Subject: Re: Bringers of the Grass Demon

Holn calls Fancek Fa to him, wondering if he should begin casting....

Subject: Re: Bringers of the Grass Demon

OOC: Holn wears a big leather cloak. It's magic armor.

Subject: Runaway Burro

Kayla tries to move as quietly as possible through the underbrush toward the edge of the clearing, unsure of her footing on the strange root-covered ground. Losing her balance once, she steadies herself by swinging an arm to the side, just enough to make a *swish* in the grass. [Move Silently check 16]

Immediately, three of of the guards' heads jerk up and they fall immediately silent, scanning the grassline for movement. [Listen checks 16, 10, 20, 22] The party knows something is wrong, but they did not hear Kayla's movement, too focused on the spears pointed at them.

Moving forward to take a look at the situation, Kayla peers through the reed-like grass, watching the men stare blindly in her direction. [Hide check 27 v. Spot Checks 5, 6, 14, 10]. She can tell that they heard her, but that they cannot see her. They are, however, scanning the grassline, the blood drained out of their faces.

Feeling the intense scrutiny, she decides to divert their attention and makes ready a throwing knife.

Erk speaks quielty to the shaman, appealing to his sense of reason, and tensions ease somewhat. There is still conflict in the air and the warriors still scan the grassline, but the imminent sense of clashing steel has subsided for a time. The shaman speaks, but Kayla can't quite make out the words. [Listen check 6 v. DC 15].

"You speak wisdom, child of the mountain gods. I can sense the rot in a person's heart. If you bring out this 'companion' of yours, we will see what her soul tells me."

Just as Kubalc's shoulder's unclench, his men shout that there's something moving in the grass and the donkey pulling the lead wagon whinnies in pain and rears up a bit. [Hide check to throw without being noticed, 15 v. Spot 19, then Attack 14 v. Donkey AC 10, hit, damage: 3, subdual, hit with butt end of knife]

The donkey strains against its harness and starts to move forward down the path again, moving away from the stinging thing that hit it in the neck. The warriors grow immediately agitated, and Kubalc finally pulls his axe, though he steps back from the party and looks toward the place in the grass his men sighted.

With a nod, he sends a spearman and an axeman to walk cautiously out to Kayla's location to investigate, while the others look from the donkey to the party, unsure what to do.