[coronatiger]

Thoughts on June 11th (continued)

Ilzo had to take another fourteen healing potions before he felt fit to fight again! In comparison, Va’lyndra quaffed one, so she had some time to kill while Ilzo finished his drinking, which she spent to determine that the statue indeed was the holy relic we were looking for. After her analysis, she had to rest, so I retired for a snuggle with Olivia.

The troll’s head stood on a pole by the overgrown road when we returned to the temple. Leopold had suggested that it might be a bad idea to leave the statue in camp with only Olivia for protection, in case it drew enemies, so Va’lyndra brought it along in her backpack. She told us that the statue had a weird property that made those around it stronger. That statement got Ilzo curious. Leopold explained that what the statue actually did, was to make people into more monstrous versions of themselves. Ilzo stopped us to retrieve the statue so he could fondle it. Va’lyndra told him he had to bleed on it, but Leopold drew our attention to the temple, so we proceeded.

Things were just as we had left them this morning. Leopold tried communicating with the goblin prisoners, Ilzo decapitated all the goblin corpses – that seems to be his thing – and Va’lyndra and I searched for treasure.

We found no valuables, nothing but blood trails and goblin corpses, but Leopold managed to get some information out of the goblins. They had come here because something smelled very good, but other goblins had captured them, and the troll had tortured them. They promised to go away if Ilzo and Leopold let them go. Va’lyndra and I were still searching the nooks and crannies of the temple when our companions released the prisoners, so when Va’lyndra spotted goblins moving towards our camp, I freaked out. I ran after them as fast as I could, and noticed they were unarmed, so I guessed they were the prisoners. They headed down the road towards Olivia, so I followed them to make sure they didn’t bother her. The troll head startled them, but they continued along the road. Of course, I left the road to check on Olivia in our hidden camp, just in case. I may have stayed in camp slightly longer than strictly necessary…

I returned to the temple, and we finished up the search. This area wasn’t very inviting, with blood, corpses and that foul stench, so we packed up camp and put a couple of hours between ourselves and the temple. According to Leopold’s reading of Lady Karita’s map, the next temple is dedicated to the undead, and lies in boogeyman territory, a couple of days to the west.

Leopold suggested double night watch again, but the rest of us didn’t see the need. Ilzo finally sat down with the statue again, and cut himself on Surkalpi so he could bleed on it, but nothing happened, as far as I could see. He asked if there was anything else he could do to activate the statue. Va’lyndra told him to put his hand on it, and came over to dance a spell dance. I held Olivia’s hand with concerned anticipation. Suddenly, a thin layer of frost appeared on Ilzo and the statue, and the orc glared irritation at the elf. Va’lyndra ignored the look and cut herself, too, putting the bloody hand on the statue. To my relief, nothing happened, and Va’lyndra declared that more research was needed to discover the activation ritual. Ilzo asked her if she knew such a ritual. She nodded and I shivered. Va’lyndra cleaned the statue with her water jet, so it seemed she was done experimenting tonight. Olivia and I went to bed relieved.


Thoughts on June 12th

Olivia and I heard voices in the woods during our watch. I asked Olivia to be ready to activate Surkalpi while I looked for whatever was out there. The voices were loud enough to wake the others, and they were rather noisy when they came out of their tents, so I told Olivia to make light.

Eight goblins were arguing, not far from our campsite, and I asked Leopold if he wanted to talk to them. Ilzo started swirling his sling, and the goblins fled. Olivia didn’t think they knew we were there until she turned on the light.

Ilzo went back to bed, but both Va’lyndra and Leopold decided they’d had enough sleep. I don’t think they need as much sleep as the rest of us. We continued west after Ilzo got up again and everyone had had something to eat.

Around midday, we approached a ruined village. Va’lyndra, who was scouting ahead, spotted a humanoid archer on one of the rooftops and whistled the danger signal. I didn’t recognize it, but the others insisted, so I prepared my bow and looked around.

Va’lyndra returned to tell us about the archer, and Leopold asked if we were going to go and say hello. Va’lyndra thought that sounded like a good idea, but I groaned, and Ilzo wasn’t too keen on talking either, so he decided to remain with Olivia and me. However, once the other two started towards the village on foot, Ilzo followed, curiosity getting the better of him.

After a while, Olivia and I heard shouts from the village. We couldn’t hear their words, but discerned that it wasn’t Va’lyndra’s voice, at least. I leapt into Marvin’s saddle, ready to go check it out if I heard calls for aid from any of our friends.

In the village, the three of them walked into a boogeyman ambush. After Ilzo and Va’lyndra had exchanged fire with the ambushers for a while, they took cover inside a building. Ilzo passed out, pincushioned with arrows. Va’lyndra told Leopold to throw the bottle we found in the hydra temple at the boogeymen when they entered, and he did. A huge, tentacled monster emerged from the shattered bottle, making short work of the boogeymen. Va’lyndra and Leopold tried to get Ilzo out while the monster was busy, but they were just not fast enough. The window they pulled Ilzo out through was too small for the monster, but not for its tentacles, so Va’lyndra went down, too. Leopold lured the monster after him and away from his unconscious companions. He was faster than the monster, so he circled around to dump healing potions into Ilzo and Va’lyndra.

I knew nothing of this at the time, so when a boogeyman came running towards Olivia and me, I took it for an attack and shot him down. Behind him came the tentacle monster, and I ordered Olivia to retreat with the horses, except for Marvin, who I used to draw the monster away from Olivia. Once I got its attention, I started peppering it with arrows. I lost count of how many arrows I needed to bring it down, and praised the cornucopia quiver, without which I would have had to return to Olivia to restock several times. Marvin easily outpaced the monster and kept me at a safe distance, even when I dropped my bow. I didn’t tell anyone but Olivia about that blunder!

Once the monster fell to the ground and stopped moving, I wheeled Marvin around and set off after Olivia, but it was Leopold I met first. With an acrobatic maneuver, I picked him up and put him behind me without having to slow down. Olivia had a good head start.

Leopold told me that Ilzo and Va’lyndra were down, but although he had hidden them, he was concerned that boogeymen might discover their location. We caught up with Olivia and told her the monster was taken care of, stopping only for long enough that Leopold could get on his own mount.

On the way back towards the village, we saw Va’lyndra flying in our general direction, having taken the potion of flight that she had threatened to use to leave us behind. She was considerate enough to bring Ilzo, still unconscious, so she didn’t move very fast. I stood on the saddle to make myself look bigger, and waved at her. We met up, and I smeared healing salve on Ilzo.

A thought occurred to me, and I got back on Marvin and returned to where I had felled the monster. It wasn’t there. Blast! I hurried back and told the others we needed to get out of there, but brought back Va’lyndra to study its tracks before we decided which way to go. Va’lyndra told me we were never going into that village again, for that’s where the tracks led.

Leopold demanded to know how we managed to get that monster into a small bottle in the first place, and we had to tell him that we found the bottle in a temple on our last tour down here. Olivia found it pleasant to travel now that Ilzo was lying tied over his saddle, unconscious and most importantly, silent. She thought he should pay us back for the healing potions we used on him, at least those that were used on injuries that should have been avoided. Going into a village of boogeymen to talk! How stupid is it possible to be?

Ilzo woke after an hour’s travel. I talked to him about the healing potions, and he gave me a potion of major healing in payment. Olivia reminded everyone of the advantage of healing salves, that there’s no risk of drowning the poor, unconscious patient with one of them.

We stopped later than usual tonight to put some extra distance between ourselves and the monster. Olivia camouflaged the camp as usual, and we retired, leaving Leopold to take the first watch.