A Letter to The Kidnappers (and Thuddington)

BillHolmbladJr

BillHolmbladJr

Newbie
TO THE KIDNAPPERS:

Your days are numbered.

Whatever issues, concerns, problems or needs you had to be addressed could have been talked through. Until this past Saturday's events unfolded.

Your corruption of Healers' Guild members, the attempted capture of a party sent to assist them, my own slaughter by your hands, and the capture of Neolani and Circle Master Marsters by your numbers to be assimilated into a twisted rotting tree trunk and hauled off to who-knows-where, have placed you in the unenviable spot of being ON MY LIST.

Master Marsters was the first member of this area to welcome me and my retinue to this area, to show us the warmth and caring this region was known for when I stumbled through on a bitter cold January morning this year.

Neolani has shared fires with me and my crew; deep in icy tundra, across vast grasslands, from babbling brook to vast ocean, she has healed our bodies, kept our souls at peace, and watched over us in the twilight, when no-one else would.

Both were lost by your hands; neither has resurrected locally, and I can only hope they are safe from any ministrations you might seek to apply to them.

I may not know where I come from, but thanks to you, I know where my path now leads. To whatever realms or elements of doom you feel safe hiding in. Duke Raash rules over these lands fairly and justly from all reports; he more than likely will have consequences to mete out to you once you are found.

Pray I do not get to you first.

TO THE CITIZENS OF ENCAMPMENT 42 / THUDDINGTON:

I beseech you to find me next MarketFaire, and to help me find out the whereabouts of Neolani and Master Marsters; Should we verify their location and lives, I ask that you help me rescue them, return them home, and restore their bodies, minds, and spirits from whatever onslaught they may be suffering as we speak.

I have little treasure to offer, but will gladly forfeit any treasure draw from the corpses of the brigands... save one thing...

... I WANT THEIR HEADS.
 
Biff,

What do we know about these kidnappers? Who were they? From where did they come that might we be able to find them?

May the Light guide you, the Shadow guard your path, your Words have Power, and your Memories be Knowledge,
~ Gandian Ravenscroft
 
The creatures that overtook us & captured Master Marsters & Nahani were... not rotting...

The best way to describe would be to say they looked like normal adventurers, but their skin was grey, and had thorns and vines protruding from them, and winding down the exposed skin of their various limbs. Their blows projected out vines and branches that enveloped us & rooted us in the ground in place. We were able to cut our members free, until they had disabled so many of our number that they began to move through us with impunity.

It did not help that they also had a member of the Earth Guild working for them. We were sent to investigate a Guild outpost that had not been heard from in weeks, and the sole member cowering in terror in their cabin directed us to the spot where we were ambushed. As the monsters attacked from the front, the Guilder attacked from behind; he cried out for forgiveness, that he had been forced to perform those actions.

I resurrected during this fracas; I recall vaguely being Lifed & clubbed over the head, so I am assuming there was an attempt to take some of us alive. I have been told later by survivors (Nahani and Neil (?) in particular) that there was a large stump of a tree, also grey with twisted foliage covering it; that the captured were made to sit on it, and that infected them in similar fashion. As a second group from town attempted to come to the rescue, the creatures fell back with their captured prey & appeared to be swallowed whole by a tree.

Attempts to track them at that point were unsuccessful.

This is, sadly, the limit of my knowledge thus far.

As an aside, I am in vital need of the ability to Evade blows; if I had that ability in that fight, I may have lasted long enough to save at least one of our companions.
 
Biff,
What sort of ransom is being asked for, if any? If I manage to travel to Thuddington, I would be happy to lend my celestial skills to getting your companions back. I can understand the pain of having someone you care about getting taken by an enemy.

Keallit
 
Kealit,

There has been no ransom as of yet. The creatures themselves did not speak, save for the one member of the Guild who claimed he was being forced into attacking us. I'm not even certain they are capable of reading, or communicating verbally amongst themselves, let alone anyone else. My post here was to inform the populace, gather troops, information and resources, and mobilize a rescue effort.

There might have been a touch of anger management as well on my part, but the more I think of exacting vengeance, the more the anger subsides, and the more my blood runs cold, calm, and calculating...
 
Biff,

Whilst I am not certain whether or not I personally can come to Wayside soon to assist, I am sure that all that is possible will be done by the adventurers to get Circle Master Eric and Neolani back from whatever these Dryad-like foes are. Let me see if I can think of how one would take care of these creatures, assuming the adventurers are intending to combat them and they are more akin to monstrous plants than Dryads.

I imagine that they are fairly vulnerable to flame magics, and even perhaps ice magics as well, for I have indeed witnessed the freezing of some plant creatures bringing their downfall just as quickly as flame would. However, on that same vein regarding my previous experience with monstrous plants like these and dryads, employing Binding magics may be futile against them, for the vines that twist along these creatures may have given them an affinity for that which would normal restrict their movement, and they will either just shrug off these magics or even be healed by them. If they are indeed monstrous plants, being more plant than animal by this point, the likelihood that effects that Command the mind to be futile, but if they are still sentient creatures, Command magics could prove useful in rendering them incapacitated (the Knights permitting, of course). Furthermore, if we can, we should try to determine their vulnerability to poison; depending on the plant in question, some are either quite vulnerable to alchemical poisons, or they are very resistant to alchemical poisons, and we can best hope for the former.

Anyone see any flaws in my logic here?

On a different note, Biff: if you ever would like to speak to me of anger, of how it can be shaped and focused to be bound to your will, send me a letter and I will discuss it with you.

May the Light guide you, the Shadow guard your path, your Words have Power, and your Memories be Knowledge,
~ Gandian Ravenscroft
 
I zmell Vendetta...Be careful, vor it can consume vou.

Az I said after it happened, I vill provide vhat healing I can to the matter for Neolani's sake...

May the Light guide you, and the Shadow guard your path...

Kitaruen Kopanari Stin Svetlo
 
Kitaruen,

I swear, vengeance is not on my mind. I want only the return of my friends.

And that is what worries me. For when I turn my mind to vengeance (as would be a natural response in this instance), SOMETHING in me tempers it into... something else. I am not sure what... OR what. Another issue to speak to Harlequin & the biata lass from out of town (Forgive me mi'lady for escaping your name at present) about.

Thank you for your concern, Kit. I will worry about myself when my friends have been brought home, safe, sound and whole.
 
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