[quote="Arthur, post:60, topic:169344, full:true"]
What camp? The grogs quickly dismantled it before following the magi chasing the fox.
The covenant is about half a day away from this place. Sending the grogs would mean making do without him for a day.[/quote]
Ah, right. In that case we'll have the grogs carefully move the wounded man a short distance away form this place, to something safer. And leave at least one grog behind to tend to him/guard him. This grog should have a horn or soemthing, so eh cal sound the alarm and call the rest of us back if necessary. Something like this should be reasonable to assume the grogs have and regularly do.
The man proves to be only lightly wounded, but confused and cold. Backtracking to the stream, where they leave him under Lugo's care.
Following the other set of tracks is fairly easy. It leads your group deeper into the forest, until you reach a rocky escarpment. The ground was badly mauled in one spot at the bottom of the stone, with a narrow crack leading into the stone. There is some blood on each side of the crack.
"Fan out people, keep an eye on the surroundings, we have no idea where the beast is, or even what it is. The Woad wants to look at that crack in the ground"
"Hello! Anyone out there? Is the demon gone?" A voice calls out from the fissure in Catalan.(*)
(*) It is more a crack in a wall than into the ground, opening at the base of a cliff. It also looks too narrow for anything as large as the beast going into it.
(Out, not up. The fissure is perpendicular to the ground, going into the cliff at it base.)
"Are you sure? It's not toying with us?"
Another voice interrupts the first, panicked and speaking too fast for The Woad to make out clearly. "Va agafar en Pepito quan va intentar comprovar si era segur! El va trencar a trossos! Els crits! Els crits!!!"
The first voice can be heard again, but apparently adressing the second. "Calm down! There are people out there. I think we're safe now. We need to get out."
"No! No! Encara hi és! Ens menjarà, ens menjarà l'ànima! Déu ens protegeixi, ens festejarà." The last comes out in a sob.
(The Woad can ask one of the grogs to translate for him -- Google Translate! )
(Also brilliant with me using google translate to simulate that The Woad may miss something with his poor language skills)
"We have warriors and hunters keeping an eye out, and we have followed tracks for a while and seen no threat. We will protect you, but please come out, so we can get you to safety. We have picked up another man, one if your group we think, who also survived. Please, come with us, and then you must tell The Woad all details."
After a moment, and more discussion between the two voice, the first one calls out again.
"Hmmm... Diego doesn't want to come out. He's too afraid of the monster that attacked us. I'd like to come out, to show him it's safe, but... well... I think I'm stuck. I... slid down a bit, I think, and I can't move up."
"My friend, please try to relax, then we may be able to pull you out. If you struggle and your body is too rigid, you are stuck. Your body must be as flexible as when it got in."
Two of the grogs are tasked with trying to pull the poor man up/out. The rest keep their watch.
The Woad is considering a MuTe effect to help, a D:Diameter version of Rock of Viscid Clay is level 10, and he could pull it off. It is T:Part, sp should be possible to affect just the necessary part of the rock. But it will be overt use of magic, and those freaked out mundanes might not react well to that.
The Woad cannot see the area where the man is stuck, so he will have trouble targeting the correct area. Rock of Viscid Clay is also R:Touch, while the man is farther away inside the crack.
That is also a problem for the grogs (Lugo and Epona). The crack is narrow, so they would first need to remove their armor. Epona has the best chance, for she is tall but slim.
Well, if the volume affected by a R:Touch T:Part spell is large enough, one only needs to touch the outside of the rock. But the point was the the Woad would rather not risk more panic from the trapped people by using his "dark arts".
Epona it is.
Epone, the Woad thinks you are the best grog for the job. However you'd need to remove your armour. The rest of us will keep tight watch, and should the beast attack at this inopportune moment, your priority is safety rather than fighting. But try and get those poor people out.
Yes, if the volume if big enough The Woad's spell might reach them. But he doesn't even know how deep inside the crack they are. He cannot see them from where he is, so he cannot tell if they are five paces away or even farther. So how much rock would he need to affect?
Note that The Woad could use a Perdo spell for similar results, by either weakening or destroying stone with Base 3 or 4 (compared to Base 3 MuTe to turn stone into clay). He could even use a flexed version (T:Part) of Fist of Shattering. It all depends on how blatant you want to get in his use of magic in front of mundanes.
Epona nods, "Very well, sir. Lugo, get me a rope. Perhaps we can use it to lift them up to get them unstuck."
She quickly removes her scale armor, down to the padded vest she wears under it. After a moment's hesitation, she remove the vest as well, leaving her wearing only a short cotton tunic, damp with sweat and revealing much of her slim but muscular shape.
Tying a small loop around the rope that Lugo took out of his pack, she coils it around her left arm, holding unto the loop with her hand. She then slips into the crack, easily sliding inside. You can hear her making her way in, occasionally grunting as she makes her way deeper. After a little while, you can her her speaking to the men inside in Catalan, though you cannot make out the words.
After what feels like a long time, Epona makes her way out of the crack.
"The man is wedged in,", she tells the other in a quiet voice. "He had to get in as far away from the beast as possible; it was trying to catch him and the other, Diego. Poor man was probably so afraid that he went deeper than was safe, and stayed there long enough that his legs are numb from the pressure. So he can't even push up from where he is to relieve the pressure."
She looks up along the cliff, searching for something,"We may be able to level him up with the rope. It's not going to be easy or painless. It would be wasier if we had some kind of leverage or a tree limb to act as a pulley, but I'm not seing anything like that close enough."
Epona shakes her head, "He is already having trouble breathing, so if we don't get him out soon, he's going to die in there."
From what Epona describes, the first man is stuck about 10 feet inside the crack, with the second man (who is smaller) curled down beyond him.
This is close enough that, with his spear, The Woad can shatter enough rock to free him (after several castings). The shattered rock will need to be cleared out, however, or you will just end up burying the men in lose rubble.
BTW, I'm not seeing a Wizard's Sigil on The Woad's character sheet, so I don't know if it would affect how the spell manifests and whether that might have an effect on the current situation. You might give it some thoughy after this story is ended.
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