Registered Member #759
Joined: 4:24:33 am GMT 05/06/06
Posts: 266
The half-orc stood, his eyes fixed upon the unnatural sight in front of him. So transfixed he was that he didn't notice a cluster of spiders approaching until they were upon him. Fortunately, the woman - Hayleigh - was there to assist. After the spiders were disposed, the two traded words about the ailment of the lands surrounding Hamley. The woman's concern was genuine - he could sense that much. So was Chax's, though not for the people of Hamley.
The land was in pain. It had to be. When the conversation ended, he wasted little time. He let out a low howl to signal to his companion and hurried off. Megrim would catch up quickly enough, he reasoned to himself.
The pair prowled the surrounding areas for a day, following scent and sound until the prowl came to an abrupt stop.
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The woman had mention others attuned to nature who were working on it. The half-orc ranger preferred to work alone but... His lip curled into a snarl as he looked upon the scene again. It was time he found the others and offered his assistance.
Registered Member #1033
Joined: 12:18:42 am GMT 04/25/07
Posts: 1107
What a day it had been. It had started in the morning with the horrendous feeling that Krin had been struck down, as Jalla had been puttering about their home camp in Feywood. Her response was to drop everything and run like the wind south to the Crossroads. She found him seated at the Trade fire with a couple of others, looking very beat up, but fortunately alive.
She rushed to his side, and checked him all over. She took out her herbs and salves and bandages and set to patching him up better, all the while mumbling a druidic prayer to send healing lifeforce into him. While she was intent on this, what had happened was being talked about, and she came to understand what the calamity had been that had hurt her husband so seriously. Minions of the lich Zhrindhar had attacked the Crossroads.
After quickly patching Krin up and hugging him so grateful to have him alive, she looked around to see if anyone else needed help, but they had all already been bandaged up. They sat quietly at the fire, looking worn and bruised and tired. Jalla sat with her arms supportively and protectively around Krin as all discussed and speculated upon the lich.
After a while, Hayleigh's presence reminded Jalla of the favor she had wanted to ask her. She told Hayleigh of her attempts to examine any of the newborns in Hamley, that had been frustrated. Hayleigh admitted that the people there had become reclusive and distrustful of all outsiders as of late, and offered to escort Jalla to Hamley to see what she could do. She also suggested to Jalla that even if they couldn't gain access to a human child, that she could likely at least examine one of the newborn calves that also had the mysterious blue scarring.
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After resting a bit more, it seemed like Krin could walk well enough, so they made to go to Hamley. As it so happened, most of the others wanted to go north also, so Hayleigh, Krin, Jalla, Andras, Card, and a young fellow named Laminar all set out in a group.
Registered Member #1033
Joined: 12:18:42 am GMT 04/25/07
Posts: 1107
They came upon Celeste on the road after the Watch fire. They told her of the Crossroads attack, and she informed them that there had just been an attack on Hamley-- Doom Knights and undead minions-- that had been fended off with the help of some Thayans. Jalla was concerned about casualties in Hamley, and after a bit of discussion they all set back towards Hamley.
The battle upon the way to Hamley happened so unexpectedly and so quickly, that it was still a blur in her mind. She remembered the group was approaching the area where wolves liked to roam near the road, so Hayleigh suggested that Krin and Jalla go a bit ahead of them to calm the animals. Krin saw a malevolent-looking group off of the road, and called for all to stop. Curst minions. Hayleigh sounded the alarm to the others, and then all of the hells seemed to break loose upon them.
The others leapt into the fight with blades and bow and spells, as Jalla threw flame and lightning. Fighting the Curst was very difficult, and confused. Hayleigh seemed to throw fire at them also-- and for a split second Jalla was surprised to think she saw Hayleigh actually breathe the fire out like a dragon would. Unfortunately, the undead seemed immune to fire alone, but took damage from the divinely-sourced spells, and the electricity.
Doom Knights and vampires soon joined the fray. Even morhgs, revenants, and skeletons-- all manner of undead descended upon them. It was a torrent of evil they fought, on all sides. With difficulty they whittled down the horde, one by one. Then a lich came to stand behind the minions and threw spells at the defenders. The battle was horrible, and one after the other they fell. Krin --Jalla felt him fall like it was her own self--, Andras, Hayleigh.... Jalla herself fell, then regained consciousness and started to crawl away, only to be hit down again.
Registered Member #1033
Joined: 12:18:42 am GMT 04/25/07
Posts: 1107
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After coming back to consciousness again, Jalla managed to crawl away from the battle and repair herself enough to come back. Only Card was still standing with his sword, wailing on the lich as the rest of their companions lay motionless on the ground.
Jalla rushed in to get to the wounded, running up to Krin and hurriedly cracking a lifestone over him, then as soon as he took breath again, she was off to Celeste. Card had finished with the lich and came over and pulled out a wand of resurrecting. Then they moved on to Andras and Hayleigh, reviving them, patching them up and getting them on their feet as quickly as possible.
Then Zhrindhar walked up. Enigmatically he thanked them for helping him, then said he wanted to give them a present and raised his hands. Everyone ran. Jalla ducked behind the hill, as the others went in all different directions. The lich threw a huge fireball, then disappeared.
As soon as the fireworks died down, she crept out and ran to help the wounded again. As soon as all could walk, they agreed they should get to the Hamley enclave. Upon arriving, they all slumped down near the firepit and had to rest for some hours from their ordeals.
Registered Member #1033
Joined: 12:18:42 am GMT 04/25/07
Posts: 1107
Yes, it was surprising that Jalla was well enough to forge onward. But she was driven to understand the meaning of the blue scarring, driven to help the new innocent children of Life to be healed of this strange affliction.
With concern about the entity centered in the hills, Hamley was already under stress from all it had already been through, and was at nearly a breaking point. Hamley the frontier town, on the doorstep of the Drakamyre, which was an abode of the undead and the cursed. How tragic that Zhrindhar was now rolling right across Hamley when the town had not even yet recovered from the assaults and results of the arcane winter.
After she had rested minimally enough, Jalla asked Hayleigh to point out where a victim of the scarring might be found. Hayleigh directed her over to an enclosure of cows, and said there were newborns in this corral which exhibited signs of the strange affliction, and she believed that the farmers would not mind her examining them.
Jalla entered the corral and walked among the animals, calming them with soothing sounds and affectionate pats. She saw a calf suckling underneath its mother, and she approached the mother and introduced herself, showing the animal that she had only good intentions. The mother, sensing only helpfulness and kindness from Jalla, permitted Jalla to examine her newborn.
Registered Member #1033
Joined: 12:18:42 am GMT 04/25/07
Posts: 1107
Jalla knelt down to look around the animals legs and hindquarters and belly, then over its sides. She stroked the calf soothingly, and he-- for it was a male-- seemed to not mind her looking him over, in fact he seemed to like the attention. Then Jalla stood up, looked over his back, and then went around to his muzzle and gently opened the little thing's mouth to examine the gums and teeth.
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The blue scarring was present in mild amounts across most areas of the animal's skin, including the gums. There didn't seem to be any disability connected with their appearance, as the animal seemed otherwise healthy. But there was definitely something unusual about these scars. Running her hand over the marks, she seemed to sense a strange magical aura from them.
Registered Member #1033
Joined: 12:18:42 am GMT 04/25/07
Posts: 1107
Having seen all she could see, she stood back from the calf thinking, then looked over to Krin with uncertainty. She had never seen anything like this before.
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She noticed another calf in the corral, and approached it to examine it. This one was a female. A quick examination revealed the same sort of blue scarring as the male calf had exhibited.
Registered Member #1033
Joined: 12:18:42 am GMT 04/25/07
Posts: 1107
Jalla moved over to the gate to speak with Krin. They discussed what might have caused this phenomenon.
Krin mentioned the blue mushroom infestation, the poisonous fungi having been known to have been seeded near the town by one of Poisonwood. Jalla considered it for a moment, as mushroom poisoning could indeed cause pronounced blue veinations. But she then concluded that an unlikely cause, because as far as they knew, none of the mushrooms had ever been seen near where the cattle could graze them, and besides, she thought that they would be quite ill if they had eaten them. And the newborn human babies certainly hadn't partaken of those mushrooms.
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The good news was that the little calves did not seem to be ill-affected at the moment, although it was unknown whether eventually this might lead to illness. And when it was grown, would the meat and milk of these be edible and not tainted in some way. Or, even if it were safe, would the people believe it.
She would have to continue to study this, and keep an eye on the situation.
Registered Member #767
Joined: 6:16:16 pm GMT 05/08/06
Posts: 656
Wandering back to Hamley the discussion with Cary rolled over in his head. He had hoped to find answers, but in the end only more questions existed. He had explained how the obelisks had acted to amplify the arcane magic used in the arcane winter, and that with each acting in tandem had amplified the spells. The obelisks had been shut down and him and the school had worked to counter whatever magic was still in the area as the thaw occurred. But, he had mentioned that the obelisks, while inactive, may still be usable, he couldn't be sure. Could someone have used them after wards to poison the land? Could they themselves be the cause? Could they be part of the solution? More questions, always questions. Cary had offered to pay a visit to Hamley in a few days time, perhaps seeing the damage first hand might offer some insight. Arcane magic may have been the cause of this, perhaps it could always be part of the solution? At this point he was willing to try anything as it seemed yet another path had resulted at a dead end, but he had not exhausted this route yet.
I'm Watching You Registered Member #273
Joined: 7:18:06 pm GMT 09/21/04
Posts: 6051
Carylduil made a promise to the druid: so concerned, so anxious, so earnest. He would travel once more to Hamley and do everything in his power to determine whether the inactive portals might be causing... whatever it was that was happening.
Was it magic that was at the root of the problem? If so, one would expect that Carylduil might be able to determine that.
Or was it something else? Carylduil had wondered for some time whether the ice creatures that had been seen in the area during the freeze had been extra-planar beings. Could they have been a precursor to something more powerful? Something intelligent? Malign?
Gathering the things he would need, Carylduil bid the men working for him in the City of Elisara good night, set a celestial guard on the door to the tower and used the Rune of Teleportation.
Finding himself in the area outside of Hamley, he set to work, pushing himself to the limit of his abilities, his sensitivities at their most acute for any sign of arcane energies lingering in or around the disabled obelisk.
Testing it in many ways, including the use of Lifestones, Carylduil wore away the night making every effort to help determine the cause of the malady affecting the area.
"If I can determine why... or how... I may be able to help."
[ The Island of Thain ]
Healing Hamley (Again)
