With teamwork and precision, your party unleashes hell on the monster menacing the baron and your comrades as you stab, slice, bit, and pummel the crocotta until it lies still and motionless on the jungle floor.
As the creature stops moving, the baron hurriedly makes his way down the ladder and limps to the creature's corpse. "Here, bring that compass over here!" he calls out to Shonne.
Looking at the crocotta up close, all of you can now clearly see that its haunches and tail are striped like a tiger rather than that of a lion as most leucrottas do. The baron moves his hand towards the beast and traces a scar along its left flank.
"Here's the mark I left you the last time we met." he whispers to the corpse. "Five years by, but that's for my men you %$&#*^"
He spits next to the creature, then straightens up and turns to you. "And now it's done. Thank you. Each of you."
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"Silass took a pretty savage blow! You might ask him if he is okay, I'm sure Korbin will say hes fine, but I'm not sure." Hangust has calmed down and is notably exhausted as he drags his feet toward the Baron.
"Do you want to bring it back to camp, as a trophy, or would you rather leave it here to rot?"
He's a mix of excited and concerned as he considers that their work in this jungle is not yet complete.
"Where to now? He asks no one in particular.
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You worthless oversized hamfisted gap toothed incapable lump of snake flesh! You are a monster, an ogre and a malformity! You did nothing! Again! The best I can hope for is clearly that you could have gotten stuck in it's throat and chocked it to death while it tried to eat you! I cannot believe i let you serve me my food! Why do i even take you outside!? I should of thrown your egg off a cliff as soon as i found it!......
As Korbin screams at Silass, and pecks furiously at the side of his scaled head, Silass grimaces and pulls a wand from his belt, holding it out to Tatiana as blood seeps through his fingers, smiling pleasantly none the less.
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Tatiana puts away her wand and accepts the wand from Silass. After a moment of careful thought, she removes the remainder of bread from her pouch and then tosses a large clump of it a short distance away.
Once the over excited bird makes it's way to the irresistible meal, Tatiana activates the wand and releases the positive energy into Silass.
After observing the wounds slightly close, she activates the wand a second time.
Tatiana points out that the wounds have closed a noticeable amount. The young bard decides to activate the wand a third time, releasing it's energy into Silass.
Satisfied the wounds have safely closed, Tatiana gives the wand back to Silass.
”Oh, I’ll be stuffing this thing,” the baron replies to Hangust. ”Have a place all picked out in the drawing room for it. But for now it’s late, and real tigers prowl around this area on top of whatever abomination this thing is. I say we ride out the night back up in the machans, then head out in the morning.”
He pauses for a bit, then continues. ”I’m grateful for your Society’s help on this-Falroun did good finding you-but I’m not a flattered fool. I know you lot are going to be splitting off to find those new ruins they’ve been talking about. That part of the Lowlands is mostly marsh and swamp; easy enough to get lost and sick if you don’t know the area. I can guide you there if you like, though whatever’s inside is your business. Think of it as a token of appreciation.”
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Sparkle-Weave sprinkles a little fey dust on her summoned pals before sending them home.
Following the baron's advice, you spend the night up in the machans.
Awaking the next day, baron Bomande leads you through the Urapangi Lowlands towards where the latest sightings place the lost Vudran temple. True to his word, the trail takes you through a seemingly endless series of fens and bogs, but Bomande is experienced in such terrain, and guides you ever onwards. Finally, in the afternoon, you cut through a set of overhanging vines and see the remains of an ancient building, its brown sandstone exteriors almost entirely covered by the surrounding vegetation. As the rest of you gaze upon it, the baron turns to your party with a satisfied smile. "And here's your destination. As best I can tell anyway. I wish you luck inside, but whatever you find has no bearing on me. Come find me back at that lodge down the ways before you head back to Absalom: I'm sure Falroun would like to see you before you go."
He leaves you to explore the ruins alone. In front of you lies a set of stone stairs, leading up into an open entryway.
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Having slept through the night, nominating Silass to keep watch in his place, Korbin is chirpy and ready to........ Not go into the creepy ruins. He flies over to perch on Tatiana.
SILASS! GO CHECK FOR TRAPS WITH THE OTHERWISE USLESS CARCASS YOU CALL A BODY!
And hello there my dear. I don't suppose you would happen to have any more of that bread, ey?
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Tatiana pulls out another clump of bread from her pack, brakes off a little, then holds the small portion up for Lord Korbin.
"I agree with Lord Korbin here. This would be an ideal place to set up a trap."
Tatiana looks over at Silass. "Lord Kobin, is Silass adept at spotting or disabling traps?"
"At that matter, is anyone here adept at spotting or disabling traps?
Scouting the entryway, neither Orin, Bennybeck, or Hangust notices any sing of an active trap. If such a defense was once here, they think it would have ling been subsumed by the jungle.
Moving warily into the temple you see columns lining the walls of this small room, each decorated with a high-relief carving of a monkey in a different pose. Some of the monkey sculptures sit serenely in meditation or reach out with their hands as if to deliver blessings to the viewer, while others adopt more naturalistic poses. The floor is littered with decaying plant matter and mud, and the stench of rotting muck pervades the area. As you pass through the wide southern archway, you spy a second leading north deeper into the temple.
At the same time as you enter the room however, a woman and two armed man pass through the northern archway from the room beyond. All three are carrying bulging sacks, but they stop when they catch sight of the seven of you. The two men look to the woman, who takes a step forwards and call out "So, at last the rest of the vultures arrive. Well have at it if you like, but right now just get out of our way!"
”A-afraid?” the leader of the trio stumbles. ”It’s you who should be afraid. Now we’re about ready to clear out anyway, so let us pass and you can have at it!” She repositions her bag on her shoulders.
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Tatiana observes the the area carefully. After catching sight of the three looters she takes note of their demeanor.
"I'm not as convinced that you are afraid, but I do think you are here to plunder this place. If you let us take a look in those bags, it is possible that we will allow you to leave with their content."
With a glaring look, Tatiana removes the braided whip from her thigh.
As Tatiana and Orin bare their weapons, the shaken woman drops her bag down with a clank and raises both hands in the air.
”You know what? Here, just take it. Take whatever, probably cursed anyway, just let us get out of here, now! There’s an evil in there, and me and me, Carlos and Lars want no part of it.”
She motions back to her companions and they set their sacks down as well. She starts to make for the exit. ”Take some advice: I know you look tough but staying here ain’t worth it. There’s malevolents in there. Tiny things, two of them. Yellow skin, crown of horns, glowing red eyes. Almost like a ruby. Shot at us from everywhere, the walls, the ceilings, below. Worst part was the grin, their grins…”
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Tatiana waves the looters past, then begins looking through the bags.
"What she is describing sounds a lot like an Atripurasurs. If memory serves me correctly, they are an asure-evil outsider, who are hell bent on destroying anything created by the gods. They are resistant to acid and electricity. They also have tough hides, which is resistant to most weapons. I believe I have read somewhere that cold iron or good aligned weapons are effective."
Looking through the archway that the looters came through, you can make out a mosaic of a monkey-faced figure decorating the floor of this room, though the tiles that would form its eyes are missing. The north end of the room is filled with rubble blocking an arched passageway. To the west, vines and foliage intrude into the temple through an open-air balcony, while a similar balcony to the east remains relatively clear of plant life.
Investigating the second room, you notice two more monkey statues flanking the archway you pass through. The rubble blocked the main hallway is impressive. Hangust and Bennybeck think that they may be able to squeeze through, possibly, but there's virtually no way their larger companions could get past it.
Looking at the greenery poking through the cracks and holes in the building, Tatiana does not see any deadly plants, just basic jungle vines and branches.
At the eastern part of the room, just outside a narrow path extends between the exterior wall of the temple and the thick web of vines and tree branches that cover the temple’s walls. At either end of the path, small open-air balconies lead back into the temple.
Peering around the corner, Orin sees a 20-foot-tall, high-relief sculpture of a mountain that dominates the north end of this large chamber. A statue of a figure now missing its head sits in the lotus position at the mountain’s peak, while smaller statues of monkey-faced pilgrims rest on ledges farther down the mountain. Shattered pieces of yet more monkey statues litter the floor.
The southern half of the room is filled with rubble, obstructing an arched passageway to the south. In the center of the room, a small enclosed shrine made of dark brown stone faces south toward the rubble. A hallway to the west leads to a balcony overrun by foliage.