(free use of inspiration)
(spending 1 point of inspiration)
"Many has said her recent company was going to be the end of her...it would seem they were right." Ryder flatly says.
Examining the corpse, Ryder answers Azalia's query. "It would appear her cause of death was multiple stabbings from a short blade, perhaps a dagger...or multiple daggers."
On the subject of burial, the android comments, "If it is deemed necessary, I would think it would be prudent to bring the body out with us as we leave, rather than spend precious time and resources at the present time...she is not likely to go anywhere for the time being."
Oh... okay says Azalia sadly, looking at the body. Later then.
Holg examines the pointed out small dagger wounds "Perhaps the ratfolk we heard of back in Torch?"
The Kellid seems to have confidence in Ryder's assessment "Well, I just hope it does not become one of those zombies of the horror stories while we are inside the caves" he turns to Brennen "Is there anything that can be done to save him from that kind of fate?"
"Let's progress then" he picks up the fire belly and moves forward, throwing the light thing at the beach forward . Holg advances cautiously and checks the place before continuing south.
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Graz casts a wary eye on the corpse of the half-orc. "Graz say bad juju to leave dead friend. Graz dig hole for long sleep? Funny dwarf say god words?" He motions back to the beach where they just climbed from if anyone wants him to make quick work of disposing of this corpse, which Azalia seems to recognize.
If no one wants to make these arrangements, Graz will shrug it off, but keep casting glances back at the body ruefully. Eventually, he keeps rear-guard, eventually following the others to A4.
"Someone stabbed the poor girl with a dagger or something similar."
"I believe her people practice ritual burials for the dead. Let's not let her body remain here in the damp dark cave."
You mean, take it back to town? How would we... do that?
"If no other option presents itself we could tie ropes around her and pull her to the surface, perhaps with aid from some of the town's folk. I am sure there are some that would rather see her properly buried and assist us."
That almost seems worse than leaving her unburied. Dragging her body through the water like that... Azalia shudders at the thought.
Well, I was going to agree with Graz that we should take the time and do something now, but... not that. I guess if we are going to drag the body back to town, we should wait. Might was well use the time that our water breathing spell has left to try and find Khonnir. If we miss getting back in time, I have a spell that will help, but the one was have now is better.
She moves to follow Holg.
Holg did not want to say this before, but he sees the point now "Do you think this is the only corpse of an acquaintance we will find here?" the Kellid breaths deeply "How many expeditions failed before? How many corpses we will have to pile up before leaving these caves?" the warrior negates with the head "No, as Azalia remembered us, we have just 6 hours to explore this place. We do not have time to lose. Let's try to pile the bodies in the beach, if and when we have the time."
"Our first priority is to survive and come back in time, then finding the wizard alive. All these require speed." he gives a last look to the dead half-orc "I share your feelings about this, but 'that one' can wait. I am sure" before continuing down the cave to the beach.
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"Well certainly, I wasn't suggesting we do this right now! But we will be coming back this way on our way out, no reason not to then. I do not see a difference of dragging her body off this cliff, or dragging her under water where at least her loved ones can do their final rites, but perhaps we can talk to some people in town before we make that choice. For now I will say a few words for her in prayer to ease her spirit a bit. "
Brennen hold his holy symbol and closes his eyes as he prays over her body.
"Precisely, Holg." Ryder responds. "After all these years, it seems you have finally learned how to use logic."
Considering the matter closed, Ryder follows along the path blazed by Holg.
I disagree. I think our first priority is surviving and finding Khonnir. Coming back in time is secondary. As I said, I can get us back out if needed.
While discussing what to do with the body the group moves along further inside the caves.
The group moves into the next area.
A dark cavern opens up here, its twenty-foot-high ceiling thick with stalactites. A rocky shore overlooks a placid pool and stream, fed by a trickle of water leaking from a narrow ssure to the north. A small garden of toadstools and dark mold grows along the banks.
A grotesque blindheim calls this wet cave home. The creature still bears a brand on its flank as well as a tattered leather hood that hangs in strips from its head.
The brand reads "Pet,” but gives no other indication to its previous ownership.
The blindheim’s time among the skulks was filled with abuse, and as a result, it is aggressive and ill-tempered.
Blindheims are grotesque, frog-like creatures that dwell beneath the surface, subsisting on meals of fungi, rodents, and other underground creatures. They live in the darkest, dampest regions of cavernous sprawls, particularly enjoying underground bogs, lakes, rivers, and swamps. Although not aquatic, blindheims are excellent swimmers. They prefer to latch onto branches or rock outcroppings, where they maintain the high ground while in pursuit of food. They use the light from their eyes to attract prey, but go dark when larger creatures approach. A blindheim uses its blinding gaze to disorient both prey and possible threats, then deactivates its gaze to scuttle away in the dark if the threat is too great. In very large caverns inhabited by blindheims, distant areas often flicker from brightly lit to absolutely dark as the creatures feed and flee. Though of animal-level intelligence, blindheims are cunning enough to coordinate their hunting tactics with others of their kind, using one creature to act as a lookout and make hit-and-run attacks with its gaze until its fellows can arrive to help finish off the prey.
Blindheims can convey simple information through gestures and flashes of their lights, and tend to be rather silent in combat, adding an eerie element to battles with them. They cannot be taught to perform humanoid-appropriate labors and thus make poor slaves, though the duergar and drow sometimes use them as bait or distractions when raiding. Other races have been known to train these creatures as mobile light sources when going on long underground expeditions.
Stout and thick-skinned, a blindheim is just under 4 feet in height and weighs 150 pounds. A blindheim gives birth to small litters of three or four young. Though gestation can last up to a full year, it only takes about 4 years for a blindheim to mature and become self-reliant, at which point the creatures generally form broods that stick together, only striking out on their own if their brethren have perished. Blindheims can live for up to 25 years.
A cursory search of the pool reveals a man’s body, mostly eaten. Little remains to identify the body as that of one of the thugs from the second expedition, for the blindheim has eaten most of it and has ruined its armor and clothing in the process. A belt pouch on the body’s hip is still intact and contains 42 gp, a silver unholy symbol of Zyphus worth 25 gp, and two water-tight potions of cure light wounds.
Combat round 1
Everyone may act
Ryder moves into the chamber. Without giving matters a second thought, the android takes aim with his crossbow and fires.
- potential crit
"What's that? Is that lizard dangerous?" Holg turns to see Ryder moving in an precisely shooting his crossbow "I will take that as a 'dangerous' 'immediate removal' report!"
The Kellid moves into the fray waving his axe, then makes a descendant swing over the head of the beast.
"Ei Graz! This side is yours!" the warrior tries to keep the beast far from the casters while reserving a spot for Graz chains to fight it.
Azalia tries to figure out what the creature is. Ryder fires a crossbow bolt at the blindhelm and it opens a small gash on its side. Holg swings at the beast with his battleax and hits it squarely in the chest opening up a giant wound.
The blindhelm lashes out at Holg with both its claws.
Both claws miss Holg completely. The blindhelms eyes begin to glow brighter.
Combat round 1
Following may action
Azalia
Brennan
Graz
If it looks dead, Azalia goes to inspect the pool and finds the body:
Oh, gross! There is a half-eaten body over here. Despite her revulsion though, she inspects the body to see if she can find out who it was, and finds the belt pouch, which she takes and attaches to her own belt.[/b]
Graz, seeing the aggression from the blindhelm, decides to put an end to it. With a swing of his chain he lands the spikes into its heart and it falls dead.
Seeing its dead, Azalia finds the body in the pool. She does not immediately deal out its contents, but hopes to remember more about who the body was. Unfortunately they only thing she knows is that it was a thug from the second expedition. The body is too mutilated to see who it once was.
End combat
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Graz wipes the gore off the spikes of his chain, and replaces it at his belt. Curious, he looks at the brand and remains of a hood that are around the neck of the dead beast. He saw similar brands on slaves when he was imprisoned by the Technic League and understands they show property ownership.
He scowls, but points out the mark to the others, "Lizard-thing owned. A slave like Graz. Where is master now? Is dead-man master of lizards?"
Holg shrugs "We will find the master in time Graz. We will deal with him"
The Kellid helps then Azalia retrieve the dead corpse "That seems an unholy symbol... what kind of mercenaries are they contracting?" he looks to the party "Well, let's see. One of the potions is better going to Graz, as he is usually in the front line. The other is better if we hand to Brennen. If we fall he can help us, but if he falls whomever is next to him can quickly pick up his potion and help him recover. The mercenaries I worked with made it this way, and we are still alive"
Once the group is ready, Holg picks up again his axe and shield and starts walking south "Let's hurry up, we only have six hours".
"What kind of mercenaries?" Ryder asks. "I would suspect the kind that like money and do not ask many questions." the android says, answering his own question.
Ryder proceeds to follow Holg down the cavern corridor toward the next chamber.
Azalia follows.
"See, dragging corpses out of the water isn't so difficult." Brennen tries to lighten the mood amongst so much death and violence.
"Is anyone hurt? Maybe we can find some tracks to lead us to the expedition. I'm not much of a tracker though."
The group moves along after dealing with the creature.
A collection of crates, boxes, rubble, and scavenged metal lies heaped in the northwest section of this damp cave. Several strange chalk drawings of twisted, spiny plants, a strange three-legged creature, and emaciated four-armed humanoids mark the walls.
These creatures are relatively unknown on Golarion. They're some unknown, and perhaps undiscovered, race.
Upon entering you notice something.
A single timid skulk named Luepel lurks amid the trash heaped to the southeast that partially blocks the sloping passage leading up to area A7. It notices part of your group and immediately begins to flee.
You only notice the trash.
Azalia spots the skulk and calls out Wait. We won't hurt you. We just want to ask you some questions. Food for questions?
(free use of inspiration)
"Unusual." Ryder off-handedly comments noting the chalk drawings.
Something catches the android's eye, just as Azalia starts speaking.
"Azalia, skulks are not known for their friendliness...I suppose you are welcome to try."
Skulks are a race of cowardly and lazy humanoids that live on the fringes of society, stealing what they need and doing what they must—even committing casual murder—to survive. Their unabashed cowardice is perhaps their most widely known trait, but skulks don’t see themselves as particularly craven. Instead, they view their dishonorable behaviors as the most expedient method of survival. They hate most other humanoids, viewing them as lazy and foolish, and think nothing of sneaking into a home, killing all the residents, and burglarizing what they can carry off without getting caught.
Skulks travel in small groups, rarely forming tribes of more than 16, for in larger groups bickering quickly leads to violent infighting. Murder between skulks is not uncommon, but they understand safety in numbers, and most frown upon treason within a group that is already relatively small, punishing traitors with a quick death. When possible, they set up camps in discreet spots near other settlements, commonly inhabiting sewers, caves, or forests—though their unsavory, murderous tactics often force them to relocate before local law enforcement, quickly alerted to their presence once the remains of a family of victims are discovered, finds them.
Skulks are roughly the same size as a human, averaging 6 feet tall, though they are significantly more gangly and nimble, and commonly weigh only 140 pounds. Skinny arms and legs help them sneak around obstacles and squeeze into narrow spaces. Skulks can live up to 50 years, though most die from violence long before that. Rogue is a favorite choice among skulks, for their natural abilities at stealth and sneak attacks fit well with this choice, but they also excel in the roles of clerics, fighters and rangers who specialize in ranged weapons, and rarely as wizards (particularly illusionists).
You notice it has a dagger in one hand and a short sword strapped on its waist.
"What? What is it?" Holg looks around but does not see what is the source of the trouble "Do not get too bordered by Ryder. He is not a bad fellow, but his circuits are not yet well enough attuned to human empathy"
The Kellid turns to the android "Skulks? What is that?" anyway, it does not sound good, thus Holg starts running behind what his companions pointed out "Whatever it is I do not want him to call his friends. Ei you! Stop!"
Brennen gets excited when he sees he scrap metal and initially makes a move to rummage through it for skymetal, but when everyone starts talking about something called a skulk he pauses and casts detect magic incase there is something he can perceive that's magical in the trash.
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Among the rubble and refuse here are several ruined bits of technological devices—nothing recognizable or even all that useful can be found here, but the presence of strange tangles of wires and unusually crafted fragments should confirm the hope that more ancient technology can be found deeper in the caves. While searching the rubble you discover a scattering of 7 silverdisks but nothing else of value.
The skulk seeing its outnumbered lashes out at Holg with its dagger.
Combat round 1
Everyone may action
"Ouch!" Holg is surprised by the skulk dagger "That thing attacked me! Ei you! Stop there!" the man just moves over the creature and tries to make it back at him.
Ryder moves into the room, doing his best to roll by any attempted strike by the skulk, while getting in position to fire his crossbow. Once in position, he lets loose a bolt.
(firing into melee)
Azalia moves closer to let others past, but she is sitting this fight out.
"This place is crawlin' with lil' buggers! If only more of my kin were around these parts, we'd have rid these parts of such vermin. "
Brennen goes full defense holding his shield in front of him when the fighting starts.
Holg slashes at the skulk, but misses. Ryder fits his crossbow, but the bolt lands on the ground next to the skulk. Azalia sits this one out. Brennan braces himself with his shield in front.
Graz swings with his chain and slices a huge wound into the skulks side.
Combat round 2
Everyone may action
Skulk
"Ei! This one is not turning back the hits" Holg relaxes and observes the skulk. The Kellid tries to talk him in Kellid "Can you understand us guy?"
In Orcish "Who are you?"
And Androffian "Any friend down here???!"
Just then he turns to Ryder "Can anyone communicate with this fellow? He seems intelligent but weird"
And turning to Azalia who seemed to know something about "What's this skulk then?"
And turning to Azalia who seemed to know something about "What's this skulk then?"
Azalia shrugs.
She waits to see if the skulk will say anything.
Seeing what Holg is trying to do, Brennen speaks terran in hopes that this mountain dweller speaks the language of the earth. "We are here seeking our friends. We do not want to fight, but we will protect our selves!"
The Pathfinders try to communicate with the skulk, but it does not say anything. Instead it it tries to attack Holg, but is met with his ax instead. Holg's ax cuts the skulk clean it two and she falls dead to the ground.
Azalia heads towards A6.
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Graz slaps Holg on the back after he deals the death-blow to the lone skulk. "Holg talk before fight. Holg talk after fight. Holg NOT talk DURING fight. Holg follow Graz. Graz only talk during fight with steel not with mouth!" He laughs uproariously at this witticism and then falls into line at the rear fo the group, still mumbling something about talking during a fight to himself.
Holg laughs with Graz "That chain's crackling really is a language in its own friend"
The human checks the remains of the skulk for anything of use, and takes the skulk dagger and fits it to his own boot.
As Brennen points about the 7 silverdisks he found Hold nods "Will you keep the silverdisks Brennen? Let's move"
He follows with Azalia towards the next cave to the southwest.