Mists Over the Musarde, Chapter Three

[Le Noir Faineant]

Cirdan will jump after them, and land silently despite his heavy black armor,
his eyes red slids behind the vizor.

Looks like the knight has got some of his strength back...

[ewancummins]

Jon and Buckman join Alain in his reconnaisance of the area, spreading out and covering as much ground as possible.


After a minute of two of searching, results:

• Alain finds human [or human-sized and shaped...] footprints which are stained with soot. These lead away from the clearing into the woods to the west.
  Jon finds cloven hoofmarks like those of a goat or pig, circling on of the oak trees and then disappearing into the woods to the north.
  Buckman finds a trail that seems to have been left by something fairly large being dragged through the bushes to the south.

[ewancummins]

Cirdan will jump after them, and land silently despite his heavy black armor,
his eyes red slids behind the vizor.

Looks like the knight has got some of strength back...

The soft dewy grass and moist soil cushion Cirdan's fall. He has appeared near the edge of the little glade.

Cirdan is immediately aware of something in the foliage just a few feet to his left [the east end of the clearing]. The others may not have noticed this motion just yet....

[OOC DC 20 Spot check for others- Cirdan definitely notices, though]

[ewancummins]

in the portal chamber beneath the Grim Bastion.......


Bennedict is all alone now, save for the company of the dead. All the rest of his party have gone through the black pool. The room is very still and quiet. The air, already foul with the stench of half-burnt and decaying corpses, has become very thick and close now- it's becoming difficult for Benn to breathe.

The silence is broken by a skittering noise coming from all around the room. The sound sort of creeps up on Benn, so that he doesn't notice it right away....but he can hear it now.

Benn's lantern is pointed towards the pool, so much of the rest of the big round chamber is swathed in deep shadows. He cannot see what's making the noise.

[Adam]

Bennedict, shaking his head at the naivete of his party, drops a rope and a grappling hook from his pack. "Honestly," he says, "not a brain amongst them."

He hooks it on a nearby stone surface and turns towards the portal, just as he begins to hear the sound of noises surrounding him. "Hello?" he says, glancing around. "Is someone there?"

He backs up, dropping the rope through the portal, until the heels of his feet rest right on the edge of the dark pool. With an alarmed thought, he glances at the keyhole to see if Norzak thought to withdraw it before he leaped through the portal.

[Le Noir Faineant]

Cirdan is immediately aware of something in the foliage just a few feet to his left [the east end of the clearing]. The others may not have noticed this motion just yet....

With the most silence possible, the dark knight draws his silver sword...

And observes what will happen next...

[ewancummins]

in the portal room beneath the Grim Bastion

Bennedict, shaking his head at the naivete of his party, drops a rope and a grappling hook from his pack. "Honestly," he says, "not a brain amongst them."

He hooks it on a nearby stone surface and turns towards the portal, just as he begins to hear the sound of noises surrounding him. "Hello?" he says, glancing around. "Is someone there?"

He backs up, dropping the rope through the portal, until the heels of his feet rest right on the edge of the dark pool. With an alarmed thought, he glances at the keyhole to see if Norzak thought to withdraw it before he leaped through the portal.

.

Benn's voice echoes around the murky chamber-

'' HELLO HELLO HELLO''

The rope sinks into the black liquid just as it would were an anchor fixed to its end.

Looking down at the keyhole , Benn sees that the key isn't present. Benn senses something moving to his left, just at the very edge of his field of vision. If he looks over, he sees nothing but one of the dead men, the body mutilated and torched. The corpse lays on the cold floor, quite still.

[ewancummins]

In the vale..

Cirdan is immediately aware of something in the foliage just a few feet to his left [the east end of the clearing]. The others may not have noticed this motion just yet....

With the most silence possible, the dark knight draws his silver sword...

And observes what will happen next...

Peering through the gaps in the foliage,Cirdan gets a brief glimpse of a broad , furry body, but cannot make out much detail. Whatever it is, it's certainly bigger than a man. The knight [as well as anyone close to him] can hear leaves rustling, twigs and sticks snapping, and snuffling noises as of a large animal breathing. The vegetation is shaken by the passage of whatever it is that's moving about in there, concealed by the plant growth.

A gentle breeze blows through the vale from west to east, stirring the grass and causing dry leaves and dead petals to dance through the warm air.

[Le Noir Faineant]

Cirdan will slowly move into a position where he is able to attack, if needed.
Before he grabs his shield, he will signal his companions that they have company...

[ewancummins]

From out of the forest-margin about ten feet away from Sir Cirdan steps a black bear, pushing the leafy boughs aside effortlessly as it passes. The animal walks on all fours right into the clearing. It is not enormous- but it's big enough that it would stand taller than Cirdan if were to it rise on its hindlegs. The bear sniffs the air a few times, then moves its head back and forth, seeming to squint at the party-members. It makes no immediate move to attack.

[Adam]

Benn flashes his lantern to the left, trying to spot the source of the movement.

[ewancummins]

Benn flashes his lantern to the left, trying to spot the source of the movement.

The cone of light washes over the bloodstained flagstones, illuminating the horribly disfigured remains of the Doctor, which lay about twelve feet away from Benn and the edge of the pool. Squatting atop the corpse of the necromancer is a rat the size of a hunting hound. Dozens of smaller rodents swarm across the floor behind the huge rat. There's something in the big rat's mouth- a small silvery object...

[Brock Marsh Runoff]

Dorgio stands, observing the bear, his spear lowered towards the ground. "Probably he wants for a meal," he says in a low, soft, measured tone. "Does anyone have food?"

[ewancummins]

in the vale

Dorgio stands, observing the bear, his spear lowered towards the ground. "Probably he wants for a meal," he says in a low, soft, measured tone. "Does anyone have food?"

Jon walks over to the priest's side, moving very slowly and crouching low.

''I have some.''

The boy pulls out a packet of food wrapped in cheesecloth and sets it on the ground in front of him, then begins to back away.

[Brock Marsh Runoff]

Dorgio gives the boy an approving smile, then slowly backs away from the bear as well, watching it to see its reaction to the food.