62: Ancient Jovar secrets

[Ebiris]

[12:19] <@Rudy> It takes only a moment for Rudy to invoke the mysterious enchanment of Shielding upon himself, but after that he slouches and stares grimly at the shack.
[12:20] * @Henrietta fearlessly approaches the shack and knocks on the door!
[12:20] * @Lucie may as well follow suit and summon her own arcane protection as they walk up to the little house. "This isn't going to end well," she grumbles quietly. "Wasn't happy to see us the first time, even."
[12:21] <@Ebiris> The door is knocked! But it doesn't open, or is there any sort of reply from within as the silence stretches, punctuated merely by Lucie's commentary and the gusting of the wind down the narrow pass.
[12:22] <@Henrietta> "Are you still there?" Henrietta asks, raising her voice. "Mister--" Trailing off, she glances at Lucie for help.
[12:23] <@Lucie> "What are you looking at me for?" Lucie says. "He was ornery with me as anyone else."
[12:24] <@Henrietta> "But he really liked your horns!"
[12:24] <@Ebiris> "Doesn't sound like anybody's home..." Teo observes uncertainly froma top Henrietta's horse.
[12:24] <@Rudy> Rudy walks forward to circle the shack. "Probably went out when a bunch of armed strangers showed up," he replies, tartly.
[12:24] <@Lucie> "Yeah, well, can you blame him?" Lucie strokes her hat fondly, and wanders to the shack's window to see if this illuminates anything.
[12:25] <@Ebiris> OOC: perception, Lucie
[12:25] <@Lucie> roll 1d20+14
[12:25] * +Hatbot --> "Lucie rolls 1d20+14 and gets 16." [1d20=2]
[12:27] <@Ebiris> The shack is nestled pretty snugly into this small crevasse, but Rudy can just squeeze past it to a small patch of grass and mud just behind it. Notably there's two lines of upraised earth breaking up the grass which his astute architectural knowledge tells him would make for pretty shoddy shallow graves. There's also a door against the back of the hut. For Lucie's part, the window is rather filthy and stained, making it a chore to see through its warped and uneven glass. Seems dark and nothing seems to be moving as far as she can tell.
[12:29] <@Lucie> "Doesn't look like anybody's home," Lucie says to the others. "At least, from what I can see. Which isn't much."
[12:30] <@Rudy> Rudy knocks on the back door, as well!
[12:31] <@Ebiris> There is no response to Rudy's knocking, either.
[12:31] <@Rudy> He shrugs, and then reaches out to open the door. Nobody locks their doors in these old rural places, right? Well, at least not the ones under attack...
[12:35] <@Ebiris> Indeed the door is unlocked and swings open readily to Rudy's will. Inside he can see much of the same tiny interior that was glimpsed through the man when he answered the front door earlier. In fact there's the front door just opposite! Inside is an unmade bed, a tiny woodburning stove, a little chair and table with a lantern on it, a few knives placed on a rack on the wall, a decent sized chest at the foot of the bed, a barrel in the corner near the front door, a few shelves with animal skulls, books, tableware, and candles... All sorts of things! But no people.
[12:36] <@Rudy> Rudy closes the back door, and walks forward to open the front. "Yeah, this place is more secure than Lavinia's vault," he remarks.
[12:37] <@Lucie> "Anything interesting back there?" Lucie asks, ignoring the sarcasm.
[12:37] <@Ebiris> "Maybe he's off hunting?" Liamae suggests, looking up and down the pass while everyone else focuses on the shack.
[12:38] <@Rudy> "There's a chest!" replies Rudy, pulling it open and exiting. "You want to go rifle through it?"
[12:38] <@Lucie> "He could be anywhere around here, in that case," Lucie says. "None of us are really trackers. Best to head back to town and try back later." She shrugs at Rudy. "Why not?" She ambles inside to do just that!
[12:39] <@Ebiris> OOC: roll perception, Lucie
[12:39] <@Rudy> Lavinia owns this place now, reflects Rudy. So they can do whatever they want as her subordinates. Is that the logic?
[12:39] <@Lucie> roll 1d20+14
[12:39] * +Hatbot --> "Lucie rolls 1d20+14 and gets 24." [1d20=10]
[12:40] <@Rudy> "He buried something out back," adds Rudy. "People been dying around here, I guess that's his folks."
[12:40] * @Henrietta is far more interested in that, and heads out back to see just how many people would seem to be buried there.
[12:45] <@Ebiris> Opening it up, Lucie sees the chest is divided into two halves, one containing various dirty clothes, the other containing lots of dried out jerky. It looks pretty unkempt as if someone went through it roughly and never tidied up... and in fact Lucie happens to find what was potentially being looked for under the inner lining of the chest where it must have fallen through a nearby tear. It's a very strange dagger made out of a thorned spur of sharp wood with a bone and leather hilt. Luckily she grabbed it by the hilt because it would've been easy to prick herself otherwise on those thorns.
[12:46] <@Ebiris> "Than lived here alone, his folks lived in the town but both died years ago," Teo points out.
[12:46] <@Rudy> "Were they buried here?" asks Rudy, curiously. "No wife, I guess?"
[12:46] <@Ebiris> To Henrietta's eye it's pretty obvious. There's two long and narrow mounds of earth, so surely two people? Unless double-stacked.
[12:47] <@Ebiris> "Interred in the mausoleum," Teo shakes his head. "Never heard about him bein' married."
[12:48] * @Lucie scans the books on the shelf before rejoining the others with knife in hand. "Funny sort of knife to keep around, don't you think? Doesn't look like a thing you'd want for everyday use."
[12:48] <@Rudy> "It looks stupid and impractical," replies Rudy. "So is it magic?"
[12:49] <@Lucie> "Let's find out," Lucie says, doing just that.
[12:49] <@Henrietta> "It seems more and more that this man had reason to flee," Henrietta states. "Should we, well, exhume the bodies to see who these people were?"
[12:49] <@Ebiris> There's a book on folk tales, a book on local herbs, and a book about the legendary Hercules.
[12:49] <@Ebiris> OOC: spellcraft, Lucie
[12:50] <@Lucie> roll 1d20+11
[12:50] * +Hatbot --> "Lucie rolls 1d20+11 and gets 21." [1d20=10]
[12:55] <@Ebiris> Lucie identifies the dagger! It's pretty poorly made, but good at what it does so long as it lasts.
[12:56] * @Lucie examines the blade closely. "Poisonous. Fragile, though. Wouldn't last long if you used it regular."
[12:56] <@Ebiris> "Think we might find the real Than and that kid who came to look in on him a while back?" Liamae asks Henrietta, glancing over at Teo who seems unsurprised.
[12:56] <@Lucie> "And a strange thing to find in some woodsman's hut, I should add."
[12:57] <@Henrietta> "It does seem quite likely," Henrietta reluctantly agrees, getting her shovel.
[12:59] * @Lucie wonders idly if such an unusual and impractical knife might've been reserved for some ritual usage, and searches her memory for mention of such in any cult or religion's methods.
[12:59] * @Rudy heads inside again, and picks up the book on folk tales. Don't all these tales have some basis in reality?
[13:03] <@Ebiris> Digging away the earth is thankfully easy thanks to the recent rains softening it, and after getting through just over a foot of earth her spade starts to hit something somewhat more solid, although it still crunches when she forces the shovel through it. Digging farther and around, she starts to exhume a worm-ridden and heavily decomposed corpse, its rotten features grinning at her in the rictus of death. Meanwhile Rudy amuses himself with the tale of two children who outsmart an evil forest witch who sought to eat them, pushing her into her own oven and then devouring her house of candy! Ultimately getting so fat that they can't move whereupon the wolves come...
[13:04] <@Ebiris> OOC: roll religion, Lucie?
[13:04] <@Rudy> Now this is a tale Rudy wants to make real! Well, not so much the child-eating part, but a house of candy? Can it be done?
[13:04] <@Lucie> roll 1d20+11
[13:04] * +Hatbot --> "Lucie rolls 1d20+11 and gets 23." [1d20=12]
[13:05] <@Henrietta> The only way to tell who it had been is by the corpse's possessions and clothing. Henrietta hopes to chance upon some sort of unique belt buckle or anything she could use in that manner.
[13:05] <@Ebiris> A small house, maybe? Meanwhile Lucie can't come up with an particular religious usage of poisoned wooden daggers covered in thorns.
[13:06] * @Lucie shrugs and strolls over to assist Henri with the digging. Via moral support. Well, she didn't bring a shovel, after all.
[13:07] <@Ebiris> His clothes are fairly rotten away themselves, what's left looking like simple peasant homespun. Teo also comes over, grimacing as he looks down. "About the right height for Than, but hard to say any more..."
[13:07] <@Lucie> "Check the other one?" Lucie suggests.
[13:07] * @Henrietta grimaces herself, and decides to dig up the other corpse.
[13:09] <@Rudy> The gravity of the situation, however, soon brings Rudy back to reality. "Teo, you any sort of woodsman yourself?" he asks, walking towards the man. "The blighter here must've known something, if he didn't do it himself. Got to have gone somewhere."
[13:10] <@Ebiris> This one, once finally revealed, is in somewhat better shape. Still rotten but a lot more flesh hangs on it, enough to attribute facial features of a young man in life, his short blond hair lengthened by dessication. "That's Dale alright," Teo announces sadly, turning now to Rudy. "Sorry, young'un, been a fisherman all my life."
[13:11] <@Henrietta> "Did you happen to find anything that belongs to that man we saw, without a doubt?" Henrietta asks Lucie and Rudy, stepping away from the dug up graves. "Val might try tracking the scent, in that case."
[13:11] <@Rudy> Rudy rubs his head. "My condolences," he adds, awkwardly. "I mean, for the kid, not for your job- uh."
[13:12] <@Rudy> "He would've slept in the bed, right? We can try the sheets."
[13:12] <@Ebiris> "We all knew he was dead since he never came back. It's an old wound," Teo shakes his head, putting it aside. On hearing his name, Val perks up and barks loudly!
[13:12] <@Lucie> "Hard to say, really," Lucie says. "If he's been using someone else's house, wouldn't there be two smells all over everything?"
[13:13] <@Rudy> "Nah, he'd have been here more recently, right?" Rudy heads inside and starts ripping up the sheets. "Anyway, there'd only be one trail. I mean- hell, I don't know! Ask the dog!"
[13:14] <@Henrietta> "It is worth a try," Henrietta agrees, before waving her dog over. "Can you find that man for us, Val?" she asks, holding the sheet out for him.
[13:14] <@Ebiris> Barking again, Val runs over to Rudy and starts sniffing the sheet while wagging his tail. Then he puts his nose to the ground and starts running around the shack several times before going out the front door.
[13:15] * @Henrietta follows, flail out!
[13:15] * @Rudy also follows, hands in pockets!
[13:16] <@Ebiris> roll 1d20+7
[13:16] * +Hatbot --> "Ebiris rolls 1d20+7 and gets 17." [1d20=10]
[13:18] <@Ebiris> Liamae and Teo both get back on their respective (borrowed in one case) horses to follow Val as he snuffles and whuffs along the ground, working his way out of the nook and then starting West back along the pass you all took to reach the town.
[13:19] <@Lucie> "If this trail leads to another surprise swamp or another broken bridge or a volcano or whatever..." Lucie grumbles.
[13:19] <@Rudy> "
[13:19] <@Rudy> "It may lead to a murderer," points out Rudy. "We already know this is bad news."
[13:19] <@Lucie> "Yeah, well, those are easy to deal with, right?"
[13:20] <@Rudy> Rudy relaxes. "At least he ain't a pretty one. That hurts me, you know?"
[13:21] * @Lucie nods in complete understanding. "I hear that."
[13:21] <@Henrietta> "Pretty murderers bother you two?" Henrietta asks, not quite comprehending.
[13:22] <@Lucie> "Just a shame to waste a pretty face," Lucie clarifies.
[13:22] <@Ebiris> "They're the ones wasting it on crime," Liamae points out. "Although I guess I respect trying to succeed on more than looks..."
[13:23] <@Henrietta> "It is perfectly possible to find an honest job!" Henrietta insists. "People who prey on others like that are terrible!"
[13:24] <@Rudy> "Look, it's really hard to hurt someone you're attracted to!" replies Rudy, frowning. "Maybe you girls can't understand, but Lucie and I do!"
[13:24] <@Lucie> "You make the best of what you've got around," Lucie responds with a shrug.
[13:25] <@Ebiris> "Hey, that makes us sound like sadists or something!" Liamae retorts to Rudy.
[13:26] <@Rudy> "Sounds like? Henri whipped me on stage in front of hundreds of people!"
[13:26] <@Henrietta> "I apologized for that!"
[13:26] <@Rudy> "But you still did it!"
[13:26] * @Henrietta frowns. "And now I am starting to think you deserved it."
[13:26] <@Ebiris> "Mmm..." Liamae seems to not have an answer to that and studiously turns her gaze forward as she follows Val.
[13:26] <@Rudy> "Which means you're thinking of doing it again? QED."
[13:27] <@Henrietta> "Hmph. It was just a play! You wanted to be in it just as much! You should not be crying about it afterwards."
[13:28] <@Ebiris> "I'll never understand city folk..." Teo mutters, keeping his head down throughout the argument.
[13:28] <@Lucie> "It was just a job, right? Rudy, she tries it again, *then* you start hurling accusations."
[13:29] <@Henrietta> "I only got that part because I was not mean enough, anyway," Henrietta mutters. "I only wanted to play the wizard...."
[13:31] <@Rudy> "That's the lesson you took from it?" Rudy shivers. "Never again," he vows.
[13:31] <@Ebiris> As everyone talks, Val veers left towards the Southern wall of the pass, where the rock rises up more shallowly and shows an abundance of footholds and handholds that could be easily scrambled up. Whining softly, he paws at it before jumping up onto one of the gravelly ledges, working his feet as he tries to find another safe jump up.
[13:31] <@Lucie> "At least she looked great doing it?" Lucie offers to salve Rudy's shame and trauma.
[13:32] <@Henrietta> "You know that I don't want to go around whipping people, don't you?" Henrietta asks Liamae, glaring back at the shivering Rudy.
[13:32] <@Rudy> "Eh, I guess. I think we all got our moment, there," replies Rudy, scrambling up the rocky wall.
[13:32] * @Lucie stares up at the rock wall. "Anyone bring some rope?"
[13:33] * @Henrietta perks up. "Always!"
[13:33] <@Ebiris> "Uh... yeah, I know that!" Liamae adds quickly, before leaning in and lowering her voice. "But your performance was so *real*!"
[13:33] <@Ebiris> The horses look dubious about climbing up after the dog, and refuse to attempt it despite any coaxing.
[13:34] <@Henrietta> "It must be because I can really use a whip," Henrietta confides in her, retrieving her coiled rope. "But only to trip people! It is all I do with it!"
[13:34] * @Lucie waits a moment to see if Rudy finds the incline easily traversable, follows if he does.
[13:34] <@Ebiris> "Right. Ancient Jovar secrets, huh?" Liamae grins unconvincingly.
[13:34] <@Ebiris> OOC: climb check, Rudy
[13:35] <@Rudy> OOC: take 10?
[13:35] <@Rudy> OOC: for 10.
[13:35] <@Henrietta> "Maybe."
[13:36] <@Ebiris> Rudy scrambles up easily! Up above he finds the terrain slopes somewhat downwards again, the ground mostly scrub with interspersed trees that grow thicker the farther away from the pass one goes. The lake is just visible far to the East, though the town can't quite be seen from this vantage.
[13:36] <@Ebiris> roll 1d20+14
[13:36] * +Hatbot --> "Ebiris rolls 1d20+14 and gets 29." [1d20=15]
[13:36] <@Ebiris> Rather than climbing, Val goes up after Rudy with a series of prodigious leaps!
[13:36] <@Lucie> roll 1d20+4 for followup climbing effort!
[13:36] * +Hatbot --> "Lucie rolls 1d20+4 for followup climbing effort! and gets 12." [1d20=8]
[13:37] <@Ebiris> Dismounting her own horse, Liamae looks up after Rudy and Lucie. "Is it safe to leave our horses here?"
[13:37] <@Rudy> "Doubt it," calls back Rudy. "We don't know how far out this guy's going. Should've left them back in town, but too late now."
[13:39] <@Ebiris> "I can take them and Teo back to town if you guys figure you can manage without us?" Liamae volunteers after a moment.
[13:40] <@Rudy> "Would you? I can send Myra to keep an eye on you until you're back on the road!" calls Rudy, before lapsing into the summoning ritual.
[13:40] <@Henrietta> "We should be alright," Henrietta agrees, adding, "Please get there safely!"
[13:41] <@Ebiris> "Oh, I feel safer already!" Liamae giggles girlishly as she waits for the eldritch horror to be summoned and starts pre-emptively comforting her horse.
[13:45] <@Ebiris> With Myra summoned and the horses departing with sorceress and fisherman, the Irregulars remain behind to chase down the foul imposter! Barking loudly, Val seems to have found the trail again and he starts heading South where the trees become progressively denser.
[13:47] * @Rudy turns to trudge after Val, unlimbering his crossbow and keeping it by his side.
[13:47] <@Lucie> "Back into the woods," Lucie complains. "Somewhere in that town was surely a bath and a bed waiting for me, and I am going to club this man so hard for keeping me from them once we find him."
[13:47] <@Henrietta> "Are you bothered by that play as well?" Henrietta asks nervously, sidling up to Lucie. "I honestly thought there were no lingering bad feelings."
[13:48] * @Lucie shrugs. "It was a job. Someone was gonna have to do it."
[13:48] <@Rudy> Rudy almost walks into a tree. "I was just- don't take me so seriously!"
[13:49] <@Henrietta> "I just... I am not a sadist, you must understand. I just do not look at my enemies and other assorted criminals as dating material, as it were. But is that so strange?"
[13:50] <@Rudy> "Look, let's say some ten-year old kid came at you with a knife, and he was really good with it and could totally kill you if you don't kill him first," replies Rudy. "Would you feel bad about it after?"
[13:51] <@Lucie> "Yeah, well, circles I used to travel in, there wasn't much else to pick from. Used to taking beauty wherever I could find it."
[13:51] <@Henrietta> "That-- well no, but I have spells that would put him down without killing him! I specifically trained in those spells!"
[13:51] <@Rudy> "I didn't."
[13:52] <@Henrietta> "I could... that is, I could teach you?"
[13:52] <@Lucie> "If some brat's good enough with a knive to kill one of us, probably there's so much wrong with him the world's better for him not growing up," Lucie concludes.
[13:52] <@Lucie> *knife
[13:53] <@Henrietta> "Maybe... maybe he is just being controlled!" Henrietta insists. "Or something is possessing him! You never know!"
[13:53] <@Rudy> "No, it's fine- look, that's not the point I'm trying to make here," replies Rudy, rubbing his head. "I can't help it, okay? Until like this year, my whole life revolved around pretty girls! I can't just give one up! There's like- this instinct, right? Sure, I know beauty doesn't mean you're a decent person, but it sure feels that way when the chips are down."
[13:54] <@Lucie> "I guess," Lucie concedes to Henri, before nodding knowingly along with Rudy.
[13:55] <@Henrietta> "I, well, I guess so," Henrietta echoes Lucie. "Although, if we look back on all the pretty women and men who were our enemies and think how all those encounters ended for us...."
[13:56] <@Lucie> "I'm sure there were some ugly ones too," Lucie says. "We just don't think about them. And rightly so."
[13:56] <@Rudy> "I drank myself almost to death after the Lotus thing," replies Rudy. "Then again, when her sister gave us lip."
[13:58] <@Henrietta> "Oh yes!" Henrietta agrees with feeling. "So many of them were undead or some strange perversion of nature--" She shudders. Giving Rudy a sympathetic look, she adds for his benefit, "Would it help to think of the horrible fate we have spared Lady Vanderboren by returning her stolen property to her, or about how this lead to settling the score with her brother who killed her parents and would
[13:58] <@Henrietta> have done the same to her?"
[14:01] <@Rudy> "Kinda?" replies Rudy, awkwardly. "It's not like I cry myself to sleep or anything."
[14:03] * @Henrietta pats his shoulder just as awkwardly.
[14:03] <@Rudy> "Though I did the day you whipped me."
[14:04] * @Henrietta twitches.
[14:04] <@Lucie> "I slept just fine that night," Lucie says, somewhat wistfully.
[14:05] <@Henrietta> "B-Because it did not leave any wounds, isn't that right?" Henrietta asks Lucie hopefully. "I twisted it just so, and it avoided any lingering damage. It was really difficult to do!"
[14:05] <@Lucie> "Sure, sure."
[14:06] <@Rudy> Rudy is this close to making another joke at Lucie's expense, but one look at the helmet and his mind wanders elsewhere.
[14:07] <@Ebiris> roll 1d20+7
[14:07] * +Hatbot --> "Ebiris rolls 1d20+7 and gets 13." [1d20=6]
[14:09] <@Ebiris> As the party continues onwards following Val, the unfortunate dog manages to trigger a snare, eliciting a pained yowl as it suddenly tightens around one of his forelegs before the tree its attached to springs up, carrying the unfortunate dog with it to hang from his sorely wrenched leg!
[14:09] <@Ebiris> roll 1d6
[14:09] * +Hatbot --> "Ebiris rolls 1d6 and gets 5." [1d6=5]
[14:11] <@Henrietta> "Val!" Henrietta exclaims, immediately looking for where that rope is secured on the other end. "Hold on, I will get you down!"
[14:13] <@Rudy> "Fuck! These guys probably got shit like this everywhere," grumbles Rudy. He focuses for a moment, and then sees through Myra's eyes instead of his own.
[14:13] <@Lucie> "Doubt he has much choice there," Lucie observes as she walks a little ahead to scan for further traps. She'll have to adopt an air of paranoia and watch the ground closely when they continue.
[14:14] <@Ebiris> Val howls and flails in the air, his entire weight held up just on one paw as he hangs several feet off the ground a line tied to a branch overhead. With Rudy looking through Myra's eyes and seeing Liamae and her horses plus Teo continuing along the trail to Lessmus, Henrietta approaches to help her faithful canine. She gets a rude surprise, though, when an enormous cat bounds out of the undergrowth surrounding the tree, lunging at her!
[14:14] <@Ebiris> roll 1d20+6
[14:14] * +Hatbot --> "Ebiris rolls 1d20+6 and gets 7." [1d20=1]
[14:14] <@Ebiris> roll 1d20+2
[14:14] * +Hatbot --> "Ebiris rolls 1d20+2 and gets 17." [1d20=15]
[14:14] <@Ebiris> roll 1d20+2
[14:14] * +Hatbot --> "Ebiris rolls 1d20+2 and gets 11." [1d20=9]
[14:14] <@Ebiris> OOC: AC?
[14:15] <@Ebiris> roll 1d20+6 rake as well
[14:15] * +Hatbot --> "Ebiris rolls 1d20+6 rake as well and gets 20." [1d20=14]
[14:15] <@Ebiris> roll 1d20+6
[14:15] * +Hatbot --> "Ebiris rolls 1d20+6 and gets 19." [1d20=13]
[14:15] <@Henrietta> OOC: AC20
[14:15] <@Ebiris> OOC: those +2s should have been +6 so the second hits as well
[14:15] <@Ebiris> roll 2#1d3+3
[14:15] * +Hatbot --> "Ebiris rolls 2#1d3+3 and gets 10." [2#1d3+3 = 4, 6]
[14:17] <@Ebiris> Lunging up, it claws poor Henrietta most viciously, though she manages to steer well clear of its fangs! It's a big and sleek feline, coloured a dusky tan with stripes of black across its flanks and a predominantly black face split by its widely open fang-filled maw. And right now it seems fully intent on devouring some adventurer!
[14:17] <@Ebiris> OOC: init
[14:18] <@Henrietta> roll 1d20+3
[14:18] <@Rudy> roll 1d20+5 if this was shadowgate we'd be dead now
[14:18] * +Hatbot --> "Henrietta rolls 1d20+3 and gets 12." [1d20=9]
[14:18] * +Hatbot --> "Rudy rolls 1d20+5 if this was shadowgate we'd be dead now and gets 23." [1d20=18]
[14:18] <@Ebiris> roll 1d20+4 mountain lion
[14:18] * +Hatbot --> "Ebiris rolls 1d20+4 mountain lion and gets 8." [1d20=4]
[14:18] <@Ebiris> roll 1d20+2 Val
[14:18] <@Lucie> roll 1d20+8
[14:18] * +Hatbot --> "Ebiris rolls 1d20+2 Val and gets 6." [1d20=4]
[14:18] * +Hatbot --> "Lucie rolls 1d20+8 and gets 26." [1d20=18]
[14:19] * Ebiris changes topic to 'Lucie > Rudy > Henrietta > Cat > Dog'
[14:21] <@Lucie> Lucie's first instinct is to call on her mysterious otherworldly powers and freeze the murderous feline dead in its tracks!
[14:21] <@Lucie> roll 5d6 cold, fort DC 19 halves
[14:21] * +Hatbot --> "Lucie rolls 5d6 cold, fort DC 19 halves and gets 25." [5d6=5, 5, 5, 6, 4]
[14:21] <@Ebiris> roll 1d20+7
[14:21] * +Hatbot --> "Ebiris rolls 1d20+7 and gets 12." [1d20=5]
[14:23] <@Ebiris> The cat is instantly flash-frozen by Lucie's magic, its fur turning bluish-white and its drool and Henrietta's blood both turning into icicles in its mouth. Stuck frozen, it slowly topples over and shatters into bloody ice-rimed chunks!
[14:24] <@Rudy> "Two can play at this game, feline!" calls Rudy, but the black stuff in his hand just seeps back into his body. "Oh, you got it. God, that looks painful."
[14:25] * @Lucie is quick to look around the surrounding woods for more unpleasant surprises. "That's the idea," she replies to Rudy. "You alright, Henri?"
[14:25] <@Henrietta> Groaning, Henrietta leans on the tree Val is hanging from. "Please... can someone help Val down?" she begs, sliding down to the ground.
[14:25] <@Ebiris> Val whines his piteous agreement with that sentiment.
[14:25] <@Rudy> Rudy heads over there to cut off the rope. "Poor boy," he says in sympathy as he helps the dog down.
[14:27] <@Ebiris> The black dog rubs his head against Rudy's side in gratitude after being let down before approaching Henrietta and licking her hand, a pitiful expression in his soulful dark eyes.
[14:28] * @Henrietta bolsters herself with the life-draining power of undeath, patting Val's head despite the pain that shoots through her arm at the action.
[14:29] <@Henrietta> roll 1d10+5
[14:29] * +Hatbot --> "Henrietta rolls 1d10+5 and gets 7." [1d10=2]
[14:34] <@Ebiris> OOC: roll perception, Lucie
[14:34] <@Lucie> roll 1d20+14
[14:34] * +Hatbot --> "Lucie rolls 1d20+14 and gets 19." [1d20=5]
[14:37] <@Ebiris> After a few moments to recover, Val starts following the scent once more, even if he does have to somewhat gingerly favour his left foreleg. It's a slow pace anyway, between tracking and keeping an eye out for traps. Another two snares are seen not far from the first, though it's a bit easier going after that with no traps seen nor much evidence of hostile wildlife. It's been an hour since leaving Liamae as you all continue following the dog through the woods, starting to angle a bit more Eastwards towards the lake. Not that it can be seen through all the trees and distance, of course.
[14:38] * @Henrietta recasts her defensive spell, for all the good that it might do her when the time comes.
[14:39] * @Lucie frowns. "Are we heading in a circle here? I know I'm not much for having a sense of direction in the woods..." Not that Lucie can do much beyond follow the dog, of course, and keep her magical ward up.
[14:39] <@Henrietta> "Perhaps Myra could tell us if we are heading for anything in particular?" Henrietta suggests.
[14:40] <@Rudy> "I can pull her back now," replies Rudy, checking one more time to see if Liamae is locked in glorious battle before beginning the ritual.
[14:41] <@Ebiris> Liamae and company are just starting to come out of the pass near the village, now. Myra's return elicits a growl from Val, and her presence behind him serves surprisingly well at making him go faster.
[14:47] <@Henrietta> "We could try that very same reconnaissance method as in the swamp?" Henrietta suggests, as Myra makes her appearance.
[14:47] <@Rudy> "Uh, yeah, we could," replies Rudy, sending Myra skyward. "Woah. I'm never going to get used to this."
[14:50] <@Ebiris> With the monster flying away, to Val's relief, Myra gets the lay of the land from a high vantage before coming back down to whisper sinister nothings in Rudy's ear.
[14:50] -> *Rudy* The town is visible to the Northeast, while the forest continues getting thicker to the South without any sign of anything breaking it. Far to the North way past the village looks like an old ruined fort. Southeast on a tall cliff that rises out of the forest and overhangs the lake is a lighthouse.
[14:52] <@Rudy> "There's a lighthouse roughly in our direction," states Rudy. "Figure we might be heading there."
[14:52] <@Henrietta> "How far would you say it is from us?"
[14:52] <@Lucie> "Lighthouse, huh? Kind of a strange thing to find so far inland, isn't it?"
[14:53] -> *Rudy* About 5 miles give or take
[14:54] <@Rudy> "About five miles. There's a lake, Lucie. Remember?"
[14:55] <@Lucie> "Yeah, I guess. I just figured you only found them near the sea, where there's waves and rocks and tides and things." A shrug. "But what do I know, this is my first time out in the country."
[14:55] <@Henrietta> "Perhaps it is a cursed lighthouse?" Henrietta voices, ready to proceed and see it for herself.
[14:56] <@Lucie> "Only one way to find out."
[14:56] <@Rudy> "It's a big lake, and there are cliffs..." replies Rudy, uncertainly. "I guess there are people who go rowing at night?"
[14:57] <@Ebiris> OOC: if anyone has knowledge local they can roll it
[14:58] <@Rudy> roll 1d20+7
[14:58] * +Hatbot --> "Rudy rolls 1d20+7 and gets 24." [1d20=17]
[14:59] -> *Rudy* This whole area was covered in mines ages ago. Back during the boom boats would've carried ore across to the main road going out of Lessmus while fishing boats would've plied the lake to feed the hungry miners.
[15:00] <@Rudy> He snaps his fingers. "Wait, I remember. This place used to be full of mines. I read it about it when researching it. They used to ship stuff across the lake basically all the time. Food one way, ore the other."
[15:01] <@Henrietta> "They might be doing that again, once Liamae is proven right! So that lighthouse would actually be a useful thing to have?"
[15:01] * @Lucie nods. "Must've emptied those mines out ages ago, I'd guess. Didn't see anything but maybe fishermen out on that lake, right?"
[15:01] <@Rudy> "Yeah, they're gone now," replies Rudy, nodding. "Ran dry."