Session 49.5
May 28-July 9, 2018
Campaign Timeline
Roaming listlessly around the manor, Calina finds herself feeling increasingly restless. She walks through several rooms aimlessly. She notes Daelin sitting on the old, worn couch, his eyes seemingly looking into nothing. She waves at him anyway, not really expecting a response. Calina wanders through the kitchen, momentarily tempted by the smells of baking. She stares at the cooling sweet rolls. She shakes her head. No, eating wasn't exactly what she thought was missing. It's something else, but what? She walked outside the house and looked around. Her eyes brighten suddenly. She was sure what she wanted now. She runs inside and up the stairs to her room, grabs a few items including healing potions, a blanket, and rope. She slings her bow and quiver over her shoulder then hurries down the stairs and out the door. She stops, then slips back inside to the kitchen. She collects a couple of the sweet rolls, wraps them in parchment and adds them to her pack. Intending to let Daelin know she was leaving, she steps to the main room and saw only an empty couch. It seems even more threadbare without the dapper elf sitting there. Once outside, she heads to stables. Shadowmist welcomes her with a low whinny and paws the ground. Calina quickly saddles the war horse, climbs on his back and canters down the manor path to the front gate. Once on the main road she heads for the nearest city gate the into the countryside. This is what she was missing. The fresh air, woods, the smell of wild flowers growing along the dusty path. She heads off the main road onto a small path into the woods. Cooler weather has come to Magnimar and the woods were beginning a show of their fall colors. A rustling noise from the nearby bushes startles the horse, showing the whites of his eyes. Paka pops from the shrubbery in a playful pounce then rolls on the ground belly up. Shadowmist nudges the belly fur of the large cat as if to say, "I accept your apology," The three friends continue together for a short while, enjoying the morning.
A shrill almost inhuman scream ring out from ahead. Calina reins in the horse and she slides to the ground. She drops the reins, signaling the horse to stay. Calina and Paka creep towards the area where the sound came from.
Calina is east of the city, having gone out the Alabaster Gate leading to the Lost Coast Road this time to stay away from the nasty Mushfens, but apparently they did not stay away from danger.
Creeping through the forest Calina and Paka make virtually no sound as they make their way toward the sound. After a few minutes of skulking quietly through the forest, they hear the sound again, much louder this time. Calina sees Paka’s mane hairs stiffen up at the shriek. A low rumbling growl can be heard from deep in Paka’s throat as the cat leaps away and melts into the underbrush. ‘Good, spread out, come at it from multiple angles,’ Calina thinks as she her companion moves away. The Varisian woman begins moving forward again, but comes to a stop when she hears the sound of several voices talking up ahead. She estimates she is still 50 yards away from the sound when she suddenly gets a sense of impending danger!
She hears the twang of a bowstring somewhere above her. Without thinking, Calina rolls to the side and slams into the side of a tree, hoping it gives her some cover from the unseen attacker. “She’s behind that tree,” Calina hears a voice call out from nearby and somewhere up in a tree.
“I saw her, I’ve got her covered, don’t worry,” another voice replies, also from up above somewhere. “Send a signal back to camp. Let them know we’ve got company!”
Calina breathes heavily, pulling herself to a crouch behind the tree. What has she stumbled onto? Where is Paka? What is she going to do? These thoughts race through her mind but are quickly erased as she hears what sounds like someone climbing down from a tree.
Calina mentally assesses her situation and runs through several options. One, she could shoot several arrows in the general vicinity of the sound in the trees, run as fast as possible back to Shadowmist then ride back to town. Or, two make a stand and fight her way into a position where she might learn what is happening in this section of the forest. Or three ... Decision made, Calina stands up with hands held high and her bow slung behind her.
"Hello peoples!" she yells in a childish voice. "Are you guys playing hide & seek?" Calina giggles loudly, "Ally, ally oxen free." She dances in a small circle using this as an opportunity to scan the trees. She cocks her head trying to hear any movement however slight. She knows Paka is fairly close and assumes he is laying low, using his feline instincts to keep himself safe.
"Come on, guys. I wanna play too. Mama says I'm very good at games. She likes when I meet new people. " Calina stands in the opening between two trees. "Oh, I get it! I'm it. Where aaare yoou?" she says loudly in a sing song voice.
As she moves away from the cover of her tree, Calina immediately sees a male Human of Chelish descent at the base of a tree about 7 yards away from her. He has drawn a long, slightly curved blade and has a crossbow slung across his back. “On the ground, moth. Hands away from you,” he ordered her. She quickly realizes that her attempt at deception were unsuccessful, likely due to her lack of experience in such matters, not to mention her innate shyness and truthfulness. “Who are you and what are you doing here,” he asks as he slowly steps in her direction, motioning her down with the tip of his sword. As he speaks, Calina catches some movement in a tree to the left about 10 yards away and 4 yards up. Probably the other sentry. Sadly she sees no sign of Paka but knows he is nearby.
"Did you also know that about the moths that are born in the winter, and still able to fly while their wings avoid the freezing air. And don't forget about the amazing hummingbird moth so named for the ability to beat its wings quickly enough to hover just like its namesake bird!"
The man, Vel she assumes, comes round the tree and looks into the dying undergrowth. At first he does not seem to see Calina, but stepping forward and pushing some of the brown foliage with his blade, he finds her. “There you are, moth. Knew you couldn’t have made…” His words trail off in a short cry as an orange and yellow shape rockets through the air and slams into him, knocking him to the ground in a tumble.
Realizing that she cannot possibly avoid multiple attacks at once, Calina dives backward and somehow manages to avoid being hit by two incoming crossbow bolts as she slides down a narrow ravine and into a gully. She hears shouts and cries above and behind her as she sprints down the ravine. She hears the sound of someone running through the forest above her, at the top of the ravine, but it seems that the high ground slopes up while her ravine slopes downward. The ravine empties out into narrow rushing stream. She knows that downstream leads toward the Mushfens and is sure she does not want to go that way. As she decides what she wants to do, she suddenly feels something crawling on her. She brushes away a spider crawling across her arm. She feels something crawling on her other hand then and looks down to see hundreds of small spiders surging up her legs and covering her arms. As she begins to frantically brush them off, she hears the now familiar inhuman shriek from behind her and turns to see a strange and terrifying creature, like a two legged, person-sized spider running awkwardly down the ravine behind her. In front of this strange, multi-eyed creature, surges a dark wave, undulating across the ground. Almost immediately Calina realizes that this dark wave moving along the ground is in fact made up of spiders. At that moment, she begins feeling tiny, burning, pinches as the spiders that are already on her begin making their way through her layers of clothes and armor and start biting her. As the strange beast gets closer, the word ettercap seems to come to the front of her mind as the name for this terrifying, spider-controlling creature. Not wanting to know what it can do, nor able to fight against the tens of thousands of spiders now approaching her, Calina frantically looks for an avenue of escape. She begins to feel hot and a bit dizzy and realizes that she is still being bit by uncountable tiny spiders. Without another though, she leans forward and pitches herself into the river, keeping her hands above her head to protect it from being smashed into rocks. As she surfaces for air, she hears more Human shouting and hears a crossbow bolt zing through the air and strike the water near her, so she submerges once more and lets the swift current of the stream carry her away, hopefully to safety.
Sunday 21st of Neth
What's That Sound?
Roaming listlessly around the manor, Calina finds herself feeling increasingly restless. She walks through several rooms aimlessly. She notes Daelin sitting on the old, worn couch, his eyes seemingly looking into nothing. She waves at him anyway, not really expecting a response. Calina wanders through the kitchen, momentarily tempted by the smells of baking. She stares at the cooling sweet rolls. She shakes her head. No, eating wasn't exactly what she thought was missing. It's something else, but what? She walked outside the house and looked around. Her eyes brighten suddenly. She was sure what she wanted now. She runs inside and up the stairs to her room, grabs a few items including healing potions, a blanket, and rope. She slings her bow and quiver over her shoulder then hurries down the stairs and out the door. She stops, then slips back inside to the kitchen. She collects a couple of the sweet rolls, wraps them in parchment and adds them to her pack. Intending to let Daelin know she was leaving, she steps to the main room and saw only an empty couch. It seems even more threadbare without the dapper elf sitting there. Once outside, she heads to stables. Shadowmist welcomes her with a low whinny and paws the ground. Calina quickly saddles the war horse, climbs on his back and canters down the manor path to the front gate. Once on the main road she heads for the nearest city gate the into the countryside. This is what she was missing. The fresh air, woods, the smell of wild flowers growing along the dusty path. She heads off the main road onto a small path into the woods. Cooler weather has come to Magnimar and the woods were beginning a show of their fall colors. A rustling noise from the nearby bushes startles the horse, showing the whites of his eyes. Paka pops from the shrubbery in a playful pounce then rolls on the ground belly up. Shadowmist nudges the belly fur of the large cat as if to say, "I accept your apology," The three friends continue together for a short while, enjoying the morning.A shrill almost inhuman scream ring out from ahead. Calina reins in the horse and she slides to the ground. She drops the reins, signaling the horse to stay. Calina and Paka creep towards the area where the sound came from.
Calina is east of the city, having gone out the Alabaster Gate leading to the Lost Coast Road this time to stay away from the nasty Mushfens, but apparently they did not stay away from danger.
Creeping through the forest Calina and Paka make virtually no sound as they make their way toward the sound. After a few minutes of skulking quietly through the forest, they hear the sound again, much louder this time. Calina sees Paka’s mane hairs stiffen up at the shriek. A low rumbling growl can be heard from deep in Paka’s throat as the cat leaps away and melts into the underbrush. ‘Good, spread out, come at it from multiple angles,’ Calina thinks as she her companion moves away. The Varisian woman begins moving forward again, but comes to a stop when she hears the sound of several voices talking up ahead. She estimates she is still 50 yards away from the sound when she suddenly gets a sense of impending danger!
She hears the twang of a bowstring somewhere above her. Without thinking, Calina rolls to the side and slams into the side of a tree, hoping it gives her some cover from the unseen attacker. “She’s behind that tree,” Calina hears a voice call out from nearby and somewhere up in a tree.
“I saw her, I’ve got her covered, don’t worry,” another voice replies, also from up above somewhere. “Send a signal back to camp. Let them know we’ve got company!”
Calina breathes heavily, pulling herself to a crouch behind the tree. What has she stumbled onto? Where is Paka? What is she going to do? These thoughts race through her mind but are quickly erased as she hears what sounds like someone climbing down from a tree.
Calina mentally assesses her situation and runs through several options. One, she could shoot several arrows in the general vicinity of the sound in the trees, run as fast as possible back to Shadowmist then ride back to town. Or, two make a stand and fight her way into a position where she might learn what is happening in this section of the forest. Or three ... Decision made, Calina stands up with hands held high and her bow slung behind her.
"Hello peoples!" she yells in a childish voice. "Are you guys playing hide & seek?" Calina giggles loudly, "Ally, ally oxen free." She dances in a small circle using this as an opportunity to scan the trees. She cocks her head trying to hear any movement however slight. She knows Paka is fairly close and assumes he is laying low, using his feline instincts to keep himself safe.
"Come on, guys. I wanna play too. Mama says I'm very good at games. She likes when I meet new people. " Calina stands in the opening between two trees. "Oh, I get it! I'm it. Where aaare yoou?" she says loudly in a sing song voice.
As she moves away from the cover of her tree, Calina immediately sees a male Human of Chelish descent at the base of a tree about 7 yards away from her. He has drawn a long, slightly curved blade and has a crossbow slung across his back. “On the ground, moth. Hands away from you,” he ordered her. She quickly realizes that her attempt at deception were unsuccessful, likely due to her lack of experience in such matters, not to mention her innate shyness and truthfulness. “Who are you and what are you doing here,” he asks as he slowly steps in her direction, motioning her down with the tip of his sword. As he speaks, Calina catches some movement in a tree to the left about 10 yards away and 4 yards up. Probably the other sentry. Sadly she sees no sign of Paka but knows he is nearby.Moth or Butterfly?
Giving no indication of getting on the ground, Calina looks closely at the man. "If your intent was to belittle or judge me, I should tell you that you aren't the first to call me a moth." She glances quickly at the tree where she saw movement only a few moments before and sees nothing. Looking back at the man once more, Calina continues, "In fact, if you study moths as completely as I have you would respect the moth!" Her voice rises slightly, "For instance, did you know that many moths can hear the hunting calls of bats and thus can avoid being eaten?"
"Did you also know that about the moths that are born in the winter, and still able to fly while their wings avoid the freezing air. And don't forget about the amazing hummingbird moth so named for the ability to beat its wings quickly enough to hover just like its namesake bird!"
"If asked, I'd bet you would consider yourself a butterfly compared to a moth. But moths outnumber butterflies 9 to 1."
Calina barely takes a breath as she continues, “It is simply wrong to think that moths are just, boring, brown, trouser-munching pests.” She emphasizes each of the last five words.
And I saved the best for last! The lowly common grey moth has a very special skill as it flies from tree to tree landing on the bark." She slips one foot behind ever so slightly, shifting her weight carefully.
"Camouflage!"
In a split second, Calina leaps behind the nearby tree, then slides below the adjoining underbrush filled with ferns, fallen leaves and other assorted forest vegetation. Keeping her now dusty, muddy and otherwise soiled cape draped around her body, she hopes her own brand of camouflage will buy her a few moments to plan an escape.
As she slides behind the tree, she hears the telltale twang of a bow string, definitely a crossbow string, vibrating followed by a bolt hissing through the underbrush right next to her. “Vel, you Nethys touched butterchurn. What are you doing down there? You let her get away! You better get after her, right now!” Calls the sniper in the tree.
“I'm on it,” Calina hears the other man call back in Chelish. She can hear the rustling of leaves and his voice getting closer. “Well, get down here and help me, Baynen. You're as worthless up there as a slip window washer!”
Calina lets herself sink into the dead, fallen undergrowth of winter's start, hoping it's enough to hide her, though she knows it won't be enough.
The man, Vel she assumes, comes round the tree and looks into the dying undergrowth. At first he does not seem to see Calina, but stepping forward and pushing some of the brown foliage with his blade, he finds her. “There you are, moth. Knew you couldn’t have made…” His words trail off in a short cry as an orange and yellow shape rockets through the air and slams into him, knocking him to the ground in a tumble.
“Hellfire and blood! Vel, what in Asmodeus’ name was that? Vel?” Calina sees that Paka has managed to knock Vel down and likely out. Her loyal firepelt crouches over the unmoving form of Vel in a narrow gulley a few yards from her hiding spot. She can hear the other man, Baynen, approaching slowly, though she cannot see him at all. She estimates he is several yards away still. She hears him pause then hears the telltale click of a crossbow being cocked. Paka, seeming to understand the danger they are in, looks up at her with his large, soft eyes. He almost seems to smile at her then his eyes narrow down to slits and he springs away, running and leaping out past the other side of the trees Calina is hiding behind.
She hears Baynen curse some more then the twang of his crossbow being fired followed by another curse. Calina smiles, instinctively feeling that Paka was not hit by the bolt and knowing that it will take him several seconds before he can cock and reload his weapon. Calina weighs her options, just enough time…
Just enough time to step up and shoot. She was tired of this game. All she had wanted was a quiet ride in the forest.
She looks towards the area that Paka ran and wishes it was that easy to run away, but she couldn't shrug off the sound of that shriek. And obviously something was going on or there wouldn't be unfriendly people here trying to capture or shoot her.
Calina takes a slow deep breath and lets it out again. She readies her bow, steps up and fires hoping for a headshot.
Calina pops out from behind the tree, spots her target, and lets the arrow fly before quickly dropping back behind the tree. She hears the arrow sink into the man’s face and his sharp cry as he falls to the ground. Hearing nothing else for a moment, Calina peeks out and sees the man lying motionless on the ground, a crossbow on the ground next to him. She quickly checks both men and finds them to be unconscious and not dead, though the fellow with the arrow sticking in his face is bleeding fairly well.
Know Your Foe
Calina watches the man laying on the ground, struck by the arrow. He doesn't move yet his chest rises and falls slightly.
Calina feels around on her potion belt, hoping that she still has a couple. "Mental note: Buy a couple more to replenish the belt." She drags the other unconscious man over to the bleeding man.
Calina releases her backpack, allowing it to fall to the ground. She pulls rope out of the backpack and using her boot knife she cuts enough lengths to tie both men's hands and feet.
Sitting back on her heels, she releases the pent up anxiety and frustration of losing a perfectly good day in the forest. She blows out a deep breath.
She reaches over to the severely wounded man and slowly pours a healing major potion into his mouth while massaging the man's throat in the hope that he will swallow enough to help.
Once done, she turns to the other man and assesses his condition. His eyelids flutter and his mouth twitches once. Pulling out her wineskin, she dribbles the cooled yerba tea on his face. Getting no response, she holds the man's nose and pours a large amount into his mouth.
Satisfied that the fellow with the arrow in his face isn't going to die, at least not anytime soon from this particular wound. The other man comes to his senses as Calina nearly drowns him with her yerba mate. He coughs and spits the herbal concoction out. Immediately he tenses up and then his eyes go wide as he realizes he is bound and Calina is kneeling over him. He looks as if he is about to yell out, but Calina’ steely gaze and the sight of his companion laying nearby with an arrow sticking out of his face stops him. “Asmodeus' eyebrows! Who in the Nine Hells are you? Baynen? Is he dead?” The man pales considerably as his eyes lock on his downed companion.
"Sir, you must still feel woozy because from where I stand," she gestures around dramatically, "I am the one who gets to ask questions. So shut your foul mouth unless I say you can talk." Calina leans in close and speaks calmly and quietly, " And you best be polite about it because I'm still angry enough to finish you."
She leans a knee onto his chest, not hard but firmly enough to be uncomfortable. "Now state your name and why you are here."
The man tries to squirm but says nothing.
"Ah well," Calina continues, "It appears you need a little help. Your name is Vel. Now, please, continue. You and your friend, Baynan were in this part of the forest for what reason?"
Calina adds slightly more pressure to the man's chest and smiles, "Go on Vel, it's your turn."
The man stutters for a moment then Calina leans in a bit closer and he swallows hard. “Yea, yea, I'm Vel. Velden. Me and Baynen, well, we're watching for anybody getting to close. We're sentries. Guards. We saw you sneaking through the woods an’ din’ know ya. So we did what the boss told us to do. We shoot at 'cha. But you, we, you were fast an’ got outta the way. Then that damned firepelt jumped on me an’ you shoot him in the face! Oh, Abadar’s ball sack! Are you gonna kill me? Don't kill me! Please don't kill me! I'm sorry for shooting at you! I'm sorry!” Vel cries out and begins sobbing uncontrollably.
Calina sighs loudly, "Look Vel, I know that you can panic, cry and whine, but the only I want from you is answers. And I get to ask the questions because, well because I'm not tied up and you are. So be nice and answer. Ok?"
She continues, "You said you were guards. What were you guarding? And who is the boss'?"
Velden continues to look wide-eyed and shakes his head, "I can't, I can't! Please don't make me. Me and Baynen, we's just doing a job. Justa job. Me and him needs money. It was an easy job!"
Velden starts weeping again, "Easy job till today and you show'd up."
Calina takes a deep breath and shakes her head. She stands up, looking around at her surroundings. This was getting nowhere. She drags the unconscious man and Velden to the nearby tree, the same one she had recently hidden behind. She uses the remainder of her rope to tie them to the tree. She uses a knot that would be easily released once Vel struggled enough. She makes a mental note to check back here later just in case he was too scared to move.
She gathers her backpack and replaces her Herbs flask, then picks up her bow and empty potion bottle.
She nods to Velden, "If you get out of this alive, you and your friend need a different line of work." She starts to walk away then turns around, "And Vel, maybe in some other country."
She heads back to the clearing where the commotion started. Remembering the remark about a camp, Calina carefully searches for tracks or other signs of the recent activities, hoping to find which direction the camp lies. She was actually looking forward to meeting the "boss."
The Rest of the Band
Vel quietly whimpers as Calina backtracks. She recalls, in the confusion of the ambush, one of the two men telling the other to send a signal back to camp. She sees some tracks near the base of the trees that Vel and Baynen had been hiding in. They head off to the north, further away from the road. She keeps this information in her head as she moves through the forest. She senses Paka somewhere off to her right, stalking even more silently than she was. Suddenly she hears the sound of quite a few people moving through the forest. At least five people, she would guess, coming right for her. “Yea I saw a signal from Vel and Baynen. Then heard some shouts. Something’s wrong. I tried to signal them back but nothing. They were right up here,” she hears a man’s voice whispering loudly. Spread out, boss don’t want nobody knowin’ about any of this. Too important. We need to get this thing underwraps and outta here. I don’t like it any more’n you all do. That, um, thing, creeps me out. And SHE creeps me out even more. They should be done by the time we get back. Let’s just gather these two and get outta here, ok?” Calina slinks down into a small hollow below a dead tree, silently sinking into the underbrush. She catches a glimpse of the backs of at least two other men heading in the direction of where she left Vel and Baynen. At their current speed, they should arrive there in less than 10 seconds.
“Damn," Calina sighs to herself. She really didn't want to hurt anyone else but it sounded very much like these men were up to no good. If they find her she is quite sure that it wouldn't be friendly. And then there was the thing mentioned by one of the men.
At her feet she notices a fist sized rock. Decision made, Calina picks up the rock and hurls it in the opposite direction from herself and the tied up men.
"Over here," yelled one one of the men as they both turned their backs to Calina.
She stands, her arrow nocked, her bow ready and says casually, "Afternoon, gentlemen. Anything I can help you with, like maybe 'staying alive'? Or perhaps a drink, you know after I shoot both of you? A healing potion would be welcomed then, I bet. Got a whole belt full. Well not quite full. Had to use some for your friends over there."
Calina motions in the general direction of the tied up men. "So, what's your decision guys? Death, pain, or join the Tied Up Brigade?
Calina’s danger sense alerts her to danger just as the words are coming from her mouth and she realizes that there were far more than just two men standing in front of her. She sees at least 6 people nearby, two close, the ones she heard, but there are 4 others within about 5 yards that quickly take cover behind trees and bushes. One of the two men standing in front of her sneers, “Oh, miss, you must be a stupid one, you best drop that bow and run before you find yourself in a world of pain.” He holds his crossbow leveled at her, as does his companion. Both of their fingers are on the triggers. Calina hears another of the shrill, inhuman screeches from further on in the woods, where these men came from, followed by the sounds of something large or unconcerned with being quiet, crashing through the undergrowth.
Calina shakes her head emphatically, "What we've got here is a failure to communicate. I asked first, and nicely. Surrender, please."
Her face remains calm, but inside, her head is screaming. She breathes quiet deep breaths trying to keep her bow arm steady.
Having heard Daellin say it a hundred times, she states, "I am one of the Heroes of Sandpoint.. I'm sure you've heard of us. No? Then let me explain. None of us take kindly to being pushed around. We've seen, outwitted, beaten and killed things that would curl your toes. We always win, because each of us always wins. My advice is that YOU surrender. End this now." Seconds tick by and no one says a word.
“Take her,” the second man shouts as he pulls the trigger on his crossbow and dives to the ground. The first man also squeezes his trigger, almost immediately after Calina hears the first string twang. She hears movement from the other men but does not see them as she is focusing on the two more immediate threats.
A Tangled Web of Conclusions
Realizing that she cannot possibly avoid multiple attacks at once, Calina dives backward and somehow manages to avoid being hit by two incoming crossbow bolts as she slides down a narrow ravine and into a gully. She hears shouts and cries above and behind her as she sprints down the ravine. She hears the sound of someone running through the forest above her, at the top of the ravine, but it seems that the high ground slopes up while her ravine slopes downward. The ravine empties out into narrow rushing stream. She knows that downstream leads toward the Mushfens and is sure she does not want to go that way. As she decides what she wants to do, she suddenly feels something crawling on her. She brushes away a spider crawling across her arm. She feels something crawling on her other hand then and looks down to see hundreds of small spiders surging up her legs and covering her arms. As she begins to frantically brush them off, she hears the now familiar inhuman shriek from behind her and turns to see a strange and terrifying creature, like a two legged, person-sized spider running awkwardly down the ravine behind her. In front of this strange, multi-eyed creature, surges a dark wave, undulating across the ground. Almost immediately Calina realizes that this dark wave moving along the ground is in fact made up of spiders. At that moment, she begins feeling tiny, burning, pinches as the spiders that are already on her begin making their way through her layers of clothes and armor and start biting her. As the strange beast gets closer, the word ettercap seems to come to the front of her mind as the name for this terrifying, spider-controlling creature. Not wanting to know what it can do, nor able to fight against the tens of thousands of spiders now approaching her, Calina frantically looks for an avenue of escape. She begins to feel hot and a bit dizzy and realizes that she is still being bit by uncountable tiny spiders. Without another though, she leans forward and pitches herself into the river, keeping her hands above her head to protect it from being smashed into rocks. As she surfaces for air, she hears more Human shouting and hears a crossbow bolt zing through the air and strike the water near her, so she submerges once more and lets the swift current of the stream carry her away, hopefully to safety.
The ride downstream is fast and furious and Calina takes quite a beating before she finally pulls herself to shore, several miles from where she dove in. She finds herself covered with nasty bruises from the river ride and and even more tiny, swollen little spider bites. The ranger quickly begins looking for the herbs and plants she will need to make some kind of antidote for the spider venom coursing through her veins.
The next thing she knows, it is dark and she is waking up from an uncomfortable sleep behind a rotting log and tucked under a moss covered embankment. She sees that she must have covered her spider bites with some sort of herbal concoction as she has dried green paste all over her exposed skin. She takes a deep drink from her waterskin and goes back to sleep, catching sight of Paka prowling quietly on the other side of the log. She smiles.
When Calina wakes again, it is daylight and she decides to carefully start making her way back toward the road and where she left Shadowmist. Paka was no where around when she woke, but she easily spotted and followed the cat’s tracks, believing that he was trying to lead her back safely. After many hours, Calina finds the road and begins making her way back to the city. She finds a small family of Varisians headed that way and they are happy to have her travel with them. They do not make it back to Magnimar that night, but they do finally see the towering monuments and walls of the city by mid-morning the next day. The family quickly makes for the small Varisain camp just outside the gates and Calina joins them, having frequently dealt with these camp folk outside the city. Calina is happy to see that Shadowmist had made his way back to the camp on his own and the friendly Varisians were holding it for her until she returned, knowing exactly who the fine warhorse belonged to. One of the members of the camp, a young man she had seen around before, approaches Calina and asks her if she knows anyone that happens to be traveling to Wartle up the Yondabakari River. He says he needs a package of medicine delivered to some relatives and hopes she can help him. Of course, she takes the package and agrees. Next she gets herself cleaned up and heads back into town, rejoining her friends at the mansion and saying no more to them than she had spent a few days camping in the woods and traveling with some of her own folk. Finally, a few days pass and it is time for the group to meet up with the Pathfinders and riverboat captain in preparation for the next leg of their quest.
Characters Present:
Calina - Varisian Human archer and scout - played by Carol C
and +Jason GURPS as the DM
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