"Fine," Fawziya says, lowering her blade to unshoulder her pack. Once it's on the ground, she kicks it towards Zoisa. "Take what you wish - but if they renege on the deal, then I may reconsider my position on this parley."
"I'll relay that to them, thanks."
Zoisa takes some of Fawziya's rations and combines them with the spread she's laid out before the baboons.
"Ark eek!" she informs them.
The baboons immediately leap onto the food and begin devouring it quickly.
Sated, they don't seem to be interested in fighting anymore. A cursory examination of the room doesn't reveal anything useful. Even all the dented chests are empty.
Fawziya kicks the chest in front of her in frustration when she realizes that they contain nothing of use. "Bah! This temple is rapidly trying my patience! Onwards, there must be something of worth within!"
Zoisa smiles as the baboons enjoy the food. She crouches down by one of them.
"Ark! Ooh eek ark eek ark?"
At Zoisa's request, the Baboons angrily bark at her. It seems these beasts are a bit more territorial than the one's she's met before. Maybe with time she could be trusted to pick bugs out of their fur, but right now they are feasting.
Beyond a doorless arch appears to be a large kitchen complete with walls lined in shelves and cupboards , a huge central table, and an enormous oven against the north wall. Several drawers and cupboard doors stand askew, and the floor here is a jagged field of broken glass, smashed pottery, bits of sharp stone, a jagged bones, and discarded cutlery.
However, what catches your attention are the three pugwumpis that surround a large cooking pot. One wears a ratty apron, another a ratty chefs hat, and the third is naked as usual. They stop and look at you, seemingly mid-soup tasting.
Then they pull out the bows and retreat to the back of the room cackling.
The floor here counts as difficult terrain and if you end your turn on it you must make a Reflex DC 12 or take 1d3 damage. There are shelves and other tables to jump on, but you must make a Dex check DC 15 or fall off.
On site of the Pugwampis Seyhannah draws her bow back with lightning quickness and prepares to kill some desert rats.
Zoisa grimaces at the smell of whatever these pugwampis are calling "a meal."
"I'm suddenly VERY glad I didn't join the baboons for their snack. I'd be revisiting it right about now."
Alem cannot help himself but to laugh at the sight of the pugwampis cooking a meal. Even as the jackal-rats produce weapons and make to attack them, his mirth buoys him. "It must be true, that old proverb about too many chefs!"
"HA! Good one, Alem!" says Zoisa.
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Fawziya grins as she sights the gremlins. "At last! Tremble in terror, O loathsome ratfolk! You face Fawziya bint Abdul-Wali, Slayer of the Ghoul King, Scourge of Slavers, victor of a hundred battles! You stand no chance! Prepare your souls for the oblivion granted to worms such as yourselves!"
"You have GOT to tell me the stories of these battles when we're done clearing this place, Fawziya!" Zoisa says in awe.
Initiative Order: Seyhannah, Zoisa, Alem, Pugwumpis, Fawziya
It seems Fawziya was a bit too caught up in her self introdcution, as the rest of the party leaps into action!
"Watch your feet!" Zoisa barks as she conjurs one of her trusty blobs of acid and chucks it towards the lower part of the cauldron, hoping to give the pugwampis a hot and nasty surprise!
Alem chants an incantation, but Fawziya enraptures him with her ever-growing litany of epithets and his ray of frost goes wide.
Launching an arrow at the fleeing Pugwampis.
"We don't even know if they speak common Fawzi! I'm still impressed though..."
While Seyhannah and Alem miss with their ranged attacks, Zoisa manages the right placement and melts half of one pugwumpi's head off, its body slopping to the ground.
The two remaining Puwumpis use their grunged bows and fire some shots at the small gnome in retaliation.
Zoisa blinks in surprise as she effortlessly dispatches another pugwampi.
"I was just aiming for the cauldron to give 'em a hotfoot from their soup! I must be getting better at this than I thought!"
Her commentary is cut short by an arrow to the arm.
"YEEOUCH!" she cries. "Well, at least it wasn't my knee. I'm not cut out for guard duty!"
She responds by conjuring another acid splash, aimed at the puggy that shot her.
"you're definely settling into s good groove. Keep that up!" Taking aim once again Sey looses another arrow.
"Will do, sundancer!" Zoisa says confidently.
Emboldened by Zoisa, Alem tries his spell again, this time to much better result.
Zoisa the Acidic throws another hissing globule which successfully downs another enemy puwumpi. Alem follows suit, joining the apparently overpowered magic team and freezes the throat of the last pugwumpi solid, leaving the frantic gremlin to scratch and paw at it before it eventually succumbs to suffucation.
"And now, HAVE AT THEE!", Fawziya finishes as arrows and spells sling past her. She takes a few steps into the room before she notices the pugwampis have all fallen to her allies' barrage, and she has to laugh despite the situation she finds herself in. "Next time, save some glory for me as well, friends!"
"Great job. Zoisa, are you ok? They didn't like you very much. " Says Seyhannah as she moves to assist with any wounds.
Zoisa takes her pesh power and uses it on herself before taking hold of the arrow and yanking it out.
"ARGH! I'm okay!" she says with a vacant smile.
"I guess they...were miffed that dinner was gonna be late with no cook! Ha ha! Can...can you wrap that up, I'm not sure if the dizziness is the pesh or the exsanguination..." she says, gesturing to the injury.
Before leaving you find some.....soup...on the floor that probalby should stay there. Otherwise, everything once usable has long since been spoiled.
Three long wooden tables and dozens of chairs that once lined this mess hall are in shambles, mostly rotted away with the passage of years. Light shines through several large holes, in the ceiling, illuminating a your entrance point in the east wall.
Zoisa stumbles into the room and takes a look around, still somewhat in a daze.
"This whole monastery has been a disappointment," Fawziya grumbles as she kicks over a rotting chair. "Very little treasure, barely any glory, nothing more than a shrine to a forgotten saint. At least we're getting paid good coin for this."
As Alem gazes upon the destroyed hall, his heart is saddened as he muses over what has become of such a once-festive place. "Once, the Saerenrites must have spent many hours here." In his mind's eye, Alem imagines he can see the ghosts of the past. Figments of the monks taking their supper in a meal hall still in perfect shape. Warmth and light accompany the apparitions as they bask in the glow of their joyous piety. "Their food, perhaps sumptuous, perhaps meager, was no doubt light fare compared with their conversations. How they must have talked, nourishing each other with holy wisdom. Oh, to be a fly on this wall! Their quarrels must have raged with the white-hot passion of their goddess's purifying fire, but their brotherhood surely prevailed, tempered by Saerenrae's warmth and forgiveness."
The apparition fades before Alem's eyes, leaving only the cold, empty reality, and he sighs, his soul a bit heavier than only moments before. "Truly, could any enemy have done more to desecrate this place than what has been done by the unrelenting passage of time itself?"
Taking notice of Fawziya's outburst, Alem tuts. "O mighty Fawziya, do you not see? This place has suffered greatly, and it was never to be turned to our gain. But there is glory yet to be had. Could it no longer be as it was in those vaunted days gone by? Saerenrae herself may shine her favor upon us, if we might take it upon ourselves to restore this shrine its lost glory!"
There doesn't seem to be anything of interest or worth in this room. No danger either. Just a testament to the passing ages that whittle the world away.
Moving to check Zoisa's wounds Seyhannah says regrettably "Sorry Zoisa, I won't be able to mend these wounds with magic for a while. Sarenrae favors us though, we seem to have cleared the majority of the temple. "
Listening to Alem thoughtfully she responds "You have a beautiful flow to your words Master Alem. It is in deed a shame that this place of reverence has fallen to the ravages of time, but one of the reasons we find ourselves here this day is to correct that neglect. To bring back the light once again to these temple grounds. The Children of Dawn will breathe life into this place and it will grow as will the reputation of Fawziya the Great when we do our part to reestablish the village of Kelmarane. " She finishes trying to console the proud warrior.
"If anything, this is why I adventure, friends," the warrior-woman states. "This warrior saint and his compatriots were certainly feared and honored in their day, but what is his name now? Lost upon the wind, the only memory of his passing a forgotten shrine inhabited by pugwampis and infested with desert vermin. One day, too, Fawziya shall be no more. I will not let my name be remembered only by wind and sand."
"Wind and sand can't remember your name, Fawziya, it doesn't have brains!" Zoisa chirps.
"If you want to try and impress the elements with your sword-play, though, that's your thing. You do you!"
Finding nothing, the group moves to the last room that remains unchecked.
Ten bunk beds in various stages of disrepair fill this chamber, which must once have been a dormitory for students. The roof is mostly intact, and an open arch in the north wall leads to a large hallway. The east and west walls both bear sturdy wooden doors leading to other rooms, and an open arch in the southeast corner of the room leads into a darkened antechamber, perhaps a large closet.
Fawziya allows the rest of the party to examine the bunks, having given up on finding anything of value - treasure or otherwise - and shines a light into the southeastern archway.
Zoisa shambles into the room, since her injury prevents her from scampering as she normally would. She looks around the bunks for any surprises.
Alem mistakes Fawziya's sullen defeatism for vigilance. "The wind and sand will surely remember Fawziya bint Abdul-Wali - the Stone Sentry, who stared for so hard and so long into the desert watching for danger that she became a living statue!"
Meanwhile, Kaspar ransacks the room, as he is wont to do.
The beds are empty, nothing of value to be found. Even Kasper darting around the faded and frayed sheets turns up nothing.
Fawziya enters the darkened antechamber, and finds there is a door pressed against the eastern section. A few test pushes reveal that is is very stuck in place.
"Somehow I think Fawziya'd find that really boring, Al. I know I would. Statues can't do pesh, and that's really what makes long bouts of doing nothing interesting."
She looks about.
Speaking of Fawziya, where'd she go?"
"Over here![/b]", Fawziya grunts, already planting her feet and attempting to shove open the eastern door she's found.
"Hold on. That door is secure for the moment, we have some wounds to attend to. Why not take a break and secure the position befor heading off to where ever that secret door leads. " Seyhannah says, assuming the secret door will lead to further challenges. Challenges possibly more dangerous the group has encountered to this point.
"Good idea, Hanna...can I call you Hanna?" Zoisa says.
With an impressive show of force, Fawziya thrusts against the door with her mighty shoulder. Yet, the door remains firmly in place. Fawziya could here the slight splintering of wood, a clear sign that the door could be moved, but something is preventing it .
The group takes a moment to catch their breath, silently sitting where peaceful men once studied and prayed together. Its a somber moment, as if you can feel the memories of the temple fade slowly as the sunlight shines over the light dust in the air.
"Hannah is fine. Do you imagine something is hiding from us behind the door or locked in?"
Zoisa stretches, her bored yawn cut short as she stretches her wounded arm and yelps.
"Nah, they probably would have said something when Fawziya started pounding on it. She's hard to ignore! How much of this place have we covered, anyway? Think we can start bringing Boss Lady Almah and her crew in to set up camp?"
Alem rubs his chin as he ponders the mystery of the door. "If someone did not seal themselves inside, perhaps they meant to seal someone else out."
Alem inspects the door closely, but it seems it is a simple wooden door. He does notice....growth, near some of the edges, some kind of mold or plant that adhering the door to the frame.
"Do you recognize what kind of plant it is Master Alem?" Seyhannah moves closer to inspect even though she knows nothing of plant life to identify it.