Journal of Rollo Lavius 2

Entry #292 - Durz and Berum

(G292 04/10/16 via Roll20 - AP, JF(GM), MJ, HK, NG) SS6

DAY 267 (2nd Nightal)(December) cont ...

Arahel as you may not be aware was not only a druid of moderate power but also an even rarer thing, in that she was a Master of Many Forms.

These types of druids specialise in shape shifting and as such there was very little that she could not turn into. How one so young came to have such power I have no idea.

As a result of this though, she could change into a Horrid Umberhulk and in this form she attack the leading edge of the attacking bears. An Umberhulk is a sort of huge insectoid horror if you are unfamiliar with the beast.

She killed one, then another, but was then swamped. Although she had the power of an Umberhulk she lacked its endurance and so she retreated, changed into a giant owl and fled the combat.

Durz, who was near Arahel when she changed, stuck his arms up and she swooped down and grabbed him. Together the flew south away from the ogres and bears, abandoning Veddic to his fate.

Veddic had already gained a lot of ground on the bears, but in the sparse snowy terrain of the Thar there was nowhere to hide.

Dwerry stayed with him, but when they were about to be overrun she vanished to be replaced by two small snakes that slithered into a snow bank.

Veddic used every spell in his arsenal to try and keep the bears at bay and summoned a cascade of rocks and fire, a mini volcano, with an Earth Reaver spell that killed two more bears and injured many more of them.

He cast a Briar Web spell to delay them further, but the end was inevitable, with Arahel and Durz long gone and Billi away in the snow he had nowhere to hide and no means of escape.

Exhausted he was eventually surrounded by the maddened and bloody bears.

Billi, who watched from a great distance and saw the poor cleric's end, but could do nothing to help. Though they were mere specks from where he stood he saw the bears crowd in and savage Veddic as the ogres arrived to finish off the hunt.

Meanwhile, inexplicably, Arahel and Durz made camp in the snow, not much more than a mile away.

It was not even noon.

Billi did his best to try and find them, he was a good tracker, but since his companions had been flying and the snow had started coming on again his task was a difficult one.

Eventually though he found them and joined their camp. Together they made a shelter from the snow, tunnelling into a snowbank in a sheltered gully.

At around three o'clock though they discovered the bears had not been sitting idle, but were still on the hunt and one approached the camp, sniffing and snuffling.

When it sensed them, it gave a mighty roar and they heard a hunting horn answer in the distance.

They rushed up and killed the bear, Durz being injured in the fight, but it was too late to remain undetected and they fled west, pursued by the sound of horns echoing through the falling snow.

About an hour later they found a cave entrance and sheltered there. More by luck (the snow came on much more heavily as the day passed) than judgement they remained undetected by the bears for the rest of the day.

DAY 268 (3rd Nightal)(December)

At dawn they exited the cave and headed west. It was slow going through the snow so Arahel shape shifted into a giant owl and carried Durz and Billi on her back.

It was tiring on her wings though so they took a break at noon. By evening they spotted another camp in the distance to the north, a haze of black smoke on the white horizon.