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[Dwarmin]

Agreed, the party pays their tabs and sets out...

....

One who was just enjoying the comforts of the Heckling Hellhound would be shocked at whats just outside. The Sprawl...

The streets here are tough dirt, padded down flat by thousands of feet-when it rains heavily, the area becomes a morass of mud. The typical home is little better, usually a few walls made of scrapwood, and a sheet of leather or cloth for doors-most of them have barely a hands length worth of space between them. Occasionally a sturdy wooden or brick house is seen, in various state of disrepair-the locals tended to strip everything down in the area, leaving only empty, dark shells. These buildings are only inhabited by clusters of the truly desperate, for few takes the risk of a building collapse over the ravages of the weather. It's a truly confusing helter skelter of buildings of all sizes-but paths and thoroughfares have grown organically through it, typically only three persons wide.

Lines of territory are marked, however, for those who live here-posts with colored paper, small fences and natural dividers such as streams and ditches. A marked area is almost always owned by a gang-though the line between a vicious gang and a group of homeowners watching their own is typically difficult to perceive. The Sprawls don't like people wandering...and those that get lost quickly find themselves viewed as prey...

But a large group like our heroes attracts little trouble-a Goliath warrior has an amazing way of defusing the bravado of a wannabe thug. Most of the locals duck into their homes and peek from small windows and slits, hoping they don't intend trouble. Dr. Akrund is the only member of the group who seems to be welcome here-occasionally people will stop, wave, and give him the local word-explaining their troubles and fears.

...

[Random Encounter Roll=12]

Ari signals for a stop.

The street ahead is much like the ones behind it. Dirty and unpaved-though, it has more undergrowth and litter than is usual. Mostly brambles and small, squat thorny bushes in great numbers line the way, along with piles of splintered boards and old lumber-though, not enough to impede their forward progress. It's odd no one has looted it. What Ari is not hearing is the usual sounds of life-laughter, yelling, coughing, swearing. The street ahead is utterly quiet. The houses look even more empty than usual, and most of them look unfinished-as if their owners began, then stopped.

Quiet usually means dead or abandoned.

[Spot, Listen rolls=Hidden]

No one in the party perceives any threat ahead, however. Just a quiet, dusty street.

It would be easy, if time consuming, to backtrack and find another way forward.

[Zako]

Gracewyn holds up a hand and motions them to be silent with one hand on her greatsword. Slipping into the Hunter's Sense stance and feeling the beast within stir, she carefully sniffs the air for ambushers and prey.

Enter Hunter's Sense stance and use scent to sniff the surroundings for ambushers. Be ready to charge.

[Dwarmin]

*sniff, sniff*

Gracewyn's sharpened senses immediately assaults her a deluge of strange, wild scents.

She sorts them easily-the strong male odor of Ari, tinged with chemical residue-the slightly sick, stale smell of Mathias and his bone servants, tinged with an inviolable feeling of taint that makes her stomach churn-and the two petals, both exotic and extraordinarily pleasant-almost euphoric-scents she feels she could spend a lifetime enjoying-almost as if their souls have a distinct smell... They clash with Mathias in a way she can't begin to describe even in the most poetic of terms.

Beyond them, the world-dust tinged with the traces amounts of silver, blowing in all the way from far away mineton. Humanoid refuse distant, yet ever present. And the scent of people. Sickness. Fear. Anger. No one has lived here for awhile. Death is at least a few weeks old, but it's there. People have died here, recently. In pain and fear.

But, these thoughts and feelings are hardly conscious-only below her base instincts. She knows them in her heart, not her head.

Of considerably more importance is the nearly overpowering (to her anyway) smell of overripe melons coming from directly ahead of them-something living, and hiding. It's a subtle scent, like the bark of certain dry, desert plants-yuccas and cactus, she thinks, maybe not knowing what they are exactly...but her new mindest makes the connections for her in a series of primal images and feelings. A mere human nose would dismiss it as the strong scent of old wood, unaware of the intricacies Grace can detect. It also has certain similarities to the smell of the two petals, she realizes, after a moment of thought. But, this is far less sweet.

She would hardly reckon more than 20 or 30 feet from where they are now, but she'll have to get closer to pinpoint a source.

[Zako]

A small animal-like snarl crosses Gracewyn's face for a moment as the beast within readies itself at the prospect of a possible battle lying ahead. She bends down close to whisper closely and as quietly as possible into Ari's ear while slowly drawing her sword.

"Ambush. Directly ahead. Not sure what, but it's not human. Possibly Fey in nature, or some kind of plant. About 20 to 30 feet from us. Check the road ahead for traps and snares while I cover you and be ready to move out of the way quickly if it rises."

She pauses for a moment before continuing.

"A lot of people lived and died here recently. Badly. Noone is safe to move in until someone clears this mess of trouble. Might as well be us..."

[lawastooshort]

Move forward 20 feet Searching, rapier drawn.

[Dwarmin]

The party fans out and begins to move forward-Ari in front, Grace close behind.

Ari takes a stock of the area in a closer manner.

1d20+8=14

He notes a few clues-a number of small, seemingly innocuous items have been cast here and there-coins, buttons and scraps of cloth. Many of them are entangled or buried in the thorny branches. The sight of a childs shoe torn by a spear-like branch through causes him momentary pause...and that's when something rises from hiding-with a smooth sound like a creaking branch and about as loud, it bonelessly contorts itself into a sitting position.

It's only roughly humanoid-a thin, bony plant-being with a forest of thorns for skin and hair. It has impressive wooden claws an a long, agile tongue also studded with spines. It may be truly alien to our own morality, but the thing glares at your party with an all too human hatred in it's beady, dead black eyes.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

Splinterwaif 1d20+9=24

vs

Tyri 1d20+5=25
Eiryls 1d20+4=21
Mathias 1d20+0=18
Ari 1d20+7=15
Gracewyn 1d20+0=16

Tyri 1d20+5=25
Splinterwaif 1d20+9=24
Eiryls 1d20+4=21
Mathias 1d20+0=18
Ari 1d20+7=15
Gracewyn 1d20+0=16

Only Tyri is fast enough to react before it. The others are frozen in a single moment of time, as the creature chooses whom to attack...

[lawastooshort]

Delay until teammates back away and then throw an alchemist's fire at it! (will edit if teammates disagree)

[GiglameshDespair]

Fly up (around to a height of 10ft, so i'm out of range of any alchemists fire or claws)
Cast magic missile at the splinterwaif

[Culise]

Eirlys flew in a quick loop over Ari's head, plainly excited.  "Right right right!  Ari, fall back and let us take the lead!"  She flew right at the creature, adjusting her weapon as she did before her.  Stopping just within reach, she flittered back and forth, trying to draw the foul monster's attention.  When the creature showed signs of distraction from her, she responded by bringing her guisarme down solidly at it, her focus channeling her energy into her own body to strengthen her protection. 

Spoiler: Stances, Turn 1 Start (click to show/hide)

Rolls: (4,3)
>Douse The Flames
>Stone Bones

Close to within 5' of the Splinterwaif.  Enter Iron Guard's Glare stance as a swift action.  Attack with Stone Bones maneuver.

Spoiler: Stance, Turn 1 End (click to show/hide)

Rolls: (3)
>Douse the flames
>Stone Bones
>Leading the Attack

[Zako]

Gracewyn gripped her sword tightly and let out a low growl as she rushed to a good flanking position with Eirlys. With a strong bellow, she lashed out with an aim in inspire and justice to deal out for the murdered.

Move to a flanking position on the Splinterwaif with Eirlys, 5 foot stepping if I am threatened. Then strike with Leading the Attack using my greatsword.

[Dwarmin]

Tyri flits up over the heads of her teammates and does a tiny gesture-doing a backflip, and sending a magic missile toward the splinterwaif.

1d20+1 CL check=21 vs 7 SR

The missile seems to flicker and slow for a moment right before it strikes the creature-but, only for a moment. It continues unerringly.

1d4+1=3

The spell strikes the creature in the side of the head with an popping noise-causing thorns and thick green sap to fly in a dirty spray.

....

The Splinterwaif shakes it's shaggy head, clearing the pain-orienting on Ari!

With a sound like a whipcrack, it's leathery tongue extend and makes a flicking motion toward the alchemist. A sudden storm of spines arcs toward him at high speed.

1d20+6=16 Attack vs 13 ac (flatfooted)
Damage!

1d6+2d6(SA)=3 damage (You lucky dog)

Ari stumbles falls back and turns-more by fortune than skill-avoiding the worst of it. But, he gets a nest of spines in his rear for his trouble.

....

((And given the choice between delaying the turn for Mathias to show up or moving him back in the init order, we'll continue on now ))

Ari takes the initiative, avenging himself upon on the Splinterwaif by taking a vial of dark red-purple liquid from his bandolier and chugging it at the creature. His allies hold back, momentarily.

1d20+5=9 Attack vs 15 ac (Touch)
Damage!

Miss! But 1 damage for splash (You unlucky dog)

The Splinterwaif reacts to the sight of the vial with visible concern, perhaps even recognizing it for what it is-the beasts arches it's spine at an impossible angle-up and over, leaping away as the vial strikes the air where it was-only a few tender licks of the hungry flame stroke it's thorny hide.

However, it finds itself under attack the moment it lands-by the unlikely combination of a fairy and a giant.

...

Glaring furiously-her eyes like two tiny embers-Eirly's guisarme comes crashing down...

1d20+1=21 Attack vs 17 ac
Damage and crit threat...?
Threat 8+9=nope!

Damage 1d4-2-5(dr)=-3
Well, 1 damage. Every hit does a minimum of 1.

It strikes the Splinterwaif's head straight on, doing little visible damage, but Eirly's seemingly minor blow actually seems to absorb energy...

((Eirly's gains Stone Bones!))
...

Gracewyn steps into the opening Eirly creates with practiced ease, and takes this moment to bring her sword down on it with a roar...

1d20+8+2(Flank)=18 vs 17 ac

Damage 3d6+5-5(dr)=14
(It died )

The Goliath's blade sinks through the Splinterwaifs skull and comes to a stop-Grace, with a furious look upon her, brings her sword and strikes once more-twice, three times! She slices all the way down into the chest-nearly bisecting it. She'll later think it was like trying to chop down a tree-alot harder than it looked. Gracewyn only withdraws her sword with a disgusted sound as the foul creatures body falls to the ground, gushing green, sap like blood and hundreds of pointed thorns-even in death, it's body continues to regenerate needles-that die just as fast-and twitch obscenely.

As the group takes a breath, they notice all the thorny bushes around them have died and withered with the waif.

Small white flowers now grow on the ground, where once was bramble.

...

For passing a CR 2 encounter, each party members gains 122 xp!
Even Mathias?

[GiglameshDespair]

Slowly, Tyrileaf descended, wings buzzing. "Blargh! Horrible thing." she said, sticking out her tongue and pulling a face.

She looked around at the debris on the floor, now mixed with the flowers, looking for anything shiny or particularly noticeable.

[Zako]

"Take THAT, you overgrown thorn bush!" Gracewyn yells at the twitching corpse at her feet. A quick sigh of relief and a wipe down of her blade with a cloth, and she turned to the others while sheathing her sword. "Now this place is safe again. Hopefully we can get a reward from someone for getting rid of this menace. Ari, have you any idea of who might pay for this? Can you use it's corpse for anything useful?"

Remove the head of the thing and dump it in a sack. Look around for anything of note.

[Dwarmin]

Grace hacks off the head and dumps it in a bag-it already resembles a dried out ball of twine more than anything that was ever alive. Still, it's profoundly disturbing to look upon-with rudimentary human features twisted in hate and agony. Everyone is glad when it's sealed away.

The body is likewise nearly hollow and lifeless, like a tumbleweed, more than the nightmare it was.

((Grace should add the head to her inventory, if not the whole body-it doesn't weigh much anymore))
...

Gracewyen and Tryileaf scour the area-and thankfully, there's no more creatures here. Perhaps they have reason to be paranoid...

What they find isn't much. The creature's 'den' is hardly more than a hole in the ground, and the things inside seem randomly collected. It didn't seem to value treasure very much.

   40 GP in assorted coins
~
    Small Bronze Ajax Medallion (50 gp)
~A rich bronze amulet that depict's the Human God Ajax striking the head from a serpent with his twin axes on it's face.
    Bag of 20 Small Sling Bullets (2 sp, 10 lb)
~A dirty cloth bag sized for a halfling or a human child, filled with tiny stones
    Box of Chalk+Drawings (1 sp, 1/2 lb)
~Simple drawing tools in a Finely carved wooden box-the box itself might be have been worth something once, but the Splinterwaif mangled it's once beautiful face trying to get inside at the 'treasure'. Inside are a few well drawn pieces of art, done by a childs hand.
    Bag of Common Spice (1 gp, 1 lb)
~A bag of common table salt.
    Bolt of Canvas (1 gp, 10 lb)
~A tightly bound roll of cloth the splinterwaif was using as bedding-it has a broken wooden symbol on the front that reads 'PROPERTY OF THE EDGEWITH FABRIC COMPANY'
    Bow Saw (5 gp, 5 lb)
~A medical tool in poor condition, but it is perhaps useable. It was probably some sort of improvised weapon beforehand.
    Game Board with pieces (1 gp, 2 lb)
~A popular childrens board game called 'Shafts and Steps'-it's in decent condition, and still has all the pieces.
    Small Cask [Sealed] (8 sp, 5 lb)
~A tightly sealed barrel that shows no signs of having been opened-there is no identifying marks on it, either.
    Wooden Tongs (3 gp, 2 lb)
~A pair of cooking utensils once, perhaps. No use now.

((Any loot not claimed is assumed to be auto-sold as junk next time you're in civilization))

[lawastooshort]

"I don't know, Gracewyn, perhaps I can..."

Ari kneels, slips out a dagger and takes a sizable sample of the strange beast.

Perhaps it has some inherent powers of camouflage or something similar?

"I would have thought the Guard would be the best people to tell about this, but I'm not sure where we stand with them at the moment, especially given the job we've taken on. Perhaps seeking out one of the Lowtown 'mayors', but I'm not sure that they'd have a lot to offer us, money's tight round here... If you hadn't just hacked the thing's head off I'd suggest maybe a necromancer might be interested in such a corpse, but you know, I'll certainly be interested in doing a little investigation."

When Gracewyn and Tyrileaf show off their discoveries, Ari polishes the medallion of Ajax to a nice shine on the inside of his coat, and eyes the roll of fabric.

"This fabric would be useful to me at the surgery, if you might be able to carry it for me Gracewyn? The salt too... Anyway, shall we be off now? You know, Widow Wood is probably being watched, if she might be able to lead to a big treasure trove. Perhaps you should let me scout on ahead a hundred feet or so, see what I can see before the pair of you go in to talk business. I might not have the sharpest eyes but I can keep myself out of sight more than you might think. I'll shout if I need to... What do you say?"

Take a large sample and then let's head off to the meeting point near Widow Wood's house, and then head to the mission. See Widow Wood myself if we think it will be safer (given the area we are in) but let the others see her if we think it will be safer (given the probability she is being watched). In fact, perhaps I should approach her house Moving Silently in Hiding, try to observe, and then report back?

((edit: I have very little spare carrying capacity I'm not claiming the medallion, incidentally, we can sell it, although he is Ari's favoured god.))