Under a Dark Sun(2nd Ed. AD&D)

[PurpleXVI]

(OOC: Okay, I'm going to rush things just a bit here, since Caleb seems AWOL, Lorath is running around on his own, I'm mildly stressed and I've been trying to get the blasted party together for a while now. Apologies for any low quality.)

Lorath, Evon, Ulik, Jarval

Ulik had suffered another of his bizarre narcoleptic attacks as the group reached the lake, forcing Lorath to drag the large man along the sandy shore by his feet while Evon dragged Jarval's gurney on his own. About halfway there, some of the lizardman guards became unable to watch the skinny elf and the skinny human struggling to carry their useless companions and, seeing as how no attack on their village looked apparent, went to assist them.

Once they were there, they spotted the war paint and apparent battle preparations much like the Anne, Bas and Tamora had, but before they could get accosted by any lizardmen with an unpleasant attitude, the shaman which they had met before arrived and helped them take care of Jarval and Ulik. Little communication was required for the lizardman to understand the sort of condition they were in.

As Lorath and Evon waited for the shaman to finish taking care of Ulik and Jarval, they saw a group of familiar figures approaching the village from the same direction as they had. The only difference was that Gan appeared to have been missing, in his stead was an almost frighteningly tall elf who seemed to be nothing but taut muscle and a slightly worrying smile.


Bas, Anne, Balth, Tamora

With Tamora in the lead, the trail was easily found and followed. It looked like Lorath, Evon and Ulik had been carrying something heavy and bulky, which had forced them to seek open ground, rather than making their way through dense vegetation or carving a path. Resultingly, their footprints in the soggy ground were clearly visible.

The track lead from the northern edge of the swamp to the southern shore of the lake, there it continued along the sandy shore to the lizardman village.

Once the four got there, they found their three companions with the lizardman shaman in the shaman's tent. Ulik and a dark-skinned man they'd never seen before, who was covered in heavy bandages, were on floor of the tent, being tended to by the shaman.

"Where did you leave Gan, and who's your new friend?" Asked Evon, as they arrived.

[Armen]

Tamora

“Hello to you too Evon,” Tamora said, “Lorath…,” then looked over to where Ulik and the stranger lay. She made a bow of respect to the shaman then continued. “Gan ran off alone into the jungle and we were unable to find him. This is Balth. I shall leave him to introduce himself”, this said with a smile in Balth’s direction.

She slid her bow and baggage off her back, leant her spear against the main pole of the tent and sat down next to them. “I would ask you the same question. From your trail you carried this man from the swamp . . . But first, how have you fared?”

[Kazilan]

Bas nodded to the others as Tamora greeted them, but conversation was forestalled when he noticed the wounded pair. The druid moved quickly to the side of the injured men, checking their wounds and helping the shaman with bandages.

If either man appears seriously wounded, Bas will cast a cure light wounds spell on him.

[dplax]

Anne

Anne mimicked Tamora's bow to the shaman and then inspected the others who were in his tent. Ulik, still far from human, still gave Anne the shudders. She realised that one of the reasons she had wanted to go with Bas and Tamora was the unease she felt around him.

Still, she nodded in greeting to the group, who seemed to have also acquired another companion. Anne watched on in silence as Bas and the shaman tended to the wounded. As she watched on, her thoughts started to wonder. Did she really want to team up with these people (or not in Ulik's case) whom she had only met for a few hours previously? Anne had to admit that she did not even feel an ounce of the camaraderie that seemed to have developed between herself, Tamora and Bas towards these three others.

Tamora had already asked the question that interested Anne, so she simply waited for the answer.

[Man Who Fights Like Woman]

Lorath nodded to the three, and took a seat. Something about Tamora looked different, but he couldn't quite put his finger on it. Then again, it might just have been his memory acting up.

"Sorry to hear about Gan," he said, "but it's good to see that you found another companion to make up for his absence.

"We didn't find a whole lot in the ruins, just a large collection of symbiotic organisms with no clues as to where they came from. Jarval here," he gestured to the wounded man, "was in a party who went before us, and apparently was resurrected when we broke an orb. They were waiting back at the entrance when we went back up, and he was too wounded to go on, so we took him. Other than that, we ourselves were fairly wounded too, with me and Ulik coming close to death." He took a second to remember the stinging pain of the symbiotes being forcefully removed from his pores.

"What did you guys manage to find?" he asked, partly out of etiquette and partly out of wanting to know if it really was his memory messing up. "Besides Balth, that is. Any great secrets of the planet?"

[PurpleXVI]

Upon approaching the two wounded men, Bas noted that Ulik appeared to have no apparent wounds of any great severity, a few cuts and scrapes that were already swiftly healing for the most part, he simply seemed to be deeply asleep for no reason.

Jarval, on the other hand, had been the victim of some severe blunt trauma and Bas' healing made the bruises and breaks that looked the most threatening return to more healthy, yet still bruised, shades. The shaman made a quick show of appreciation for the help, but focused on replacing the man's bandages and examining his wounds.

"What Lorath said," Evon said to Tamora, and then looked briefly sideways at Lorath, "They asked us to bring Jarval somewhere safe while they searched for some lost members of their expedition. No great treasure and little adventure for us, just a whole lot of danger."

Balth remained quiet, seemingly studying Lorath and Evon as he waited near the entrance to the tent.

[Armen]

Tamora

Tamora, considered Lorath’s question for a while before answering. “The planet is damaged. The druids passed into the lands to the east years ago but might still try to support nature among their own people. The chasm of choking ash was a poisonous place and seemed an alien intrusion and a nightmarishly dangerous one too. Beyond the jungle, I believe in the same lands to the east the lands are brutal deserts but there is civilization there too I believe though I cannot be sure. The spirits that communed with me were vague.” A thought seemed to occur to her and she reached into a large pouch and removed the map they had taken from the Erdlu earlier.

“These symbols in the south east could represent cities I suppose. Balth,” she said and seeing where the tall elf was waiting, stood and walked over to him. “Can you make anything of this map?”

OOC: (Map) http://www.ironworksforum.com/ubb/no...610;p=5#000119

[Kazilan]

Bas moved away from Jarval to give the shaman room to work on the bandages. He listened to Tamora's response and added his own thoughts after she spoke.

"You say people were resurrected after you broke some sort of orb? What did it look like?"

The druid leaned on his staff and nodded towards Ulik as he continued to speak.

"And what happened to this one? He doesn't seem injured, only asleep."

[Man Who Fights Like Woman]

Lorath's facial expression got significantly more worrisome as he listened to Tamora's recounting of their travels. "It sounds to me as if the lands here are cursed," he said, "not merely damaged. I think that, for now, our best options are to go into the cities before heading back out into another wilderness expedition, or go back to the gate. Personally, I'd like to stay here a while longer and see what else there is to discover."

In reply to Bas, Lorath only shrugged. "I didn't see the orb myself, just got a description of it from Ulik. No idea what's wrong with him right now though, he's probably just exhausted. He exerted himself a lot over the past couple of days."

[PurpleXVI]

Balth regarded the map critically as Tamora held it out to him, then took it from her and studied it more closely.

"Could be," he agreed, after a few moments, then gestured towards it, "And maybe the triangles are villages? Encampments? Or perhaps something dangerous, on such a long trip it would make sense to stop in a village for supplies, food, water, something... Yet the line goes past all that it gets near."

He handed it back to the ranger and shrugged, "But who can say for sure? Where did you find that thing?"