Tuesday 2 April 2013

Chapter Fifteen - Blink Dogs

The group spends the afternoon gathering information on what's been happening in terms of these strange dogs.  They don't learn too much, just that they are able to move in and out of reality at seemingly random intervals.  No one has really seen much of them, save  for one elf, who heard barking and when he peered out the window he witnessed a dog that was popping in and out of his sight, then after grabbing a bag of food the hound quickly disappeared.

As the group marches towards the woods they hear barking, and turn around to see a dog standing before them.  It is behaving exactly the way the elves described.  Radamyr attempts use his knowledge of Spellcraft to discern what kind of magic it is, but he is unsuccessful.  The dog turns to run into the forest and after starting off to a run, he disappears right before their very eyes.

The group takes off in that direction, and after a few hours walking they come upon a small camp.  Arradel climbs a tree to get a better vantage point of the site, and the others march ahead. 

When seemingly out of nowhere, there are three dogs surrounding them.  The group is caught off guard by this.  When the see the way the dogs are snarling, it is clear they intend to defend this territory.  

As the group moves to defend themselves, they realize they are in for a harder fight.  Bogor and Liaathvain's attacks seem to just whiz right through the beasts half of the time.  The dogs' are randomly flashing in and out of existence, and the fight is proving to be rather frustrating.  

When suddenly, from out of the far side of the camp an arrow comes whizzing by and strikes Arradel's armor.  From the far side of the camp, a hooded elf walks out with his bow drawn. When the group calls out to him, he simply laughs, and readies another arrow.

Radamyr discovers that the Wand of Magic Missle that he picked up long ago in the goblin cave seems to hit the dogs regardless of whether or not they are in reality.  It is the nature of the spell that it cannot miss, this proves useful in the fight, and the group manages to fell one of the dogs.  With the pressure off of them, Liaathvain breaks away from the fight and runs over to the ranger, and engages the elf in close combat.

It doesn't take long for her to finish him off, and Bogor and Radamyr are able to finish off the dogs with Arradel providing ranged support.  

They loot the bodies of the ranger, and come across a vast assortment of gems, as well as another strange wand.

Arradel and Liaathvain make the journey back to Chartram, while Radamyr and Bogor stay and investigate the site.  Upon returning to the village, they meet with the Lord-Mayor of the town, and fill him in on what they have found.  He directs them to meet with the elf Baleer. The elf is able to magically teleport them back to the camp.

Radamyr is busy trying to use the wand, but nothing is really happening, when suddenly a trio of elves appear in the field behind them.  Baleer identifies the items for the group, and they learn the wand is a Wand of Delay Poison, used to greatly slow down the effects of any poison.  He informs them the slain ranger is named B'rathan, and he was exiled from the town around 25 years ago, for causing too many problems in Chartram.

He then teleports them all back to the village, where they spend the night celebrating their victory.

Chartram has welcomed them with open arms, and the group decides to call this village home.