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Thread: Dale in the Fourth Age: Session One, "DEWy-eyed novices"

  1. #101
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    Rowena listens, horror and delight battling for supremacy in her breast. Eli is barely halfway through his story when, in a near ecstasy of creative fervor, Rowena clasps her hands and continues the tale that's been simmering in the back of her mind throughout the journey thus far. She mentally skips past the first part of the song almost dismissively--the beginnings of stories inevitably get changed by the end anyway--and continues a few stanzas in, humming under her breath.

    Even as she weaves the latest line in her artistic tapestry, Rowena's common sense catches up and overrides inspiration. This is happening now, pay attention!

    Blinking and flushing, though surely none could know her thoughts, she glances down, then back up at Eli. "It's well you left it alone," she offers, then tilts her head in curiosity. "Did you say compelling? Do you mean... not just because you were astonished by it and wanted to learn more, but... that the plant itself seemed to hold the power to draw you nearer?"



    OOC: Cut song because maybe it spoiled the mood for the scene and drew too much attention to Ro.
    Last edited by choie; 09 Jun 2021 at 09:54 PM.

  2. #102
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    While the party digests Eli's strange news, the front door swings open. Framed in the doorway is the tall figure of a Man, sized about right for a local inhabitant, dressed and outfitted not unlike the dead one that you found. His eyes seem to lack the usual lustre of a normal, healthy human being and his skin has a deathly pallor, smirched here and there with what seems like yellowish lichen. A weird creeper loops loosely once around his body and attaches to his lower skull, the other end of the creeper disappearing into the gloom inside the shack.

    The Man bears a sword of the kind commonly seen in and around Dale, and it is bared and pointed roughly towards you as he takes a lurching, unsteady step onto the decking, little impeded by the creeper that drags slackly behind him. His jaw hangs idiotically agape.
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  3. #103
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    Tom is jolly grateful to our Scout for alerting the party and is really happy he didn't knock on the door.

    Tom makes sure Bruno is between himself and the ... thing and stands ready to cast once Gabe gives advice.

  4. #104
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    Bruno will prepare to attack trying to knock out the opponent rather than kill him.

    OOC: sadly taking a -4 attack penalty

  5. #105
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    Eli, appalled at the sight of the man, draws his sword and takes a few steps back.

  6. #106
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    Any music left in Rowena's head splutters to a halt when this... this... this what? As deft as she can be with poetry, prose or song, she can't supply the word. Until it strikes her: a puppet, used by whatever unutterable horror is controlling him. If, indeed, he isn't the one controlling himself.

    Backing up a hesitant step, she catches Eli's gaze. "The man we saw before... that wound on his neck, he must have been... like him," she says, stating what is likely obvious to all. When she returns to stare at the man, equal measures of fear and pity fill her heart.

    How often has she heard tales of ensorcellment, where some poor captive needed only to hear just the right words to be freed from some binding spell? Maybe they were mere legends... but maybe not. There are more things in the world than she has yet seen. Multiple walking plants, for a start.

    She will let those who are braver, stronger and--she nearly added bigger, but Tom and Eli are probably better at combat than Rowena is. Valor has nothing to do with size.

    And so she resorts to the skill that's most familiar and, quite often, pretty successful. "Sir," she says, more boldly than her instincts warn her, speaking directly to the unfortunate man while searching for any spark or remnant of intelligence in him. "Can you see us? Can you understand me when I promise, we mean you no harm?"

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    Gabe takes a look and consults his plant knowledge (Knowledge Nature 6). while letting others know what he knows he will attempt to entangle the man to avoid any unnecessary bloodshed (DC14 reflex save).

  8. #108
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    With a direct sight of the creeper, and a view of how it is attached to the man, plus Eli's description of what he saw, OOC: and a truly spectacular Knowledge(Nature) check! , Gabe calls out:

    "Stay back, Rowena, it's too late to save him! Cut him down if you have to! Beware the scent of the plant, it will lure you like a fly into a pitcher-plant! Its tendrils will eat your brain!"

    OOC: There is plenty of vegetation available for Gabe/Gade/The Druid to case entangle as soon as Creeper Guy steps off the decking. Of course, (a) it may not stop him and (b) it will also affect anyone who wanders into the area. However, the plants do react visibly so you can see where the spell effect is and remain outside it once it has been cast - since you have been told what to look out for.

    Let me know if you're going after Creeper Guy or the plant itself, and we'll move into a battle scene
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  9. #109
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    Provided Tom is outside the Entangle and also has the reassuring presence of Bruno between himself and the possessed man ... he will cast Magic Missile at the creeper linked to the man.
    As long as there is apparent damage, Tom will do another Magic Missile ... and yet another!

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    Bruno will attempt to chop the plant with great fury.

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    Rowena lingers behind, trusting the Druid but still finding it hard to believe that she's watching someone who can't be helped. She stares at the man--or plant--or hybrid--Oh, just call it a Mant!

    Can he see or hear? She's found that a distracting song or melody can help in a fight, though admittedly her experience is mostly in pub brawls. But plants can't see or hear, so perhaps neither can the Mant, if it's merely an extension of its captor.

    She stands back to watch her comrades' actions. Her mind nags at her, though. Why does the plant itself need this man, or any living creature, if it's not eating them? From the Druid's description, this plant has its own offensive/defensive abilities.

    Maybe it sees through this Mant's eyes, hears through its ears. If so, she has some chance of success. Scowling, she lifts her kit and to assist those attacking this monstrosity, tries to play a distracting tune. If that does nothing, she'll play to inspire the others. That, she knows, is usually something she can contribute.

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    Eli will stand by with his sword, ready to rush in and hack at the Mant if he must, but content for the moment for the bigger members of the party to have at him, er, it. He edges over closer to Rowena, also ready to protect her if necessary.

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    Happy to trust Gade's knowledge of the situation, Arewe will nock arrows, draw her bow, and shoot into the poor victimized man. If she can take a clear shot without risking hitting an ally without moving, she will; otherwise, she'll circle right to get a clear view. As she lines up her shot, she calls out "Hold, Bruno! Let mine arrows clear him without risk to thyself." To Rowena at her side, Arewe says more softly, "Keep by my side, wíffréond. We'll support each other if this battle turns against us."

    OOC: Don't shoot into melee, but focus on the man who's the immediate threat before dealing with the plant. If possible, down him before he steps off the porch to save the Entangle. Stay near Rowena; let's not let the ranged attackers get isolated and picked off by any unseen attackers. And if at all possible, take my turn before Bruno, so that I don't shoot into melee and cause more harm than good here.

  14. #114
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    Gabe doesn't cast Entangle, at the last moment recalling that it is too late for the man and the creature itself needs to be put down rather than saved. Gabe pulls his cloak across his face to try to help resist, raises his quarterstaff and enters battle. "Let us destroy this foul abomination of nature friends"..... Gabe has the light of battle in his eyes and looks angry.... He is angry, being a man of nature he considers only one thing to be worse than 'people' and that is plants that give nature a bad name. This one has to go!

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    Gabe, marginally the quickest to react, heads for the rear of the house where the weird plant is. Rowena begins a song OOC: She does not need to play an instrument to achieve this effect, and can have a weapon ready for self-defence which all the listeners perceive differently, including herself: To Eli, it seems to speak of the courage of the Little Folk in a world of Big People, bending before the storm but unbowed and uncowed. To Bruno, it is the music of a hard day's labour and the sweat of an honest brow. To Tom, it conjures images of the blazing elf-letters that never quite leave his vision, controlled and obedient to his will. To Gabe, it is the fury of outraged Nature itself; to Arewe, the chivalry and majesty of the green fields of the Mark (and does she glimpse a mighty Horse on the horizon, watching patiently to see how she endures the trial?); and to herself, the endurance of the North-men, daring to cling to life on the very doorstep of the Dragon and defying all the armies of the East to overwhelm them.

    The plant-ruined man lurches forward unsteadily towards the little knot of people in front of the house, seeming intent on hewing one of them to pieces, and swings ineffectually at Arewe. Tom steps a pace out of its reach and looses a Magic Missile at the trailing creeper in a blazing dart of pure radiance, inflicting 4 points of damage.

    Eli, having arrived on the field just before the door opened and finding enough natural cover for a skilled Hobbit to conceal himself on the tussocky landscape OOC: translation: making one hell of a Stealth check which this poor sap hadn't a hope of seeing through. You could not have done that under direct observation, nor if the terrain wasn't as favourable as this! , flings himself boldly at the unheeding creature as it blunders past him and stabs at the most vulnerable spot he can reach sadly failing to confirm a Critical Hit on the "zombie" but nevertheless successfully pulling off a Sneak Attack for 10 points of damage including the bonus from Inspire Courage!

    Almost in the same instant, Arewe also takes a step out of the creature's reach and looses two arrows, unfortunately not quite before it is in melee OOC: But there is no danger of hitting your own side as a rule, only an attack penalty. The feat "Precise Shot" will eliminate this when you can learn it . One arrow flies wide, but the other strikes true, and despite the creature no longer being truly "alive" in the accepted sense, the arrow seems to sever something that the creature still needed to remain functional. OOC: The creature has "Damage Reduction" against piercing-type weapons but Arewe's damage roll, with allowance for the target being at Point-Blank range, the bow conferring a partial Strength bonus to damage, and the Inspire Courage bonus again, was enough to penetrate and it falls headlong in the dirt - no doubt to the relief of Eli who would be much less effective in a protracted fight. Finally Bruno hastens to catch up with Gabe and growls encouragement as the pair of them prepare to charge the real enemy.

    Heedless of danger, Gabe charges wrathfully to the attack. He brushes aside the tendril with which the plant lashes him for 8 damage! The plant has enough reach to score with an "Attack of Opportunity" as he closes and smashes down on the vile plant-creature with a mighty overhand swing of his stout oaken staff. 9 points of damage. The plant responds by puffing yellow pollen in his face! Fortunately, the sickeningly sweet smell seems to have no obvious effect.

    Maintaining her song, Rowena urges those near her to follow up the two Men as she makes her way after them herself. Tom scurries after the Men but cannot get to the rear of the house at once, and he heads wide, knowing that his spells will work just fine from many feet away, thank you. Eli, who has been in a fight or two in his life, runs around the other side of the house to the way Bruno and Gabe went, trusting that at least one of them will be engaging the plant in melee before he arrives and allow him to do what a good Scout does best. Arewe, once again a fraction slower, heads in about the same direction as Tom and, being rather longer-legged, arrives in time to loose off a single shot which, once again, still connects with the target despite the presence of an ally in melee combat for 7 damage. Finally Bruno, having got himself properly set, also charges the plant, axe sweeping round as though to fell it in one mighty stroke, though the axe slips a little as it connects for 6 damage. Minimum damage from Bruno -- with the inevitable Inspire Courage -- is still not negligible!... and the plant crashes to the ground!

    Wiping blood from the welt raised by the plant's tendril, Gabe leans on his staff. "Dig it up," he gasps, "find the tap root. Or we'll have had this for nothing."

    (The creeper did count as part of the plant, for those who want to know)
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  16. #116
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    Tom congratulates the party on a job well done!

    He's not skilled at curing wounds or digging, so stands guard instead.

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    Eli goes to see what Bruno and Gabe are up to, and to help if he can.

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    Rowena stands back, assessing the others' statuses with a worried eye. She is both invigorated by the battle she just went through--well, observed, really--and embarrassed, because she couldn't truly offer anything but lifting some spirits. And even that didn't turn out as she expected.

    She'd fully intended to sing Bruno's "Chariot" song from earlier, but instead, what came out was one of her own favorites. The group seemed to react surprisingly well to it, but Rowena decides she needs to get a better understanding of such things.

    To make up for her meager participation, she steps in when Gabe commands them to dig up the roots. When she moves near Arewe, she nods at the woman who probably has only a few more years than Rowena herself. "Thank you for standing by me. I hope I'll have a chance to stand with you, as a fellow archer, someday."

    She next speaks to Gabe. "You were heroic," she says in awe. "All of you were! I've never seen such an enemy, and such teamwork despite having just met. It was musical, almost a canon, with each of you performing a different--"

    Rowena stops herself before she gets too carried away. "Um... I'm sorry, Mr. Gabe, I see you're tired." She turns to the others. "All of you must be. I can tend to your wounds--bind them or dress them, whatever is necessary, though I don't have much experience yet. But I can help dig. I'm strong enough." This pronouncement contains more confidence than accuracy.

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    Bruno very carefully cleans his axe against some local plant detritus all the while staying watchful.

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    Whilst keeping a careful eye out, Tom nervously remarks "Let's cure Gabe. He must be tough - that strike by the plant would have disabled me! "

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    Eli was all set to take advantage of the plant's preoccupation with the two Men, but finds it unnecessary. With a quick look around he is able to confirm that there seems to be no other enemy in sight for the present, and is able to take a look inside the house at last. It's a small, very basic kind of place that seems to be intended more for the benefit of someone spending a day or two working in the swamp -- for whatever reason -- than for any kind of long-term occupation, but with a floor raised clear of the damp ground and a roof that looks intact it's probably a healthier place to seek shelter, as the daylight begins to fade, than a random rough camp in this damp terrain would have been.

    While Bruno remains on the alert for any interruption, he unships his spade and Ro sets to work with it, soon unearthing a roughly globular mass about the size of a man's head from which a number of smaller roots spread into the earth.
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    Eli looks - and smells - around with interest, sword in hand. Does the alluring odor seem to have stopped?

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    Wiping the sweat from her brow--but adding a streak of dirt in its place--Rowena stands back a little to stare at the strange-looking... bulb? She has no idea what this would be called, and is hesitant to say anything for fear of looking ignorant in front of such a knowledgeable Druid.

    She turns to the party members with the most useful weapons at the moment: Eli with his sword, then Bruno and his axe. "Should we just... chop it up? Or might that spread some, uh, seeds or--or whatever this uses to--to y'know, spread--to propagate!" Rowena's turned to Gabe with this last question, unable to hide her smile at producing what she thinks is the right word.

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    "I don't know," Eli says. "Burying it might be just want it wants - if it can be said to 'want' anything, I suppose - but perhaps burning it, and taking care to stay upwind from it, would be best."

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    "Aye, burn the monstrous thing." Bruno actually looks shaken.

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    Quote Originally posted by Elendil's Heir View post
    Eli looks - and smells - around with interest, sword in hand. Does the alluring odor seem to have stopped?
    There is still a distinctive odour; but to Eli it doesn't seem especially alluring.

    Inside the hut there is a small fire-basket under a roof vent and with a slab of slate or something similar under it. There is not much fuel at hand, but you could kindle enough of a fire to, at least, burn this root nodule to a char.

    There is also a small roughly-made table and two chairs, and a cupboard such as might hold a few days' worth of dry goods or similar necessities.
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    Tom recognises the hut as the sort of place a peat cutter could work from.
    He says "Sorry to keep mentioning it - but can anyone cure Gabe?!"

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    Rowena's standing with both hands curled around the spade, as if it's holding her up instead of the other way around. Her gaze darts from Bruno to Tom, then to Gabe, and finally back to Tom. Her teeth worry at her lower lip, but she says nothing.

    Two times during her travels with Heribert, they'd come across a person near death: first a mortally wounded man, then a desperately ill woman. Somehow, despite the grim outlook, both seemed to rally after Rowena came close and laid a gentle hand on their arms.

    More likely she'd just been a calming presence that helped them heal thanks to the best efforts of the clerics or other healers. It hasn't happened since whenever she's met anyone in less grave conditions.

    Which is why Rowena has always scoffed whenever her mentor mentioned anything about 'powers' to her. She's no wizard. The two healing instances had clearly been mere coincidences, perhaps bolstered by the sweet tunes she'd played to relax the suffering pair. After all, if she could really magically heal someone near death, surely a scrape or two wouldn't be such a challenge!

    So she says nothing and finds great interest in the pit she's just dug.

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    "I know nothing about healing, sorry," Eli says apologetically to Tom.

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    (While I try to find out what has become of Stebb): "Don't worry, friends," says the green magician, "I can do that myself. Not well enough to tend to everybody, and we should give a thought to that if we are to be regular companions, but I will be all right."
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    While the party burn the remains of the plant, Tom says "If Gabe is our only healer, we should think about back-up. Does anyone know if we can buy some sort of magical healing?"

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    "Indeed" says a slightly unsteady Gabe, "I can tend my own wounds to some extent (Gives himself CLW) although I will need to rest before I can do that again"...

    To Rowena "Propagate indeed.. a fine word for such a thing and as other say, lets burn it, cutting it up will likely just create more of the monstrosities".

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    Rowena looks respectfully at Gabe, rather enjoying his style of speech. She's met a few Druids before, but they've been rare and tend not to remain too long in the places she's frequented, if they show up at all. But they have the language of nature and are a conduit for the oldest, least accessible world of history and lore--a kind of lore she can't access yet, if at all.

    So being in Gabe's presence is a unique opportunity to learn, or at least bask in the full breadth and warm light of his knowledge. Oh I rather like that, she thinks, pleased and stowing away the phrase for some later use.

    Right now she has to acknowledge her ignorance of not just nature, but of local lore, which rankles. She thought herself pretty caught up in things like this. "I've been in this area for quite some time, but haven't ever heard of someone encountering this... monstrosity, as you call it. Before it is burnt, can you judge how old it is? If it's always been here? Because--"

    She scowls, now turning back to the trail they've made through the wood. "--Because that other man, he seems to have also been a victim. How did he escape, I wonder? Or did the plant let him go for some reason?" Her eyes open wide with the wonder and dramatic possibilities of such a thought. A few steps take her to face the woods, a picture soon forming.

    "Yes! Maybe this vile creature caught that wandering traveler long ago--maybe he was on his way to some important destination but was trapped, unaware, far less fortunate than we were. And the plant stole his reason, used his mind and body for its fodder and defense, until... until he was of no more use, and rejected his own slave that had only lived for its master. Then it supplanted him--no, no," she corrects, not liking the unintentional pun here. "It replaced him with the Mant--er, the man we just fought. Now untethered but still not free of the madness, the doomed victim stumbled into that field for us to find, and to foreshadow what we'd soon behold!"

    In a sort of ecstasy of storyweaving, she's almost teary-eyed at the tapestry she may well have woven out of phantom threads. After a hesitation, she turns back to the others. "Um... what do you think?"

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    Gabe successfully tends to his wounds OOC: curing 5 of the 8 hit points that he lost but is not presently able to recall any further details about how the plant reproduces or exactly what it does with its victims after it has eaten their brains. The Elves of the Greenwood might know, although it would take time to make contact with them; they are, however, on very good terms with the Men of Dale, not to mention druids generally, and more tolerant of visitors than they used to be.

    Is anyone investigating either the dead body or the interior of the hut (other than preparing a fire)?
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    Eli tells Rowena, "I suppose that's possible, but it seemed to me, at least, that the mant attacked us under the direction or control of the plant."

    He will carefully examine the dead body and then the interior of the hut, and report what he finds to the others.

  36. #136
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    The dead body is outfitted about the same as the one you found near the weedwhip, but has a Dale-pattern long sword (but no scabbard) as well as a belt knife. There's not much else to be said about it as far as Eli is concerned.

    The other interesting feature about the inside of the hut is that when you check the cupboard there is a collection of strange pieces of apparatus made of glass and metal, and some packets made of something similar to what Hobbits (and other users) keep pipe-weed in, although they appear to have a few spoonfuls of some kind of yellowish powder in, a little more granular than mustard or turmeric, rather than either fresh or cured pipeweed. While Eli is no botanist, he would certainly recognise pipeweed on sight.
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  37. #137
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    Eli goes back and tells his companions what he's found. Having heard no objection, he will gather firewood and tinder, and burn the mant's body completely. As mentioned before, he will stay upwind, and suggest his companions do the same.

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    Tom has a (hopeful) look at the powder in case he recognises it.

    He then says to the party "This pleasant walk has turned in to an adventure with some danger. As apparently we only have one Cure per day, I regretfully suggest we turn back to town to either get some potions or hire a healer..."

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    OOC: I don't believe any of you save Gabe are hurt at the moment, and him not badly since he has cured himself. If the need were dire Gabe could use all his spell allowance for cures (Druids don't have the option that Clerics do of turning any unused spell into a Cure of the same level, but they can prepare as many of their allowed spells as cures as they like). It's something you should address in future but it is not presently an emergency.

    When Tom looks at the powder he experiences a fleeting urge to take a really good sniff -- it seems unusually compelling. His hobbit-sense kicks in however aided by a rather good Will saving throw! and he shuts the flap on the pouch at once. The very brief exposure is enough to convince him that this is nothing he has ever run across before, and he feels deeply suspicious about it.
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    Rowena has followed Eli and Tom around the perimeter of the house but stops before entering it, taking a reluctant look at the second corpse she's seen today. "Must we burn him? We gave the other man a burial. I still wonder how he got free." She rubs the back of her neck, imagining the feel of the plant's tendril curling towards her. "Or was rejected in favor of this man."

    She pauses and frowns. "Isn't this sword... Do you think that's the weapon stolen from the first victim? This one has no scabbard, while the other had a scabbard but no sword. Maybe they both met up with the plant at the same time, or nearabouts."

    Bending just slightly, Rowena takes in the late man's features. When she speaks, the words are softer. "It's a shame that we can't know who they are--were--or where they came from. No way to tell their people, if there are any."

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    Arewe nods in agreement. "An ill omen, when men should be buried in nameless cairns. Special care should be taken over their graves, and I shall help in feeding the weed to the flames."

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    Tom warns the party that the yellow powder in the hut is dangerous - perhaps a distillation from the weedwhip?

    He congratulates Rowena on spotting the sword / scabbard link.
    Maybe the two men were together studying weedwhips and trying to extract the hypnotic scent from them.
    If a weedwhip can only control one victim at a time - then perhaps a plant killed the first man and went for the second one?

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    Rowena does know though that even dwarves - who far prefer stone tombs, and will not bury their dead merely in earth - have resorted to cremation at great need. There was once a famous battle before the gates of Moria itself, when the great Thorin Oakenshield was still young, in which the dead on both sides (Dwarves and Orcs) were so many that nothing else would serve. But for a dwarf to now say of an ancestor "he was a burned dwarf" is counted as naming him with great honour. As for Men, perhaps it is kinder to let the clean flame take this unfortunate rather than leave this vile mould to grow on his remains.

    It takes some work to find enough fuel for a proper cremation, but Gabe is able to advise on which of the plants will burn well while still green and even on how to cut from them so that they will recover in time (perhaps even with healthier growth). The light is fading by the time the fire is ready, all thoughts of the morning's hangover is long gone, and everyone is ready for food and rest. Arewe may possibly recall some suitable form of words that the Rohirrim use for such an occasion, or Rowena a poem, a song - even a dirge to play upon the fiddle.
    Librarians rule, Oook

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    When ready, Eli lights the fire and sadly watches the flames consume the poor mant's remains.

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    Whilst the cremation is going on, Tom bows his head respectfully.
    He is determined not to giggle, even though he remembers a piece of doggerel:
    "The Priest stood on the burning pew,
    Whence all but he had fled,
    His Mum had told him what to do
    But he'd forgotten what she'd said!"

    After the ceremony, Tom reminds Gabe about the dangerous yellow powder in the hut.

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    Rowena is unable to pretend she isn't sickened by the sight and scent of the fire as it consumes the nameless body, and so she stands well back from the others, upwind. Pulling out her fiddle and bow, she plays a simple tribute song. It's not very grand or heroic but it's moving enough to commemorate a lost life.

    When she's finished, she wants to change the subject as quickly as possible. "Are we to stay here? And eat?" She attempts to prevent her voice from sounding as if she's breathing through her mouth--better to avoid the stench. Food is the last thing on her mind, but meals are almost always a solid diversion, especially with two Hobbits around.

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    Bruno says, "I don't think we should camp here. Lets find a place some distance away. I'll take the first watch and let everyone else sleep."

  48. #148
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    Tom apologises to Bruno for contradicting him, but reminds the party that 'This is a small, very basic kind of place that seems to be intended more for the benefit of someone spending a day or two working in the swamp -- for whatever reason -- than for any kind of long-term occupation, but with a floor raised clear of the damp ground and a roof that looks intact it's probably a healthier place to seek shelter, as the daylight begins to fade, than a random rough camp in this damp terrain would have been.'

    So Tom suggests we make this hut safer if possible (e.g. block the window somehow) and rest here.

    Tom is happy to share the first watch with Bruno; perhaps Arewe and Eli could then takeover; finally Gade and Rowena to finish. (This lets our spell casters get two continuous watches asleep, which should help their spell recovery.)

    Tom also suggests to Gade that a second Cure would be jolly welcome...

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    Eli is reluctant to stay in the cabin, given the recent disquieting sight of the giant plant reaching through it, and the strange powder all around, and says so.

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    Her gaze shifting to the party members debating the issue, Rowena can't help the growing concern at all this talk of 'watches.' She jabs the shovel into the ground and wipes her hands before placing them on her hips.

    "I don't care where we camp, if we have to. I've slept under the stars plenty. But you lot seem to be expecting trouble of some kind... and I'm guessing it's not from more weird plants."

    She scowls. "Why? We're not at war anymore, I haven't heard of any great threat nearby. Seems to me that one distant woman waving a bow and arrow at a huge creature that might've spooked her shouldn't require such a high level of defense." She looks around--warily at first, but then with dawning curiosity. "Is someone hunting you that I should know about? Brigands? A Shirriff?" She inhales and nearly clasps her hands in glee at the potential twist. "Pirates?"



    OOC: Did we at least take the sword before burning the poor guy?

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