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Having set up camp, somewhat spread out down the narrow trail, the darkness deepens and the air is filled with the night-time sounds of the woods - owls hooting, creatures snuffling about, bats flitting through the air and taking insects on the wing. If it weren't for the closed in feeling of the trees, and the nagging sensation of the sigylls, it would be a peaceful summer night. The evening air is, for a change, warm and muggy, hinting of the summer nights and perhaps a thunderstorm to come.

Only a few dayHaving set up camp, somewhat spread out down the narrow trail, the darkness deepens and the air is filled with the night-time sounds of the woods - owls hooting, creatures snuffling about, bats flitting through the air and taking insects on the wing. If it weren't for the closed in feeling of the trees, and the nagging sensation of the sigylls, it would be a peaceful summer night. The evening air is, for a change, warm and muggy, hinting of the summer nights and perhaps a thunderstorm to come.

Only a few days till the new moon, the thin crescent of the old waning moon barely lights the tree tops as it slowly rises above the forest, and down below under the dense thick canopy of leaves, neither star-light nor moonlight filter down, leaving the trail virtually pitch black to those in the party without any sort of night vision.

As the group go to sleep, Herod, Cleo and Merrell take the first watch, sitting quietly in the dark and listening to the night sounds. Merrell, the only one really able to still see, looks up and down the trail, glad that the group had chosen a relatively straight length of trail to set their camp, as he could watch over the whole party from his position in
the middle.

After a few hours in the middle of the first watch, Merrell's sharp ears head a distant howling above the normal night sounds - a wolf perhaps. Not loud enough to wake any of the sleepers, but disturbing enough to raise the hairs on the back of his neck. Over the next half hour, the noise comes again repeatedly, seeming if anything to get closer, till even Cleo and Herod also can hear it. From the sound of it, there are several different "voices" howling to each other. Occasionally it
stops, and for 10 minutes there is relative silence, but then one will suddenly start again, slightly closer, and a chorus of responses will echo after it. The watchers consider waking the others, but the howls still sound a long way off, and they decide to wait a bit longer.

As the time draws close for the first watch to wake the second, there is a disturbance along the trail, as a herd of deer canter, snorting and snuffling, along the trail towards the party... As those on watch look up in alarm, their first sight of them is a large number of wide eyes, glinting in the darkness as they reflect the firelight. Merrell, worried that the deer had been startled by something more sinister (especially following the wolf-like howls they had been hearing on and off over the last couple of hours), lets out a yell of warning.

"WAKE, TO ARMS!!!"

As the sleepers waken and struggle out of bed rolls, hearts suddenly beating fast, the group of leading deer skid to a halt, startled by the sudden shouting and movement ahead. After but a moment, they scatter, pushing sideways off the trail into the undergrowth. To those just waking, they can hear the noise of the animals pushing through the vegetation on either side of the trail, and for a few minutes, everything is quite disturbing, a sizeable herd of some fifty deer, bounding through the darkness close by, streaming past the circle of firelight and its anxious inhabitants.

As the sounds of the deer fades to the east, the forest becomes strangely silent - the normal night time noises that they had noted before seem to have all disappeared, leaving nothing but the crackling of the fire and the restless movement of the two hobbled horses. The group seem to hold their collective breath, as if waiting for something to happen...

Yvandel blurts out the words of a spell, and a mass of sticky webs suddenly springs into being, blocking the trail just past the horses, who snort in surprise at the sudden appearance. The webs are thick and dense, more than 20 feet thick, and seem to extend into the trees and vegetation on either side of the trail.

In the distance - at least several hundred yards away, comes another howl in the night, followed almost immediately by several others. Again, there is silence for nearly a minute, broken only by the wood crackling and spitting in the camp fire, then suddenly, there is the sound of someone, or something, approaching down the trail towards them. Heavy footsteps of some running and the sound of their panting breath can be heard, even as Cleo, one of the closest to the web, causes her sword to light brighter, and squints through the thick webbing. A running figure appears out of the gloom, the light glinting off his or her eyes for a moment as he reaches the far side of the web and skids to a halt.

"Help!" gasps the figure, obviously out of breath from running hard. The voice is fairly high pitched, and could be a woman, or perhaps an elf man and is in the common trade tongue.

There is another howl, this time from a lot closer, and again several answers, and the figure turns to face the way he/she had come - there is the sound of several others approaching at a run...

ROUND ONE

“Who are you and what is chasing you?” yells Lucretia.

"Speak, what is your name and what is chasing you..or so help me I will run you through with a sword!" calls out Ceely, silently wishing she had her trusty harpoon in hand.

Almost at the same time Yvandel calls out "Go thru the woods and around the webs. We will defend you."

The figure, still looking back the way he/she came, whirls around with a gasp of alarm, and in an almost hysterical voice, yells. "The weres are coming!" Looking to one side, the person - probably a woman from the voice, plunges blindly into the foliage to the south of the trail, the sound of her passage obvious as she crashes through the undergrowth. The sound of approaching figures fades as whoever it is stops running - presumably having caught a glimpse of the lights through the trees.

Yvandel quickly starts to cast another spell, and a moment later the web suddenly disappears, the trail showing clear again, though the light still not extending as far as it had when the web had still been there.

Blondung's eyes widen as the web disappears, having been just about to congratulate Yvandel on a good idea, and he glances around at the younger mage in alarm, not understanding what Yvandel was doing. He frowns as he realises Yvandel had just cast another spell, not connecting the web disappearing with the new illusion spell.

<Yvandel aka Steve wrote>:
> "Those with sword and arrow. Ready them to defend us from the sides.
> They will be slowed coming thru the forest."

The ex-Zhent turns back to the trail, his eyes narrowing as he realises what Yvandel has done. "The web is still there, just hidden!" he hisses quietly to those nearest to him, keeping his voice low.

ROUND TWO

Meanwhile, the woman crashing through the undergrowth suddenly howls in anguish. "Help I'm stuck!" For a few moments nothing can be heard apart from her frantic efforts to escape her predicament, obviously having been fooled by the web disappearing as she was deep in the foliage.

ROUND THREE

Another howl sounds - this one from the darkness only a short way beyond the invisible web, making the hairs on everyone's neck stand up and the sounds of struggling suddenly cease as the woman in the undergrowth freezes in fear...

Lucretia and Cleo step back, weapons drawn as Herod and Yvandel call for a more unified response, Yvandel shouting out to deliberately miss-lead the enemy into thinking that the group is warded more strongly than they are. All the time, his eyes remain focused, concentrating acutely on maintaining the illusion, building on it to cause the area where the web is to shimmer slightly and even spark as though humming with suppressed power.

<Yvandel aka Steve wrote>:
> "Otherwise cut out there foul hearts and feed them to the fire for
> Malar howls at the hunt tonight but who hunts and who is the prey."

ROUND FOUR

At the mention of Malar, there are several louder howls and even a more human yell, all of them sounding somewhat angry. A moment later, the howls go quiet, and a single male voice calls out of the darkness, barely suppressed anger breaking through its otherwise cultured tones, speaking in Northern. "Rest assured, the People of the Black Blood will not forget this. Consider yourself marked by the Beastlord AND WE WILL HUNT YOU DOWN!" With that last threat, everything goes quiet.

Blondung glances at Merrell. "You got that damn Mask handy have you?" he whispers quietly at the other mage.

Larz fingers his hammer of Clangeddin nervously. "I hate these woods!" he mutters.

<Cleo aka Dan wrote>:
> "JOIN THE CLUB! WE HEAR THEY HAVE JACKETS!" Cleo calls back, annoyed
> at the taunt.

There is no response apart from one howl, quickly cut off with a yelp of pain as someone is slapped.

<Merrell aka Mike wrote>:
> Merrell smiled at Blondung's question. The half-elf mage had forgotten
> the mask. "Perhaps I should let the buggers know that they are dealing
> with more than common travelers?"
> He said removing the mask and slipping it over his face.

Blondung looks uneasy as Merrell slips the mask on, the hard wooden mask suddenly softening and moulding itself to the young half-elf's face, giving him the face of a lion. Even the bookworm's hair seems to look more mane like.

<Merrell aka Mike wrote>:
> "Your call, but I think they need to know what they're dealing with."
> Merrell looked to the others close to him for their input as well.

Larz glances over, seeing what Merrell had done. "Go up front and give 'em a roar" suggests the dwarven priest.

<Yvandel aka Steve wrote>:
> "Might want to hold off on that mask laddie. Won't be any more bluffs
> working tonight. And can we honestly say we want to tangle with
> werewolves. A good priest is a long ways off and I would want one
> handy to get the wolfie curse out of my blood if I got bit."

"Ah, a roar will help scare 'em off!" grunts Larz, ignoring the comment about the good priest being a long way off.

Blondung smiles despite the seriousness of the situation, amused at the irony of the group's youngest and most inexperienced member calling a half-elf several decades older than him 'Laddie'.

<Yvandel aka Steve continued>:
> "Present company excluded of course. But I don't want those foul
> things biting into me."

Blondung nods fervently in agreement, his face serious and pale in the fire-light. "Definitely not!" he echoes.

<Yvandel aka Steve continued>:
> "But I will hold this spell a bit longer and maybe ... just maybe we
> have seen the last of them."

"If we haven't I dinnae want t' fight them here!" growls Larz.

<Herod aka Malcolm wrote>:
> "I suggest we add another person to each shift,"
> he advises the others.

Larz looks at Herod sourly. "Ye think ye could sleep after that?" he asks. "I suggest we march on a few more hours till we get back to the temple - at least we have an area there that we could defend..." He gestures at the dense forest surrounding them. "Here, the first we could know of them could be when they appear out of the bushes right next to us!"

<Lucretia aka Joe wrote>:
> "Yvandel, let me get to our friend who is stuck in the web....I think
> they may be able to shed some light on our most recent enemy."

<Yvandel aka Steve wrote>:
> "I will try old friend." He says with a sly wink.
> The buzzing humming sounds of magic in his illusion weaken in
intensity.
> "Hurry. I can not keep it suppressed for long."

Lucretia, with light-coin in hand, moves towards the web, stopping just short of it. Knowing that the illusion and the web it was hiding were there made it easier for him, but he still found himself squinting to try to sort through the magic to see the sticky reality below. Pushing sideways into the vegetation, he moves slowly sideways, trying to track the edge of the web without touching it. Finally, he reaches the edge.
Glancing behind him, he realises he can no longer see any of the lights from the camp behind him. The light from his own light coin seems to spread only for the nearest 5-10 feet the undergrowth is so dense, and he almost feels like he is in some sort of weird green bubble in a dark green sea. Ahead of him, he hears a faint sound of movement, and he presses forward. Pushing one of the heavy ferns aside, he spots a figure stuck to the web only a few paces away. It takes his mind a moment to register everything he sees.

The woman shields her eyes from the bright light of his light coin with her right hand, her left arm being stuck to the edge of the web along with her hip. Her clothes are torn and ragged, as she generally looks as though she has been pulled through a hedge backwards several times.
Her feet are bare and also bleeding from several cuts. The most surprising thing however is her skin and hair. The former is a dark ebony black, deeper even that a visitor from the far south jungles of Chult, and the latter is white - or at least would be if it weren't so dirty and matted. A pointed ear pokes through the hair, and it dawns on Lucretia that the last time he saw a person who looked like this, it was in Kheizar Dalan. A drow!

<Lucretia aka Joe wrote>:
> "Come here often?" <He gave the white haired elf an
> uneasy smile and slips back into his suspicious mode.>

The drow woman, squinting at the light, flinches as Merrell appears from around the imposing warrior standing over her. For a moment, she doesn't register Luc's words, staring in awe at Merrell's animated lion face..

<Lucretia aka Joe wrote>:
> "My people have a saying...the enemy of my enemy is
> my friend." "If I cut you lose do I have your word that
> you will play nice?"

Shaking herself, the drow turns her attention back to Lucretia. Her eyes reflect red in the light, and she offers a grateful smile.

<Lucretia aka Joe wrote>:
> "Swear on your family name that you will not harm me
> or my friends and I will help you out." <He gives the
> drow a friendly smile and moves to cut her loose.>

The woman is about to speak, but gawps instead at Merrell, who opens his Lion like jaws impossibly wide for a moment.

<Merrell aka Mike wrote>:
> Merrell yawned and smiled a toothy grin making sure
> his fang-like lion teeth shown in the light of Luc's
> light coin. "If she doesn't agree to play nice, can I
> eat her master?" the half-elf asked Luc trying to
> sound as sinister as possible. "It's been a while
> since I have had fresh meat you know." he added
> grinning again, looking from the girl to Luc and back
> to the girl again.

"I swear by Eilistraee's sword that I'lll do you no harm..." says the woman. "As long as you do no harm to me either" she adds. There is further rustling of the vegetation from behind Lucretia, and Cleo suddenly appears, having managed to follow Lucretia.

<Cleo aka Dan wrote>:
> Cleo readies her sword as she moves in behind Luc.
> "Be careful." she whispers.

As Lucretia steps forward to try to cut the woman free, she shudders. "Caught by a web!" she mutters in disgust. "Alcohol usually disolves it well..." she adds, as Lucretia's sword becomes stuck, the warrior only just managing to pull it free. She shook her head sadly. "If they hadn't drugged me, I'd have been able to dispel it myself!" she grumbles.

"My name is Siellis" she adds simply, by way of introduction.

<Lucretia aka Joe wrote>:
> “Eilistraee…so you oppose the spider queen, indeed to be caught in a
> web has to be kind of ironic.”

Siellis grimaces at the mention of the spider queen. "Yeah" she nods in agreement.

> “I’m not so sure I want to waste my sprits on something our mage
> should be able to dispel.” <OOC Do I have any on me Matthew? I only
> recall what the dwarves had.>

OOC: No, you don't have any spirits on you, BUT I'm sure someone in the party would have some alcoholic drink of some nature...

<Lucretia aka Joe wrote>:
> “Perhaps the ring of free action?” “Who has it Cleo?”

<Merrell aka Mike wrote>:
> Merrell stepped forward and knelt closer to Siellis so he could look
> her in the eye. He grinned a toothy grin, "You swore not to harm us,
> but there are ways around such oaths if trickery be the motive. I have
> a few questions I want answered before we let you go."
> "What are you doing out here in these woods, alone?
> What do you know of your pursuers? Who is this beastmaster?
> Why were the werefolk chasing you in the first place?"
> Merrell paused, "Answer the questions truthfully and we will know you
> have, and your freedom is yours. Lie to us, and I take my oath that
> you'll not see daybreak. Do you understand?"

Siellis sighs. "I am a follower of the Dark Maiden, and was captured by those we hunted - the People of the Black Blood." She looks sour for a moment. "They used one of the gates in the woods to escape from my fellow priestesses, and then drugged me, setting me free just so they could revel in the hunt." She looks completely exhausted, though there is a spark of defiance still within her, and she looks up at Merrell, fire in her red eyes as she speaks again. "They worship Malar."

There is a small rustle of leaves coming from behind her somewhere, and she looks around alarmed, before looking back to Lucretia, Merrell and Cleo. "We should not stay here... They will no doubt return!" She tries again to pull herself free from the tacky web without success.

<Merrell aka Mike wrote>:
> "I believe you dark maiden. And though I do not share Luc's enthusiasm
> for trusting you, know that we share a common enemy in the Malarites,
> and I will take oath not to harm you unless you turn on us."

Siellis nods in silent appreciation of the lion faced man's words.

<Merrell aka Mike continued>:
> "Siellis, I am Merrell, this burly fellow is Luc, and this fine
> looking young lass, with all the curves and muscles is Cleo."

Siellis nods in greeting, and seems to calm somewhat. The normal night-time forest noises appear to be slowly coming back, probably indicating that the werewolves have departed for the moment.

<Cleo aka Dan wrote>:
> Cleo broke through the tree line and strode back toward the camp.
> "It's a DROW, of all things... she said she was being hunted by those
> werewolves." she announces to the group.

"A drow?!" exclaims Blondung, his eyes narrowed. "Interesting..." he says, a thoughtful frown on his face.

"What's interesting about that?" snorts Larz. "Bloody drow. Leave her there and let's get out of her!"

<Cleo aka Dan continued>:
> "Yv, can you dispel your web? If not - does anyone have any alcohol
> to free our trapped 'guest'?"

Larz looks at Cleo like she is mad. "Why would we free her?!"

Blondung turns to Larz. "I think we can deal with one drow if she turns out to be a problem..." he says smoothly. "Let's see her first and then figure out what to do with her."

<Ceely aka Debs wrote>:
> Ceely looks at Cleo.."The Dwarves usually have some ale"
> she says wondering if they would part with it for a Drow...

Larz scowls at the suggestion.

<Yvandel aka Steve wrote>:
> "It is unadvisable to release the web. The bearer of the ring of free
> action can free her and get her to us."

Ceely pushes her way through the ferns, also having slight difficulty making out the web through its covering illusion. Luckily however, even as she brushes against it, she feels nothing more than a slight tugging as the magic of the ring kicks in and immediately frees her. Even moving through the undergrowth seems particularly easy, as the ferns and brambles seem to simply slide away from her, making it as easy as walking on an empty path.

Moving towards the light source, she appears next to Merrell and Lucretia, the pair of them standing over the trapped drow woman.

<Ceely aka Debs continued>:
> "What you say your name was?" She asked the drow before removing her
> from the webs.

"My name is Siellis" she says, looking grateful as Ceely removes her ring and momentarily places it on Siellis's finger. Immediately, Siellis slips free of the web, and Ceely immediately removes the ring, replacing it on her own finger. All four of them then make their way back to the main group. For a few moments, there is a little confusion, but Lucretia spots his spear, and re-orientating himself, picks it up.
A few moments later the group emerge back onto the trail, the light from Lucretia's coin and Cleo's sword adding to the firelight of the camp.

"My thanks to you" says Siellis, bowing her head to the group. She heaves a huge sigh, and wobbles on her feet for a moment. "It's been a hard ni..." She suddenly collapses, the adrenaline that had been keeping her up finally running out, leaving her utterly exhausted.

<Cleo aka Dan wrote>:
> With that, Cleo steps to the drow's side and begins to search her
> clothing very carefully, looking for absolutely anything.

As Cleo searches her, she realises that the woman is dressed in clothes that were probably not made for her - a loose shirt, several sizes too big for her and torn in many places. Her trousers are likewise too big for her, the leather belt tied rather than buckled as it was too long. In one pocket of the trousers there is a single copper nib, probably accidentally left there by the previous owner, and a handful of small stones.

She also notices that the woman's shirt is bloodied on her back. Lifting it, she can see that she has been flayed, her flesh is raw and open.

<Dorn aka Doug wrote>:
> Should we stay here and go to the temple and beyond in the morn or do
> we pack up and light some torches and make our way along this trail to
> the temple. I vote we move on, it ought to take an hour or two maybe
> three, but we should get goin.....

Larz nods at his cousin's words. "Aye, I doubt I'll be sleepin' much t'nite after all." He looks around at the others, picking up his own
bed roll and starting to roll it up. "What say the rest of ye? We can
always rest at the temple?" he suggests.

Blondung looks sour, but shrugs. "As I haven't cast many spells this day, I am sure I can get away without sleep for one night..." he mutters.

Meanwhile, first Herod and Milo perform some healing on the drow.

<Herod aka Malcolm wrote>:
> "May the Red Knight.. err, Tempus," he says with a sheepish grin,
> "heal her," as Herod casts Cure Light Wounds on her.

Power flows through Herod's hands, and the wounds on the drow's back close somewhat.

<Milo aka Phil wrote>:
> He knelt down when Herod had finished, and began to call upon Ilmater
> to reduce the suffering of the woman. He repeated the prayer a second
> time, and then went about cleaning and then treating the wounds on her
> back.

The wounds on the drow's back close further, finally sealing over, but the skin is still raw and red, and Milo realises that the woman will probably require further healing, or at least many days rest to completely recover. Although she does not wake, her breathing seems easier however, and Milo can only assume that she is exhausted from her experiences.

Larz glances over at the unconscious drow. "We could tie her to Thunderbolt..." he suggests, obviously still thinking about travelling back to the temple...