Healing up and the final dash
Subject: Salix
Salix will give up any potions he has. (He hasn't used any, so should have 2?? I guess.)
From: Karl
Subject: Salix
Agreed.
From: Karl
Subject: Salix
I'm pretty sure the only other time I did it was "yesterday". I should have one more wildshape left for the day.
From: Mark
Subject: Healing up
As Salix speaks the party starts healing. Dusty potion vials are pulled from the bottom of back packs. Stoppers are popped and the smooth green liquid is swallowed. Ragnar and Harp make the rounds, healing the worst of the wounds. (Kal, 1 CModW potion, heal 16; Harp, 1 CLW spell, heal 8, 4 CLW potions, heal 29; Mund, 1CSW spell, heal 11, 2 CModW spells, heal 29, 1 CLW potion, heal 10; Ran, 2 CModW potions, heal 28; Ragnar, 1 CModW spell, heal 14, 1 CLW potion, heal 6). As the last potion is drunk the dwarf looks around the party. "Well, that's it. All of the healing draughts are gone and Harp and I are out of healing grace today.
OODM: Here is the status of the party HP.
Ally 46/48
Harp 59/65
Kal 31/41
Mund 63/75
Ragnar 44/52
Ranthir 55/60
Surin 30/30
Salix 37/40
I will write more this afternoon.
From: Kevin
Subject: Healing up
All in all, not so bad. I was expecting to be in worse shape than this. If we can make it 5-6 more hours and then give Ragnar and Harp a chance to rest and pray, they can get thier spells back.
From: Porter
Subject: Healing up
Mund A) has the most current hit points and B) is the furthest away from being fully healed.
From: Kevin
Subject: Healing up
Mund is the only character who gets to roll d12's as well. When you consider that Harp has three levels with d8's, he aint doin to shabby.
But I am glad Mund has thos HP's.
What is truly amazing is Allistair at 48 hp as a wizard. That is totally cool. He has almost as many hp as the 7th level dwarf cleric.
From: Porter
Subject: healing up
Good thing that Mund has all those hit points, or I'd be rolling up a new character. :)
From: Kevin
Subject: Healing up
OOC: You mean you don't have a back up character ready? I never get so attached to a character tht I can't have a replacement ready in less than a day.
From: Mark
Subject: Healing up
He sits at home, all of the books at his finger tips, calculator up and running, compiling feats and skills synergies, looking for the ultimate build. :)
From: Josh
Subject: Healing up
I'm pretty sure when Kal kicks the can I'll make a gnomish paladine. :-D
From: Kevin
Subject: Healing up
I do no such thing. Like you, I have my lackey do the grunt work. I sit on my throne, think up the the perfect charcter, and then give it to my lackey to fill in the numbers.
From: Mark
Subject: The final dash
The minutes pile up as the party prepares. Salix looks them over. They are in better shape then they were, but they were almost spent. One more run in like this would likely see one of them dead. A grim determination hardens the druids resolve. Not if he could help it. "Ok, hold still" he tells everyone. Salix then touches the embossed holly on his armor and chants the prayer for passage. As his hand glows he moves through the party touching people on the shoulder: Mund, Harp, Ragnar, Ranthir, Kal and Ally. He feels the power drain out of him and he draws a deep breath. "All right. Ragnar take Surin, Harp take Acer. Move due south. I'll take care of these passes and catch up. I will stay in owl form to guide you and keep an eye on pursuit. If I show back up with the party in human form, something's gone wrong and you should prepare for a fight. Now move!"
Harp and Ragnar pick up their charges and the party moves off. They make a bit better speed this time since they don't have to hide their trail, but he going is still slow. It is still several hours until dawn and still several hours until they reach the woods. Salix grabs up all the passes and then shimmers into the shape of a Great Horned owl. He takes wing and heads to the east, his wings a silent flutter in the night. After about a mile he heads a bit north trying to get the party some space. As he flies north he sees what looks to be a skirmish line of men working their way south. The men are spaced every hundred feet or so and they have torches.
As Salix flies closer he sees that these are members of the tribes. He can not get close enough to hear what they are saying but they are moving steadily south. The druid gains some height so that he will not be seen and then goes behind their lines. After another mile he flies over a large thicket and drops the passes into the bramble. There, let Faldor figure that out. Salix wheels about and heads back towards where the party is. He sees that the skirmish line is making good time and that it extends for several miles in either direction. When he gets closer to the line he sees a knot of activity and circles around above it. It is the hobgoblin that he had seen at the gate. He seems to be directing the search from a large wagon. Salix spins and heads towards the where the party should be.
It takes the druid a while to find them. He is pleased to see that his prayer is working. There is no trail to follow on the ground where they have passed. The grass stands tall and the dirt areas show no signs of boots or feet. When he catches up with them he figures that they have gone about a mile. He flies up to about 150 feet and circles, keeping track of their progress and watching for any one following them.
After an hour of marching the party is startled a bit by the passage of a Great Horned owl. They quickly realize that it is Salix when the bird circles them and then takes up position over them in the dark. "Is he still there?" asks Mund, who can not see that far up in the dark. "Yes" answers Ran, "he is flying a patrol. We should keep moving. The woods should still be a few hours away." The party stumbles along, getting more exhausted by the minute.
The next few hours are a strain on everyone. Salix keeps an eye on the skirmish line and has a moment of hope. A large section of the line moves away, back toward where he had dumped the passes. However, they are soon back into their line. They had been steadily gaining ground on the party and Salix figures he had bought them another hour or so before they caught up to the party. From his height advantage, and the coming morning light, Salix can just see the edge of the woods, two or three miles ahead. However, the trackers were now only 20 minutes or so behind them. It looks like they might catch up to the party before they reach the edge of the woods.
OODM: I will write more tonight. I want to be clear. The skirmish people are not tracking the party. The party does not even know that they are back there, but Salix does know this. The skirmish line is just doing a methodical search and they mover faster than the party.
From: Porter
Subject: The final dash
OOC: Now might be a good time for the rope trick. They might pass us by if we're in there.
From: Kevin
Subject: The final dash
OOC: It only holds 7, and then they would be in between us and the forest. However, we may need to use it anyway.
Anyone else have some bright suggestions??
From: Porter
Subject: The final dash
If only Salix could communicate as a critter, he could tell us and then fly away.
Does anybody have a good hide modifier besides Surin?
From: Mark
Subject: The final dash
wait for Karl. He has a bit of information that the rest of the party does not know about.
Also, the party does not know about the people pursuing them. It would be metagaming to use the rope trick before the party was aware of their presence. Only Salix knows that they are back there.
From: Josh
Subject: The final dash
Kal think it's a good idea to just keep pushing forward until we can't any longer. There's no point in stopping unless we have to. Better to have sore feet than severed heads.
From: Karl
Subject: The final dash
Salix circles one last time until he sees his friends below him. He dives down and lands a few feet in front of the group, smoothly transitioning from flight to a light job, keeping pace with the group. "Don't stop!" he says to the group. Trouble is right on our heels, but help is ahead. The woods is only a couple of miles ahead, but Faldor's men are catching up with us. The druid council has been waiting for us just inside the woods. I have seen Noctis and sent him back with a message that we need help, but I dont' know if they will get it or be able to react in time. We *cannot* slow down. If there is any energy at all in us, we need to pick up the pace. "