Animal Deaths

[hyurg]

A white cloaked man is seen ringing a bell traveling from forest to forest. Everywhere he travels various animals die horrendously coughing out their lungs then shriveling up only to turn into dust that blows away in the first breeze.

[Hellwalker]

A well-toned man clad in earthly tones strode through the silent forest. He could not help but note the ominous silence. Where were the chirping birds in the treetops, the fish playing in the river, the distant howling of wolves? It was too quiet…

A gust of wind burst past him, his heavy cloak flailing in the wind. It carried with it a scent familiar to him… blood. But there was something else as well – a foul stench he could not place.

Striding quickly through the woodland he finally came upon a small cave – from the scent inside he could tell it was home to a bear – perhaps even a whole family. Each step echoed between the cavern walls until his foot trampled something unfamiliar – a crunching sound heard as he felt something break beneath his heel like a twig – yet much more solid.

His eyes had not yet adjusted to the pitch-black cave, thus he was forced to kneel down and feel the foreign object. He picked it up and ran his hands across it. It did not take long for him to realize the item he held in his hands was the large bone of a creature’s ribcage, snapped in half by his mere step. He circled the bones of the entire creature – it was large – quadrupedal – a bear? The ground beneath him crackled with a gravel-like texture as he walked around the fallen creature, feeling the shape of the bones.

The man muttered a few words in a strange tongue, and suddenly his eyes lit up in an icy-blue glow. He could see now – as clearly as though the sun was illuminating the cave. What lay before him in the small cavern was the charred remains of a mighty bear – the bones’ bulk suggesting in life it had been strong and fierce. Ashes were strewn all around the skeleton, the true nature of the texture he had felt beneath his feet.
As he let his gaze wander across the grizzly scene he noted several large bloodstains near the creature’s head. He knelt down to place a hand on the fallen creature’s skull. His merest touch was enough to cause the skull to collapse in on itself. He frowned and muttered in a low growling voice;

“No burn marks… no impact damage in the skeleton… yet there is blood… blood and ashes.”

He grabbed an empty glass flask from his belt and collected some of the ashes and broke off a small fragment of the creature’s bones, placing everything in the flask before sealing it and securing it to his belt. Rising to his feet he glanced around one last time for further clues, a grim look upon his face.

“What happened here..?”

No answer came – only the question echoing repeatedly – he was not sure if it was in his head or between the cavern walls.
Before leaving the man set fire to the corpse, leaving no trace of its existence. He set out with swift, determined steps into the thick woodland.

[elvishnation]

*An elf in fullplate, blue cloak and hood patrols the hullack, walking through the trees she comes upon a familiar scent. All to familiar. She frowns and covers her mouth and nose with a cloth, looking around alertly she casts true seeing out of habit.*

Not again. He dares come back in these woods and infect everything?!

*She moves quickly through the woods following the horrid scent of plague. Coming across dust covering the ground where a pack of wolves claim as home. She shakes her head sorrowful, gazing around for any more signs before vanishing suddenly, footsteps heard moving quickly away.*

[828stingstingneo]

Two elves, one male and one female, travel the Bramblewood, searching for animals. Sometimes it is one elf and one wolf. They bury the remains deep, carefully away from water supplies.

[hyurg]

More bones and dust can be found on both sides of the road between Waymoot and Dhedluk. It's obvious they belong to small animals and birds that got too close to something.

[lakhena]

Traveling along her usual routes within the Kings Forest, a white-cloaked figure slips through the woods near soundlessly, her quiet sojourn interrupted by a sudden intaking of breath as she begins to notice the patterns of bones and dust alongside the road. A closer look reveals a pale-faced elven maiden, now crouched, a slender finger extending to one of the small piles of dust and bone though not quite touching it. The finger is retracted and moments later, a thin glass vial appears. With the aid of a stiff, fallen leaf, the maiden sweeps some of the dust and bone into the vial before she stoppers it with a bit of cork.

Swiftly, she rises, sweeping through the forest, her cloak billowing behind her, with little regard as to who hears her passage now.

[soulfien]

Glenduil quietly makes his way through the trees leaving no trace of his passing. The quiet contemplative expression that is usually on his face is replaced by a deep scowl.

"This will not continue. I know who did this and his time is officially up."

He makes his way towards a worn gate covered in vines.

[828stingstingneo]

After she rises in the morning, an elf woman heads to the river. There she drops leaves of oak, ash, and thorn into the waters, praying to her god for wisdom and guidance. She watches the leaves float away, then returns to the inn to pen a letter.

[hyurg]

Both animal and human bones can be found resting on pillows of dust next to drying bloody piles of lung in the Mistwood forest. Some nearby residents blame a white cloaked man seen ringing a bell.

[soulfien]

*Glenduil walks among the dust and bones slowly traking the creature responsible... slowly narrowing down the search... slowly learning the prey's movements*

Are we druids and elves the only ones who care? Will the Crown do nothing about the plague bearer traveling its countryside? Will the adventurers who claim to fight for the good of all do nothing against this evil?

Weak minded all of them. We shall handle this as it should be handled.

Let the law of nature be felt in the forests of Cormyr!

*Glenduil moves on wiping dry his eyes concentrating once again on the prey*

[hyurg]

“Zashard, throw your chamber pot out! It smells like death! I didn’t think Cookie’s cooking to be that bad.” A cloaked man exclaims with a sharp whisper to another inside the Hullack Forest. Slowly he wiped sleep from his still tired eyes and stretched, yawning widely. Then he noticed his friend’s stillness. Slowly he turned the man over and saw a horrifying sight. A spongy sticky dark red mass had been coughed out sometime while he’d been sleeping. Quickly he made a protective sign to ward off evil hoping it would save him from whatever had killed Zashard. His eyes locked on something strange. It looked as though a triangle with three dots inside was carved into his friend’s forehead. Frantically he raced out of the tent to rouse the camp only to discover the others dead as well with the same triangle carved into their heads. Then the tromping of heavy footsteps was heard and the smell of death worsened.

Quickly his eyes glanced from spot to spot yet he saw nothing and he could feel the smell trying to choke the life from him. Every breath was a victory and his body struggled to take each one. Then he heard the whisper from behind him, “Don’t turn around if you value your life for it appears that you have been chosen. “ He swallowed hard and clenched his eyes shut praying to any power that would hear his prayers and not let him end up like his friends. The whisper behind him continued, “Go forth and tell all of what you saw. Tell everyone that there is no hope of beating the spread of the plague death. Others are coming far worse than I. Go now, chosen one.”

The man sprinted from the camp towards Thunderstone. Every step he took weakened the foul stench and he felt safer bit by bit. After reaching Thunderstone he races to the Temple of Tempus and tells the priest there all that happened.

People that investigate the area are unnerved by the quiet lack of animal sounds and see only bones resting on pillows of dust blowing away in a gentle breeze.

[828stingstingneo]

An elven woman wearing manticore hide enters the temple in Greatgaunt and kneels in prayer: "Silvanus sees and balances all, meting out water and drought, fire and ice, life and death." Finishing her prayers, she seeks out Merriss the temple druid and speaks with him quietly.

[lakhena]

A white-cloaked elf maiden stands poised at the edge of the woods south of Greatgaunt, peering in, her silvery blue eyes shifting to the dance of shadow and light caused by the swift movement of the voluminous clouds overhead that at times masked the sun. In her hand she held a white feather, which turned slowly, as she stood there, in seeming contemplation.

Her softly murmured words barely break the tranquility of the moment, "I made no such promise."

[The Flying Ve]

Rising from an animal carcass, the woman watches it quietly for some time, twin blades buried deep in its sickly flesh. After some time, she reaches down with delicate, gloved fingers and retrieves her weapons to vanish in the under brush of the woodlands.

Sickness should spread to all, not just the wild.

[hyurg]

Groups of animals can be seen to flee the woods south of Greatgaunt at various times in the day. Trees in those woods begin to bear a strange carved triangle with three dots inside it.

[lakhena]

Upon several of these trees marked with the three dots enclosed in a triangle, the following notes are posted by a figure cloaked in white, written in a simple, but elegant writing.

My thanks for your kind regards. If you truly wish to speak with me, send a messenger to Greatgaunt to make the proper arrangements. Have your messenger say where you obtained my name and what precautions I must take, that I might know the sender is truly you.

They are left unsigned.

[hyurg]

South of Greatgaunt more trees begin to bear the strange triangle mark with three dots inside it.

[Lady Frost]

On her walk to the enclave, Zoe takes notice of the symbols and removes as much of the bark and tree as it takes to remove all signs of the previous symbol.

[The Flying Ve]

Someone who had been cutting things to little pieces in the forest watches the blasphemer and simply wanders up when she is done to replace the symbol, etching it deep in the wood.

The huddled robed figure then ties a rope around her naked waist, the other end to a support of the bridge of fallen men, hiding it under her garment. Another rope, coiled to a lasso, she places under her legs, as she sits on the bridge, a small bowl in front of her with a few coppers inside.

[grivel]

A female druid walks through the woods carrying handmade baskets filled with food stuffs. She walks to a large tree and utters the words to a spell in a strange language that sounds like chirps and grunts. Then she steps into the tree and is gone.

Two hours later she appears at the same tree, her baskets now empty.

[hyurg]

Four giant skeletons slowly crawl from behind a waterfall in the King's Forest near Waymoot. As water drips from their bones red eyes look about for things to kill. Two dear nearby are caught in their claws and shredded into pieces. Their guts are hung on trees like ornaments. The giant skeletons stomp off in different directions.

[jensmann]

*he looks down to the thing that once was a giant skeletton*

"it seems i need to do something about guys like you heh?"

*the elf in heavy green armor enters the old temple walking to its deepest point, there he started to pray the and casting a hallowed ground spell to reduce the spread of the undeads*

"so what now about the ones who are already outside?" Guess it wil be a long day."

*the man goes back to work and cleaning up what comes and came out of the temple*

[828stingstingneo]

Meanwhile, an elf wearing a stag helmet and holding a sheild and club that appear too big for her size looks on with interest as a human mage uses a cantrip to remove the deer guts from the tree. Of the gruesome sight, "Woe to all who enter here?" she comments, "Heh, maybe we should've left them."

[hyurg]

Four more giant skeletons begin to crawl their way out from behind a waterfall in the Kings Forest. As they venture forth in different directions they kill any animals in their path and use their entrails to decorate nearby trees.

[jensmann]

*the elf is green armor can stil be seen around and in the temple, stil casting the hallow spell for severeal hours or meanwhile days, as well a winged man can be seen slaying those undeads around*

[grivel]

The elf is sometimes joined by a female human dressed in green who casts her own hallow spells in support. A giant tiger and wolf help to control the undead that still emerge.

[hyurg]

A large shadow emerges from the rocks a short distance away from a waterfall and silently prances through the forest touching any animals nearby and draining their strength until they die.

[jensmann]

*before Isednir leaves for the festival he opens three gates to the postive energy plane for a short time and floats the temple and its surroundings with the power of the plane*

[trebarruna]

An elf walks through the forest. She finds a strawberry bush, and when she kneels to gather some fruit, she notices a shadow not so far from where she is consuming the life of a deer.

She looks to the human who travels with her and asks if he also sees it. He replies quite calmly while stroking his box.
"Oh yes, me and my dear, we believe it is someone's Child, don't we?"

[Slanker]

The man with the box keeps his eyes briefly on the shadow, then turns to face the elfen woman. 'Any luck finding some straberries yet? My dear would not mind some as well'. Slowly he looks down at the box and shakes his head, 'I doubt that after it consumed that deer, the shadow would be interested in any strawberries.'

'It is rather interesting however', as his attention again changes once more to the shadow, 'Such beings do not ordinarilly come to such a place as this without being called upon. Perhaps we should see whome did so. Quite dear, or what.'