Re: To the 'Town' on the Hill

by **Kara Winters** Sat Oct 27, 2018 7:48 pm

Allen and Risa nodded at this in agreement, besides Allen hadn't really expected anything from this venture. He was happy with anything the group was willing to share. Risa understood from stories the patience needed so she wasn't bothered by it.

"I think that'll work, I'll at least sell what I'm sure are all the regular stuff at Fox Grove Village, and see if I can find a buyer for the other things, depending on how long we're willing to stay there," Reed agreed.

by **Nara-pyon** Sat Oct 27, 2018 7:55 pm

Aeris nodded. "Then for now, let's just keep it all in the chest so that at least we don't have to carry it all," she suggested. She started to collect the items, putting them away.

As she did so, Zoltan spoke up.

"So, a nigh's res' an' then we star' ou' tomorrow?" he asked.

by **Kara Winters** Sat Oct 27, 2018 8:09 pm

"Yea, we might as well," Allen replied, "If we wake up early enough we might even be able to beat the rush to get into through the gate. It's just unusually busy this time of year."

"That should work, how are we going to do watch?" Risa asked, as Allen had insisted to take a longer watch while they were in the town.

"Since this is the end of this mission, how about two hours each, there is five of us," Allen suggested.

In the end, it was decided that Risa, Aeris, Reed, Zoltan and then Allen would take watch in that order.

by **Nara-pyon** Sat Oct 27, 2018 8:24 pm

The night passed quietly. As the flickering flames of the fire began to fade, Zoltan noticed something odd. Pockets of darkness around the camp, spots where the light didn't quite seem to hit. Most would have missed it, but having Darkvision helped him to see ... that there were other things out there.

Suddenly a shiver went down his spine and he jumped to his feet. He couldn't see what they were, but something had been sneaking up on them while they had all been resting.

"Attack!" he shouted to wake the others, grabbing his greataxe and gripping it with both hands. "Wake up, ev'ryone! Attack!"

He ran towards the closest of the shadows.

Aeris woke at his shout and jumped to her feet. Grabbing her two daggers, she started running towards the nearest shadow as well.

by **Kara Winters** Fri Nov 02, 2018 8:29 pm

Allen was up and already going for his bow. He saw the problems in regard to how they were surrounded. He suspected it would be very hard to out run such creatures. Getting out an arrow he shouted over to Risa,

"Get to their other side!" he told her, because if anyone could do that it probably was Risa, "Reed, I will need back up!"

He set an arrow loose on the shadow east of Risa to get it's attention, and then attempted to move back. The arrow hit the creature, it jerked and then the shadow seemed to swallow the arrow into itself. Though it clearly had hurt from that.

Shadowy figures rose from the 'puddles' that were gliding across the ground and began to look like shadowy humanoid figures wearing black cloths from the way they only vaguely represented a person. They began to move towards the adventurers.

The moment the one closest to Zoltan got into striking range he struck at it with his axe and missed as the shadow seemed to bend like it was cloth or water away from the axe attack. It attempted to attack back trying to hit Zoltan, only to miss the dwarf completely.

The other shadows could not get close enough, one even having to go around the low smothering fire rather than risk being burned. The only other one that got close, was the one Aeris was trying to run towards. That one does manage to touch Aeris and at first it didn't seem to hit, as it just brushed against her shoulder as she tried to move out of the way. She cast shield as a reflex and whatever dark energy that tried to damage her hit against that magical shield. It hovered like a second skin not quite touching before dissipating.

Risa also got up and began to run to clear the shadows. She took out an arrow, the arrow's tip glowed with a sickly green energy and she let it fly. It pierced the shadow and from where the arrow hit thorny vines sprouted from the creature and grasped it. It struggled against the vines, but Risa noticed it didn't seemed to be at all affected by the poison the thorns should have had, which worried her greatly, hopefully though it would slow them down.

Reed also got up and nodded at Allen, there were way too many and as he drew his rapier, he realized he needed to find a way to cull them fast. He reached into his pouch and pulled out a piece of mica. Making motions with his hand he grasped the mica in his first and thrusted it out at one of the shadows to the east. He's pretty sure there's enough distance as he cries out "Shatter!"

There is a loud sound like glass breaking that could be heard from miles around originating at shadow that Reed was focused on. Both shadows to his east flinch, but only one of them, the main source of his spell seemed to 'plop' back into a puddle of a shadow, shudder and then slowly reform again.

by **Nara-pyon** Fri Nov 09, 2018 10:10 pm

Aeris held out her hand towards the shadow in front of her and shouted the word that would cast the Magic Missile spell. Three magical darts shot from her hand and tore through the shadow, leaving gaping holes in it. There was no blood, and when the holes tried to close, they didn't vanish. It was clear the things could be damaged, and though the only sign of it being hurt was a flinch and slightly slower movement, Aeris was filled with hope.

Zoltan's vision turned red with rage and his body began to shake with frenzy, and he slashed at the shadow before him with his greataxe. The axe cut through the shadow in front of him, leaving a gap through its body. The gap slowly began to close, the body threading itself together like a stitched doll; but it only closed partway, as though it couldn't muster the energy to close its wound entirely. There was no blood, but in the darkness, Zoltan could see the outline of its mouth, wide as if moaning in pain.

by **Kara Winters** Fri Nov 09, 2018 10:33 pm

Allen looked at the shadow that was currently grasped in Risa's vines and muttered 'mark' as he placed a Hunter's Mark onto the shadow. He then took out a an arrow and shot it from his bow to the shadow. The arrow went right through the shadow and it bowed over as if it was in great pain from the arrow.

The shadows began to move once more, the one that Risa had tangled in the vines tried to remove them from itself, but did not manage to. It tried to move towards Risa but only got 10 feet and and the vines tore at it, until finally the shadow just tore itself apart completely and collapsed before dissipating into the wee hours of the morning.

The shadow that Zoltan was wailing on tried to swipe at him but missed completely, unable to take grab the shorter creature. Not that being as tall was any better, as the creature that Aeris was attacking also missed her as she was able to move out of the way in time.

The shadow near the campfire crept up on Zoltan flanking him, but it too missed as the dwarf did notice the the shadow and moved out of the way.

Unfortunately for Reed, he found himself surrounded from all sides with the creatures and they all attacked him at once. He found his energy drained from him as he engulfed him. The bard found himself falling into blackness, unable to fight back.

Risa sees Reed go down, "Reed is down!"

She shoots an arrow at one of his attackers in hopes to get them off of the bard. She hits the shadow north of Reed and manages to get an arrow into it.

by **Nara-pyon** Fri Nov 09, 2018 11:59 pm

Aeris let loose another magic missile at the shadow, as it seemed to have done a good job before. The magic hit the shadow, the first strike knocking it back towards the ground, the second one causing it to dissipate before ever making contact. It was as if it had never been there.

She turned to see what else was going on.

Zoltan swung his greataxe at the shadow in front of him again, nearly cleaving it in two. It jerked violently, but before it could do anything else, Zoltan brought his axe down on an angle again, as if cutting a tree. The shadow split into two, then dissipated into the darkness.

He turned to face the one behind him, preparing to attack it.

by **Kara Winters** Sat Nov 10, 2018 12:25 am

Allen moved to get a better look at what was happening to Reed, see the bard down his Hunter's Mark dropped away completely as he focused on casting a new spell completely. He reached out and and chanted, summoning a wisp of spirit that was the shape of a small doe right over Reed. Then getting out another arrow, he shot at the shadow that was in front of the bard. The arrow flew and hit the back of the shadow. It shuddered and jerked as if trying to get the arrow out of it, but it couldn't as it was right in the back of it where it could not reach.

The shadow to the east of Zoltan tried to hit the dwarf again but didn't seem to have much luck and grabbing the barbarian. Meanwhile the other shadows moved away from the bard instead of attempting to finish the work that they had done. As if they believed the bard to be dead.

It appeared in anger the shadow that Allen just shot made a beeline for him and reached out to grab him without warning on the arm. The necrotic energy raced up his arm and his skin blackened. The ranger cried out in pain, but instead of looking to the shadow he looked to the doe, his focus firm as he maintained his concentration on the spell.

The shadow to Reed's east made it's way towards Risa, while the shadow to Reed's south appeared to be heading toward's Zoltan. It stopped part way thought and let out a wail as if bemoaning the shadows that had been lost. Then off in the distance there was a howl, and in the blackness to the west something came. A glowing light that seemed like fire and a silhouette of a dog could be seen.

When it finally could be seen clearly, it looked like a large, bulky black hound that looked as if it's hair had been burned off. It's eyes glowed an hellish orange and the glow of a fire and smoke came out of it's open mouth. It howled again, catching everyone by surprise. Risa nearly forgot that she was going to do, until she remembered they were still in a fight.

This thing would just be one more thing to fight, and she readied her arrow and took another shot at the shadow coming towards her. The arrow hit true, sticking out of the shadow like a pin in a cushion.

The spirit doe that Allen summoned nuzzled at Reed and began to heal him. He began to breath easier and found himself coming to.

"Ugh...that was horrible..." he muttered as he got to his feet, the skin slowly coming a healthy colour again.

by **Nara-pyon** Sat Nov 10, 2018 12:39 am

Aeris caught sight of the hound-looking thing coming towards them. She was instantly struck with fear, and she decided immediately to save her spells for when that thing arrived - but in the meanwhile there were still shadows to be contended with. Instead of using a spell, she used a cantrip, casting Create Bonfire on the shadow that was attacking Allan. It let out an inhuman shriek and withered into the flames. With it dead, Aeris ran towards Risa to help her out with the shadow that was near her.

Zoltan swung his axe at the shadow in front of him. He hit it on the head, and the shadow parted slightly - but then as quickly as it had separated, the shadow began to stitch itself back together, as the other one had. This one managed to put itself back together completely, however, as if it were more powerful than the one that Zoltan had already taken care of.

He used the momentum of his swing to circle the axe around for another blow, hitting the shadow in the same place. It split apart again, and once more began to stitch itself together - but this time, it didn't seem to be able to put itself completely back together. It seemed the creature's energy was not limitless.

by **Kara Winters** Sat Nov 10, 2018 1:04 am

Allen fired a shot at the shadow heading towards Risa and missed completely as it went wide. He would probably not get that arrow back after the fight.

The shadow beside Zoltan swiped at him and finally hit him this time. Though at first it didn't hurt, it wasn't like a hit perse, more like a brush like of cold cloth against the skin, but then Zoltan's skin began to dry, whither as he took necrotic damage.

The shadow that had called the hound stayed where it was, as if waiting for the creature to come to them and come to them the creature did. Covering a distance that was much larger than the shadows or any of the party members.

The final shadow that was heading towards Risa finally made it's way towards her and tried to grab her. Fortunately, Risa managed to dodge, and not wanting to lose the chance to hit the creature back, she grabbed her bow and whacked it as hard as she could. Unfortunately she missed completely.

Reed, feeling a bit stronger the longer he stayed with the doe pointed to the shadow that had wailed and began to sing softly. The creature bent back as if struck in the head and wailed again as it began to run (glide) further away from the bard and towards the hound.

by **Nara-pyon** Sat Nov 10, 2018 1:15 am

The first bonfire Aeris had created vanished as she re-summoned it, this time in the space occupied by the shadow in front of Risa. It flailed in the flame, but it was still there and still present.

Zoltan swung again at the shadow next to him, bringing his greataxe down with both hands from above and slicing it down the middle. he could see little tendrils of shadow trying to come together to re-stitch it, but it seemed that its energy was gone, and with one last flutter of movement, the shadow was gone.

Zoltan looked around and saw the shadow heading towards the hound. He ran and caught up with it, again bringing his axe down from overhead, slicing the shadow from top to bottom. Like the previous one, it split, struggled to come together again, and failed, dissipating into the darkness.

by **Kara Winters** Sat Nov 10, 2018 1:41 am

Allen began to move around the bonfire to get a good view of Zoltan, but made sure he didn't get too far away from his spirit animal. Where he was, he would hopefully get a good enough view of the hound once it got close enough.

The shadow moved around to get away from the bonfire and then reached out to attack Risa. Grabbing the fighter and pulling her into itself causing Risa to cry out in pain. Black skin spread throughout her body and up her neck.

The hound rushed up to Zoltan and bit the dwarf on the arm, not only sinking it's teeth in but also causing burns to the dwarf.

Risa hit the shadow again with her bow and managed to hit it. It seemed to bend over and then bend back like a spring.

Reed moved away and got a bit closer and began to shout out insults at the hound and it flinched as if being strucked.

by **Nara-pyon** Sat Nov 10, 2018 1:46 am

Aeris let the bonfire fade as she summoned it again, once more in the space where the shadow was now, but the shadow dodged to the side, avoiding the flame.

Zoltan was having no better luck. He swung once, twice at the hound before him, but both times his greataxe whiffed past the hound without hitting it.

by **Kara Winters** Sat Nov 10, 2018 9:08 pm

Allen carefully moved closer towards Zoltan and realized he didn't quite have a clear shot of the strange fiery hound. Realizing he wouldn't be able to do much more, he had the doe move into Reed's space to keep up with the bard. He would not be able to do anything until he could get into a better position to help Zoltan.

The shadow struck out once more and the blackness spread out further, Risa gasped and was brought to her knees as she could no longer remain conscious. It felt like life itself was being sapped from her.

Reed was too focused on getting himself into a better position to help Zoltan to realize that Risa had gone down. He was once more hurling insults at the hound because it was the only thing he could do, but the hound seemed to shake it off better this time around.

The hound, as if seeing Zoltan is in the way body slammed the dwarf as if trying to get him to move. The creature it the barbarian hard.

by **Nara-pyon** Sat Nov 10, 2018 9:21 pm

With Risa down, Aeris felt desperation rising within her. She thrust her hand forward and used a bit more power to summon four magical missiles, directing them at the shadow that had knocked Risa down. The darts shot through the shadow, dissipating it into the darkness as if it had never been there at all.

Zoltan meanwhile swung his axe again at the hound. He missed, embedding the axe into the ground with the force of it, but with a yank it came free, and he attacked again. This time the blade caught the hound along one side, tearing a gash into its flank and exposing a fiery glow, as if there were fire inside the hound itself.

by **Kara Winters** Sat Nov 10, 2018 9:30 pm

Allen took a large step off to the side and took aim with his bow now that he had a good view of the creature. The arrow flew and hit the mark, with the shaft sticking out of the hound's side. The doe continued to move along with Reed as it was clear that Zoltan would need help.

Reed felt stronger every time the doe caught up with him, he finally made it to Zoltan and placed a hand against the dwarf's back, casting Cure Wounds at second level. This would at least give the dwarf the ability to withstand whatever happened next. He then continued to move around to get into a better position.

Risa fought to continue breathing and she continued to breath despite the necrotic damage.

The hound leaped at Zoltan's throat, getting the dwarf's shoulder instead and tearing into it, the fire licking the wounds causing it to burn as well. One could smell the burnt flesh that resulted from the attack.

by **Nara-pyon** Sat Nov 10, 2018 9:51 pm

Aeris rushed to Risa's side and knelt down, using a healer's kit to stabilize her. Once she was certain that she was going to be all right, she turned and started running towards the hound so that she could help out with it.

Reed's touch threw Zoltan off balance, and though he swung at the hound two more times, both swipes missed their mark.

by **Kara Winters** Sat Nov 10, 2018 10:05 pm

Allen took another shot at the hound but missed his mark completely. Knowing he wouldn't be able to do much more, he commanded the doe to help Zoltan as Reed was looking much better.

The doe did as commanded and right at Zoltan's back as if hiding behind the dwarf.

Reed attempted to sing a tuneless song and pointed at the hound. The hound began to shake its head and at first seemed affected by the song, but then just shook it off completely.

The hound slammed into Zoltan again, hitting the dwarf full force but in Zoltan's rage he managed to weather the blow.

by **Nara-pyon** Sat Nov 10, 2018 10:21 pm

Aeris kept running towards the hound, wanting to help.

Zoltan swung and missed two more times, thrown off balance by the blow of the hound. Still, he could feel the doe spirit healing him, strength suddenly returning to his body - at least a little bit.

by **Kara Winters** Sat Nov 10, 2018 10:30 pm

Taking another shot again the arrow this time hit the hound in the throat and it yelped in pain at the attack. It growled, angry at the attack that was made at it. It was at this point that Allen and Reed noticed that Aeris had arrived but on her own.

The elven ranger took a look behind him to realize that Risa was down (but clearly stable if Aeris was coming towards them). However he couldn't do anything at the moment as he was also focused on keeping Zoltan alive as well.

Reed winced and debated with himself before singing another soundless song to the hound. This time the hound cried out began to bang it's head and then run away towards the tree to get away from Reed.

by **Nara-pyon** Sat Nov 10, 2018 10:42 pm

Aeris changed direction and ran closer to the hound - though not right up to it. When she was close enough, she inhaled deeply, then used her Dragon Breath to breathe an icy blast of air onto the hound. Frost coated the hound, and its fire seemed dimmer than it had been a moment before.

Zoltan charged after the hound, his greataxe raised, and as soon as he was close enough he brought it down with all his might. The axe hit the hound just in front of its tail, and the axe sliced through it, going through the body and hitting the ground. With a jerk, Zoltan brought the axe back up again, and again the blade caught the hound, this time tearing a hind leg from its body. The fire that seemed to burn inside it flared as each wound opened, but as Zoltan swung his axe back over his head again, the fire faded and the beast fell to the ground, unmoving.

by **Kara Winters** Fri Nov 23, 2018 11:00 am

As the fire faded from the creature, the first rays of light began to cast a glow upon the ground as the sun rose. The party breath a sigh of relief now that all the creatures seemed to be gone. Reed, who had taken it upon himself to sort of be the 'party healer' realized what had happened to Risa and went over to help bring her back to consciousness.

Allen, who watched as Reed went over to help Risa first before making his way over to Aeris and Zoltan commented.

"We should let the merchants in town know there might still be things wandering about, hopefully not though."

by **Nara-pyon** Fri Dec 14, 2018 10:34 pm

Zoltan looked back at Allen. "Shouldn' we make sure there's nothin' else?" he asked him. "An' didn' we also take on a request abou' a cave or a mine or somethin'?"

He hadn't been present when the request had been accepted, but Aeris had told him about it.

by **Kara Winters** Fri Dec 14, 2018 10:41 pm

"I'm not sure where we would look now that whatever kept them in the town is gone," Allen admitted, "You guys cleared out the whole town right?"

At this point Reed, with a slightly shaken Risa came over. Having heard the question Reed nodded to this, "Yes, we went through every building and as far as I know found everything. We know that whatever the barrier was kept things inside... but Zoltan is right, we can't leave the town until we get the fire bugs? Fire beetles I think they were called."

"And you won't have to, the merchants originally live in the town below, and I figured we were going to stay there for a few days anyways instead of going back to Fox Grove right away," Allen explained.

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