Kaely Earthbeat
Half-elf Monk
Rivenwood: the Deep Fell
Year 812, Spring, Day 61, Dusk

Intruders. It got up, leaving a dent of bare earth where it had sat.
Time meant nothing to it, and it took no notice of the leaves and
moss covering its limbs. A small, unnoticed lizard scuttled out of
its path as it moved to the center of the clearing and turned towards
the eastern side. The intruders would come through there, they always
do…

* * *

Kaely was uncomfortable. First, the tingly feeling of being measured
or tested by a deity she knew very little about, and then the view of
those…creatures. Kaely took a closer look at the path they were
following and nodded slightly. *It's not much of a path really, more
like a more-or-less clear-ish way through the underbrush,* she
thought to herself. *Doesn't appear to be a game trail to me.* As she
brooded over the events of the last few minutes, she shivered a
little, along with everyone. "Looks like we're going to get stuck in
the rain out here too…" came a grumble from Cendhir behind her.
Kaely, along with several others, looked up to see heavy rain clouds
in the distance. *Great,* she thought. *Just what we needed…*

Through the trees, Kaely noted the angle of the sun. "We probably
want to start looking for a place to camp. Dusk will be here soon,
and darkness will fall quickly under these trees, not to mention
those clouds."

The group paused as Kaely spoke and took stock of their surroundings,
and Acerd's eyes narrowed slightly. "Good point, Kaely. We do need to
look for a suitable campsite." He explained to everyone what to look
for in a campsite, so they could all be on the lookout. At first,
they tried to fan out a little so they had a better chance of finding
a good place to camp, rather than just a passable one.

Kaely quickly became alarmed as she, Acerd, Iriana, and Za'aro tried
to find ways off the path so they could search. Not one of them could
find a way through the tangled underbrush. Every time she thought
she'd spotted an opening, she'd move towards it, only to discover
another obstacle in the way. *It feels like we're being herded,* she
thought to herself.

"Its no use," Acerd said finally after his third or fourth try. "The
underbrush is just to tangled to get through. We'll just have to hope
we spot something from the path." Kaely noted the worry in his eyes,
and knew he had noted the same thing she did. The monk decided to
follow his lead, and not mention how strange the situation was
becoming. She wasn't the only one to have noticed, though; the
atmosphere became slightly tense, and everyone was surreptitiously
checking weapons or armor.

It wasn't long, however, before they noticed a break in the trees,
though it was impossible to see what was beyond them through the
failing light, but a sigh of relief moved through the entire group
just the same as they broke through the trees into a small clearing.
That relief was quickly banished when Lyntel was suddenly sent flying
into a bush behind them.

Talla dashed back to make sure he was ok as the rest of the group
looked for their attacker. A chill wind started up, blowing off the
last of the leaves off the stone golem just a few feet from them. Its
hands were balled into fists, and it was readying itself for another
attack. *Its slow.* Kaely thought, *We need to keep it here in the
clearing, else we'll get tangled up in that undergrowth.* Thoughts
flashed through Kaely's mind as her training took over; she charged,
hitting the golem with her shoulder to drive it back a little.
Apparently she wasn't the only one with the same idea; she'd braced
herself, waiting for the impact of the golem's blow, but instead she
felt something impact the golem. Glancing over her shoulder, Kaely's
eyes met Iriana's, who had blocked the golem's fist with her shield,
and also knocking it off balance with her charge. Acerd's charge was
all that was needed to knock it back several steps, and into the
middle of the clearing.

Fanning out, the three fighters surrounded the golem, and were joined
by the others, spaced out between them. Kaely noted that Lyntel
looked battered but not to badly injured. The golem's slow attacks
weren't too hard to dodge, but Kaely did hear a couple of grunts as
it scored some hits; she didn't turn to see who had been hit,
however, because she was busy dodging a blow from its other arm. The
monk dimly noted Cendhir slipping away from the fight and into the
quickly deepening shadows; she didn't have long to wonder at his
disappearance because he returned shortly after with a solid-looking
branch that appeared to have fallen in a storm. With Za'aro's help,
he was able to pry the branch between the golem's legs, and a
combined charge attack by Acerd and Iriana, the golem toppled over
backwards just as the sky opened up and the rain began.

Distracted by the sudden deluge and the fall of the golem, Kaely's
attention turned to what lay behind the golem. "Hey! There's a cave
back here!" she exclaimed, as she started to move towards it.
Unfortunately, she had temporarily forgotten the golem, who lay still
between her and the cave. Its blow hit her with a shock and a
sickening crunch directly in her chest, and she collapsed, the wind
knocked out of her. She was aware of three things before she passed
out: the pain in her chest, the taste of blood, and Talla's voice,
screaming her name.

NRPG: Ok, guys. Post!!! We've got an "angry" golem, and a downed monk.