BIGwooly
Well-Known Member
~ 29th of First Seed, 4E 228 ~
If I don't see another bear for the next month it won't be too soon. I'd barely made my way inside the grotto before I was confronted by two large bears. Not one. Two!
I had to think fast and come up with a plan before I lost the element of surprise. Since there were two of them, I decided to tip two arrows with a paralysis potion ... one for each bear. The idea being that I would paralyze them both and then kill each of them while they lay frozen on the ground. I also drank an archery potion and readied several more arrows with health-damaging poisons. This skirmish needed to be over as quickly as possible.
Everything pretty much went according to plan, except for the fact I wasn't able to kill either bear before they both recovered from the paralysis. As they rose back up from the ground I very nearly accepted the fact that I was dead ... that I would never see our home again ... never see my father again ... never read a book again ...
But I wasn't going to die without a fight. So I set the next poison arrow and let it fly. It struck as the bear began to charge me, but to my complete shock and uncertain relief, the other bear turned and ran. I can only assume the paralysis poison had left it confused. Regardless, my life was spared. Another arrow finished the charging bear just paces from me, and I was able to take the second bear down not too long after .. although I used several more poison potions.
Further in I encountered some wolves, and then a spriggan as I approached the wolves to retrieve my arrows. The spriggan was a bit easier to defeat than I expected, having never tangled with one before.
I took to the high ground after that, climbing up the rocks like no one else can seem to do. From there I dispatched of another bear and then another wolf. And then I spotted a hawk flying in the distance. I took aim and the arrow missed .. too far in front and a bit too high. Undeterred I notched another arrow and at the last second spotted a hawk swooping through the trees much closer to me. It was maybe thirty paces from my position, but moving through the trees and about to disappear behind some rocks. I quickly adjusted my aim and let the arrow go without hesitation. Incredibly, the arrow struck the hawk perfectly. I was ecstatic.
I gathered up the hawk and harvested it's feathers and beak, and then headed down into the shrine of Talos that resides in the grotto. I left a gift ... a potion and some leather strips, and received my blessing from the altar. Then I collected some of the moss I found hanging on the walls, and headed back up the rocks.
I spent the rest of the day skinning the bears and wolves I had killed. I had to leave behind some things so I could carry back the hides. As it was, I still had to leave behind one of the bears. I don't like to let animals go to waste, but I had no choice. It had already been a day of effort, especially with feeling so sick. I really just needed to get back to our home and mix up the cure.
And so I did. And I slept like a newborn last night.
If I don't see another bear for the next month it won't be too soon. I'd barely made my way inside the grotto before I was confronted by two large bears. Not one. Two!
I had to think fast and come up with a plan before I lost the element of surprise. Since there were two of them, I decided to tip two arrows with a paralysis potion ... one for each bear. The idea being that I would paralyze them both and then kill each of them while they lay frozen on the ground. I also drank an archery potion and readied several more arrows with health-damaging poisons. This skirmish needed to be over as quickly as possible.
Everything pretty much went according to plan, except for the fact I wasn't able to kill either bear before they both recovered from the paralysis. As they rose back up from the ground I very nearly accepted the fact that I was dead ... that I would never see our home again ... never see my father again ... never read a book again ...
But I wasn't going to die without a fight. So I set the next poison arrow and let it fly. It struck as the bear began to charge me, but to my complete shock and uncertain relief, the other bear turned and ran. I can only assume the paralysis poison had left it confused. Regardless, my life was spared. Another arrow finished the charging bear just paces from me, and I was able to take the second bear down not too long after .. although I used several more poison potions.
Further in I encountered some wolves, and then a spriggan as I approached the wolves to retrieve my arrows. The spriggan was a bit easier to defeat than I expected, having never tangled with one before.
I took to the high ground after that, climbing up the rocks like no one else can seem to do. From there I dispatched of another bear and then another wolf. And then I spotted a hawk flying in the distance. I took aim and the arrow missed .. too far in front and a bit too high. Undeterred I notched another arrow and at the last second spotted a hawk swooping through the trees much closer to me. It was maybe thirty paces from my position, but moving through the trees and about to disappear behind some rocks. I quickly adjusted my aim and let the arrow go without hesitation. Incredibly, the arrow struck the hawk perfectly. I was ecstatic.
I gathered up the hawk and harvested it's feathers and beak, and then headed down into the shrine of Talos that resides in the grotto. I left a gift ... a potion and some leather strips, and received my blessing from the altar. Then I collected some of the moss I found hanging on the walls, and headed back up the rocks.
I spent the rest of the day skinning the bears and wolves I had killed. I had to leave behind some things so I could carry back the hides. As it was, I still had to leave behind one of the bears. I don't like to let animals go to waste, but I had no choice. It had already been a day of effort, especially with feeling so sick. I really just needed to get back to our home and mix up the cure.
And so I did. And I slept like a newborn last night.