The Wilderness

deoelvenmage Inactive forever!

OOC:

The story picks up here after a night's stay in Beregost.

The party sets out from Beregost with Tulco and the other two horses liberated from the bandits. From here, the journey continues south to Nashkel and its iron mine.

Once again the party is faced with the choice of sticking to the established Coast Way road, or braving the wilds. From here, the party can see the Cloudpeak Mountains on the horizon, and are approaching the first foothills. This stretch of the journey looks as though it will be through significantly rougher terrain than yesterday's. Still, if the party makes good time, they should be able to reach Nashkel by evening.

Calliope O'Kelly

Jan 10, 2023 4:31 am

"If you want to avoid being assassinated, we recommend staying on the road during the day. The brighter and more open, the easier time you'll have seeing them coming." Calliope walks backwards along the path as the party leaves the town, imparting her (possibly unasked-for) wisdom to the rest of the party.

"Plus, roads are nicer to walk on, in our opinion."

Last edited January 10, 2023 4:31 am

Jan 10, 2023 5:20 am

Catsqui1688 Inactive forever!

"Makes sense!" Aiwë begins a cheerful walking song on her hand pan. "Do you deal with assassination attempts often? Who's the 'our' in 'our opinion?'"

Runeson

Jan 10, 2023 5:12 pm

I nod in agreement. "That makes sense."

Araklusta

Jan 10, 2023 8:15 pm

deoelvenmage Inactive forever!

Decision made, the party sticks to the Coast Way as they travel south. The road isn't smooth, by any means, but it's considerably easier than the increasingly rocky terrain on either side. Though the sun is as warm as ever this time of year, the sight of the snow-capped Cloud Peaks ahead serves as a reminder of Icewind Dale and its Spine of the World mountains. As the wind picks up, those from the Frozen North can almost feel their home's chill wind.

They encounter no trouble along the road, but at one point find a broken, sacked wagon on the side of the road; no doubt the work of bandits. There are several wolves gnawing at a pair of humanoid corpses, but they flee as the party draws close.

The trip to Nashkel takes most of the day, but they arrive in the frontier mining town well before nightfall.

OOC:

The story continues in Nashkel!

Calliope O'Kelly

Jan 11, 2023 1:59 am

Quote:

"Do you deal with assassination attempts often? Who's the 'our' in 'our opinion?'"

"Thankfully no, we haven't been targeted ever ourself, but our dad made sure to teach us the theory, and we've been around people on both sides of the equation." A normal admission to make, to be sure.

At the second question, Calli raises an eyebrow and gestures inward at herself, smiling wryly. "'Our' as in, us? Who else would we be referring to?"

"Maybe it's not intuitive for you," she concedes, "but it'd be clear when someone's referring to a group versus theirself if you'd grown up with it."

Last edited January 11, 2023 1:59 am

Jan 11, 2023 3:31 am

"I suppose it's all about context," Aiwë muses. "If Dieter started speaking like that, everyone would be confused. Do your parents speak like that too, or is it a Feywild thing?"

Stella

Carcabob

Jan 11, 2023 6:22 am

deoelvenmage Inactive forever!

"I always thought she was referring to her and her fire spirit," Stella remarks, flipping through pages of her old tome and scribbling notes in her new one. She had books precariously balancing on one arm.

It looked like she was making a star chart, but the stars were labeled with names, events, and concepts with strokes connecting them. Her eyes flickered across the page like excited, but perplexed fireflies, though her face was calm.

Arranis Saki Ilmadia Errestor Zenithral Stella
Alalla Erevain Aiwe
Suffering Sacrifice Honor Liberty War Rage Survival Vigil
Druid Archer Wizard Scholar Herbalist Healer Musician Daughter
Ilmater Pelor Torm Waukeen Belhifet Harmony Valiance
Good Evil Law Chaos Life Death

Who did she want to be?

Labels are so limiting, but how else do you portray ideas? Music...Art...Stories...those can be more expressive...So powerful too! She adds Power to the page and drawing a line to Aiwe. She then starts adding her other companion's names as well.

Wirrow Calliope Sheemish Runeson Imoen Dieter

But the arts are still imprecise. But how precise did she need? Can anything be completely precise? Or is it all relative to experience, perspective, and scope...? Distance between stars on a map might be millions of miles in reality...

She continues this all the way to Nashkel.

Last edited January 11, 2023 6:28 am

Calliope O'Kelly

Jan 11, 2023 8:21 am

"Right; yes, pre-adoption. We guess you could call it a 'Feywild thing', but it might only apply to the part we were born in. The O'Kelly's talk like everyone else on this plane does. Which isn't to say they're boring, just that their speaking isn't interesting."

Calliope claps her hands together lightly. "Except Dad; if you knew him, you'd think he was just as suited to be an 'us' as well! Moving to a new place, it helps to have some normalcy, you know?"

Last edited January 11, 2023 8:21 am

Jan 11, 2023 6:16 pm

Quote:

"Moving to a new place, it helps to have some normalcy, you know?

"I do know," Shelur agrees emphatically. "Hey, do you know any songs from the Feywild?"

Araklusta

Mar 14, 2023 9:12 pm

It's about mid-morning when the party sets out from Nashkel and heads westward, hopefully to catch up with Minsc and help him rescue his ward, the wychlaran Dynaheir. The sky is clear and blue, and fresh breezes from the Snow Peaks help to ease the growing heat of the summer sun.

OOC:

Assuming the party wants to follow Minsc's tracks, a DC 12 Survival check would be in order. If you succeed, go ahead and describe the tracks you find! If you'd prefer to do something else, like scout ahead or keep an eye out for danger, forage for food while traveling, go ahead and make a suitable check.

Mar 14, 2023 9:17 pm

Victor.Strokov Inactive for 3 months

"I'll keep an eye out for the wizard," Aiwë murmurs to Stella. She quietly watches the woods as they walk without so much as a rhythm in her fingers.

Last edited March 14, 2023 9:19 pm

Rolls

Survival - (1d20+1)

(6) + 1 = 7

Dieter

Mar 14, 2023 10:07 pm

Dieter sticks an old wooden pipe in his mouth but doesn’t light it, smoking is detestable and likely to get it’s thrall spotted and killed in the night. Dieter has seen more than a few dead sentries with an arrow in their chest and a dying pipe beside them but He likes the mouth feel of the carved wood and it helped him concentrate sometimes. Dieter rocks gently with the horse and scribbles away at a notebook with a charcoal pencil. "If the wizard was tracking us we would be already dead or worse grazing by the roadside" he half whispers at Aiwë

Mar 14, 2023 10:22 pm

Victor.Strokov Inactive for 3 months

Aiwë stares into the middle distance before replying at normal volume. "He's not after us he's after Minsc and Dynaheir. Remember, the ones we are trying to help and rescue? I don't want to run into him, or the assassins he actually hired, by accident."

Last edited March 14, 2023 10:25 pm

Dieter

Mar 15, 2023 3:20 pm

"If we are trying to stop him then he his after us whether he’s realized it yet or not" Dieter closes his book and stows it "has anyone killed a wizard? A real wizard not some bumpkin hedge wizard" Dieter scans the ditches for any sign of our friend

Last edited March 15, 2023 5:25 pm

Rolls

Survive - (1D20-1)

(18) - 1 = 17

Mar 15, 2023 10:34 pm

Victor.Strokov Inactive for 3 months

"Thats why I said I'm keeping an eye out for him!" Aiwë squeaks with outrage. "I swear, its like bargaining with a blade," she mutters in bitter Orcish.

Dieter

Mar 15, 2023 11:11 pm

"Wow there sister-girl. I’m just saying not to worry so much. If you start tasting colour or hearing voices just let me know……" Dieter trails off his eyes fixed on a disturbance in the trail. Like a short haired pointer he alerts the party. "Right there! It looks like minsc all right. You can see him stomping around I don’t know if he’s being followed or not. Stella what do you think?" Dieter dismounts and puts his ear to the ground listening for any nearby movement

Rolls

Survival check - (1D20-1)

(11) - 1 = 10

Stella

Carcabob

Mar 16, 2023 3:33 pm

Quote:

"has anyone killed a wizard? A real wizard not some bumpkin hedge wizard"

Stella pulls her arms to her chest, remembering the assassin mage in the Friendly Arm Inn.

"Not a wizard like this...Polymorph, Fireball...who knows what other spells he knows? Scrying?" she says, growing worried.

She closes her eyes and takes a deep breath. No, she could do this. She pulls out her old tome and begins flipping its pages, checking notes.

"If we can blind, silence, and bind him, he'll be helpless," he says tapping the page. "When we camp tonight, I think I can figure out a spell to block vision, and one to counter invisibility, if he has it."

"He'll probably be able to dispel any magic we use, though, if we can't do anything about his mouth and hands...A paralysis spell might work," she says, glancing at Aiwë. "He's probably trained against mind-altering spells like that, though. Silencing magic and tackling him down might be more reliable...do you have any spells like that, Aiwë? A silencing spell, I mean. I know all of you can handle the tackling part..." she says gesturing to everyone but Imoen.

She turns to Dieter growing more confident, and points at him. "You're trained to disarm, right? If he has a spellcasting focus in hand, that should be your main focus. He can't cast his strongest spells without it."

She hands Imoen the wand of magic missiles. "He'll probably be able to block it, but it could be useful to bait out a reaction and prevent him from countering our other spells, or for distracting him from ongoing spells he's focused on."`

"Except..." she huffs. "There are going to be other assassins, aren't there...How much do you want to bet Shar-Teel will be among them?" she asks rhetorically, glancing towards Dieter. "Still...he might be the biggest threat."

Quote:

"Thats why I said I'm keeping an eye out for him!" Aiwë squeaks with outrage. "I swear, its like bargaining with a blade," she mutters in bitter Orcish.

Aiwë was clearly still upset from earlier...

Quote:

"Right there! It looks like minsc all right. You can see him stomping around I don’t know if he’s being followed or not. Stella what do you think?"

"Um...yes, that seems about right," she says, not able to glean anything more useful.

Last edited March 16, 2023 3:33 pm

Rolls

Survival - (1d20+3)

(3) + 3 = 6

Mar 16, 2023 3:51 pm