***
Alrik looks at Tak, a bit confused. "Do you know where my pants are?" He inquires in Draconic.
Tak looks absolutely flabbergasted. Eyes wide, he glances between Alrik and the dwarf woman at the door, and takes a step back. "W-what?! N-no! Why would I want your pants?"
The dwarf laughs warmly. She responds in common, guessing from Tak's reaction he is denying it. "You fellas are something silly. I saw your kobold friend here running pell mell through the kitchens last night, drunk as drunk can be and buck naked."
She hefts up her basket a bit higher. "He had nicked a handful of clothes, and ran out the front door with em. I think toward the east side of town? I coulda swarn I saw military style pants there... I do the laundry here, and I'm a fan of the soldier boys myself..." She flirtingly winks at Alrik. "So I'd know 'em from a mile away. And you're the only soldier staying at the moment..." She smiles and walks out the door as she says it, in a sing song sort of way.
Alrik scratches his head and takes a sip of his coffee. "East side of town, eh? Well... I guess the whole town can get an eyeful if the wind blows!" He chuckles as he tightens his robe.
Tak visibly cringes and turns away. "Tak no remeber anything, but Tak happy for that now."
Chewing on his claw while he thinks, Tak bolts from the room. A few minutes later, he returns and throws a pair of pants at Alrik's face.
"Here, you wear. Tak not fuzzy head now, don't want see more than Tak have to." He glances at your robes and shakes his head, turning away. He sits down in a huff. The pants seem... Larger, and a greyish yellow color. Definitely not yours.
"Can't Storm Face just buy new pants?" He grumbles. "Or those keep, look fine."
Alrik takes the ill-tossed pants off his head and looks at them, shaking his head. "Unfortunately I need MY pants... they have some items in the pockets that I want, as well as my name sewn into them... last thing I need is some criminal getting ahold of them and using them to stage me being guilty..."
"Your name in your pants? You people so strange." He rubs his eyes, frustrated. "Least wear SOME pants. Windy, rainy outside."
"I found them they fine, they big and floppy, fit you good." He waves a claw at you, looking around the cleaned room. "This so much space... Why need much space...?" He asks this last part almost to himself.
Alrik sighs and shakes his head at the little kobold. "Let's just go find my pants. The sooner we find them the sooner we'll find your coin."
Tak nods with a grumble and heads out with you. It's rather cold and rainy today, and you head in the direction the dwarf told you he went. (Make an investigation check)
(Woohoo... a 3... I rolled a 2. Lol)
(lolol
The two of you walk for some time, not finding any sign of your pants. A few passers by give you funny looks, wondering what you're up to.
You search for a few hours, unable to find anything. (Make a perception check)
(21! Rolled a 19... praise RNGesus)
You've wandered out west of town some ways, were there are several farmlands. Where the road ends leading into a field, you find a robe like the one you're wearing. It's undoubtedly from the Velvet Fang. You also see small tracks tramping through the short wheat grass.
"East, huh? Either that dwarf doesn't know her directions or you doubled back, Tak..." Alrik starts carefully poking along the trail made by the tracks
Tak grumbles, "I don't remember a thing, except eating and drinking last night... Fell asleep, woke up with that crazy lady."
(Make a survival check for me)
(11)
(Tak got 8 lol) You're able to follow the footprints for a while, until they head into a corn field. The taller vegetation is making it more difficult to track. The pale light behind the clouds is fading, indicating it is nearing sunset.
"Really, Tak? A ruddy corn field?" The Storm Caller sighs and rubs his forehead. "Let's keep going, I guess..."
The kobold has been rather morose and salty this whole time, kicking at the sticks and rocks you pass by. "I don't know! Maybe you shoulda just kept them on!" He gets on all fours, clawing through the stalks of corn. The rain starts up again.
(Make a survival check, and a perception check)
(16/12.. Last one for the skill challenge lol
(17 for both. Rolled a 15 and a 17, got a +2 for perception)
You see Tak is fumbling around, almost beyond caring at this point. But then you both spot something moving in the distance, blue, tan and grey. Some crows caw and flutter away angerly at you approach.
It looks like a scarecrow, but it's wearing Alrik's pants, a tattered jacket ripped to shreads, and half a chicken for a head. Various bits of clothing are strung up around it or completely ruined on the ground.
Tak just stands back, aghast and disturbed. "What the hell..."
Alrik stares at it. "What in the hell indeed... you must have been drunk. You didn't finish eating the chicken!"
He scrunches up his nose at it. "Drunk? What is that? They do something to me?"
"Drunk is the term for when you drink too much alcohol."
He gives you a funny look. "You mean that spicy water stuff? Is it supposed to make you forget things?" He rummages on the ground, looking for his coin among the tattered clothes.
Alrik chuckles. "Spicy water... haven't heard that one before. Yeah, it can make you forget things if you drink too much..." he walks over to the scarecrow and takes his pants
As you grab for them, you feel a hand on your shoulder.
(Uh oh... how does reaction work in 5e?
Another hand reaches around and grabs the front of your face....
It is cold and clammy... The rotting flesh and bones of the undead. An raspy inhale is all you hear of the being behind you.
You hear Tak cry out and suddenly silenced.
(Everything within 15 feet needs to make a con save...)
(bwahaha.. Ok let me make some rolls..
(Tak got a 6.... Enemies... You have a skeleton on you, one on Tak grappling him right now, they got 12 and 10
(All fail... is one between me and Tak?)
(You're near the scarecrow, with a skeleton behind you. Behind that is Tak on the ground with one on top of him
Oh so Tak is on the ground? He gets advantage
(Ok XD oh... Well........ 8
(Its ok tho
Immediately after feeling the hand on his face, Alrik throws his left hand down toward the ground and raises the other. A lightning bolt arcs into his upstretched hand and a thunderous eruption springs from his right, causing a shockwave and loose debris to go flying. (All those who failed are pushed 10 feet and knocked prone)
(Btw, that's max damage... I rolled two 8's)
(Dice + cha mod)
The entire area is blasted, vegetation knocked almost flat in a circle. The skeleton holding you is blown backward, its clawing fingers scratching your face as it is torn from you. It's lands amid the corn stalks several feet away, electricity crackling over its body and charring it to a crisp.
The one on top of Tak was pushing his face into the thick mud, choking and suffocating him. When the blast hits, half of its body is blown apart, splinters of bone flying like shrapnel. Tak's body convulses with the blast as he gasps to breathe, his eyes rolling up into his head.
You hear a screeching moan from other hidden things in the cornfield, scratching among the stalks.
"Defend yourself, Flame-Scar!" Alrik roars. Pointing his hand with the ring on it at him, he taps into the power stored within the crystal and purges it into existence, a lightning jolt leaps from his finger and into Tak. (I believe you said it is cure wounds?)
The bolt shoots into Tak and he cries out again in surprise. His breathing is ragged but steady now, and little tendrils of electricity flicker across his scales. "D-damn it all, Storm Face," he vomits and coughs up the muddy water, blood dripping from his ears and nose. (He's healed 6 plus your CHA modifier, so he's more stable now)
Struggling to stand, he stumbles and turns his back to yours, watching the crops sway in the storm. Thunder echoes in the distance. You see the glowing eyes of more bestial skeletons watching you from in the corn. Out steps a large, skeletal warhorse and a rider, flanked by two more rotting skeletons.
(K he heals 3 more xD
Alrik turns slowly, looking at Tak. A storm like none he's seen before is raging in the Storm Caller's eyes. Quickly he grabs Tak and pulls him upright, and then he grabs the scarecrow and snaps the shaft off creating a makeshift spear. "You might want this..." he growls out the side of his mouth.
He picks up his pants and throws them over his shoulder. "I think we've got a fight ahead of us..."
Tak takes the broken spear and steadies his footing, wiping the dirty blood from his face. He snarls, facing the skeletons with you. The thunder booms overhead. A flash of lightning illuminates the field.
It starts.
The skeletons rush to attack. One lunges at Alrik on the right, bringing up a rusty pike. He swings it hard against your side, slamming it into your ribs and knocking the wind out of you. You feel a gush of blood. (12 damage)
The second seleton rushes to the left, bringing around a broken scimitar at Tak. The kobold stumbles back, struggling to see from the blinding light. The jagged sword cleaves through his armor in an instant and sends him flying. (8 damage)
(Both rolled critical hits...... Lol.....)
The skeleton horse rider stalks forward, the horse pawing the ground with his rotted hoof. He drags a scythe along the ground at his side, his senewy maw gaping.
Alrik snarls at the skeleton that stabbed him. Drawing on the ongoing storm, he lifts his hand as a bolt of lightning crashes down into him in a blindingly bright flash. As the smoke clears, the Storm Caller has tendrils of energy running up and down his entire body.
Forcing all the energy together into a mass of electrical spheres, he roars over the thunder in the distance as he sends the missiles screaming toward the skeletons. (Burning both sorcery points, so a total of 10 missiles. 2 at each skeleton, 6 at the one riding the horse. 5 damage each... hallelujah for rolling decent!)
(10 to each skeleton, 30 to Mr. Ponyboy)
The bolts surge through the field so hot and vicious they send a few of the stalks of corn up in flames. Two slam into the one near you, blasting it off it's feet. The weapon and it's arms are knocked clear from it's body, half its ribs obliterated. It slowly crawls along the ground, inching along.
The last thing Tak sees is a blinding light and a thunderous, ear numbing crash. The earth shakes beneath him as two missiles slam into either side of the skeleton's skull, crushing it to pieces. The body falls on the kobold, clawing and scratching at him blindly.
The horse rears up as it is assulted by the remaining orbs. The skeleton on it catches fire in his tattered cloth. Both let out an earsplitting screech and the horse and rider collapse to the ground, unmoving. The jeweled armor headpiece of the horse spins off, landing at Alrik's feet.
You are exhausted, your body tingling and numb. Claws extend on your fingers for just a moment... Then recede back to normal.
The skeleton who has faced you is slowly crawling away using its legs, an abnormal noise coming from its body. The one on Tak fights to grapple the kobold, (3) struggling to hold him down in the wet mud.
(18) Tak slams the side of the stick into it, knocking it clean off him. It finally stops moving... He gasps for breath, seeing only blinding stars flashing in front of his eyes.
Alrik stalks after the fleeing skeleton, his left hand sparking. Grabbing the skeleton's ribs with his right hand, he jerks it backward and punches it in the back of the head with the lightning-covered hand. (Magic touch attack, I forgot how to do them, but I rolled a 16...)
(I can imagine his face just stone cold pissed at this point lol
(Oh absolutely
Alrik glares at the charred skeletons, stomping on one of the nearby skulls. "Damn undead! Damn necromancers!"
Calming down, he turns and looks at Tak. "Are you okay, Flame-Scar?"
Tak's head is swimming and ringing at the same time. He rolls over, struggling to stand up. He slips and falls again, trying to catch himself. "I can't hardly see a damn thing," he growls, his voice weak. "What happened?"
"Skeletons ambushed us. I reacted impulsively and cast a spell..." Alrik looks around for anything worth picking up. (17 investigation)
Tak coughs up some blood, holding his stomach with a groan. He finally staggers to his feet while holding on to the stick like a brace.
Alrik, you kick at the rusted weapons and armor, all the pieces trash. But a rock falls free of the horse's headpiece. You pick it up. It's a gem, a bloodstone, in fairly good condition.
Alrik finally puts on his pants and pockets the bloodstone, and reaching into another pocket, he pulls out one of his healing salves and hands it to Tak. "Sorry I hurt you..."
As you do so, something shiny clatters into the mud amongst the bones and broken vegetation. Tak grabs for it, almost in tears--it's his missing coin.
"It's--it's alright. You were trying to save us..." He snatches the salve and slathers it into his wound. He grimaces, looking up at you. His eyes grow wide, having adjusted to the darkness again. "You're hurt bad too. You have more healing plants?"
(Looks like you have 3 more
(Heals 1d10+2
(Tak healed... 11.. Lol
As the adrenaline wears off, Alrik feels the wound for the first time. Pulling the robe off to expose his bare chest, Tak gets a clear view of all sorts of scars and burns. He grimaces as he pulls the robe out of the wound and smears some salve into it. "Another scar, soon enough." He mutters.
"Let's get back to town. I've had enough of this damn cornfield..."
(Blah, only healed 8)
Tak nods grimly. He stumbles up and walks with Alrik back to civilization. Every so often his eyes catch movement and he jumps, but..... Nothing else ever comes for you.
On the way he glances at your wounds again, looking you up and down. "You have a lot of scars..."
"Eight years in the military, fighting all sorts of things. Basalisks, gnolls, orcish raiders, Tabaxi, and much more... they all make their mark eventually."
Alrik flicks his wrist and a small ball of lightning flickers into existence, floating in front of them lighting the way. He smirks at Tak. "No sense stumbling through the dark..."
He winces, keeping his eyes down. "I suppose... Dark is fine for me though." He kind of croons at it bittersweetly. "Tunnels usually dark... Cozy. Forest, quiet. Just a soft glow. You can't see in dark, Storm Face?"
"Not very well. Us soft skins don't have eyes designed for seeing in the dark... usually. I served with a woman who somehow could see perfectly in the dark. It was wild."
Staying relatively silent for a while, Alrik finally looks at Tak. "I'm glad we found your coin. You need to remember her..." Alrik subconsciously reaches up and touches the ring around his neck. "What was her name?"
Tak grows quiet. He clutches the coin in his hand tightly, the metal cutting into his scales. "...Wren."
Alrik nods slowly. "My girl's name is Makani..." still holding the ring around his neck.
Tak is quiet, the rain falling gently down around you both. He wipes his eyes after a moment and responds, "Makani... Sounds beautiful. I'm sorry you lost her."
"She is... I still wish I could have married her instead of her Dad forcing her to marry someone else."
Alrik nudges Tak. "I'm sorry you lost Wren."
Tak glances over, seeing the compassion and empathy. He isn't sure how to respond at first, not being used to it. He just bites back more tears. Trying to be brave. "She was my nest mate. I won't ever find another to fill that... I don't want to, really."
"Your...girl, your nest mate..." He pauses, chewing on his words. "She not dead? She just taken by another?"
Alrik nods grimly. "Yes. Her father gave her to another, to better his own life... I also suspect he did it to spite me." He glances up into the dark sky, eyeing the storm clouds. "Sometimes I want to kill him, but I know Makani wouldn't like that."
Tak stares at you, watching you closely. His eyes gleam a bit. Then he looks away. "Where they live now?"
Alrik's shoulders slump. "I... don't know. I'm sure her father still lives over in the city near the desert I was outposted in, but I have no idea where he sent her.."
"You want to go find? We can get him to squeal... then go get Makani?" He stares at you again, something strange written on his face.
Alrik shakes his head. "She's very soft hearted... any sort of violence toward her father wouldn't stand well with her. Best to just let it be, I'm afraid."
His scaily brow furrows. "You soft skins are strange... But you know her best." He licks his lips. You can see the gears in his head turning, struggling to understand.
You and Tak finally make it back to the brothel. Heading inside, the servers gladly take your things without question. They just happily smile and pamper, unaware of the undead that stalk so close to their town.
Tak looks uncomfortable the instant you step across the threshold, almost ill from the fawning and decadence, but he bites his tongue. Getting out of his damaged gear, he slinks behind you and eyes the baths.
Zinnia eagerly bounds over when she sees Alrik. "Out for a magical evening?" She chuckles, offering you a bottle of alcohol from the tray she's carrying around. "I don't suppose you made the storm tonight, did you? You look a mess, handsome... We'll get you a healer."
She stares at Tak uncertainly, seeing him beat to pieces as well. Tak stares back with a grossed out look on his face, then turns away. "Tch.."
Alrik simply grunts at Zinnia, his mind somewhat numb from both pain and exhaustion due to his recklessness with spellcasting. He grabs the bottle and takes a sip, sitting down on a nearby bench as he does.
Zinnia bites her lip then bows to Alrik. "I'll fetch you a healer now, sir. I'm sorry for making you wait or making light of it. We appreciate your patronage here." With a quick smile she leaves.
A few minutes later a very fair dark elf approaches. She kneels at Alrik's feet, looking up at his face. "Hello darling. I'll be treating your wounds today. Will that be acceptable?"
Tak gives her a wary look, but scoots away a little to give her more room. With a sigh and a grimace he gets up and goes to wash off.
Alrik nods at the dark elf, tipping the bottle back as his personally tried and true form of pain killer. Taking a large swig followed by a deep breath, he finally lowers the bottle, which is now the better part of halfway gone. "Appreciate it... damned undead..." he mutters to her
you grab the coffin door and begin to open it. The hinges are terribly rusted and you have to strain against them. As it creaks open, a skeletal hand thrusts out from the darkness and grabs ahold of the front of your armor. (Strength check please xD)
(rolling with disadvantage because she's distracted... She doesn't hear you say that XD got a nat 1)
The elf hums a soft tune, something melodic and ancient. Her hands move deftly, clensing away the dirt and blood with rose water. She pulls out some silken spider thread, sewing shut your wounds with care. Eying your scars as she works, she comments, "You're quite the warrior aren't you? Seem like a human shield... Protective type."
Alrik nods. "I've found too many a good folk dead simply because no one was there to protect them..." he takes another sip from the bottle. "I'm the storm that stands between the evil of the world and humanity. It growls and I stand fast. It roars and I smile. It attacks....." he takes a long drink followed by silence for a bit. "And it faces the eye of the storm."
She smiles, watching your eyes flash with emotion. Feeling your conviction. Applying a cooling gel and bandage, the drow gives your injured side a tender kiss. She stands up, passing you another drink from her bag. "All done... eye of the storm." The healer winks. "My name is Magnolia. It's nice to meet you."
Alrik smiles at her, setting the additional drink next to him. "My name is Alrik. I appreciate the care you've given me, Magnolia. I'm sure Zinnia told you a bit about me." He winks back at her.
"She has...." Her eyes sparkle in a very mature way. "Zinnia was quite worried when you came in. I'm sure she will be happy to know you're doing okay."
Sitting to clean the rest of you off, she continues, "Might need to rest easy tonight though, Alrik of the Storm... No bathing in the pools, or it will damage the stitching." She glances at the door to the baths. "Your little scaly friend, he needs healing as well does he not?"
At that moment, Tak slinks back in. He looks clean but exhausted, and still rather beat to pieces. Almost sickly. His burn is starting to scab and blister, and his gashes are reddened and swollen against his green scales.
He stops in his tracks as he sees you both looking at him. He slowly starts to back away, trying to slip back outside.
"Flame-Scar....... come here, please. Magnolia needs to look at your wounds... and maybe your ears after that thunder spell..." Alrik grimaces, thinking of how he hurt Tak
Tak winces, not wanting to be handled by the drow but not willing to disobey an order from Alrik. He's no where near drunk enough for that... A bit cowed, he comes over and sits next to the storm mage.
The drow looks him over, a concerned expression on her face. "What trouble you two got into... My goodness." Gently brushing her hand against his scales, he hisses and snaps his teeth nervously.
Magnolia pulls out a small handful of berries from her bag. "Here. This will ease the infection, little one." Tak hesitates, staring at the medicine. He doesn't recognize them from his forest. He picks one up. Eating one.... His eyes spin and he slumps against Alrik, unconscious.
"Sedative..." She smiles at Alrik, "I heard how he got with Dahlia. He will be just fine. I think he'll feel much better after I'm done."
Magnolia gently lifts the kobold. "Would you mind holding him while I work? It will be easier so he doesn't move on accident." She gives him a smile.
Alrik nods and takes hold of the little kobold. "I feel terrible... I... I caused more of his injuries than those damn things did..." Alrik scowls.
"I just reacted. Didn't mean to hurt him... it was instinct..."
Magnolia gives Alrik a curious look. "Things happen. This world isn't all black and white. What happened, sweetheart?" She works nimbly, cutting and cleaning out infection and stitching the small creature back up as she listens.
"We..." Alrik blushes a bit. "We were looking for my pants... we found them. As I went to grab them, that... abomination... grabbed my face. I just reacted out of impulse."
She raises an eyebrow. "Oh, I heard someone had misplaced something..." She smiles at his shyness, considering what he's shared. "So... You found them? And then this fellow grabbed you?"
Magnolia looks closer at your face, seeing the scratch marks raked across your cheek.
Alrik shakes his head. "No, Tak didn't grab me... an... abomination... did. Somone, somewhere, is practicing necromancy... the dark art of commanding the dead back to life, but it is a perverse form of life. Corrupt. Tainted. Forcing the dead to do their bidding..." Alrik finishes the first bottle and pulls the cork out of the second with his teeth.
Magnolia freezes. "...Necomancy?" She hesitantly says in a whisper, as if speaking too loud might cause a panic. "But, wait..." She sets down her tools. "You were just here this morning, surely you--you didn't go far? Is there one near here? In the city?"
Alrik nods, giving Magnolia a serious look. "Has to be... skeletons don't come back from the dead without some sort of it..." he whispers
She nods, biting her lip. "Does anyone else know about this?"
He shakes his head. "Just me and Tak, to my knowledge... although, I'm sure the farmer that owns the cornfield I leveled a good portion of will find the bones and surmise what happened."
"The farms? Really, that close?" She seems to shiver a bit, glancing at the other patrons walking by. Where you sit is secluded enough that it's not too much of an issue. "It's good the two of you made it out alive," she comments. "Undead aren't... something most people would want to mess with."
She's just finishing up with Tak, his wounds looking a lot healthier now. He lets out a grumbly snore, his head lolling to the side on Alrik's knee. "Your little friend should be okay, now. But you'll definitely want to rest for a day or two so the stitches set."
Alrik nods. "You have a gentle touch. I may call on you for a massage later. Undead tend to... make it difficult for me to sleep. Nightmares and such." He pulls out a gold piece and presses it into her hand. "For your time." He sets Tak down on the nearby bench and covers him with a blanket.
Magnolia smiles gently, handing it back to you. "Keep it. You've kept us safe today. All of us. I wish we could do more to pay you back." She looks at Tak, a curious look on her face. "I'll gladly answer your call later and keep you company tonight, Alrik. It's the least I could do."
Alrik returns the smile, and reaches for the bottle, but decides to put the cork in it. Leaning his head back, he takes a deep breath and sighs. "Of all the vile creatures... why'd it have to be undead?"
"It sounds like you've dealt with them before?" She chances the question carefully, gently.
Pulling another bottle from her healers kit, she hands it to you. The vial sparkles a dark blue, and you can smell a pleasant rummy vanilla flavor coming from under the cap. "And here... This will relax you. It helps with dreamless sleep, so you shouldn't have any nightmares."
Alrik smiles at her, gently pushing the bottle back into her hand. "I don't use sleeping potions, thank you though. I need to be able to wake up and be alert if the situation arises."
He nods slowly, staring off into the distance as if reliving the past. "I've dealt with undead and necromancers before... it... they..." he clears his throat. "They destroyed my childhood..."
Her face looks crestfallen. "Oh sweetie, I'm sorry... I'm so sorry." She looks at this bottle in her hand. "This isn't necessarily a sleeping potion. Not like what your friend took. It's just sweetened rum. It would only... Help with the nightmares. I use it myself, I have some of my own. But... Nothing like that, you poor thing."
"Nightmares are part of a soldier's life, I'm afraid... mine just started before I enlisted." He smiles at her, squeezing her hand. "A massage and soothing music or sounds is what i use to calm my mind."
"I'd be happy to oblige. I can sing more for you." She offers gently, really wanting to help. She brushes the skeletal scratches on his cheek.
Magnolia helps guide you to your room, the alcohol doing its work in your system. Once on your bed you feel all of the exhaustion hit you at once, the pain fading away. The dark elf hums the same melody as before, singing quiet words with it now. She massages your shoulders and your back, careful of your bronze spines, and the sensation relaxes you even further. You feel yourself drifting to sleep with the magic of her voice. (Make an Intellegence Check and a Constitution Check for me).
(14 int, 19 con)
(Ok so you're not too inebriated so you'll remember all of tonight. But the music affects you. A lot.)
You feel incredibly groggy, your head swimming in a sea of sleepy haze. The music echoes in your ears.
You open your eyes, but it's dark at pitch. You wonder for a moment if it's still nighttime. But... feeling begins to return to your body. It aches, cold hard stone underneath of you. There's a gritty feeling too... like dust, thick as a carpet. And a musty, ancient smell, with stale dry air. You can't seem to stand up. You can hardly move. But you manage to light a spark between your fingertips, your hand near your chest.
The bright electricity blinds you for a second, but then you register the eyeless sockets of a mummified skeleton, inches from your face. You're trapped inside of a stone sarcophagus with an inanimate undead.
**To Be Continued**
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