Down in the valley
Subject: Turn
Ok if everyone is in such awe of my descriptive writing, I will continue. :)
From: Mark
Subject: Down in the valley
"Peace T'Hal" Flint's voice responds "I am Flint, Mountain Father of the Great North Woods. I bring news of the passing of Acer, StormFather of the Great North Woods." From the surrounding undergrowth walks a centaur. The centaur makes an elaborate bow, a combination of hands and hoof. "You are known to us, Flint. The news you bear of Acer is sorely heard. Acer was a good friend to the Herd of the Tree. When there is time, you must tell us of his manner of passing. But I sense other need in you, for you have others with you, many of which do not bear the scent of druids. What is you purpose in the Valley of the Tree?"
Flint returns the bow as best he can. It has an obvious adjustment to it so that humans are able to make the gestures. "You are known to me, T'Hal. I will give the Stallion my story. My purpose is central to the Tree. I will tell the Stallion alone." Flint's voice has a hint that T'Hal has overstepped his bounds a bit. Flint continues "These others are the reason I am here. I will vouch for them, by the word of the Council." T'Hal seems to accept this. "Follow me then." He whistles, and a dozen centaurs, all armed with greatbows step out of the woods. T'Hal turns to one of them "K'Tan, you and your flight, stay on guard. I will take the rest and escort these guests to the Stallion." K'Tan nods and calls out several names. Five of the centaurs walk over and join him. They all give T'Hal the same bow and move off.
"Flint" T'Hal says "let us go. It is a fair distance for those with two legs." There is a slight joking tone to T'Hal's voice. "P'tau you are lead" T'Hal says. A young centaur canters to the front of the group and takes up position. Four more centaurs take their place on each side of the party and one brings up the rear. T'Hal stays with the party. "MountainFather Flint, what can you tell us of the outside world?" T'Hal asks. As the party and their escort start down the winding path, Flint fills the centaur in on events in the world. Flint seems to have knowledge of things happening from around the world, and his grasp of world events is surprising to everyone but Salix. When Ally gives him a raised eye, Salix whispers "People will say almost anything in front of animals. Druids make pretty good spies." He grins, but Ally is deep in thought at the comment.
Over the next two hours the party is led through the surrounding woods. Salix stares in wonder for he has never seen woods like this. All the trees are healthy; the floor of the woods has almost no underbrush, the limbs of the larger trees all start at about 9 feet off the ground, a foot or so above the heads of the centaurs. When Flint takes a break from telling T'Hal about what is happening in the world, Salix asks him about this place and the centaurs.
"Ages ago" Flint says "When the first druids found this place and realized what it was, they decided that it should be guarded by the creatures of the forest. They asked for volunteers from the herds and an elite force was selected. Other forest creatures that have shown love and respect for nature have also been asked to help guard the Tree. Through out these woods you will find Treants, dryads, and any number of other creatures, whose sole purpose is to protect the Tree. They understand that it is a lifetime duty and that they may never go back. They have had centuries to prepare for the defense. You would not want to lead an army through these woods."
He looks around "The Herd knows the ground so well that I have seen them gallop through the woods at full speed on the darkest of nights. They have dead falls and ambushes you would never see until they fell upon you. There are covered pits and other traps that have been years in the making and hiding." T'Hal laughs a short laugh "We spend weeks showing new colts where not to play."
It looks to be about noon local time, but the party's stomachs tell them that it has been longer for them. T'Hal leads them into a large clearing. There are several large buildings around the outside edge of the clearing, most of them stalls. There are centaurs moving about, doing chores. Some look to be preparing food, some are cleaning out stalls, others are working on a new building. As they walk up T'Hal calls out "Summon the Stallion, MountainFather Flint requests to talk with him." A young centaur hurries off. Flint turns to the party "Have any of you met a centaur stallion before?"
The group as a whole shakes their heads no. "Alright, listen up. Let me do the talking. While we have an alliance with him, I am new to my position. That might cause problems, but I hope it will not. Just keep quiet, unless spoken directly to. The Stallion is the alpha male here and he will try and establish dominance. Don't let him. Any questions?"
OODM: Any comments from the party
From: Kevin
Subject: Down in the valley
Other than the fact that we are all sort of feeling out of place??? I mean, c'mon... Centaur, and huge trees, and stallions???
Harp is keeping his mouth shut and trying to keep an ear out on what Flint is tellingT'Hal.
From: Kevin
Subject: Treasure splitting
OOC: Guys, we are going to want to start thinking about how we split things when we get back to the main town. My guess is that Mund is going to want to keep that niffty axe that almost cut him in half. It is probably pretty valuable, so we may struggle keeping things relatively even, unless that jeweled cup ends up being really valuable. I know we got some swords, that dagger, and the mace the 1/2 orc ranger had, so we will have to wait, but start think about if we want to sell or try to use anything.
From: Porter
Subject: Treasure splitting
Well, let's wait and see what we've got first. We might end up selling most of it.
Also, Mund might claim Alley's share of the treasure in order to try to get the axe. Remember, Mund gave Alley pretty much all of his gold last time so that Alley could buy spells.
From: Karl
Subject: Down in the valley
"'Establish dominance' how?" Salix asks. "What do we need to watch for?"
From: Karl
Subject: Down in the valley
Salix isn't likely to argue over any of it. He will claim his own share from among any gold the party gets for items sold, but he doesn't care for any of the items or care who gets them. (He doesn't care too much for the gold, either, but knows it's useful and that he has a right to a share.)
From: Mark
Subject: Down in the valley
Flint gives an uncomfortable shrug. "Not really sure. Every time I visited before, Acer was with me and his position had already been established. This was one of the things that Acer told me in the short time we had before he met his fate. Once I have established my self over him, he will not be a problem for any that he views as under me." He turns and gestures to the party "And that means you. I do not expect this to be a serious problem, more of a custom that must be followed. I am just unsure of the details." He gives Salix an emberassed grin.
From: Karl
Subject: Down in the valley
In that case, Salix decides to keep a close eye on the centaurs who he thinks would be The Stallion's seconds, and will attempt to support Flint in the same way they support The Stallion, if at all.
From: Derek
Subject: Down in the valley
Allistair doesn't really have much to say. He's way out of his element and he knows it, so he's just keeping his eyes and ears open. He's pretty sure they are safe here and the centaurs won't try and harm them, so he's just treating it as a rare experience to see something so amazing.
From: Derek
Subject: Down in the valley
That's right. Ally owes Mund about 750 gold, if I remember correctly. Pretty much all Ally wants/needs is enough money for the two spells he's selecting this level (stoneskin and alter self) and money for a mirror that he can use for the scrying spell (that's 1000 gp though, so he might ask everyone in the group to pitch in for that, since it benefits everyone).
From: Porter
Subject: Down in the valley
Mund cracks his knuckles, preparing to tangle with anybody who tries to assert dominance over him.
From: Kevin
Subject: Down in the valley
He may just pee all over you to "mark" you as his.
From: Mark
Subject: Down in the valley
Thanga would make Mund her bitch. ;)
From: Porter
Subject: Down in the valley
Or the other way around.
From: Porter
Subject: Down in the valley
Mund would approve of that arrangement.
From: Mark
Subject: Down in the valley
You don't know what Thanga did to Harp that night.
And for some reason I don't see Thanga as a one man type of lady.