Turn 48 -- Aftermath

Beleg wipes his sword clean on the carcass of one of the two-headed dogs, "What manner of creature is this? I've never seen anything like them, have any of you?" He then turns to his companions and notices that Druckner and Garth are hurt. He moves forward and kneels beside Garth.

Randor looks at the dead beasts and solemnly says, "Well at least it wasn't orcs again." He then walks over to the guards and begins a low chant as a prayer to Tyr which crescendos each time he walks over to a new body.

Saying his peace to each he then begins to dress their wounds and arrange the bodies in a pose with their hands on their chests holding their weapons and the symbol of Tyr prominently displayed while continuing his chant.

Seeing the potentially rabid state of these dogs, Garth uses water to liberally irrigate his wound and Druckner's, while letting them continue to bleed freely. After a few minutes of this and once he is assured that the wounds are as clean as he can make them, he binds his wounds and Druckner's. With the skills of a court physician, he carefully knots the bandages, satisfied in his work.

"I will pray for Forseti's healing power so that you may be strengthened and use your healing power on our companion Druckner," Beleg says to Garth as he places his hand on the forearm of the dwarf. He then closes his eyes and murmurs a brief prayer. Garth can feel the strength returning to his body as the healing touch from Beleg flows through him.

"Thank you," replies Garth to the paladin. He then moves forward to lay his hand on the thigh of Druckner. Calling forth a prayer to Selune for her mercy and healing, he administers his curative spell on the stout dwarf.

Druckner call feel the power flow through his body and he knows that underneath the bandage, the wound has closed up and bleeds no more. After finishing, Garth sits down with his back to a boulder and tenderly rubs his sore arm while nursing a low grade migraine. He looks up at the group and waits for them to decide where they want to go next.

Druckner gets up and says, "Damn dog-thing ripped me pants!" The now doubly-red Druckner tries to preserve his modesty as he thanks Garth and Beleg. "Let's find these pilgrims and get on back to bad mutton and bad beds in Thurmaster." As Druckner puts his weight on his leg to test it, he feels an intense burning in the leg. He frowns as he thinks that odd as the wound should be completely healed.

"Aye. I agree to that," says Kre.

Having calmed down from the bloodlust that overcomes him, Gnore sheathes his sword and moving past Garth, slaps him on the back and smiles. "The beasties are a bit playful, aren't they kin Garth?"

Scrunching up one eye and rolling the other upwards to look at Gnore, Garth replies with a serious expression, "Aye, but I'd hate to see their bark."

Gnore then continues to walk out from the enclosure of boulders and makes a sweep of the surrounding countryside, looking for any other possible threats as well as signs of the pilgrim's passage.

Off to the right, Dain steps from around one of the nearby boulders, his hands are glowing an odd blue colour. "I'm glad I didn't have to use this."

The glowing blue aura around Dain's hands vanishes with a loud crackle. "I don't like what it does but dire circumstances call for dire actions. You can't be too careful, you know. I'm afraid you won't see anything too spectacular out of me for the rest of the day."

Talimar grins at the conclusion of the battle, having survived without even a scratch! With his sword ready, the elf checks the bodies of the dead dogs, trying to get an idea as to their nature. He sees no brands or collars or any other sign of domestication. No clues as to why the dogs would have attacked them. He moves out from the camp to retrieve two of his arrows from the ground and a third from the eye of one of the beasts that he felled. He then moves back to join Kersath in his search of the dead guards. Looking at the soldier bodies, Talimar turns to Kersath, "Can you see any signs of tracks to give us an idea where the priests may have been taken?"

"None," replies Kersath. "And if it's the same group that's done all the other kidnapping's, I'm sure we won't find any. Anyway, there's nothing leading from this area or anything around here. It's obvious from the wounds on these guards and the appearance of being mauled that they were attacked by either these very same dogs or another pack."

"Great," answers Talimar with a frown.

With his prayers ended, Randor looks up at Talimar and Kersath, "Perhaps this was a trap, perhaps not, but we must find the pilgrims. I do suggest that we cover the bodies so that we can take them somewhere later. They deserve to be buried someplace not so accursed as this."

"No offence Brother Randor," begins Talimar, "But we should get a move on and see if we can save the living. Once we have rescued the living priests, then we can take care of the dead, unless you just want to bury them here?"

"No," says Randor wearily. "As I said before, this is not the place for them."

Druckner limps over to join the conversation and addresses the priest, "Randor, what are pilgrims of Tyr doing on this desolate moor anyway? Is there something special out here, or is this a convenient but foolish shortcut? Hmph!"

"How should I know?!" answers Randor angrily. "I don't know the daily workings of the priesthood! I've been out of circulation for over a month now. Why they were here is of no consequence." Randor is obviously frustrated with the vicious attack on the pilgrims.

"Don't attack me!" answers Druckner as he goes red again, this time with anger. "I only asked ye a simple question."

"That's enough!" snaps Talimar at the two. "Randor is right. The question here isn't why were the pilgrims going this way but where are they now. We need to decide where we go from here. Kersath and Gnore have been unable to find any trace of the missing pilgrims. Do we continue this futile search or head back to the Thornwood and search for this lost keep, hoping that the pilgrims were taken there?"