The Gaming Den

Orr shrugs.

To allies, excluding dog, "Nothing comes to mind yet. Quinn isn't listening to me, which is strange for him. I suspect he's been charmed or something. I don't know if whoever that is can charm or otherwise influence beings other than animals, but if you stay close to me, you'll be immune to that sort of thing (unseelie fey magic circle 10 ft)."

Orr will try to see if the figure is wearing a mask and what kind.

I'll stick close to you, then, Archimedes replies, and tries to fly within 10' of Orr

radthemad4 wrote:Orr will try to see if the figure is wearing a mask and what kind.

As the figure turns their head to regard the approaching party, you see that their mask is made of wood, with golden wire; the eyes are little more than circles of glass, and the mask seems to be set directly into some sort of undergarment of leather or rubber. Indeed, now that you look, none of the seated figure's flesh is showing at all.

Malagos stays next to Orr as he regards the figure coldly.

As you stand before the line of markers, mentally discussing your next move, the strange depths carved into head of the hammer in Archimedes' begins to glow, and over the next few minutes the wind picks up, and you can feel it on your backs - and you can see the grass around the pool bend in the sudden gale. The dog, still on its back, is quickly bowled head-over-tail, and then begins scrabbling at the earth; even the trees at the back of the clearing shake and begin to bend. The robed figure, however, observes this all without any apparent reaction, their robes not even flapping.

"Malogos, do you see anything unusual?" (He has a See Invisibility Invocation)

"Archimedes, has the source of the scent moved?"

Only one way to find out, Archimedes replies. With that he starts sniffing again and relays what he smells to Orr.

Since Archimedes is now up-wind, he can't really smell anything.

Malagos scans for invisible creatures while wracking his brain to try to identify the spell effect.

Malagos sees nothing invisible or ethereal (aside from the line of totem-markers, which seem to return his stare with their own deathless reptilian unblinking gaze), but recognizes the breeze as a basic gust of wind (gale force).

The dog continues to struggle against the air, paws digging furrows into the grass.

Archimedes will cautiously hold out the hammer, and attempt to speak telepathically to the figures: "Is this the price you seek?"

Suddenly, the wind dies; the depths of the hammerhead swirl with strange colors, and in a snaking path radiating out from the outstretched hammer, the grass begins to grow - straight and green, and the blades easily a foot tall as they reach their maximum height, right up to the edge of the pool...and straight through the feet of the seated, robed figure, which dissolves like a mirage.

"An illusion," the rat says. "Our true enemy has not yet revealed themselves."

To dog: "Where are you?"

To Archimedes, "Wind seems to have died down. Smell anything now?"

The dog wuffs and runs up towards Orr. It's running a little crooked, as if dizzy or unsure of how many legs it has.

"Well, you're alive, so that's a plus". Orr will stroke it on the back of its neck. "Can you point to whoever did this?"

Orr stares into the dog's eyes - which are fully dilated. A white powdery substance appears to coat its nose. The tail wags, and it's happy to see you and hear your voice, but all Orr gets in reply are confused gentle woofs.

Orr squints at the substance on Quinn's nose and tries to identify it. (Heal +2, Survival +2)

"Do any of you guys know what this white stuff is?"

(Is the box still attached to the dog, and is the swamp orc from earlier still attached to the box?)

Orr identifies the white powder as the narcotic pollen of the kooka flower.

The box and swamp-orc are no longer attached to the dog, but located next to one of the totem-markers.

Not sure if I smell anything. Only one way to find out.

Archimedes will sniff the air again, seeing if there's anything of note, whether it be the reptilian scent from earlier or something else (or both).

He'll also attempt to identify the substance on Quinn's nose (Survival +9, Heal +5)
ed: wrote this up before AH's response, didn't post until a few seconds ago.

At the moment, all Archimedes can smell is a wet (and very high) dog.

To dog, "Where did you get this white powdery stuff? Also, is there anything we should look out for near the box you were dragging around?"

To allies, but primarily Malogos, "Too bad about your skeleton and the zombie orcs. We might still have one left alive though. Since it doesn't seem like he'll talk, do you want to zombify him now and have him walk ahead of us, or proceed ahead and hope we capture anything else before we rest?"

Malagos winces. One zombie orc isn't going to be of that much use. I'm not sure we want to acquire a reputation for murdering helpless prisoners in a strange land.

If we can keep him for a bit I can try a charm.

"The dog appears useless until the drugs wear off," the rat says, stroking its chin-fur. "A better question might be, what sort of trap was he bait for?"