or more specifically, someone - in the grass, and judging from the man's face, he certainly wasn't part of a welcoming committee.
Not good. He scrambled back to the others the way he came, obscured by the tall grass. "There's an ugly bastard over there between us and the camp, and I don't think he's here to make friends," he hissed. "Do any o' you magic men - or women - have something up your sleeves to take him out, or am I going to have to go over there myself?"
edited 8th May '16 10:12:29 AM by Pyrite
Not a substitute for a formal medical consultation.Phara considered her available options, then shook her head. "The gifts granted to me by the Most Just do not favor a stealthy attack," she said softly, a hint of humor coloring her words. "If you feel you can take that fellow by surprise, that seems a good plan. If you are unsuccessful, I can always splatter his brains all over the forest, but that may draw attention." She hefted her mace. "However, perhaps we should try to discover their purpose first? They may not have a sinister intent."
Vanis leered wickedly at hearing Phara's suggestion, even if she hadn't intended to go through with it. "Bashing his brains out? You've got a mean streak in you, lass, and I like the cut of your jib - even if I was only thinking of putting the ugly mutt to sleep."
Not a substitute for a formal medical consultation.The cleric shrugged at Vanis. "I'm only human." She considered his idea for a moment. "Actually, that does make more sense. If we can knock him out then approach the others, we'll still have a potential source of information if the others are hostile and die. If they aren't, we can show them their comrade safe and sound as a mark of our good intentions."
Koras, in spider form, was trying to find a good vantage point in order to get a better look at the group. When he saw the river, he climbed down from the grass, flattened to the ground and shifted back into his minotaur form.
"I, for one, am in favor of her plan," he muttered, gesturing towards Phara and still watching the group warily.
I can still hail the Horde even though the company has shamed us. Strength and Honor even if Blizzard has neither.Grant's imp fluttered on the outskirts of the camp, feeding everything it saw and heard to Grant. Unfortunately, he had no idea what everyone else was talking about, as the Imp's senses were all he could pick up on.
Imp rolls a stealth check, if it can.
Without making so much as a sound, grant mouthed a few words to his teammates. "Four of them. Human, Elf, and two Halflings. Goat carcass, and a lot of meat. One of the halflings asleep."
edited 11th May '16 12:59:11 AM by VocalFox
"Ach," Vanis suddenly blurted out, chafing at the wait. "Since we're all in agreement, can we get on with it?" He drew his daggers and began to move in the direction of the camp, where he'd last seen the ugly man in the grass. "'Knocked out' is great, but if none of you are going to back me up, I'll have to settle for 'dead' - and I don't mean me, I hope."
Stealth check when Vanis approaches the area.
Not a substitute for a formal medical consultation.Phara shook her head. "We're operating with too little information. I'd really prefer to take one alive, and that's hard to do when fighting a group. Pulling punches can get you killed." She turned to Koras. "Can you shift into something stealthy and back up the pirate? If it comes down to it, I'd rather he live than one of them. Who else here has some skill at sneaking?"
The pirate reached the river's edge and crouched low in the tall grass, silently raising three fingers to the others behind him before pointing to a dirt path in the shallow waters of the river. And he waited.
Vanis El-Tosca was bold and brash, by all accounts. What he wasn't was suicidal.
Not a substitute for a formal medical consultation.The dwarf was right on the pirate's heels and once again thanked the gods that he was blessed to be born a dwarf. His small size made stealth helpful. He kept his sword in his sheath and, instead, picked up one of his handaxes - a small weapon like that would be better in a mission like this.
He waited and kept a close eye on the pirate for suspicious activity from the rogue, while also watching the water.
probably unnecessary but Spot Check on the water.

After being handed the vial, Koras began to try and wash out his eyes, to no avail. He snorted angrily, shaking his head back and forth as he washed. He then reached out with the empty vial, trying to hand it back to Phara despite having no idea where she was.
I can still hail the Horde even though the company has shamed us. Strength and Honor even if Blizzard has neither.