Some Days Are Better Than Others

The dwindling sun of the first day saw them to the final outpost along the Black River, to the small mining village of Krim.  Krim was a transfer point for the Black Mine nearby, its ore standing by in large shacks.  When the occasional merchant’s boat or supply ship meandered its way this far downriver, the ore could be loaded and sent back upriver to the capital proper for use in its iron foundries.

Squint and his deckhands stayed aboard their riverboat Fortune, mooring to the rickety construction that barely had earned the word “dock.”  The adventurers stomped down the wooden planks and entered the town.

It did not take long for the party members to catch wind of the rumors that were floating around town: first, an eerie ship had passed the dock, heading downriver during the night.  The moon was hidden with thick clouds last night, and the boatwatchers at the dock had tried to wave them down for a safe pull-in to the bank, but the ship continued its journey.  A lone woman on deck, dressed in a white that shined despite the lack of any light save the small lanterns adorning the ship, stared blankly as she passed by.

Second, the villagers were searching the forest for a number of sick individuals who dug up the small village’s graveyard.  Ten graves had been dug up and violated by thieves who stole all of the bodies within.  Investigation by the small village’s mayor seemed to reveal the involvement of multiple people in the process: mainly due to the fact it was simply too much work to be done by a single person.

As they took the only two rooms at the inn, the women and men of the travelling party discussed the situation before sleeping for the night.

A’ine twisted her hands around her holy symbol and frowned.  “It is obvious the Witchfire has passed here.  Its simple presence was enough to animate this poor place’s deceased.”  She sighed at the idea.  “Even the dead are innocent victims, unable to sleep.”

“Are we going to help them?” Arya asked, leaning on her staff.

Tiberius growled quietly, slamming his sword back into its sheathe.  He never spoke often, but it was obvious he thought it a bad idea, and said as much.  “We’re exhausted as it is, and we know the culprit is headed downriver.  We sleep, and then follow.”

Charmer secured the small changepurse on his side and deftly leapt up to the ceiling.  Dangling from the wooden rafters by his legs, he said, “We should all get started on that sleep then, yes?”

————————————————

“What?” I asked, blinking.

“I said, I’m gonna hang from the ceiling and trance.”  Jacob replied.

My mouth worked in confusion, trying to find the right words to answer.  I looked to Ken and Edna, seated across the table from me, but Edna was staring at Jacob in confused shock, while Ken was trying to keep from laughing.  Jo, to my right, just put her head in her hands.

Looking back at Jacob, I shook my head.  “You’re not a bat, dumbass.”

The rest of the players rolled in laughter.

Jacob flashed that goofy grin he always has.  “Oh, come on, why can’t I trance up there?  You said I still have full awareness of my surroundings during trance, so why can’t I?”

I sighed, placing the Monster’s Manual aside.  “Because you can’t do anything strenuous.  Hanging on to the roof by your legs for dear life qualifies as strenuous, ergo you cannot trance hanging upside down from the ceiling.”

“That’s a stupid rule.” Jacob said.

I shook my head.  “Fine.”  I picked up and tossed a d20 over to him.  “First, make an Athletics check.”

“Wouldn’t it be Acrobatics if I’m hanging from the rafters?”

“First we need to see if you can even jump that high.”

Jacob nodded agreement and stood up, rolling the die around in his hand.  Then, twirling his hand back and then forward, he cast the die out towards the table.

I did not even wait for the die to hit the surface.  “You fail, falling on your ass, and you take a point of damage from a loose nail in the floorboards.  Let’s move on.”

The party laughed as the die struck the table and rolled to a stop.

“I guess we’re all going to go into our respective rooms and trance,” Edna said.  “I’m out of healing spells anyways.”

“Dude, I rolled a 20.”  Jacob interjected, showing me the die he had rolled.

I waved him off, ignoring him.  “So, you’re ALL going to trance?”

The party froze and looked at each other.  Whoops, didn’t mean to give THAT one away.

Ken spoke first.  “No, no, we should have someone up keeping watch.”

I just shrugged, a smirk on my face.

Edna rose her hand.  “I should be able to keep watch while trancing, right?  I mean, I’m aware of my surroundings, and I just need to make sure I raise an alarm if something happens, so that’s fine, right?”

Thinking about it, I decided having a single person outside the inn alone was a fun idea.  “Sounds good to me.”

Jo nodded agreement.  “Okay, A’ine will be outside then, and my Arya will go trance.”

“Wait, wait,” Jacob said, waving his hands.

“What?”

“Do I see the innkeepers money-chest?”

I shook my head.  “No.”

“Don’t I get a Percepti—“

“No.”

Jacob grumbled inaudibly.

I patted my friend on his shoulder.  “Alright, great.  So, the rogue is going to sleep, and A’ine, you’re outside keeping watch, right?”

“Yeah,” Edna said, cautiously.

“Get ready for a small Perception challenge,” I said, starting to draw the surroundings onto the leather grid we used.

“Shit,” all four players said simultaneously.

————————————————

A’ine leaned back against the door to the small house dubbed “the inn” by the villagers.  The sun had been swallowed up quickly, and was not replaced by any source of light in the thickly clouded sky.  She had completed her trance, but decided to let the others get some additional rest before going in to switch shifts for the night.  She shivered slightly, closing her arms around herself, but it was far from chilly in the darkness.

Then, the wind stilled, and for a moment, A’ine thought she heard a shuffling noise in the distance.  She turned her head, peering into the darkness.  She listened intently, but heard nothing more, then settled back, thinking it her imagination.

The relief did not last long, another sound, like a boot on coarse sand, sprung to her ears.  She leapt up, holding her symbol in both hands, eyes darting in all directions.  She looked as far into the darkness as her fey eyes could see, and yet, nothing came.

Cursing herself for jumping at shadows, she sighed and dropped back to the ground.

The skeleton lowered its skull and grunted, “Boo.”

————————————————

“How can I miss three Perception checks in a row?!” Edna cried, flopping back onto the couch.

Ken laughed, and pointed at her.  “He said ‘Boo.’”

“Hey, the skeleton was able to walk all the way up to the eladrin.  It just had to say Boo.”

“Wouldn’t I see the skeleton walking up to me?”

I looked at the die, still showing the natural 1 Edna had rolled last.  “I don’t think so.  At this point, you can’t even perceive the ground you’re standing on.”

“Yeah,” Ken laughed, “the only thing you were able to find was your arm.”

————————————————

A’ine sounded the alarm, and in short order, the rest of the party rushed outside to find themselves surrounded by nine skeletons, all swiping with their sharp, bony fingers.

“Be careful,” Tiberius called, wielding his precious blade.  “They said there were ten graves.  I only count nine skullheads here.”

Two *tchunks* sounded, and one of the skeletons shrieked, falling to the ground.

Charmer was just putting his arm down from throwing two of his small daggers.  “Eight!”

A roar sounded in the distance, and the darkness seemed to press back at the party as a blast of black energy settled onto the downed skeleton.  Moving again, the creature reached up and plucked the two daggers out of its head and tossed them aside, standing up.

“Negative energy!” A’ine called.  “Nine, plus one further back, healing them!”

“Break through!” Tiberius yelled, and leapt forward, electricity pealing from his blade into the three undead ahead of him.

Arya and A’ine followed suit, pillars of light and fire descending onto their enemies simultaneously.

Charmer leapt forward, slashing with his shortblade, but as it struck bone, black sparks flew and repelled his steel.  The skeleton stood up straight and laughed at him ominously.  He struck a second time, and again, a mysterious force pushed his metal away.  Whatever negative energy had done, he could no longer harm them with regular weapons.  So, Charmer did what any self-serving rogue would do in his situation.

He squealed the high-pitched squeal of a frightened child and darted in the opposite direction.  “Uuuuse maaagiiccc!” he wailed, diving back into the inn and locking the door.

————————————————

“Seriously?” Edna asked, laughing.

“Look, I’m not sticking around to get skewered.  It’s best I don’t get in the way of magic-only monsters.”

Ken put a finger into his palm.  “You could still run interference, Jacob.”

“Pfft, fuck that.”

Ken shook his head and returned his attention to me.  “How high are the ore shacks?”

“Roughly 20 feet.”

“Can I Fey Step to the top of them?”

“I don’t see why not.”

Edna and Jo lit up, each raising their hands.  “We do too!”

————————————————

Lightning struck, fire blazed, and holy light rained down upon the helpless skeletons as the three eladrin showered their arts from the top of the ore shacks.  It was in no time at all before there were none left save the skeleton mage.  Tiberius swung his sword over his head, and created a long arc of electricity that lashed out and grasped the undead, and dragged him almost to the top of the shack.

“Oops,” Tiberius laughed, releasing the electricity, dropping him from the top of the building to the stone below.  It shattered into pieces.

————————————————

“What’s that skill called again?” I asked.

“Lightning Lure.” Ken replied.

“And it does damage AND pulls him towards you?”

“That’s what it says.”

I reviewed the Swordmage skill sheet.  “It also says that it has to be pulled into an unoccupied square adjacent to you.”

“It was adjacent.  Not my fault that the square adjacent to me had 4 other unoccupied squares directly beneath it.”

I shrugged.  It made sense.  “Alright, I’ll allow it.  XP all around.”

“Except for Jacob,” Ken said.

“WHAT?!” Jacob frowned.  “I stayed true to character.”

“Dude, your character is a dick.”  Ken argued.

Jacob crossed his arms.  “Yeah well, mine stayed inside where he belongs.”

Ken grinned.  “That’s what she said.”