Gryphon Omelette, anyone?

We weren't even gone for a full day and got attacked by a couple of Gryphons on the road. We all got rid of them pretty easily, to be honest, and it seems like we have a good team synergy already. Glad to see I'm not too rusty after a year and a half of inactivity. The only one weird enough was Hiro, the Aasimar Monk from the Mutsutori Isles in the South. He kept trying to strike a conversation with the Gryphons while we were bashing their brains in. Of course it's not gonna work if we keep hurting them while you're trying your hand at diplomacy, you idiot.
 
*Sigh* I shouldn't judge too easily. They are noble, proud and intelligent beasts after all. Perhaps talking to them first would have been the better alternative. Gotta keep that in mind for next time.
 
Anyway, after that Hiro kept talking about it being a couple and most likely a nesting pair. That meant a nest, and most likely eggs or younglings. Some people felt that we should seek the nest in order to save the baby Gryphons, since their parents now lay in a pool of their own blood. Jib couldn't care less though, said it was a waste of time and effort. Seems he changed his mind quite quickly when I mentioned the price tag on Gryphon eggs and babies, though. And so we found the trail and went off road in the hills in order to find the nest.
 
That first night out was a pure nightmare. Nobody had brought tents and, of course, it started raining like crazy just as we went to sleep. The wind was so powerful I had to tie myself to my grappling hook and fix it to the ground so I could get a few minutes of sleep in. Jib, ever the resourceful Goblin, dug a burrow and slept in it. He didn't offer to share though, the little bastard. In the end, he was the only one that got a good night sleep. Everyone was grumpy and exhausted the next morning, yet we still had a lot of ground to cover in order to reach Mellowglade. We simply carried on with the task at hand, I guess.
 
Eventually, we reached the edge of the forest and with it a group of 6 Trolls camping there. For the sake of efficiency and the little time we had left, since we had gone a bit off track, we decided to sneak around the Trolls and into the woods. It went mostly ok, with most members of the team being quiet enough. That is until Asher started moving in his idiotic, bulky, LOUD full plate. Didn't even take a step and the Trolls were already on to us.
 
I swear to God, these people...
 
Can't be quiet to save their lives.
 
Trolls are messy to deal with too. They won't die unless they suffer some kind of acid or fire damage, regenerating any limb lost with ease. Thankfully, we had some members in the team capable of doing such damage. After that it was only a matter of hitting them enough so that they would fall down. I got a few close shots with the Trolls though, even if I did decent damage to them. A few of them got lucky hits on me. Got hurt quite badly by them, in fact.
 
It shouldn't have happened in the first place, I know. I guess I'm just rusty after all... or getting old.
 
I prefer not to think about it too much.
 
After a while all the Trolls lay dead, except for one that got away. They didn't even have that much on them, so it wasn't as fruitful an endeavor as I would have liked. Oh well, you win some, you lose some. As the folks were taking care of their injuries, a few of us tried to see if there were other clues of the nest's whereabout in the vicinity. Turns out those Gryphons did a number on the surrounding trees and it would be quite easy to follow the path of destruction to their nest. Score!
 
With the location figured out, I started to take out my own supplies to take care of my wounds. That's when Asher came about. Kept offering to use his magic to heal me, that it would be done in a flash. I kept refusing of course. I just hate healing magic, it keeps reminding me of that time in the dungeon. I keep having these phantom pains whenever I'm healed by Clerics or Paladins, it just hurt as if I was stabbed over and over. I know it's all in my head, but it won't stop it from hurting even if I keep reminding myself of it.
 
Asher kept insisting of course, said I would bleed out if he did nothing. I ended up letting him do as he pleased. I don't know why I accepted, guess I was just that exhausted to begin with. The whole time he cast his divine magic I felt like dying. It was as if I was back there all over again. As if I was in that dark damp room with Sir Christofre doing as he pleased, or with Strezius just... cutting away... Just healing and cutting away. Healing and cutting. Healing and cutting. Healing and...
 
It was done, the pain was gone and Asher simply said I was good as new. He was kind enough not to ask why I was frowning and looked as if I wanted to merge with the floor, to disappear. He simply got back up and said he needed to tend to the others.
 
I didn't feel good as new. I felt like broken goods.
 
In the end we did find the nest, and with it 4 eggs in perfectly good condition. Jib was very helpful in bringing them down, what with his dimension door allowing him to go up and down so easily. At least it was worth it in the end.
 
We kept wandering the woods, trying to go back on the main road in order to reach the dungeon where we would need to get rid of the Basilisks. It was quiet, peaceful for a while. The others went for a swim in a nearby river, it looked nice (except for Jib peeing upstream, the evil bastard). Maybe someday I'll feel comfortable enough to go for a swim too, to remove the layers and not be afraid of what others will think.
 
I hope it will all work out in the end. Even if I am still afraid, still uncertain...
 
I like this team already.