While the southern summers bring a redeeming thaw to winter's fright of white, the North is far more unforgiving near its peaks who remain snowcapped for the duration of a small eternity. In the distance they can see them, feeling its echoes in the deep hours of the night as when they camp and the fires die to embers - unless properly tended of course.

The morning brings some degree of warmth this far north, deep in the thickets along the Red River Run between its eastern shores and Stonedeep. The trip up North had been fairly uneventful, the biggest spectacle being when one fool fell from the horse. But now our band of merry scouts, and perhaps not so scouts, press deeper into the thick canopy to follow the faint rumors gathered here and there of this being the direction where 'those funny lookin' folks' headed off to.

((Feel free to make your poses of getting here, etc, tied into up to the point I posed. Please also @check perception + survival at 20 for me please! I'm okay with you doing any and all checks henceforth to the room or to me privately if you so wish.))

Cybele checked perception + survival at difficulty 20, rolling 3 higher.

Armand checked perception + survival at difficulty 20, rolling 3 higher.

Marian has rolled a critical success!
Marian checked perception + survival at difficulty 20, rolling 100 higher.

Shard checked perception + survival at difficulty 20, rolling 8 higher.

Jayanthi checked perception + survival at difficulty 20, rolling 4 lower.

Aksel checked perception + survival at difficulty 20, rolling 8 higher.

Cybele is not really a scout - the shaman carries a staff with metal bits catching the wind and letting out soft chimes is really just for making pretty noises wwith. But the shaman IS happy to move along the canopy. Can't fall from a horse if you're not riding one. That's how Cybele solves these kinds of things. Still, the shaman hums, studying plants here and there. From moss growing on trees to growths beneath the canopy. But they do leave most of them alone.

Lord Armand Farshaw is neither a Northerner nor a shamanist. Indeed, he might stick out somewhat, clad in his silvered steel plate marked with the twelve, never thirteen, symbols of the pantheonic Gods. Yet his faith is not something he puts before aiding the Compact's efforts, nor in putting his sword and shield to use in the defense of all its citizens, be they of the Faith or Shamans. Still, for not belonging so far North, he has managed to keep pace rather well, quiet for much of the trip, thoughts elsewhere while his eyes track the surroundings.

Marian seems more like herself on the horse as they ride off into the Northlands to do a scouting mission. Marian is a prodigal, she has spent more time living off the land than in the city, so once the trappings of civilization have been given up, it becomes clear that this scout is in her element. She rides along on her horse, scenting the air, her keen eyes missing nothing as she looks for threats to the party.

The little artist severely lacks the skills of a swcout. In fact she is pretty damned noisy as she walks along. She has likely forgotten WHY she is in a forest. There was constant, "Waaait! Let me just sketch this.." And should no one stop there is loud running to catching up. The prodigal is definitely not a scout. Her noisy following even even noiser as Jayanthi trips over several roots and goes tumbling foward and does a face plant. Stealth is not this girl's friend. She was probably also the one who fell off the horse. Jayanthi, definitely, provides the specifical.

Shard isn't a person who smiles. Ever, it seems like. Or who demonstrates any kind of cheer. But as they've gone further and further north, as the terrain has changed for the colder and rougher, there's something palpable about the woman that has most definitely shifted. It's not necessarily what one might call a good mood, but it's certainly something...eager, perhaps? An energy that seemed lacking when they left the city. Maybe that's simply the mission. Or nerves. Really, it's hard to read her on the best of days, and no amount of odd moods seem to have done anything to hamper her seriousness. She's traveling extraordinarily light--just herself, what she needs to sleep, the barest of supplies for eating, her weaponry, and her horse--and speaking of that horse, it's an odd breed. The thing is shorter than the type to be found in Arx, with thicker fur, and clearly built for running rather than carrying heavy knights around on wartorn battlefields. It, too, seems quite happy to be in cooler weather.

Onward to the North. The further North the party goes, the more relaxed and at ease Aksel becomes. Especially when the skirt the edges of Nightgold lands. He's dressed for the colder weather, but in layers that he can easily shed as the warmth of the day returns. Like Cybele, Aksel doesn't ride unless forced to. His strides are long and his green-gold eyes are always darting around the lands as they travel.

"Doesn't seem like anyone's been fighting, not here, anyway." Armand remarks, before the Oathlander glances Marian's way, the only person he's met before the trip. "But I've not the eyes of a woodsman. Do you see anything yourself, Your Highness?"

"The animals are still active." Cybele gestures around. To a trail where a rabbit has been by since the last snowfall. "They have not been chased out of here, yet." And, it would seem, Cybele has taken it on themselves to guide Jayanthi whenever the artist falls behind. The tall blonde adjusting their cat-hood cloak, leaning on their staff, offering the prodigal a smile. Today, Cybele is a cat.

At somepoint during there walk about, Aksel let's out a whistle to indicate that he's located something. "Black cloth," Aksel says to those who draw near and motions to a piece of cloth snared on a branch. He peers down a side trail that heads eastward and motions in that direction with his hand, "Looks like they went thattaway."

Marian narrows her eyes and looks to the north, moving her horse forward to murmur something softly to Shard. Marian is frown and her eyes then search for Aksel as she whistles softly under her breath and shakes her head to Aksel. She glances at the rest of the group, making notes of their position. It's clear she wants to head to the North and not take the side trail.

Shard slows her horse as Marian moves closer. She murmurs something back, and then she, too, looks northward with a narrow frown, before stopping her horse entirely. She puts one hand on her horse's neck and swings off, then offers the reins to whoever is nearest. It looks like she's in agreement with Marian.

At Cybele Jayanthi beams brilliantly as she assures to keep Jayanthi with the pack. "you're awesome." she tells the Shaman. Everyone else gets a bright, if apologic, smile that she is not the best to have along. Here she is, however. Likely her redeeming quality is she's a great healer. At least in this situation.

Armand blinks at the sight of the black cloth, but then gives a nod to Aksel. "Good eyes, I missed that." But then Marian's peculiar way of communicating gets his attention. He doesn't say anything further, taking a moment to process what is indicated, the knight clearly rusty on his whistlespeak. With both Shard and Marian indicating North, Armand gives a shrug and makes to follow.

"I am awesome. I inspire awe." Cybele agrees, gently shifting their staff to tease a chime out of the metal adornments. Giving a nod at Aksel at his discovery, and slowly shifting to follow Marian since she's the ranking Redrain present.

While the cloth found was certainly left behind, there are no tracks visible about it - whatever left it behind, is long since gone. There is sound of rustling overhead, a quick rush of wind though the branches move far too slowly to match its speed. It is dull at first, a thud, a muffled beat only sounding once every three minutes. By this time a lull in their conversation allows for them all to hear at once. The wind blows again.

Marian lowers her voice and murmurs to the others that are close enough to listen, "War drums...to the North. I think they are trying to lay a trail to the side to get us off the path." She looks at all present, "I would prefer not to spring their trap." She motions to Cybele and Jayanthi, "Stay behind the warriors if needed." She readies her sword, knowing that an ambush is probably on the way.

Marian wields Second Chance - A Diamondplate Bastard Sword.

"I will bind wounds, if needed." Cybele declares. "But last time I used my staff as a weapon, I gave myself a black eye. So I will not do that again." The shaman declares, authoritarily. And then, they take up a protective position next to Jayanthi.

Shard gestures toward that sound, her voice also a low murmur. "I can try to take a look. Get close, or climb a tree." A beat. "Or both." Either way, she gives Cybele's chime a dirty look.

The mention of war drums does get the Oathlander's attention, and Armand steps forward, drawing forth his sword in the process. "Those of you with little fighting skill, stay behind me." he murmurs, and readies his shield, prepared to fight, and defend, as needed.

"I can't even use a weapon." says Jayanthi, unabashed. The artist tilts her head at the drumming but makes no effort to do much beyond follow people. You know, except still frequently stopping to try and sketch something. Her steps aren't quiet, the way she moves is not that stealthy. THough, she is somewhat trying she just has no skills in it.

Aksel gives a nod of his head to Marian, as he studies the cloth again and that path. Something doesn't sit well with him, but orders are to move forward. "I've got your ass then," Aksel says to Marian as he moves towards Jayanthi and Cybele. "Shit goes down stick near me, I've got you."

Aksel wields Stone's Remorse the Axe of Stonedeep.

"What do we do if shit goes in other directions?" Cybele inquires, politely, of Aksel. Pausing and shooting Jayanthi another smile, waiting for the artist to finish their sketch.

Thud. Thud. It does not pick up in rhythm, simply every three minutes with a sync to that bothersome wind. Unlike a war drum, it is far too slow to match that of a dance or a march.

Armand wields The Western Sun.

"If there's so many of them as we are overwhelmed, then I strongly suggest you simply run away." Armand remarks back to Cybele, though he doesn't look away from the front, the steel-clad Oathlander stepping forward.

Marian is being quiet, paying less attention to the war drums and more on their surroundings. She's listening for a russle in the foliage or snap of a twig. Or anything else that might indicate that another group is moving towards them.

Still lacking the silent step Jayanthi keeps following until told where to be. At Aksel she gives a bright grin, "Hi." she says to him then flashes a returnign smile to Cycbele and shows the sketch to them.

Cybele furrows their borw. "I don't think that's a wwar drum." The shaman muses, as they get closer. "If it is, they are moving awfully slow."

"I'll have to think on that," Aksel comments quietly to Cybele about shit going in other directions. He purses his lips as he considers the slow nature of the drumming as they move? along. His great axe rests lightly in his hands and while others eyes are on the trail before, his gaze always goes behind. "Help me watch the back trail," he says quietly to Jayanthi.

Nothing but that thud, ever present, but ever stubborn. It isn't moving. At. All. From the North it beckons or warns, dependent on the mouth to spin the tale.

Shard slips out of the forest like a shadow. A grim, clench-jawwed shadow whose tension is palpable. "Clearing up ahead," she murmurs, quickly. "You're going to run right out into it if you keep going. It looked empty from the tree I climbed, but I couldn't tell for sure. I'd stop until we can get a closer look. No telling who's watching it. The air up the tree tops is nearly still."

"They could fill us with arrows before we have the time to figure out what's going on, if they're waiting to ambush us." Armand remarks rather grimly when Shard returns and shares the news of the clearing ahead. "Might be best to do as she says, and figure out what's waiting for us."

Marian gives a nod to Shard as her and Armand were about to start moving the party forward. She stops and then asks, "Did you see the drum? Or anyone else?" She doesn't seem too happy at the situation as she grips her sword, "Or is the drum further up ahead?"

"No one and nothing," Shard says, "except one single bird in the tree I climbed."

Cybele furrows their brow. Considering, as they look towards where Shard says the clearing is. "I can try something, if you like. But it would leave my body as dead, and I would need you to look after it while I am gone." Looking to Jayanthi's sketch, the shaman reaches out a hand, to take it, shooting the artist a smile. "You have a good eye. I think maybe it is good we have you with us. You are Jayanthi, yes?"

When Aksel tells her to watch the back trail Jayanthi turns to start walking backwards. she is totally taking him literal. She turns around once more to look ast cycbele at the words, "I can watch over you." At the question of her name Jayanthi gives a nod of her head, "That is the name I was given, yup."

The clearing is not terribly difficult to find as they trudge along, there is the thick press of tree trunks and then suddenly...there isn't? The snow however does stop here and it seems like it was cleared at some point in the recent history for a campsite, even the tents still remain along with the pot over the dead remains of a fire. Weapons still lean against the tent sides, and there are no signs of a hurried scuffle or a retreat at all for that matter. It seems that either time, or its inhabitants, simply forgot it.

Thud.

Thud.

Cybele has rolled a critical success!
Cybele checked mana + occult at difficulty 75, rolling 85 higher.

"Anything odd about the bird?" Marian asks Shard as the others chat around them. She does give Cybele an odd look when she mentions that she can do something 'mystical' and gives her a nod as if to say it's fine.

"You can just look over your shoulder from time to time," Aksel comments to Jayanthi as they draw closer to the main group. He places his great axe on his shoulder and rubs at his face. "I can play drunk man wandering. Something pops out, I run.." he glances about a moment, "I run dead east to lead em on a little chase." He doesn't look at all that suprised that Cybele wants to do Shamany things.

"N...o," Shard says, as they come upon the abandoned camp. Her frown deepens even further, and she steps to the side, moving at an angle to go around the camp and toward the nearest climbable tree, now that they are this much closer to the clearing.

Once the shaman is given permission, they settle down, putting the staff over their knees. Exhaling, softly. "If I was doing this -properly-," they grumble, to Marian and Jayanthi, who can appreciate proper shamanism. "I would spend some time putting ropes up between the branches of the trees to hang from. But I will just have to breathe until my soul follows my breath out of my body." They decide. Then they close their eyes. And hum. it's an eerie, odd melody. A hum that goes low and rises high. An arrhytmic beat that breaks up the pattern of inhalation and exhalation, until Cybele's eyes roll back in their heads, and the shaman collapses backwards. Almost as if dead.

Armand... does not comment on the usage of shamanistic practices. Which is rather remarkable for an Orthodox. Possibly something to do with the life or death situation they find themselves in. He doesn't say much at all, in fact, his attention on the area around them, still at the ready.

Marian leaves Cybele and Jayanthi in Aksel's skilled protection. She careful starts to move through the abandoned area, opening up covers, moving things to confirm they are alone in this abandoned tribe. She's on high alerts since it's clear by her face that she expects an ambush.

Armand checked perception + survival at difficulty 30, rolling 5 higher.

Marian checked perception + survival at difficulty 30, rolling 12 higher.

Jayanthi is little but she does move to capture Cybele as they fall and gently lays their body down, after assuring nothing will hurt is on the ground. Beside Cycbele Jayanthi settles, sitting quite easily to wait for them to be done the thing being done.

Aksel isn't going to play drunk man walking it seems. Darn, he may have been practicing. He stands near the Shaman's body even as there soul? has decided to go on a walk about. He brings a finger up to his lips to indicate that Jayanthi should be quiet for a moment. Not because of the wandering Cybele, but to indicate she should keep her eyes and ears peeled around them as others go on there explorations of things.

Cybele has barely relaxed into Jaynathi's grasp, body slack and head lolling against their shoulder, when suddenly the prodigal can feel the shaman stiffen in their grasp. Cybeles eyes widen, staring into nothing, their entire body goes taut, quivering, and a strangled scream makes its way from their throat as they strain upwards, arms and legs jerking, spine bowing, and the shaman trashing violently. "The frozen horse! The skull! The tress! The far edge!" they manage to choke out, grasping at Jayanthi's arms, looking around wide-eyed. "It hurts it hurts it hurts go away go away!"

Marian frowns as she looks in a pot, sniffs at the frozen chunks, "It's been here for some time." She then scents the air and the turns as Cybele starts to thrash. She turns to the direction of the far corner, sniffing and looking about, "A foul odor is coming from the northern edge...I think it's where she felt something." She looks to Armand or Shard to see if they want to go with her to check it out.

Cybele takes minor damage.

Armand's eyes wander upon the weapons, and he shakes his head slightly. "Whoever held these weapons... they didn't defend themselves. They didn't flee. I can't.... see." The Oathlander frowns, and his hand tightens upon his sword. "I can't see its face, only know its darkness. We must step very carefully." And then Cybele starts screaming. He winces, in sympathy... perhaps also because of the noise. When Marian proposes going forth, he gives a nod. "Let's just be careful. I don't see anything further from here."

"I got you." Jayanthi assures Cycbele when her arms are grasped. If the grasp hurts Jayanthi doesn't show it. She simply keeps a hold of Cyble until they calm down enough that Jayanthi can give a once over and find where it hurts. The three doing their scouting are slanted at then Jayanthi glances to Aksel then back onto Cybele she looks, trying to sooth her to a point she is relatively calm.

Shard isn't on the ground any more. In fact, it's not clear /where/ she is, not until a sharp hiss from...up. Up and up. She's in a tree again, nearly at the top judging from the sound, though she's not actually visible from the forest floor.

"Over there. It stands, frozen, still tied. Something picked the bones clean, something... I think it is still there." Cybele hisses, under their breath, drawing ragged and shallow breaths of air, hugging against Jayanthi still as they stare off to the northern edge of the clearing.

Aksel looks down at the Shaman as she snaps too and starts to ramble about things. He jaw tightens and his great axe slips from off his shoulders into both hands. Across the clearing he gives Marian a nod that he's still got there ass and gives motion to his position being a rally point if needed.

That scream? It may be disturbing, but what is more disturbing is that the drums suddenly -stop- at its escape.

Marian moves straight towards the danger, unafraid. Assuming those that want to will follow her as she seeks out what might have picked the bones clean. Her sword is out and readied as she makes her way over to the tied thing.

Jayanthi keeps that gentle hold on cybele, the touch is soothin and even her voice is, "To the north? Do you know what the something is?" Jayanthi keeps a hold on Cycbele for as long as Cybele is in need of it. There is no effort to move from the spot by Jayanthi until Cybele is ready too. Though, Jayanthi does keep a vague sort of eye on Marian and Armand, since she can't see Shard anymore and Aksel is with her and Cybele.

And all of the warnings and the pieces fall together, the untouched weapons with no sign of fleeing or scuffle, the food festering in the pot, the absolute stillness of this clearing save for the mist of their breath - the death right at the Northern-most point of the clearing is where the stench orginates. A horse, frozen upright where it was tied to its post. Its head is half thrown up in a silent whinny, part of its skull and ribs picked clean and one hoof off the ground as if ready to kick at the dirt below. It is the brief moments of the beast being startled, frozen before it can finish the thought.

A clicking or creaking now and those branches move, all bowing inwards towards the clearing. The clicking increases, call and response from countless points of origin about them - from the trees, from the ground, from the center of the clearing and then echoes of it leagues beyond.

Marian doesn't react to the hideous scene with anything other than a frown as she spies the gruesome reamins of the horse. She turns to where the branches move, the bowing inwards as the clicking increases. She listens closes, trying to make out if the clicks give any indication of position before the potential attack. She calls out in a clear voice, "Begone fouled ones. We are of the Compact, the Faithful who bring light into the darkness. Seek your carrion elsewhere." She brandishes her blade, letting the light glint off the diamondplate, "If you seek to fight us, you will lose. Go, return from where you came."

Shard doesn't say anything. She hisses a little through clenched teeth as she climbs down as fast as she can go, part swinging, part jumping, part sliding, branch to branch to branch, boots skidding against the rough bark. She's moving as soon as she hits the ground, waving wildly at the three still near the empty encampment. "/Aksel/." It still sounds like a hiss, and she's still fairly quiet, for all that clicking. "Get them on the horses, /get them on the horses/. /Now/."

"Or rather, stand your ground that we might cleanse your taint and send you screaming back to the Abyss." Armand adds to Marian's speech. "One way or another, you will be gone from our world. The Gods and the Compact demand it so, and none shall stand before their will." Conviction, the fire of zealous faith, fills his voice, even as he seeks the enemy, to protect those with him... and cut out the foul thing's heart."

Armand checked willpower at difficulty 15, rolling 3 higher.

Marian checked willpower at difficulty 15, rolling 5 lower.

Jayanthi checked willpower at difficulty 15, rolling 2 lower.

Shard checked willpower at difficulty 15, rolling 6 higher.

Aksel checked willpower at difficulty 15, rolling 4 lower.

The chittering ceases and the drum sounds again, now rapid and incessant in its beat, pounding from all angles about them as murmuring rises in what first seems to be a forgein tongue but as it progresses? Animal grunts, primal noises of incoherent meaning as eyes begin to reflect around them, all staring towards the center and the party. They are not armed, nor do they advance, they are simply staring. Waiting. In a simultaneous beat of the drum, the circle of staring beings all point to the right to their neighbor, cackling laughter hidden behind grotesque animal skin masks sewn with questionable crimson, sinewy threads. There is another beat of the drum and the horse just collapses, crumbling into dust and cracking the abyssal, blackened hoarfrost that had branched out from its feet upon the ground.

Cybele checked willpower at difficulty 15, rolling 4 lower.

Something must've broken in Cybele when they sent their spirits out, because at the chittering, the shaman just shudders, burying themselves deeper against Jayanthi. "Make them go away," they plead. Voice high-pitched. "make them go away."

Marian finds herself frozen as her brave words, unable to move or react to the enemy that arrives in their face. Nor the collapse of the horse that sends the demonic hoarfrost to the ground. She tries to move her mouth and cannot. She's trapped inside her own body and her eyes, a reflection of her soul, show her rage at being held.

Well, Marian's a talker it seems. Aksel on the other hand, is not. When the trees start to bow inwards, his eyes follow where they would point too trying to get a bead on things and hopefully call out a position. When Shard appears like a monkey from the trees, he looks to her and no sooner then the words are out of her mouth, he's helping Jayanthi and Cybele towards the horses, "When shit is about to go sideways...." he stops not able to complete the sentence his eyes staring straight ahead and he frozen in place.

The sight does not make Armand pause. Indeed, it only makes him burn brighter. His gaze focuses on one in particular, an entity circling behind the laughing crowd. "You." He points with his sword. "You, and all that follow you, die on this day. For the corruption you have brought to this land, for the blood you've spilled for your unholy worship. Gloria, guide my blade! Lagoma, burn their filth! Petrichor, reject where their bodies fall. And Death?" The knight steps forward, unafraid, filled with righteous fury. "Unravel their souls, may they find redemption on the Wheel." He raises his sword. "For the Gods, for the Compact!" And he charges. Because that's what zealous Oathlander knights do when faced with horrifying monsters.

The artist continues to try soothing Cybele. Though, she does find herself unable to move, from the chittering, holding Cybele. Her moveability may have stopped and her voice might be barely escaping her but she does still try to sooth the poor Cybele.

Jayanthi's

"/Fuck/," Shard says, eloquently, although she's yet to raise her voice above a mutter. "Fuck, fuck, fuck." She walks two steps and throws a firm right hook at Aksel's jaw when she sees him freeze up. "/Move/! Now!" Her other hand goes to the pouch hanging from her neck, seizing sharply at it for reasons only she could say.

Shard checked willpower at difficulty 15, rolling 10 higher.

Aksel checked willpower at difficulty 15, rolling 10 higher.

Armand checked willpower at difficulty 15, rolling 10 higher.

Marian checked willpower at difficulty 15, rolling 3 lower.

Cybele checked willpower at difficulty 15, rolling 15 higher.

Jayanthi checked willpower at difficulty 15, rolling 18 higher.

Pow - right in kisser. Aksel head snaps to the side and his body turns at the force of the blow. His head snaps back around and growls at Shard, "You suckered punched me," he's about to return the favor but he comes to the realization of what the hell is going on and he scrambles to help Cybele and Jayanthi to there feet and moving towards the horses. ".. time to get a move on ladies."

Jayanthi reaches the shivering Cybele,and the shaman slowly rises, taking their fellow prodigal by the hand. Eyeing the chittering creatures. "Horse," They agree, with Aksel and Shard. Then, almost as an afterthought, as they move with a chiming staff and their arm securely fastened to Jayanthi. "Not a lady."

It is oft' said that imitation is the finest form of flattery, and this -thing- has taken this to heart with the harkening of the Slaver's Herald. A creature that towers near seven feet emerges from the treeline as the creepers, still pointing, slowing toe their way back at his approach rather than the shouts of the party. The beasts, or what is clearly an amalgamation of beasts, is crowned with a pair of antlers meshed to its temples and making it stand at eight feet total. The horse's missing face and and portion ribs? Oh, they have been found, in the according places on this beast's form. It is a haphazardly thrown together horror of creatures: a horse's snout and a boar's borrowed tusks. The antlers of a stag and the pelt of a wolf's torso. Hooves form the heels of its boots, shaggy goat skin covering the legs and then the arms that end in the clawed fingers of the bear - though upon closer inspection those thorns are nothing more than briars of twisted black, now making a bum rush at the voice that called loudest and ripping off that helm to expose the flesh underneath. It moves too quickly to be stopped at first, Armand its sole focuse, but those briars now find his temple and murmur sweet horrors in his ear. It's back is exposed, but all attention is on the Farshaw.

Marian wants to attack the hideous beast, she wants to move her sword and join the fray, but the mighty warrior continues to stand there frozen, under the thrall of the dark magic going on. Only her vicious green eyes reflect her anger, her menace for the beast as the others are left to fight it.

Shard turns as soon as Aksel is moving Jayanthi and Cybele along. There's no one to see her face, no one to see the look in her eyes, or quite how her eyes have changed. Perhaps that's a good thing. "Oh..." she breathes, now that she's facing the beast again, speaking in Northern Shav but barely audible. "You stupid, stupid fucker." She fairly snaps her short sword free of its sheathe, and simply runs, runs as hard and as fast as she can, in an echo of the creature's own rush at Armand, straight at its back. There's a hunger about her that can't really be explained, but only witnessed.

Shard wields a rubicund short sword with a black leather wrapped grip.

Shard checked strength + medium wpn at difficulty 25, rolling 16 higher.

Jayanthi checked strength + brawl at difficulty 25, rolling 12 lower.

Rather predictably, invoking the names of the Gods, and promising holy retribution on the servants of the Abyss, does put Armand in the questionably special spot of being target number one. He doesn't have time to stab the monster when it rushes him, and is then gripped by the head in a hold that is nigh crushing. "I will personally hold your bones over Lagoma's flame!" he tells the monster, even as he attempts to stab at the thing's head.

Armand checked strength + medium wpn at difficulty 25, rolling 52 higher.

"We should get Princess Marian also." Cybele suggests, vaguely, a bit dreamlike, still watching with eerie fascination the facsimile before them. Shuddering slightly as they move, and exhaling. Putting their staff down and drawing their dagger. Considering it. "Lagoma's flame purifies, it is so." They agree. Then charges after Shard, yelling out a surprisingly startled battle-cry.

Aksel checked strength + huge wpn at difficulty 25, rolling 18 higher.

Cybele checked strength + small wpn at difficulty 25, rolling 19 lower.

Cybele wields Flames of Renewal.

"Get!" Aksel snarls at the pair turning and following Shard into battle quickly. There is a warrior's grace about him as he moves at the creature, quick as he is though he stays near Shard as they go into battle, protecting her flank as they converge.

Marian checked willpower at difficulty 15, rolling 6 higher.

"Do you see, do you?" comes a raspy intonation aimed at Armand as the thorned fingertips dig in sharply from his temples and draw ever closer towards his eyes. The horned beast laughs, cackling and hoarse, cruel and mocking even as Shard and Aksel's blades drive home and begin to draw blood from him. It hangs its head for a moment, before issuing a pained roar and renewing its efforts and digging those thorns in deeper near Armand's brow.

The creepers, staring? They are far more impish and decide to throw branches, rocks, whatever they may at Jayanthi and Cybele with the mocking squeal of a pig to add insult to injury.

Cybele takes minor damage.

Armand takes moderate damage.

Shard checked strength + medium wpn at difficulty 25, rolling 26 higher.

Aksel checked strength + huge wpn at difficulty 25, rolling 38 higher.

Jayanthi takes moderate damage.

Marian checked strength + medium wpn at difficulty 25, rolling 17 higher.

If it can bleed, it can die. Suddenly the mystical significance is lessened for the Marian. The childhood fear it's imaged invoked put in it's proper place, the past. She does roar or even let out cry as she moves in, her sword flashing as she tries to join her friends in attacking the beast. The rage is just pouring off of Marian as she tries to drive her sword into the creature. While her blow is not as swift or deep as some of her companions, Marian feels vindicated that she was able to strike a blow.

He manages to hit, despite being held by his own head, and stab the Western Sun at the creature's head. But that is a short-lived victory, and soon he suffers the creature's revenge. "I see." Armand answers, before a cry of pain escapes him as the thorns dig deeper... or perhaps it's for the images that are even now being scarred into his mind. "I see... a fucking dead man talking." And he stabs again, pain for pain, again at that thing's head.

Armand has rolled a critical success!
Armand checked strength + medium wpn at difficulty 25, rolling 95 higher.

The little artist carries no weapons nor does she have a good fighting hand. However, she does attempt to fling her fists in the general direction of the.. thing. It just kind of fails because she doesn't move with her flailing. THe said flailing stops when she notices people getting hurt. So, her tactic changes as she moves to patch people up (or drag them back if need be), even after she is beaned in the arm by a branch. Since she can't fight she'll just do her best to patch people up.

Jayanthi's

There's no grace to Shard's attacks. She hacks and stabs and slices as fast and as hard as she can, and as high as she can, and as /deep/ as she can. There's a mad light dancing in her eyes now, a fury to her speed that speaks to little more than sheer anger driving each and every single blow. One might mistake the look on her face for a smile, but they'd be wrong. Her upper lip has merely peeled away from bared teeth.

Cybele is not a warrior - and lets out a little surprised yell when a rock finds its home straight against the back of their head. Rubbing at the stricken spot, the shaman completely foregoes their attempted stabbing, all but stumbling over their feet, whirling around, trying to see where the rock came from.

Against all odds, despite being hindered, in pain, his mind flooded with the horror of the Abyss, Armand grips his blade. "Ours the victory, Yours the glory!" he roars, and stabs, the Western Sun piercing skin and muscle, embedding itself in its head... and out of Armand's hand.

Aksel doesn't notice that the pair doesn't do the getting he had requested, but what's a Sword goonna do? He's going to continue to fight the foe that's doing naughty things to Armand. As Marian joins into the fray, Aksel shifts his positioning so that he's ble to assist either Shard or Marian. To protect them both if he can. His facial expressions becomes blank and his eyes are almost lost to the will of the battle, but he doesn't back down from the horrific beast. The moment Marian strikes and then Shard strikes, Aksel's own greataxe bites into the beast.

From sheer fortitude of its size, or stubbornness of its will, the wendigo staggers back at the sword embedded in its skull. It is the death rattle, the last moments of breath in which it rips off the crude bestial mask to unveil the ghastly human beneathe. "What glory in your choice.." is its dying words before it grabs Armand's sword by its grip and with one last show of strength, pulls it free and slits its own throat right then and there in front of Armand. The man, while bleeding from his own brow, now has the beast's blood to wash from the front of his armor as it slumps to the ground at Armand's feet, the horns now resting on the toes of his boots in a macabre offering.

The Creepers? Watching, all this while. At the fall of their evident leader the drum sounds once more and they all point to the neighbor on their left now, slowly stepping back until vanishing from sight entirely along with the dying ebb of the drum. The wind slowly returns, stirring the branches once more along with the distinct scent of rot. Life returns to this clearing, but serves only to bring along evidence of death's presence from the cultist's abyssal taint in light of their 'retreat'. With life's thaw comes the evidence of the camp's former inhabitants, luckless victims of the cannibalistic zealots of the Horned God now littering the fringe of trees beyond where the horse stood. And in that pot, still swinging now with a loud clank above the dead fire? Only the nose knows.

Those words... Armand stares silently at the dead corpse before him, his bloodied sword still in its grip. And then... he shakes his head. "I won't let your corruption remain, here, or within my mind, demon." He takes his sword again... and with no further thought and single-minded determination, begins to hack at the corpse, fully intending to cut its limbs apart.

"I will do a cleansing ritual for Blessed Lagoma." Cybele agrees, with a little shudder. "We do not have a part of the holy flame, but we can purify the corpse and perhaps some of this copse with fire, yes?" The shaman-Mercy suggests to Armand. Wincing at his fervour. Looking to Marian and Aksel for approval, and hugging Jayanthi tightly to them while they keep a wary eye against the forest edge where the creepers disappeared.

Jayanthi just keeps a soothing arm around cybele, "I can patch up anyone who needs it while Cybele does what can be done to purify." says Jayanthi. She's in the mode of healing so she doesn't think about what happened.

And just like that battle is done. Aksel stands over the foe a moment his greataxe in his hands as he watches the creature. Several long moments the Sword stands there before moving away from the group and drops to his knees his backside resting upon his feet. He sets his hands into the ground before him and his head lowers for a moment. When his head rises he brings his hands to wipe some dirt on his face. He rises to his feet and looks towards the group. He offers no comments on the cleansing or the hacking up of things. Just waits patiently.

Shard doesn't look as though she's going to hack any limbs, but she does lift one boot to stomp the back of the dead creature's skull. Then she gives Armand a strange look.

"Fire, we need to cleanse this with fire," Marian agrees with Cybelle as she steps back, a little shaken by their encounter with wendigo and cultists. She starts to go to work to gather the dead and decaying, offering a prayer to the Queen of Endings under her breath to remove the taint that was left here. Bring a true ending for those that were held under the abyssal sway.

"I gave my word. I will hold its bones over the holy flame of Lagoma. I don't care if I have to carry them back all the way back to Arx." Armand replies, not pausing in his work. "I'm not dragging the entire corpse on my back, so it'll be in pieces." he adds with grim practicality, his voice... edged, shards of broken glass. Whatever he saw... it's unlikely to make him receptive to anything that doesn't involve sacred fire and the bones.

The lesson learned is quite simply gleaned; cultists and the abyssal taint are far from gone in these lands. Surely, they exist in their own little pockets of the forest, but the traveler should beware and pay heed to warnings issued - glory or gore, the choice is not always yours in the untamed Northlands no matter how far reaching the hand of the Compact thinks itself to be.

"...You have fun with that," Shard says, with a faintly wrinkled nose. Now that the fighting is done, she pushes away, moving off to wipe her blade down. Notably, she leaves all the ritual work to the others. She keeps a wide distance.

Marian keeps her own consul as she moves about, helping to move the rotted, decayed pieces to the place where they're going to burn and purify. She honors all the gods so that the fire is done for Lagoma and not the Queen of Endings does not matter to her. Even Gloria gets quiet prayer as she moves along.

Jayanthi gently extracts herself from Cybele, "I'll be at hand. I'm just going to patch people up." That said Jayanthi moves to start patching people up that need it.