A Tale of Two Orphans — IC

[kalis5]

Rorin loads another bolt and fires at the skeleton, a bit annoyed at how often it has tried to fill him with arrows. Unfortunately, as seems to be common for the group at the moment, the bolt goes wide, almost hitting Zara as it lands planted in the ground in front of her. Maybe his sights are off.

Mechanics

[SHOW]

Sly Flourish on Skeleton 2:2(1d20) +8 = 10
God dammit.

Combat Block

[SHOW]

Rorin

Male Half-Elf Rogue 1
Speed: 6
Initiative: +4
Passive Perception: 16
Passive Insight: 13
Senses: Low-light Vision
Languages: Common, Tulrissian
AC: 16
Fort: 11
Ref: 16
Will: 13
HP:16/24
Bloodied: 12
Surge Value: 6
Surges: 7/7
AP: 1

Powers:

Sly Flourish
Duelists Flurry
Jinx Shot [ ]
Impact Shot [X]
Knack for Success [ ]
Wasteland Fury [ ]
Easy Target [ ]

Other Abilities:

Second Wind [ ]

Conditions: None

Important Info

[SHOW]

Sneak Attack: When attacking a target that grants CA, deal an extra 2d8 damage.
First Strike: Gain CA against any target that hasn't acted in combat.
Sharpshooter Talent (Crossbow): +1 to Attack rolls with Crossbows.
Artful Dodger: Gain Charisma (+3) AC against Opportunity Attacks.
Group Diplomacy: +1 Diplomacy to all allies within 10 squares.

[Fialova]

With the combined effort of Valcus, Drake, Embla, and Caelen the northern skeleton finally goes down. The one to the south, however, stays standing and barely injured as Zara and Rorin both miss yet again. The skeleton does not miss, though, landing a blow against the priestess with its now-drawn sword.

Go: Everyone

Mechanics

[SHOW]

Valc: hits and bloodies Skeleton 1, misses, readies action

Drake: hits with both, marks

Embla: curses, moves, hits, becomes invisible to Skeleton 1 until SONT

Caelen: hits and kills Skeleton 1

Rorin: misses

Skeleton 2: drops bow, draws longsword. Slashes at Zara, 21 vs AC = hit for 4 damage. Zara is bloodied

Zara:
Standard Action: Faerie-Flame Strike on Skeleton 2
Attack: 10 vs AC = miss.
Effect: Skeleton 2 cannot benefit from concealment until EONT. I cry myself to sleep...

Minor Action: Healing Word on self
Effect: spend a healing surge and gain 6 additional hp for a grand total of 12 hp healed.

Map

[SHOW]

Map Info

[SHOW]

Tree: (O, 21 - P, 22) These spots cannot be entered and block line of sight for attacks for you and enemies. Cormic is up in the tree at (P, 22)

Tents: Zara's and Embla's tents block line of sight, but can easily be knocked over by moving into their squares.

Log: The squares occupied by the fallen log are difficult terrain. If you aren't entirely sure if one counts, just ask.

Fire: (M, 19 - N, 20) ending your turn in any of the squares makes you take 3 fire damage.

Enemy Info

[SHOW]

Zombie: These shambling corpses seem fragile and weak. They have no armor or weapons, and can likely be disposed of quite easily.

Large Zombie: Unlike most of the walking dead in this fight, these seem significantly more formidable. They still possess no weapons or armor, but their bulk and stance gives off a sense of strength the others seem to lack.

Skeleton: These seem to be the most formidable of the enemies that have surrounded you, possessing both a sword and a bow each, with leather armor draped over their thin skeletal bodies. Perhaps they were once rangers, long ago.

Status

[SHOW]

22 Caelen (P, 19) HP: 16/24 AP: 1/1 Surprise Strike
21 Rorin (J, 21) HP: 13/24 AP: 1/1 marked by Skeleton 2 until EONT, +1 to defenses from Fluffy Impact Shot
17 Skeleton 1 (G, 10) HP: -57/?? Dead
17 Skeleton 2 (AA, 27) HP: -17/??
14 Zara (L, 22) HP: 21/25 AP: 0/1 Disciplined Counter, Healing Word 2/2, Twin Strike, Smite Undead, Faerie-Flame Strike
13 Valc (J, 17) HP: 25/25 AP: 1/1 marked by Skeleton 1 until EONT, Sohei Flurry
10 Drake (L, 16) HP: 25/31 AP: 1/1 +3 power bonus to next attack roll against Skeleton 1 until EONT, Dwarven Resilience, Second Wind, Sohei Flurry
8 Embla (N, 21) HP: 9/26 AP: 0/1 Bloodied, invisible to Skeleton 1 until SONT Shard Swarm, Witchfire

Fluffy HP: 8/13 grants +1 to defenses of adjacent allies.

Combat Block

[SHOW]

Zara

Female Half-Elf Warpriest 1
Speed: 6
Initiative: +3
Passive Perception: 19
Passive Insight: 21
Senses: Low-Light Vision
Languages: Common, Tulrissian, Imardanian
Age: 37
Height: 5' 5"

AC: 16
Fort: 12
Reflex: 13
Will: 15
HP: 12/25
Bloodied: 12
Surge Value: 6
Surges left: 6/8
Action Points: 0

Powers:

Blessing of the Wild
Graceful Switch
Second Wind [_]
Disciplined Counter [X]
Twin Strike [X]
Smite Undead [X]*
Healing Word [X][X]
Step Together [X]*
Faerie-Flame Strike [X]
Moment of Glory [_]
Fey Sight [_]

* Can only use one per encounter

Conditions:

None.

Important Features:

[SHOW]

Corellon Domain Features: While you are subject to a charm effect that a save can end, you can make a saving throw against that effect at the start of each of your turns, as well as at the end.

In addition, when you use healing word, you and each ally in the burst can ignore difficult terrain when shifting until the start of your next turn.

Group Diplomacy: You grant allies within 10 squares of you a +1 racial bonus to diplomacy checks.

Heavy Blade Expertise: While wielding a heavy blade, you gain a +2 bonus to all defenses against opportunity attacks.

[ratwizard]

As the northern skeleton falls into a pile of bones and tattered armor, Valc urges Lord Aerden on toward the new front of combat to their south. He charges forward, and notices a wounded Embla as he lumbers toward the remaining undead. He shouts to her some words of encouragement, hoping she can pull through. "Hold strong, Embla! There's more things to be fed to your mongrel!" With a determined look, he rushes past her, positioning himself next to her mutt and an arrow-punched Rorin.

Mechanics

[SHOW]

Standard->Move: Run to N18.

Minor: Inspiring Word on Embla. Heals her for 12 HP, bringing her to 21 and unbloodying her.
Roll: 1d6+6=12

Move: Run to U24.

Free: Ready Vengeance is Mine if Valc is struck.

Combat Block

[SHOW]

Valcus "Valc" Torinn

Male Dragonborn Bravura Warlord 1
Height: 6'0"
Age: 25
Initiative: +2
Passive Perception: 10
Passive Insight: 10
Senses: Normal
Languages: Common, Tulrissian
AC:18
Fort:16
Reflex:12
Will:14
HP:25/25
Bloodied:12
Surge Value:7
Surges left:8/8
Action Points: 1

Powers:

Brash Assault
Intuitive Strike
Dragonfear [ ]
Inspiring Word [x]
Inspiring Word [ ]
Sohei Flurry [ ]
Vengeance Is Mine [ ]
Lamb to the Slaughter [ ]

Other Abilities:

Second Wind [ ]

Conditions:

None.

Important Features:

[SHOW]

Bravura Presence: When an ally who can see you spends an action point to take an extra action and uses the action to make an attack, the ally can choose to take advantage of this feature before the attack roll. If the ally chooses to do so and the attack hits, the ally can either make a basic attack or take a move action after the attack as a free action. If the attack misses, the ally grants combat advantage to all enemies until the end of his or her next turn.

Dragonborn Fury: When you’re bloodied, you gain a +1 racial bonus to attack rolls.

Heavy Blade Expertise: You gain a +2 bonus to all defenses against opportunity attacks.

Battlefront Shift: Upon rolling initiative, one ally within 3 squares of Valc (or Valc) may shift half their speed.

[Scratcherclaw]

Caelen watches the skeleton crumble to little more than bones and dust and smiles. One more to go. He turns toward the remaining skeleton, many of his companions already positioned near it. He growls, realizing this was the skeleton that had shot him. He sends two arrows whizzing at the sack of bones and grins deviously as they meet his target.

Mechanics

[SHOW]

Minor: Hunter's Quarry on Skeleton Two

Standard: Twin Strike
Target: Skeleton Two
Attack One: 11(1d20) +8 = 19 vs. AC
Damage One: 1(1d10) +4(1d6) = 5
Attack Two: 14(1d20) +8 = 22 vs. AC
Damage Two: 2(1d10) +5(1d6) = 7

Combat Block

[SHOW]

Caelen

Male Elf Ranger 1
Speed: 7
Initiative: +5
Passive Perception: 22
Passive Insight: 18
Senses: Low-light vision
Languages: Common, Tulrissian
AC:18
Fort:12
Reflex:16
Will:13
HP:16/24
Bloodied:12
Surge Value:6
Surges left:7/7
Action Points: 1

Powers:

Hunter's Quarry
Twin Strike
Fading Strike
Surprise Strike [X]
Hindering Shot [X]
Hunt's End [ ]

Other Abilities:

Second Wind [ ]
Elven Accuracy [ ]

Conditions:

None.

Important Features:

[SHOW]

Prime Shot: If no allies are closer to the target than you, get +1 on ranged attacks against that target.

Group Awareness: You grant non-elf allies within 5 squares of you a +1 racial bonus to Perception checks.

Wild Step: You ignore difficult terrain when you shift.

Bow Expertise: You gain a +1 feat bonus to weapon attack rolls that you make with a bow. In addition, you gain a +1 bonus to the damage roll of any weapon attack you make with a bow against a single creature that is not adjacent to any other creature.

Distant Advantage: You gain combat advantage for ranged or area attacks against any enemy flanked by your allies.

Defensive Mobility: You gain a +2 bonus to AC against opportunity attacks.

[PureZaros]

Valc's encouragement hardened Embla's resolve. "That's right! I have a pet to feed!"

Moving towards the final enemy, Embla stopped near Fluffy, who seemed to have saved bits of zombie on his tentacles for later. Cursing the skeleton, she fired another phantasmal snake into its face, wiping her from its view.

Mechanics

[SHOW]

Move: Embla to S23

Minor: Warlock's Curse on Skeleton 2

Standard: Eyebite on Skeleton 2
Attack: 19(1d20) +5 = 24 vs Will, hit.
Damage: 7(2d6) +4 = 11 psychic
Embla is invisible to skeleton 2 until the start of her next turn.

Combat Block

[SHOW]

Embla

Age: 27
Height: 6'2"
Weight: 170
Female Shardmind Desception Warlock 1
Speed: 6
Initiative: +1
Passive Perception: 9
Passive Insight: 9
Senses: Normal
Languages: Common, Tulrissian, Dwarven
AC: 15
Fort: 12
Reflex: 14
Will: 15
HP: 21/26
Bloodied: 13
Surge Value: 6
Surges left: 8/8
Action Points: 0

Powers:
Trained Displacer Beast
Eldritch Blast
Eyebite
(Improved) Misty Step
Warlock's Curse
[_]Second Wind
[X]Shard Swarm
[X]Witchfire
[_]Crown of Stars

Important Stuff

[SHOW]

Crystalline Mind: You have resist 5 psychic.
Living Construct: You do not need to eat, drink, breathe, or sleep. You never make Endurance checks to resist the effect of starvation, thirst, or suffocation. All other conditions and effects affect you normally.
Telepathy: You can communicate telepathically with any creature within 5 squares of you that has a language.

Eldritch Blast: When a power allows you to make a ranged basic attack, you can use this power.

Eyebite: You are invisible to the target until the start of your next turn.

(Improved) Misty Step: You can teleport 5 squares as a free action when an enemy afflicted by your Warlock's Curse falls to 0 or fewer hit points.

Warlock's Curse: Once per turn you can place a Warlock's Curse on the nearest enemy you can see. You can deal extra damage to this enemy when you hit it with an attack.

Shard Swarm: Each enemy in Close Burst 1 grants combat advantage to you until the end of next turn and you teleport half of your speed.

Witchfire: Target takes -(2 + Int modifier) penalty to attack rolls until the end of your turn on a hit.

Crown of Stars: If target is bloodied, it is blinded until the end of your next turn. If you Sustain Minor, make a CHA vs Will check on any target in range. On a hit, deal radiant equal to your CHA modifier.

Displacer Beast

[SHOW]

Fluffy

Medium Fey Beast
Speed: 8

ABILITY SCORES
Str 15, Dex 20, Wis 16, Con 16, Int 2, Cha 6

Initiative: +1
Perception: 11
Senses: Low-light
Languages: Uh... Yeah
AC: 16
Fort: 12
Reflex: 16
Will: 16
HP: 8/13
Bloodied: 6

Powers:
Displacement (Illusion, Aura 1): Allies gain a +1 power bonus to all defenses while in the aura.
Tentacle (At-will, Illusion): Fluffy gains partial concealment until the end of it's next turn.

[Namelessjake]

With no more enemies remaining in the north of the clearling, Drake turns his attention to the remaining skeleton. As Valc takes off towards the fray, Drake follows, albeit somewhat slower.

Mechanics

[SHOW]

Standard->Move: Run to N14

Move: Run to U21

Combat Block

[SHOW]

Drake Aerden

Male Dwarf Fighter 1
Initiative: +1
Speed: 5
Passive Perception: 12
Passive Insight: 12
Senses: Low-light Vision
Languages: Common, Tulrissian
AC:19
Fort:16
Reflex:13
Will:12
HP: 25/31
Bloodied:15
Surge Value:7
Surges left:11/12
Action Points: 1

Powers:

Bull Rush Attack
Grab Attack
Opportunity Attack
Combat Challenge
Cleave
Shield Feint
Second Wind [ ]
Sohei Flurry [x]
Shield Bash [ ]
Driving Attack [ ]

Other Abilities:

Second Wind [x]
Dwarven Resilience [x]

Conditions:

Important Features:

[SHOW]

Combat Superiority:You gain a bonus to opportunity attacks equal to your Wisdom modifier (+2). An enemy struck by your opportunity attack stops moving, if a move provoked the attack. If it still has actions remaining, it can use them to resume moving.

Combat Challenge: Every time you attack an enemy, whever the attack hits or misses, you can choose to mark that target. The mark lasts until the end of your next turn. While the target is marked, it takes a -2 penalty to attack rolls if its attack doesn't include you as a target. A creature can be subject to only one mark at a time. A new mark supersedes a mark that was already in place. Whenever an enemy marked by you is adjacent to you and shifts or makes an attack that does not include you, you can make a melee basic attack against the enemy.

Dwarven Stomach: You have a +5 bonus to saving throws against poison.

Encumbered Speed: You move at your normal speed even when it would be reduced by armor or a heavy load. Other effects that limit speed (such as difficult terrain or magic) affect you normally.

Stand Your Ground: When an effect forces you to move -through a pull, push, or a slide-you can move 1 square less than the effect specifies. This means an effect that normally pulls, pushes, or slides a target 1 square does not force you to move unless you want to. In addition, when an attack would knock you prone, you can make a saving throw to avoid falling prone.

Heavy Blade Expertise: You gain a +2 bonus to all defenses against opportunity attacks.

Shield Push: If you hit a foe with an attack granted by your Combat Challenge class feature, you push the target 1 square after dealing damage.

[kalis5]

As Rorin knocks his next bolt he offers up a small prayer to anyone listening, any god.
"This time, come on, this time..."
But as usual, the shot goes wide, and crashes against a tree, leaving Rorin cursing his unfortunate luck recently.

Mechanics

[SHOW]

Sly Flourish on Skeleton: 1d20+8=14
... Seriously.

Combat Block

[SHOW]

Rorin

Male Half-Elf Rogue 1
Speed: 6
Initiative: +4
Passive Perception: 16
Passive Insight: 13
Senses: Low-light Vision
Languages: Common, Tulrissian
AC: 16
Fort: 11
Ref: 16
Will: 13
HP:16/24
Bloodied: 12
Surge Value: 6
Surges: 7/7
AP: 1

Powers:

Sly Flourish
Duelists Flurry
Jinx Shot [ ]
Impact Shot [X]
Knack for Success [ ]
Wasteland Fury [ ]
Easy Target [ ]

Other Abilities:

Second Wind [ ]

Conditions: marked by Skeleton 2 until EONT, +1 to defenses from Fluffy

Important Info

[SHOW]

Sneak Attack: When attacking a target that grants CA, deal an extra 2d8 damage.
First Strike: Gain CA against any target that hasn't acted in combat.
Sharpshooter Talent (Crossbow): +1 to Attack rolls with Crossbows.
Artful Dodger: Gain Charisma (+3) AC against Opportunity Attacks.
Group Diplomacy: +1 Diplomacy to all allies within 10 squares.

[Fialova]

As the knights rush to the other side of the clearing to help, the combined efforts of Caelen, Embla, and Zara bring down the last foe, with the priestess landing the finishing blow. With that the forest gets quiet, and as the sound of combat dies down it becomes clear that there are no more walking dead in the area to fight.

With the battle over, everyone finally has a chance to rest. The entire ordeal only lasted a few minutes - ten at most - but its timing could not have been poorer, as everyone was already exhausted from the day's walk. Zara quietly walks around to gather her weapons and re-hide them on her person, then approaches the group. "Help me gather these bodies in a heap. We need to burn them before they just get back up again. I will perform the rites to keep the down, as I mentioned before." And with that the woman heads off to start dragging the rotting corpses and piles of bones into a circle in the part of the clearing on the other side of the fallen log from the camp.

Short Rest

Mechanics

[SHOW]

Valc: moves, heals, moves, readies action

Caelen: quarries, hits with both, bloodies Skeleton 2

Embla: moves, curses, hits

Drake: moves, moves more

Rorin: misses

Skeleton 2: Slashes at Zara, 11 vs AC = miss. Marks Zara.

Zara:
Standard Action: Graceful Switch on Skeleton 2
Attack: 22 vs AC = hit
Damage: 8 radiant damage +5 from vulnerability = 13 damage.

Short Rest: regain all encounter powers, spend no surges.

Map

[SHOW]

Map Info

[SHOW]

Tree: (O, 21 - P, 22) These spots cannot be entered and block line of sight for attacks for you and enemies. Cormic is up in the tree at (P, 22)

Tents: Zara's and Embla's tents block line of sight, but can easily be knocked over by moving into their squares.

Log: The squares occupied by the fallen log are difficult terrain. If you aren't entirely sure if one counts, just ask.

Fire: (M, 19 - N, 20) ending your turn in any of the squares makes you take 3 fire damage.

Enemy Info

[SHOW]

Zombie: These shambling corpses seem fragile and weak. They have no armor or weapons, and can likely be disposed of quite easily.

Large Zombie: Unlike most of the walking dead in this fight, these seem significantly more formidable. They still possess no weapons or armor, but their bulk and stance gives off a sense of strength the others seem to lack.

Skeleton: These seem to be the most formidable of the enemies that have surrounded you, possessing both a sword and a bow each, with leather armor draped over their thin skeletal bodies. Perhaps they were once rangers, long ago.

Status

[SHOW]

22 Caelen (P, 19) HP: 16/24 AP: 1/1 Surprise Strike
21 Rorin (J, 21) HP: 13/24 AP: 1/1 marked by Skeleton 2 until EONT, +1 to defenses from Fluffy Impact Shot
17 Skeleton 2 (AA, 27) HP: -53/?? Dead
14 Zara (L, 22) HP: 21/25 AP: 0/1 Disciplined Counter, Healing Word 2/2, Twin Strike, Smite Undead, Faerie-Flame Strike
13 Valc (J, 17) HP: 25/25 AP: 1/1 +1 to defenses from Fluffy, Sohei Flurry, Inspiring Word 1/2
10 Drake (L, 16) HP: 25/31 AP: 1/1 Dwarven Resilience, Second Wind, Sohei Flurry
8 Embla (N, 21) HP: 21/26 AP: 0/1 invisible to Skeleton 2 until SONT, +1 to defenses from Fluffy, Shard Swarm, Witchfire

Fluffy HP: 8/13 grants +1 to defenses of adjacent allies.

Combat Block

[SHOW]

Zara

Female Half-Elf Warpriest 1
Speed: 6
Initiative: +3
Passive Perception: 19
Passive Insight: 21
Senses: Low-Light Vision
Languages: Common, Tulrissian, Imardanian
Age: 37
Height: 5' 5"

AC: 16
Fort: 12
Reflex: 13
Will: 15
HP: 21/25
Bloodied: 12
Surge Value: 6
Surges left: 6/8
Action Points: 0

Powers:

Blessing of the Wild
Graceful Switch
Second Wind [_]
Disciplined Counter [_]
Twin Strike [_]
Smite Undead [_]*
Healing Word [_][_]
Step Together [_]*
Faerie-Flame Strike [_]
Moment of Glory [_]
Fey Sight [_]

* Can only use one per encounter

Conditions:

None.

Important Features:

[SHOW]

Corellon Domain Features: While you are subject to a charm effect that a save can end, you can make a saving throw against that effect at the start of each of your turns, as well as at the end.

In addition, when you use healing word, you and each ally in the burst can ignore difficult terrain when shifting until the start of your next turn.

Group Diplomacy: You grant allies within 10 squares of you a +1 racial bonus to diplomacy checks.

Heavy Blade Expertise: While wielding a heavy blade, you gain a +2 bonus to all defenses against opportunity attacks.

[ratwizard]

Valcus sheaths his sword and stows his tower shield on his back before turning to deal with the rotting bodies and bone piles that lay about their campsite. Only now, after his adrenaline wears off, does he realize the stench is quite overpowering. As he drags, he speaks to Zara. "I've got some oil in my pack. We could use it to make sure they get fully incinerated, unless you've another way of doing this."

Mechanics

[SHOW]

Valc's encounter powers recharge.

Combat Block

[SHOW]

Valcus "Valc" Torinn

Male Dragonborn Bravura Warlord 1
Height: 6'0"
Age: 25
Initiative: +2
Passive Perception: 10
Passive Insight: 10
Senses: Normal
Languages: Common, Tulrissian
AC:18
Fort:16
Reflex:12
Will:14
HP:25/25
Bloodied:12
Surge Value:7
Surges left:8/8
Action Points: 1

Powers:

Brash Assault
Intuitive Strike
Dragonfear [ ]
Inspiring Word [ ]
Inspiring Word [ ]
Sohei Flurry [ ]
Vengeance Is Mine [ ]
Lamb to the Slaughter [ ]

Other Abilities:

Second Wind [ ]

Conditions:

None.

Important Features:

[SHOW]

Bravura Presence: When an ally who can see you spends an action point to take an extra action and uses the action to make an attack, the ally can choose to take advantage of this feature before the attack roll. If the ally chooses to do so and the attack hits, the ally can either make a basic attack or take a move action after the attack as a free action. If the attack misses, the ally grants combat advantage to all enemies until the end of his or her next turn.

Dragonborn Fury: When you’re bloodied, you gain a +1 racial bonus to attack rolls.

Heavy Blade Expertise: You gain a +2 bonus to all defenses against opportunity attacks.

Battlefront Shift: Upon rolling initiative, one ally within 3 squares of Valc (or Valc) may shift half their speed.

[Namelessjake]

Drake follows Valc's lead and begins to help with bodies. He walks over to the rotten corpse on Caelen's bed roll. "Well this is ruined." He said, dragging the zombie towards the pile. "You fought well Caelen, feel free to take my bedroll if you want, I'll buy another once we're back in Garland." He said to the elf, who had impressed him with his skills with his bow.

Mechanics

[SHOW]

Drake's encounter powers recharge.

Combat Block

[SHOW]

Drake Aerden

Male Dwarf Fighter 1
Initiative: +1
Speed: 5
Passive Perception: 12
Passive Insight: 12
Senses: Low-light Vision
Languages: Common, Tulrissian
AC:19
Fort:16
Reflex:13
Will:12
HP: 25/31
Bloodied:15
Surge Value:7
Surges left:11/12
Action Points: 1

Powers:

Bull Rush Attack
Grab Attack
Opportunity Attack
Combat Challenge
Cleave
Shield Feint
Sohei Flurry [ ]
Shield Bash [ ]
Driving Attack [ ]

Other Abilities:

Second Wind [ ]
Dwarven Resilience [ ]

Conditions:

Important Features:

[SHOW]

Combat Superiority:You gain a bonus to opportunity attacks equal to your Wisdom modifier (+2). An enemy struck by your opportunity attack stops moving, if a move provoked the attack. If it still has actions remaining, it can use them to resume moving.

Combat Challenge: Every time you attack an enemy, whever the attack hits or misses, you can choose to mark that target. The mark lasts until the end of your next turn. While the target is marked, it takes a -2 penalty to attack rolls if its attack doesn't include you as a target. A creature can be subject to only one mark at a time. A new mark supersedes a mark that was already in place. Whenever an enemy marked by you is adjacent to you and shifts or makes an attack that does not include you, you can make a melee basic attack against the enemy.

Dwarven Stomach: You have a +5 bonus to saving throws against poison.

Encumbered Speed: You move at your normal speed even when it would be reduced by armor or a heavy load. Other effects that limit speed (such as difficult terrain or magic) affect you normally.

Stand Your Ground: When an effect forces you to move -through a pull, push, or a slide-you can move 1 square less than the effect specifies. This means an effect that normally pulls, pushes, or slides a target 1 square does not force you to move unless you want to. In addition, when an attack would knock you prone, you can make a saving throw to avoid falling prone.

Heavy Blade Expertise: You gain a +2 bonus to all defenses against opportunity attacks.

Shield Push: If you hit a foe with an attack granted by your Combat Challenge class feature, you push the target 1 square after dealing damage.

[Scratcherclaw]

Caelen observes Zara delivering the final blow and sighs with relief. Then he notices his bedroll, or what remains of it. As Drake walks over and compliments his fighting, along with offering his bedroll, Caelen slightly smiles, albeit it's hardly noticeable. "Th-thank you, m'lord." But as Drake drags the gargantuan zombie toward the pile, he begins beaming, realizing how many of these creatures he had downed. He stands still for a moment, taking in what had just happened. What he had just done. After the brief moment passes, he turns to the matter at hand and begins gathering the remains. Passing by his first kill, Caelen yanks his arrow out of the corpse, wanting to remember his actions on this night forever.

Mechanics

[SHOW]

Caelen's encounter powers recharge.

Combat Block

[SHOW]

Caelen

Male Elf Ranger 1
Speed: 7
Initiative: +5
Passive Perception: 22
Passive Insight: 18
Senses: Low-light vision
Languages: Common, Tulrissian
AC:18
Fort:12
Reflex:16
Will:13
HP:16/24
Bloodied:12
Surge Value:6
Surges left:7/7
Action Points: 1

Powers:

Hunter's Quarry
Twin Strike
Fading Strike
Surprise Strike [ ]
Hindering Shot [ ]
Hunt's End [ ]

Other Abilities:

Second Wind [ ]
Elven Accuracy [ ]

Conditions:

None.

Important Features:

[SHOW]

Prime Shot: If no allies are closer to the target than you, get +1 on ranged attacks against that target.

Group Awareness: You grant non-elf allies within 5 squares of you a +1 racial bonus to Perception checks.

Wild Step: You ignore difficult terrain when you shift.

Bow Expertise: You gain a +1 feat bonus to weapon attack rolls that you make with a bow. In addition, you gain a +1 bonus to the damage roll of any weapon attack you make with a bow against a single creature that is not adjacent to any other creature.

Distant Advantage: You gain combat advantage for ranged or area attacks against any enemy flanked by your allies.

Defensive Mobility: You gain a +2 bonus to AC against opportunity attacks.

[Fialova]

"Yes, bravo little man," Cormic calls out from his tree, finally rejoining the group for the first time since the battle began. "You might be almost as a good a shot as me. If you all were smart, though, you'd have climbed up in a tree when I did. Those things are too stupid to find you up here, let alone get to you."

"Best to rid the world of them rather than let them wander free," Zara responds as she continues to gather the bodies into a heap, an annoyed tone in her voice. "I imagine you hide every time though, hm?"

"Better that than join their numbers, lady. I don't got time to re-kill every dead body that comes after me."

"Nor the skill, I suspect," comes the priestess' biting retort. With this Cormic harumphs and turns the other way, ignoring the woman and her insults. "And yes, you did well tonight elf boy. You all did, much better than I expected from those who had never seen the night creatures before."

[ratwizard]

Valc listens to the banter between the guide and the priestess, as he spies Caelen smiling to himself over something. He speaks up when they finish, his first words to the elf since their minor situation back at the tavern. "I'm impressed, Caelen. And here I'd thought you'd tense up, but you managed to thin out most of these damned creatures. Now I know whose aim I can surely rely on when I've got a few of these bastards on me." He snickers and casts a smirk at Rorin before turning to Cormic. "We didn't pay you to fight, so I've no problem with your cowardice. As long as you get us to where we need to go, I will ensure you will be unscathed. However, a few shots here and there might help a bit, too. They might not be able to climb, but if we had fallen in battle, unaided, they would have collapsed on your position. You'd starve before they gave up trying to reach you."

[PureZaros]

Embla looked around contentedly, the recent mayhem of battle all around. Zombie corpses were scattered across the clearing, along with various arrows and bolts scattered among the trees. Well, mostly bolts in the trees. The arrows were stuck in zombies.

As she surveyed the field, Fluffy prowled up behind Embla, eying one of the less rotted out husks hungrily. She smiles at her beast, waving a hand to its target. "Off you go then. You never miss a chance for free food, do you?"

Hearing Valc's comment to Cormic, she turned and addressed the leaf-covered forester. ""Seriously, though. A few shots from you would have helped quite a bit. Some of us were apparently still affected by the wine Wellesly drugged them with. Hell, Rorin almost took his own head off with his crossbow!" Turning her head towards Rorin, she called to him over her shoulder. "Oy! Rorin! You do know which end the quarrel comes out, right?"

Mechanics

[SHOW]

Embla regenerates all encounter powers.

Combat Block

[SHOW]

Embla

Age: 27
Height: 6'2"
Weight: 170
Female Shardmind Desception Warlock 1
Speed: 6
Initiative: +1
Passive Perception: 9
Passive Insight: 9
Senses: Normal
Languages: Common, Tulrissian, Dwarven
AC: 15
Fort: 12
Reflex: 14
Will: 15
HP: 21/26
Bloodied: 13
Surge Value: 6
Surges left: 8/8
Action Points: 0

Powers:
Trained Displacer Beast
Eldritch Blast
Eyebite
(Improved) Misty Step
Warlock's Curse
[_]Second Wind
[_]Shard Swarm
[_]Witchfire
[_]Crown of Stars

Important Stuff

[SHOW]

Crystalline Mind: You have resist 5 psychic.
Living Construct: You do not need to eat, drink, breathe, or sleep. You never make Endurance checks to resist the effect of starvation, thirst, or suffocation. All other conditions and effects affect you normally.
Telepathy: You can communicate telepathically with any creature within 5 squares of you that has a language.

Eldritch Blast: When a power allows you to make a ranged basic attack, you can use this power.

Eyebite: You are invisible to the target until the start of your next turn.

(Improved) Misty Step: You can teleport 5 squares as a free action when an enemy afflicted by your Warlock's Curse falls to 0 or fewer hit points.

Warlock's Curse: Once per turn you can place a Warlock's Curse on the nearest enemy you can see. You can deal extra damage to this enemy when you hit it with an attack.

Shard Swarm: Each enemy in Close Burst 1 grants combat advantage to you until the end of next turn and you teleport half of your speed.

Witchfire: Target takes -(2 + Int modifier) penalty to attack rolls until the end of your turn on a hit.

Crown of Stars: If target is bloodied, it is blinded until the end of your next turn. If you Sustain Minor, make a CHA vs Will check on any target in range. On a hit, deal radiant equal to your CHA modifier.

Displacer Beast

[SHOW]

Fluffy

Medium Fey Beast
Speed: 8

ABILITY SCORES
Str 15, Dex 20, Wis 16, Con 16, Int 2, Cha 6

Initiative: +1
Perception: 11
Senses: Low-light
Languages: Uh... Yeah
AC: 16
Fort: 12
Reflex: 16
Will: 16
HP: 8/13
Bloodied: 6

Powers:
Displacement (Illusion, Aura 1): Allies gain a +1 power bonus to all defenses while in the aura.
Tentacle (At-will, Illusion): Fluffy gains partial concealment until the end of it's next turn.

[kalis5]

Rorin rolls his eyes at Embla as she taunts him.
"I do. You try aiming at something that has no flesh and tell me how easy it is. Half those shots went through the things ribcage. The fact it was shooting back made things worse. I doubt hiding in a tree would do much good if they just turn you into a pincushion."
He doesn't glance back but he knows Cormic's tactic isn't as sound as he thinks.
"Anyways. My skills aren't for the most part with the blade or crossbow. You'll find them in time I think. So, anyone want to sleep on the ground or does the thought of a zombie closing in and eating you alive not sound appetizing?"

Mechanics

[SHOW]

Spend one healing surge to get back up to 22 health. 2 hit points aren't really necessary.
Regain all encounter powers. Prepare for extended rest.

Combat Block

[SHOW]

Rorin

Male Half-Elf Rogue 1
Speed: 6
Initiative: +4
Passive Perception: 16
Passive Insight: 13
Senses: Low-light Vision
Languages: Common, Tulrissian
AC: 16
Fort: 11
Ref: 16
Will: 13
HP:22/24
Bloodied: 12
Surge Value: 6
Surges: 6/7
AP: 1

Powers:

Sly Flourish
Duelists Flurry
Jinx Shot [ ]
Impact Shot [X]
Knack for Success [ ]
Wasteland Fury [ ]
Easy Target [ ]

Other Abilities:

Second Wind [ ]

Conditions: None

Important Info

[SHOW]

Sneak Attack: When attacking a target that grants CA, deal an extra 2d8 damage.
First Strike: Gain CA against any target that hasn't acted in combat.
Sharpshooter Talent (Crossbow): +1 to Attack rolls with Crossbows.
Artful Dodger: Gain Charisma (+3) AC against Opportunity Attacks.
Group Diplomacy: +1 Diplomacy to all allies within 10 squares.

[Fialova]

"Bah, they wouldn't have even known we were here if you didn't make that fire and make so much noise setting up camp," the woodsman responds to Valc. Turning to Embla, "and if I had shot at them that would have only let them know of my presence. You think dodging arrows up here would be easy? Ha! No, best to just stay out of sight until they shamble off into a different part of the woods. They leave me alone, I leave them alone. Everyone wins. Now will you hurry up and stop yapping so I can get some shut-eye?"

[Namelessjake]

"There's no point arguing over what we should have done. We're all still alive. We'll need the rest too if we're going to face the witch soon." Drake said, dumping the last of the bodies onto the pile for burning. He walks over to his bedroll and tosses it to Caelen before finding a mossy patch of ground to sleep on. He lays down and starts to get comfy.

[Scratcherclaw]

Caelen grins widely as he receives praise for his fighting. Once a scared child, he now feels much more sure of himself and his capabilities. He watches Drake lob his bedroll to him and attempts to catch it. He fumbles with it and it falls to the ground. He smiles awkwardly, his old self shining through. "Th-thanks again. I appreciate it, m'lord." He lays the bedroll on some flat terrain near the fire and lies down on it, his arms growing sore with the fighting ceased. Worn from the long day behind him and expecting a much longer day ahead, Caelen shuts his emerald eyes and drifts to sleep, a smile painted across his face.

[Fialova]

While Zara agrees with the lordling Drake, she does not speak up. Best to not speak and let Cormic stew in his miserable cowardice instead.

As the last body is piled onto the heap by the man, she walks over to Valcus' bedroll and begins rummaging through his things until she comes across the oil he mentioned before. "Thanks," she says, before sprinkling it around the corpses and muttering more indistinguishable words under her breath. Once doused, she grabs a stick from the campfire and tosses it on top, the new heap instantly bursting into a brilliant pillar of flame. Her eyes light up a bit at the sight, and a small smile creeps across her face.

After a moment of watching the flames flickering in the night, she turns to Drake and Valc. "So what are the watch shifts for tonight? Or would you rather we all sleep and risk another attack?" She crosses her arms and looks on expectantly, hoping to get stuck with someone more interesting this time.

[ratwizard]

"I'll take first shift with you, Zara. I can't even imagine trying to sleep right after a fight like that. After that, I'd suggest Lord Aerden and Caelen," Valc pauses, noticing the elf peacefully sleeping on Lord Aerden's bedroll, the latter getting comfortable on a patch of moss. "Embla and Rorin can take the final watch. You lot can settle in for the night if Zara's up for the plan." He could trust the two more shadier members of the group now that he'd fought alongside them.

"Cormic, feel free to keep an eye out or sleep throughout the night. Your choice. Wellesly is only paying you for what your job entails, so mind that."

[Namelessjake]

Drake gave a wave of acknowledgement of the planned watches and rolled over finding a comfy spot, somewhat regretting giving away his bedroll. At least it should only be for a night or two.He thought to himself.

[kalis5]

Rorin shrugs as the watch groups are picked.
"Doesn't matter to me so long as she doesn't make too much noise. Wake me up when it's time."
Rorin walks over to the tree across from Cormick and sits down, back up against it with his hood drawn, deciding to sleep there for the time being.

[Scratcherclaw]

Caelen is fast asleep, and as such does not hear the night watch suggestion. Instead, he is dreaming of being declared a hero. Crowds cheer and lords bow before his might and power. His companions' comments of his fighting have lifted a weight off his chest and he is no longer as engulfed by fear. No longer does he feel alone in this world and that made him happy and relieved. For the first time in forever, everything would be okay.

[PureZaros]

"You'll get no complaints from me," Embla said distractedly. She was busy making sure that Fluffy didn't try to jump in the fire and save what, to him, was a feast for kings. "Come on, Fluffy. They're all rotted anyway. We can get you better food elsewhere."

[Fialova]

With no complaints about the watch order, everyone but Valc and Zara head to bed, though Caelen beat everyone to dream land. Once more, the pairs converse with one another during their shifts and get to know each other a little better.

The First Watch

[SHOW]

Zara sits quitely, as usual, as the group slowly falls asleep one by one, her eyes fixed on the burning pyre before them. She is yet again on a log next to a stranger, which is an odd situation to be in, and yet the sight of the once-walking corpses now forever being banished from the realm of the living soothes her soul.

For awhile neither of them speak, nor does Zara even really notice her companions' presence. But when the flames begin to die and only the campfire remains, she turns to the man sitting near her. He is tall and young, and dressed finely enough, but there is something odd about him that she can't quite place. "So you are a knight, then? What is that like?"

* * *

The stench of burning and rotten flesh is new to Valc, and it fills his nostrils with a stinging and nauseating effect. The fire dwindles and Valc notices the others are fast asleep, resting up from the night's intense scene of battle. Zara breaks the silence, and for a moment, he is startled at her voice. He turns to her, taking a second to process what she had said. "A knight with no lord and no horse, yes." He grimaces, having little to show of his knighthood. Proudmoore had fallen, and he had nowhere near enough coin to afford a new mount. His once-shining tower shield was dented, the emblem fading without proper upkeep. His sword, at least, was in good condition. That was all that he really needed.

"It's a strange experience. Many of my brethren are highborn and grew up with expectations of themselves. Me, I'm just thankful that I was given the opportunity. And you, priestess, what is it like to be a follower of the Gods? I can only imagine."

* * *

"I only really follow the one, Inara. I only know as much about the others as you do, I imagine," she corrects him. "And it is nice, I suppose. It is all I have really known so I couldn't compare it to a life of nobility. There is a lot of freedom involved, though." She turns back to the charred remains of their earlier foes, her smile creeping back across her face. "And ridding the world of these is quite satisfying. Foul creature."

After another quiet moment of staring into the last smoldering embers, she continues again. "So you were not born a nobleman, then? I didn't think so. You don't have an air of nobility about you."

* * *

"Inara, yes. I've heard a bit about her, things that should go unsaid to one of her priestesses. But I see I'm not the only one who enjoys combat in this group. Your powers are quite interesting. Quite deadly, too." He listens as she asks more about his birth. "Nobility was not something I was born into, no. I'd've lived a quite pedestrian life, if I didn't get lucky - or blessed, I'm not sure which." He frowns, not displeased, but racking his memory to properly explain.

"My father was a silversmith, and he made a lot of the diningware for Lord Halstos. I simply showed up with crates of the stuff whenever the old ones became tarnished and needed to be reforged again. I must've been in the right place at the right time. I guess Lord Halstos really appreciated my father's silverwork, because he let me work in the castle. Long story short, he became like a second father to me throughout my youth and had me train with the other young men." He figures he had kept his story brief enough, so as not to make himself upset by poring over his nostalgia on his captured homeland and his slain Lord. He turns quizzically to Zara, unsure of what she meant with her comment. "What do you mean, by that? About lacking an air of nobility?" Lord Halstos had seen something in me, but maybe his hope was misplaced. Am I worthy of being his heir if I can't even pass as being highborn?

* * *

"Oh, most noblemen - and wealthy men in general, at least that I've met - tend to have this oozing sense of self-importance. You don't seem to have it, which means you either aren't a noble or just are a rare breed. But it seems it's the former as I suspected." She turns towards the camp, then back to Valc. "You haven't noticed it before? Surely someone who has spent so much time around them would know. The young lord over there sure had a lot of it in his speech."

* * *

"I've noticed, yes. Growing up, I tried a lot to not be the lowborn peasant who was Lord Halstos' favorite. I tried to fit in well, and to do that, I had to speak and regard myself with a certain aura. Despite my efforts, it was something that required being born into. I don't know. Perhaps it's a good thing. Being able to pass as lowborn might be a boon in these troubled times." He quietly adds another log to the low-burning campfire and returns to his watch seat. "Speaking of, I know your purpose being with us is to put down any of these damned night creatures. But can we count on your aid if, or rather, when we run into trouble with the Imardanians?" His tone is very solemn. "You're a Tulrissian, too. And we're going to need all the help we can get if we're going to do this. Besides, maybe Inara would be charmed at the concept of you bringing more of the living into her control."

* * *

"I never really thought about it." Zara looks down at her feet, her look of joy at the defeated undead turning to a more contemplative one. "You seemed headed for trouble so I figured this group would lead me to some interesting encounters with the night creatures, but I realize now I hadn't actually thought of the war aspect."

She pauses for a long moment, still looking down. After awhile she adds another log of her own, the stretches and sits back down, still not facing Valc but no longer staring at the ground. "Inara would not care for more bodies, she doesn't seek to cause death but only to guide it to the afterlife." After another brief pause, she continues. "As for me, I have never killed a person. Well, not a living person. I am not sure how I would fare against soldiers, but if they attacked me I would retaliate. But you can rest easy knowing that if it comes down to picking sides I will be on my homeland's side."

* * *

"Forgive me for my ignorance. There is much for me to learn about the Gods, it seems." He watches curiously as Zara ponders his question. He hadn't meant to question her motives, and for once she seemed slightly vulnerable. "It's not an easy thing to do. There is a difference, however, in outright killing a man, and doing so while defending your homeland. Do not feel remorse or guilt for doing what needs to be done to protect our own, only conviction. That is how I see it."

"Perhaps I ask too much. All I wanted to know is if we'd have your support if we happened upon an Imardanian sortie on our trails. It seems that I can rest easy knowing you'll be one more ally to defend ourselves."

* * *

"Yes, well I suppose you can count on it. I cannot imagine we would run into one in a friendly situation, so there would be little choice in the matter." She turns to face the man once more. "And it's not unusual for people to mistake Inara's intentions. It is fairly common, in fact. But I don't really mind, it's not my place to advocate her worship. I serve her because I have always found the night creatures both terrifying and fascinating, it is no concern of mine what her opinon with the common folk is."


* * *

"Ah. I see." He stares into the fire a moment, satisfied with her agreement. "You're right about the night creatures. I wasn't sure we'd make it through the ambush. I can see why people whisper stories of these things. I just didn't know they were real until tonight. Does this happen to every body that you have not properly done your ritual on? Are these creatures sent by Inara to... force us into proper burial and ceremony? I don't understand their origin."

* * *

"They are most certainly not Inara's doing. At least I cannot imagine them being her doing with how much she despises them." Her smile at the sight of the burnt remains fades, returning to her typical serious demeanor. "I am not sure if anyone knows their origin, really. They just appear, and Inara commands us to eliminate them. We are taught how to properly dispose of dead bodies, but the order of priestesses is not very large or widespread so we cannot prevent all of them from appearing. Luckily some other regions I have been to seem to have a grasp on disposing of them as well, so their numbers don't seem to grow very quickly."

She pauses a moment, thinking back to all the places she has been, longing to travel again but knowing that now is not the time. "And yes, this will happen to any body not properly disposed, though it seems to happen the most near living creatures. Perhaps these things seek to add to their ranks. Who knows? I am content enough just eliminating them."

* * *

"Well, then sounds like we have a sort of trade going on then. If you're willing to support us in our rallying of Tulrisse, we'll make sure we do what we can to help you put down as many of these damned risen as we can. Sounds like it'd take some of the load off of the other priestesses as well. I'm sure they've got a lot on their plate with this war." He shifts in his seat. "Anyways, on to something a little less heavy. Have you traveled through these parts of Tulrisse before?"

* * *

"Oh yes I have been most everywhere in the west at least once. Serran and Imardin some too, but never the isles or the peninsulas. I would rather not take to the seas. Garland is nice I suppose, but it is a bit too cold. The warmer coastal regions are better. Eranor and Virem are particularly nice."

Zara cannot quite tell if the sudden change in conversation topics is truly from the heaviness of the current one, or if the young knight just wanted to chat her up a bit more. He would not be the first to try, and she saw the way he and Drake were eyeing her before. "I take it you have not traveled much, then?" she continues, a bit curious as to his own history. The elf boy had been much quicker to spew his entire life story, yet this time she was the one revealing more about herself and she didn't like it.

* * *

"I never really had many chances to. My family had no wealth or great need to travel as my father was set up decently being the castle's silversmith. Even when I was training under Lord Halstos, I rarely left the vicinity of Twinriver Village or the Castle. There were a few times when I had errands to run or a distant uncle or aunt to visit, but I've never left Tulrisse. But Serran - that must have been quite the spectacle. What parts did you visit? When I was trained, I learned a lot of history about the regions and I've always wanted to travel. Did you get to see the Great Northern Library?"

* * *

"I have never been to the Library, no. I was only in the southern parts, mostly in and around Crescent Bluff. I spent a good bit of time protecting caravans there from the many night creatures that stalk the desert. They were generally much more scattered than they are here, but greater in number." She pats one of the swords on her back. "This was a gift of thanks from on of the more affluent merchants. I told him I didn't need any payment, but he would not let me leave without it. It has served me well since, so I am grateful. Still a bit of an unnecessary gift, though."

She pauses for a moment, a bit hesitant to continue for fear of alerting the man, but decides to anyway. "To be honest, Imardin was much more interesting than Serran. Too much sand in the east, it all looks the same. But the north is vibrant and full of life, much like Garland but if there were more people like Mr. Wellesly. To think I'd end up in a war against them now..."

* * *

"Yes, Imardin is full of wealth and power. I do not understand their motives in invading our homeland other than to exert their dominance over the rest of the realm. As for the Library, I've read books on its majesty. I can only hope such a construct will not be destroyed by the quarreling of the Rakhs. Perhaps one day I, too, can visit Serran and see these lands for myself."

* * *

"Perhaps," Zara says before looking up at the stars. "But that is a ways away. Look, our shift is up," she says as she points to the repositioned stars in the sky. Before he can respond, she stands up and goes to wake the others, stepping on Caelen lightly until he stirs and letting Valc take care of awaking Drake. "Goodnight," she says rather aburptly to Valc before he really has a chance to get another word in, stepping into her tent and promptly heading off to sleep.

* * *

Zara stalks off to her tent before Valc can utter anything other than "'Night, Zara." He supposes he could trust her a little bit more. She had traveled to many places around the continent and had a lot of foreign and exotic knowledge, something that could come in handy. With a yawn, he finds his own bedroll, dusting off any signs of battle or mudtracks as best as possible before falling in for the night.

The Second Watch

[SHOW]

After being awoken, Drake walks over to where Caelen is sleeping and nudges him awake. "We're up." He said taking a seat on the fallen log.

* * *

Caelen groans and stretches, rubbing his eyes. "W-what? Oh," he mumbles sleepily. He plops down on the log next to Drake and yawns, not one for waking up at early hours.

* * *

"That was some impressive marksmanship earlier." Drake says, the display had made him interested in how Caelen had come to be so skilled. "How'd you learn to shoot like that?" He asks.

* * *

"Th-thanks," Caelen says, grinning slightly. But his smile begins to fade as Drake asks the predictable question, a question that would involve his memories and all the things he'd lost. But he feels much more comfortable talking about such sensitive topics with Drake. He seems friendlier. "M-my father taught me everything I know b-back in my youth. I've been honing my skills since then when I got the chance."

* * *

"Ah makes sense. I was mostly trained by my Father's master at arms." Drake says. "Where's your Father now?" He continues, deciding he should probably at least try to get to know the elf, clearly he wasn't going to just be mown down in a small skirmish.

* * *

Caelen's face turns to a frown, his eyes growing sorrowful. He looks away, into the darkness of the forest. "H-he's gone." He sighes deeply, confronted by memories from years gone by. The night they fled. The day the Serran desert took a new victim. With such little time to mourn at the time, Caelen's feeling have never been put to rest on the matter. As such, every mention of his father brought torrents of sadness.

* * *

"I know the feeling." Drake says, deciding not to pry any deeper. "At least I think I do, everything has happened so fast I haven't really had time to process it. I certainly don't feel like a Lord yet." It had only really been a matter of days since his father was killed and he was made Lord of Spearpoint and all Drake had done so far was leave on what most would consider a suicide mission.

* * *

Wiping a lone tear from his eye, Caelen sighs and turns back towards Drake. "I've been on my own for so long that there hardly was a change at first. I've been alone for seven years, without a close friend or family in the world. But now... here... it feels different. It's nice to have people care about you in some way. I've missed that feeling."

* * *

"That's a long time." Drake says, not really wanting to mention that it's unlikely anyone in the group really cares about anyone else, past keeping them alive, after only knowing each other for three days.

* * *

Caelen slightly nods. "It wasn't all bad, though. I got to live in the castle. Although my room was probably nothing compared to what yours is." His eyes shimmer with the thought of fine silks and colorful fabrics adorning the room. The sun shining through large windows. Ornate, gilded chandeliers glistening in the sun. "Nothing..." he repeats, mesmerized by the thoughts dancing through his head.

* * *

"Oh? Where was that?" Drake asks. He couldn't see Caelen as the type of person you'd find in a castle, especially living there. "I did grow up in relatively luxary." He adds, starting to miss his bed, remembering he would be sleeping on the floor tonight.

* * *

"Virem," Caelen says quickly. "I was a servant for the Lord and his family." Although not particularly fond of his ex-Lord, he finds himself missing him. He wonders if his son managed to escape with his life. Though that was doubtful given the brutality of the Imardin forces.

* * *

"Ah, I've been to Virem a few times actually." Drake says, trying to recall what for. "A couple of tournaments and maybe a wedding or something. Head trauma and wine can make events a bit harder to remember." He laughs.

* * *

Caelen snickers. "I just wish I had been able to see it more. I was hardly allowed outside the castle walls." In his days of servitude, he had yearned for the outside more than anything. Freedom and fresh air was all he craved, something he finally got, but at an awful price.

* * *

"Who knows, you might have even served me there once." Drake says. "I think it's about time we wake up Rorin and Embla." He adds, standing up off the log and making his way over to the fire to wake the others before finding his comfy spot again and falling quickly into a deep sleep.

* * *

"Already? Oh. Alright." Caelen gets up from the log and lies back down on Drake's bedroll. He rolls over onto his side and shuts his eyes. In no time at all, he is whisked away to the land of slumber.

The Third Watch

[SHOW]

Embla crawled out of her tent, nodding to Rorin as she saw him getting up from his bedroll. Moving to a few feet outside of the fire's light, she stopped and looked up. "Isn't it beautiful?" Emba said, gesturing to the star-filled sky. The moon hung low to the horizon tonight, and was prominently displayed over the forests branches. Gazing at it now, Embla smiled. "I've always wanted to try bringing that crashing down to the ground," Embla said wryly. "It'd be quite exciting to see what people do in response."

* * *

Rorin shrugs, leaning against the tree he slept against, watching the forest around them for any more undead. He doesn't say anything, just twirls the dagger around in his fingers, trying to ignore Embla.

* * *

Not really noticing his silence, Embla continues to look up at the sky. She was enraptured by the moon, framed as it was in the night sky.

* * *

After a few more moments of silence, Rorin jams his dagger into the tree next to him. He's really not in the mood, or having a good time right now. Most of his shots missed, he can't find any of his allies, and to make matters worse, he's stuck with this... thing, for lack of a better word in his mind. And to top it off, if he's not careful, her dog might suddenly pop in and eat him up. Sure, he's trying to help fight off Imardin and get Peloth back, but is it really worth working with a murderer?

* * *

Jarred out of her reverie by the sound of dagger on wood, Embla looks over at the rogue. "What's up with that? The tree isn't undead as far as I can tell."

* * *

Rorin hmphs at her, not even looking at her. "It's not the tree I'm upset with, but I apparently can't even hit anything undead, so I might as well just aim for the immobile target, right?" He tugs the dagger out and starts twirling it again, a bit of sap flying off into the nearby bushes.

* * *

Shrugging, Embla turns her gaze on the sky again. "I'd have thought you could shoot better than that. Don't those things have some kind of aiming mechanism?" she said, thoughts slowly slipping back to mass destruction by moon-landing.

* * *

Shakes his head slowly. "Not exactly. You just guess how far the bolt's going to go. Then you pull the trigger and hope it hits. They're made to be easy to fire, not to be incredibly accurate. It's easier to arm an army with crossbows than normal bows, they're easy to pick up and fire. Harder to load though..."

* * *

"Interesting..." Embla said, thoughts obviously elsewhere. The inner world she maintained was far more engaging than the mundane one life normally took place in.

* * *

Rorin just sighs. He doesn't even have her attention. Well, this is helping his self-esteem right now. Tonight's going to be a long watch...

* * *

Time passes quietly, Embla sitting on the ground looking at the night's lights. She occasionally mumble under her breath, voicing conversations with imaginary people. Only once was she loud enough for anyone nearby to hear, and even then not clearly. It seemed to be a conversation about the quality of crossbows. Embla suddenly snapped out of her thoughts again, pointing at the stars. "Hey, do you think anything lives up there? I wonder how they would get up that high."

* * *

Rorin hms for a moment, the thought not having crossed his mind. "If they do... They must not like us... The amount of times we war and fight... They'd sooner kill us than try to talk to us. Probably out of fear. At least they'd have a better reason than Imardin for invading us."

* * *

"That's true," Embla replies. "There doesn't seem to be much green up there. Maybe they would wage war with us to get out trees!" Standing, she shakes her fist at the sky. "You'll never get my green stuff, you tree-stealers!"

* * *

Rorin turns to look at Embla, suddenly a little confused. "You actually care about something that lives? I mean, you seem rather nonchalant when it comes to death. You did try to kill Cormic after all. Though why you kinda skimmed."

* * *

Embla turned to Rorin, her face darkening slightly. "Don't get me wrong, I still want to kill the bastard. Right now, though, the witch interests me more. I can put off Cormic's comeuppance until a time where I can... enjoy it more." Pausing for a moment, she looked down and allowed a brief smile to touch her face, barely suppressing the urge to lick her lips. "Oh, yes. Enjoy it much more." Shaking her head, as if throwing off something, she looked back up at Rorin, saying, "I don't care about the trees the way you think, if that's what you thought. I'd just like this place to not look as barren as the moon up there."

* * *

Rorin groans and looks down for a bit. "And here I thought you had a soul that wasn't corrupted by whatever darkness took you. There I go getting my hopes up again though. This really hasn't been my week... And killing Cormic might come sooner than you think. Kind of odd he led us right into the center of an ambush right?"

* * *

Embla sat back down and began playing with the grass between her fingers. "I thought it was fun... I got to kill things, even if they had already been dead."

* * *

Rorin shrugs. "Right... but it could mean he's working to get rid of us and pick our pockets. For what gold we have... Mind if I try and figure you out a bit? You know what they say about the void. Why do you like to kill? Is it really fun to you? I mean, it's hard not to think about families and the like when you kill someone, right?"

* * *

"Figure all you like," Embla smiled, tapping her head. "I've been trying for years and still haven't found a way through this maze. As for why I like to kill, I enjoy hearing the screams of pleasure." She said the last part with a completely straight face.
"Dead things don't show much emotion, but it's still fun to watch them burn. As for families and the like, I can safely say the thought never crosses my mind," she finished.

* * *

Rorin turns and stares at her for a few moments before gulping. "I don't know what's worse. That we're setting you on a killing spree against the Imardin army. Or that it's probably a good idea. That is one scary thought... If you like killing so much though, why haven't you attacked us?"

* * *

"I do like occasionally having reasons for killing things, and when I first met this group we were in the middle of a town. I rather like to avoid killing things with that many people watching. Stage fright, you know? You probably do, given your performance earlier today," Embla said, smiling wanly.

* * *

Rorin sighs and jams his dagger into the tree again, looking a bit sad. "... Yeah... I was kinda useless... I really wanted those shots to hit but... Still... I didn't really do much to help out."

* * *

Embla laughed a little. "Hey, you distracted the things at least. The skeleton didn't have much time to shoot at Caelen or myself with your bolts hissing past it's hear holes."

* * *

Rorin shrugs. "Right. But I still missed. Had I hit the fight wouldn't have lasted any longer." He tugs at the holes in his outfit, the wounds underneath bandaged up. "And I wouldn't have any new scars. I know you see this as a game, but any one of us could die here. We're a team. We have to be, or we're just going to die."

* * *

Embla laughed again. "Oh, no. It's never a game unless I have full control of the situation. I just find it enjoyable." Looking back up at the sky, she noticed that the moon was ducking below the tree line. "Seems it's getting to be about morning. Should we wake the others?"

* * *

Rorin nods and yawns. "Yeah. Before Cormic gets up, preferably. I want him up last so we can put that smug grin of his in it's place. Maybe hang him upside down from the tree branch..."

* * *

Embla rubbed her hands together gleefully. "Oooh, yes. That would be fun. And then Fluffy can gently caress Cormic's face with his tentacles." She nodded to herself. "But we'll save that for later."

Standing, Embla walked back to the fire to begin the process of waking the others.

* * *

Rorin follows after her for a moment, before looking up at Cormic. He smiles for just a moment and taps Embla's shoulder, climbing up and holding onto the tree next to Cormic, hands slipping into pockets and snagging a couple of goodies and trinkets, climbing his way down the tree and finding some poison oak nearby, gently, ever so carefully... Lobbing them into the itch causing plant.
"Enjoy Cormick. I know I will..."

[Fialova]

As the sun begins to rise, everyone eventually wakes up and starts to get moving. A new day has begun, and the witch hunt begins once again.

Mechanics

[SHOW]

Extended Rest: Everyone regains all Daily and Ecnounter powers, all healing surges, is returned to full HP, and has 1 free action point.

Combat Block

[SHOW]

Zara

Female Half-Elf Warpriest 1
Speed: 6
Initiative: +3
Passive Perception: 19
Passive Insight: 21
Senses: Low-Light Vision
Languages: Common, Tulrissian, Imardanian
Age: 37
Height: 5' 5"

AC: 16
Fort: 12
Reflex: 13
Will: 15
HP: 25/25
Bloodied: 12
Surge Value: 6
Surges left: 8/8
Action Points: 1

Powers:

Blessing of the Wild
Graceful Switch
Second Wind [_]
Disciplined Counter [_]
Twin Strike [_]
Smite Undead [_]*
Healing Word [_][_]
Step Together [_]*
Faerie-Flame Strike [_]
Moment of Glory [_]
Fey Sight [_]

* Can only use one per encounter

Conditions:

None.

Important Features:

[SHOW]

Corellon Domain Features: While you are subject to a charm effect that a save can end, you can make a saving throw against that effect at the start of each of your turns, as well as at the end.

In addition, when you use healing word, you and each ally in the burst can ignore difficult terrain when shifting until the start of your next turn.

Group Diplomacy: You grant allies within 10 squares of you a +1 racial bonus to diplomacy checks.

Heavy Blade Expertise: While wielding a heavy blade, you gain a +2 bonus to all defenses against opportunity attacks.

[PureZaros]

Embla whistled to Fluffy as the group began packing up and moving out. The beast had been sniffing at the charred remains of the zombies. Loping over now, he loomed next to Embla as she finished gathering things up.

Mechanics

[SHOW]

ALL THE THINGS ARE BACK

Combat Block

[SHOW]

Embla

Age: 27
Height: 6'2"
Weight: 170
Female Shardmind Desception Warlock 1
Speed: 6
Initiative: +1
Passive Perception: 9
Passive Insight: 9
Senses: Normal
Languages: Common, Tulrissian, Dwarven
AC: 15
Fort: 12
Reflex: 14
Will: 15
HP: 26/26
Bloodied: 13
Surge Value: 6
Surges left: 8/8
Action Points: 1

Powers:
Trained Displacer Beast
Eldritch Blast
Eyebite
(Improved) Misty Step
Warlock's Curse
[_]Second Wind
[_]Shard Swarm
[_]Witchfire
[_]Crown of Stars

Important Stuff

[SHOW]

Crystalline Mind: You have resist 5 psychic.
Living Construct: You do not need to eat, drink, breathe, or sleep. You never make Endurance checks to resist the effect of starvation, thirst, or suffocation. All other conditions and effects affect you normally.
Telepathy: You can communicate telepathically with any creature within 5 squares of you that has a language.

Eldritch Blast: When a power allows you to make a ranged basic attack, you can use this power.

Eyebite: You are invisible to the target until the start of your next turn.

(Improved) Misty Step: You can teleport 5 squares as a free action when an enemy afflicted by your Warlock's Curse falls to 0 or fewer hit points.

Warlock's Curse: Once per turn you can place a Warlock's Curse on the nearest enemy you can see. You can deal extra damage to this enemy when you hit it with an attack.

Shard Swarm: Each enemy in Close Burst 1 grants combat advantage to you until the end of next turn and you teleport half of your speed.

Witchfire: Target takes -(2 + Int modifier) penalty to attack rolls until the end of your turn on a hit.

Crown of Stars: If target is bloodied, it is blinded until the end of your next turn. If you Sustain Minor, make a CHA vs Will check on any target in range. On a hit, deal radiant equal to your CHA modifier.

Displacer Beast

[SHOW]

Fluffy

Medium Fey Beast
Speed: 8

ABILITY SCORES
Str 15, Dex 20, Wis 16, Con 16, Int 2, Cha 6

Initiative: +1
Perception: 11
Senses: Low-light
Languages: Uh... Yeah
AC: 16
Fort: 12
Reflex: 16
Will: 16
HP: 13/13
Bloodied: 6

Powers:
Displacement (Illusion, Aura 1): Allies gain a +1 power bonus to all defenses while in the aura.
Tentacle (At-will, Illusion): Fluffy gains partial concealment until the end of it's next turn.

[Fialova]

Cormic slowly wakes from his peaceful night's sleep, which was much longer and more restful than anyone else's given his lack of watch duty. "More witch tracking, oh boy," he says sarcastically as he leaps down from his branch. As he lands he notices that his legs feel lighter than normal. He shoves his hands into his pockets and feels around, noticing that some of his items are missing.

"Ok, which one of you took my stuff, eh?" he says, facing the group as they are slowly getting up and gathering their things together. "I am not leaving this clearing until I get them back."

[ratwizard]

Valc yawns and stretches out, before packing up his bedroll and equipment and donning his sheathed blade and tower shield to his back. When Cormic notices something missing, Valc is honestly clueless and scans the faces of his allies, especially Embla. "What are you missing, Cormic?" he asks, confused.

Mechanics

[SHOW]

All the everythings is back.

Combat Block

[SHOW]

Valcus "Valc" Torinn

Male Dragonborn Bravura Warlord 1
Height: 6'0"
Age: 25
Initiative: +2
Passive Perception: 10
Passive Insight: 10
Senses: Normal
Languages: Common, Tulrissian
AC:18
Fort:16
Reflex:12
Will:14
HP:25/25
Bloodied:12
Surge Value:7
Surges left:8/8
Action Points: 1

Powers:

Brash Assault
Intuitive Strike
Dragonfear [ ]
Inspiring Word [ ]
Inspiring Word [ ]
Sohei Flurry [ ]
Vengeance Is Mine [ ]
Lamb to the Slaughter [ ]

Other Abilities:

Second Wind [ ]

Conditions:

None.

Important Features:

[SHOW]

Bravura Presence: When an ally who can see you spends an action point to take an extra action and uses the action to make an attack, the ally can choose to take advantage of this feature before the attack roll. If the ally chooses to do so and the attack hits, the ally can either make a basic attack or take a move action after the attack as a free action. If the attack misses, the ally grants combat advantage to all enemies until the end of his or her next turn.

Dragonborn Fury: When you’re bloodied, you gain a +1 racial bonus to attack rolls.

Heavy Blade Expertise: You gain a +2 bonus to all defenses against opportunity attacks.

Battlefront Shift: Upon rolling initiative, one ally within 3 squares of Valc (or Valc) may shift half their speed.

[Fialova]

"It seems someone thought it would be funny to empty my pockets while I was asleep," the woodsman replies as he glances around the foot of the tree, just to make sure that his things didn't actually fall out. "So my coinpurse, whistle, dice, and a small locket." His face shifts from annoyance to outright anger as he mentions the last item. "I expect whoever took them to cough them up!"

[Namelessjake]

Drake gathers up his belongings and takes a seat on the long to wait for the situation to resolve itself. It's too early in the morning for this. He thinks to himself as he leans back on the log, listening to Cormic roll off what he's missing.

Mechanics

[SHOW]

All your base are belong to us.

Combat Block

[SHOW]

Drake Aerden

Male Dwarf Fighter 1
Initiative: +1
Speed: 5
Passive Perception: 12
Passive Insight: 12
Senses: Low-light Vision
Languages: Common, Tulrissian
AC:19
Fort:16
Reflex:13
Will:12
HP: 31/31
Bloodied:15
Surge Value:7
Surges left:12/12
Action Points: 1

Powers:

Bull Rush Attack
Grab Attack
Opportunity Attack
Combat Challenge
Cleave
Shield Feint
Sohei Flurry [ ]
Shield Bash [ ]
Driving Attack [ ]

Other Abilities:

Second Wind [ ]
Dwarven Resilience [ ]

Conditions:

Important Features:

[SHOW]

Combat Superiority:You gain a bonus to opportunity attacks equal to your Wisdom modifier (+2). An enemy struck by your opportunity attack stops moving, if a move provoked the attack. If it still has actions remaining, it can use them to resume moving.

Combat Challenge: Every time you attack an enemy, whever the attack hits or misses, you can choose to mark that target. The mark lasts until the end of your next turn. While the target is marked, it takes a -2 penalty to attack rolls if its attack doesn't include you as a target. A creature can be subject to only one mark at a time. A new mark supersedes a mark that was already in place. Whenever an enemy marked by you is adjacent to you and shifts or makes an attack that does not include you, you can make a melee basic attack against the enemy.

Dwarven Stomach: You have a +5 bonus to saving throws against poison.

Encumbered Speed: You move at your normal speed even when it would be reduced by armor or a heavy load. Other effects that limit speed (such as difficult terrain or magic) affect you normally.

Stand Your Ground: When an effect forces you to move -through a pull, push, or a slide-you can move 1 square less than the effect specifies. This means an effect that normally pulls, pushes, or slides a target 1 square does not force you to move unless you want to. In addition, when an attack would knock you prone, you can make a saving throw to avoid falling prone.

Heavy Blade Expertise: You gain a +2 bonus to all defenses against opportunity attacks.

Shield Push: If you hit a foe with an attack granted by your Combat Challenge class feature, you push the target 1 square after dealing damage.

[kalis5]

Rorin looks around and walks underneath the tree Cormick was sleeping in, checking the roots around it.
"Are you sure they didn't just fall out? Holding them in your pockets isn't such a good idea when you're up in a tree. I'm surprised this hasn't happened before to you. Let's see... If they had fallen out they'd be here..."

Mechanics

[SHOW]

"Perception" Check: 1d20+6=15
Already my rolls are looking up...

[Fialova]

"Of course I'm sure, I just looked there. What are you, blind?" Cormic walks up to the man and stops a bit close for comfort, clearly in a hostile manner. "Is there something you're trying to hide, hm? Did you take them?"

Rorin

[SHOW]

You find nothing under the tree, which shouldn't come as a surprise to you.

[PureZaros]

It's entirely possible your stuff got scattered around further from bouncing on tree limbs and the ground," Embla said, slightly puzzled by how adamant Cormic was about his things. "Why do you care so much anyway? It's not like you won't get money from Wellesly. You can buy back whatever you want, and then some."

[Fialova]

The woodsman jerks his head to face Embla, still standing very close to Rorin. "Oh yes, my small solid objects just bounced away! Look, I never lose things so one of you took them, I can feel it." He now walks over to Embla, approaching just as closely as he had gotten to Rorin just moments before. "How about you, huh? Miss hot-headed. You've had it out for me since we started, what did you do with my things?"

[kalis5]

Rorin holds his hands up, glaring at Cormick.
"No, I didn't. What use would a whistle and dice have for me? You can check my pockets if you like, I don't have a single gold on me. The locket I could see, maybe, if it was of good design, but as it stands I have nothing to go on, and I haven't seen you with a locket. Maybe it fell out earlier yesterday when we were cleaning up the bodies. Maybe some animal snagged a couple of your items after they fell onto the ground, I don't know, now back off."
He tugs a bit on his clothes, emphasizing that he has nothing.
"We can all empty our pockets and you can check our tents if you want. But panicking and getting mad at everyone is just going to cause more problems and will make it harder for us to find your missing items. So please. Before you start throwing accusations, try to find something to base them on."

Mechanics

[SHOW]

Bluff Check: 1d20+3=16

[PureZaros]

"Whoa, whoa. Back up. First of all, your breath. Second, stealing things isn't my style. If I really wanted to do something to you where you were asleep, I would have had Fluffy eviscerate your anus like he did to that zombie last night," Embla said, backing up a step. She held her hands up in a gesture of surrender. "Subtle like picking a pocket is something I can't do."

Mechanics

[SHOW]

Bluff check: 27

'twas a good one. :)

[Fialova]

"Hm, well if neither of you did it then who did?" He backs up from Embla and looks at everyone else. "Look, either someone comes forward and gives me my stuff back or you can just find your way on your own. I don't need this shit, I haven't done anything to you." He walks back over to the tree he had slept in and leans against it, folding his arms in front of himself. "I'll be waiting here when someone wants to fess up, I have all the time in the world."

Mechanics

[SHOW]

Insight vs Rorin's Bluff: 11

Insight vs Embla's Bluff: 17

Both Caelen's and Zara's passive insight beat Rorin's bluff, so they both suspect he is being dishonest.

[PureZaros]

Grumbling, Embla looked around the clearing. She was starting to get fed up with Cormic again, and wanted to get witch-hunting again. Failing to find anything of interest she kicked at a stick on the ground, sending it spinning off into the bushes.

Mechanics

[SHOW]

Perception to find Buttdikhead's stuff: 8

[Scratcherclaw]

Caelen wakes up to the sound of an angry Cormic and quickly rises to find out what the commotion is about. Caelen listens while Cormic accuses Rorin of hiding something. As Rorin denies any accusations, Caelen can tell something is amiss. It becomes more clear that Cormic's possessions are missing and Rorin may have something to do with it. Looking around Caelen spots a small object shimmering in the morning sun in a bush nearby. He walks toward it.

Mechanics

[SHOW]

Stuff's back.

Perception check: 11(1d20) +12 = 23
Nature check: 13(1d20) +10 = 23

Combat Block

[SHOW]

Caelen

Male Elf Ranger 1
Speed: 7
Initiative: +5
Passive Perception: 22
Passive Insight: 18
Senses: Low-light vision
Languages: Common, Tulrissian
AC:18
Fort:12
Reflex:16
Will:13
HP:24/24
Bloodied:12
Surge Value:6
Surges left:7/7
Action Points: 1

Powers:

Hunter's Quarry
Twin Strike
Fading Strike
Surprise Strike [ ]
Hindering Shot [ ]
Hunt's End [ ]

Other Abilities:

Second Wind [ ]
Elven Accuracy [ ]

Conditions:

None.

Important Features:

[SHOW]

Prime Shot: If no allies are closer to the target than you, get +1 on ranged attacks against that target.

Group Awareness: You grant non-elf allies within 5 squares of you a +1 racial bonus to Perception checks.

Wild Step: You ignore difficult terrain when you shift.

Bow Expertise: You gain a +1 feat bonus to weapon attack rolls that you make with a bow. In addition, you gain a +1 bonus to the damage roll of any weapon attack you make with a bow against a single creature that is not adjacent to any other creature.

Distant Advantage: You gain combat advantage for ranged or area attacks against any enemy flanked by your allies.

Defensive Mobility: You gain a +2 bonus to AC against opportunity attacks.

[Fialova]

Caelen

[SHOW]

Caelen knows Rorin is being deceptive, but is not entirely sure what the man is hiding. When he searches for the missing items, he quickly finds them hastily scattered into some bushes along the edge of the clearing. Upon closer inspection, it appears that these bushes are poison oak.

[Scratcherclaw]

Caelen sees that Cormic's whistle is the shining object, but halts in his steps, seeing that Cormic's possessions rest in a bed of poison oak. A rash would surely develop if someone touched it. "Uh, I f-found your st-stuff. B-but it's in poison oak. I wonder who tossed it here..." He glances at Rorin, who was obviously hiding something and this was clearly something to be hidden. "I wouldn't touch it if I were you."

[Fialova]

Cormic turns to face Caelen when he calls out about finding the woodsman's things. Upon noticing a glimmer that is clearly metallic, he walks over and sure enough, there are his lost possessions, laying in the brush surrounding by poison oak. "Yep, they just rolled over here all by themselves I bet," he says sarcastically as he looks at his things.

Turning back to the group he continues, shifting his glance between each person as he speaks. "And you expect me to just grab them, eh? Reach down in there with those poisonous vines and grab my things, and go the rest of the trip with an irritating rash? Ha!" He looks the group over, anger still in his eyes. "I don't know who of you did this or why, but I'll let it slide just this once if whoever it was comes clean now and recovers my things from their itchy hiding spot." With this he walks back to his tree and leans back against it in the same position was in before. "As I said, I can wait all day."

[ratwizard]

The stupidity of playing tricks on a guide who is risking much to get us to this witch astounds me... If this Cormic leaves us here to find our own way back, I'm going to strangle whoever set this up. Quite a bit annoyed at the situation that has played out in the morning and the time that the group has wasted over it, Valc speaks up, his face flushed.

"There are more important things at hand than petty nonsense like what this is. It's quite obvious that somebody here played a trick on our guide, but to what end escapes me." Turning to Embla, who convincingly claimed her innocence, Valc speaks again, her being the most probable suspect in his mind. "I know that you had some problems with Cormic before we left Garland. Please tell me that this is not some form of payback in poor taste that you've done. Be an adult for once."

[PureZaros]

Embla had the grace to look offended. "First off, I'll act mature if I feel the need to. I gets boring otherwise. Second, I just said that the underhanded stuff like this is something that I'm not good at. Last time I tried underhanded, half a town ended up in flames," she said. "As it turns out, it's not a good idea to get back at an innkeeper by throwing his sacks of flour into the hearth. The fireball was something to see, though."

[Scratcherclaw]

Still glaring sharply at Rorin, Caelen speaks ups, with more vocal courage due to his building anger and frustration from the situation. "Don't blame Embla for this. I may not know much of diplomatic and historical matters, but I can tell a truth from a lie. And Embla speaks the truth." Although he isn't too fond of Embla, Caelen doesn't want to see her punished for something she didn't do. "Another among us is hiding his guilt. Perhaps a suspicious, hooded man who looks like he'd poison a jaunty nobleman for coin. And such a task would require some knowledge of toxic or discomfort-inducing plants."

[kalis5]

Rorin holds his hands up at Caelens accusation and sighs for a moment, walking over to the bush.
"Alright, alright. I saw the items under the bush last night during our watch. I didn't want to say anything because I thought they were some items one of the zombies must have dropped, they did sort of cover the entire ground. And they're under poison oak here, I didn't want to try and grab a couple coins and a few trinkets for being itchy and distracted during the witch fight but hey, if that's what you guys want then fine, I'll grab them and give them to Cormic."
He reaches underneath the bush as best as he can, hoping he doesn't get too much of the poison oak on him as he scoops up the items and pulls them out from under the bush.
"I'd wash these off before you put them in your pocket Cormic, poison oak has a tendency of clinging to things."

Mechanics

[SHOW]

Bluff Check: 1d20+3=22

[Fialova]

Cormic narrows his eyes at the hooded man as he smoothly talks his way out of the prank, grabbing the items in the process. When he brings them over, Cormic grabs a cloth from his other pocket and has Rorin place the items into it, before wrapping it up tightly and shoving the thing back in his pocket.

"Hm, well thanks for grabbing them," Cormic replies once he finally has his things again, not fully trusting Rorin's motives. "I suppose I will ignore the issue of who did this for now," he says, now addressing everyone, "but I don't plan to stick around with you guys if this sort of things is going to keep happening. Like I said, I don't need this shit. If you are going to mess with me I won't hesitate to leave you here, and I don't think you would fare too well in these parts without my guidance." He gives the group a once-over before finally finishing with, "so, what will it be? Are you going to cut the childish crap or shall I take my leave?"

As Cormic finishes his last comment, Zara finally emerges from her tent, well-rested and a bit disheveled-looking. "What's going on, why all the shouting?" she says. Noticing that everyone else is already up and seemingly ready to go, she hurriedly begins packing up her things. Hm, I guess that fight took more out of me than I thought.

Mechanics

[SHOW]

Poison Oak on Rorin: 10 vs Fort = no infection

[ratwizard]

"You have my word your things won't be tampered with again. We really need to focus on the task at hand, finding this witch in this damned forest that goes for miles." As Zara approaches the scene, her slumber having recently ended, Valc turns to answer her question. "It seems that we've got some sort of prankster on our hands. Either that, or our guide Cormic has got a hole in his pocket he doesn't know about. No matter. He has his things back, and we have a job to do."

Looking around at the state of the campsite, he turns to Lord Aerden next. Despite the man letting Valc do a lot of the planning and decision-making during the course of their adventure so far, Valc is still deferential to the man and respects his final say in everything. "Well then, Lord Aerden, shall we resume our hunt?"

[Namelessjake]

Drake nods to Valc. "Lead the way Cormic." He says, standing up off the log where he had sat, letting the argument sort itself out. Thanks the gods that's finally over He thinks to himself. "We can't afford to waste any more time, every minute we sit around doing nothing, our countrymen are dying and the Imardanians get ever closer to succeeding in their invasion."