Camp all situated, the Burgomaster and his small band of rangers prepares to depart. "I shall leave two back to guard the yak and camp. Make sure that fire is hot and there is plenty of scalding tea when we return." knowing full well the affect the mountain can have on a body, Draslas is preparing for the worst.
As they depart camp and ascend higher up the mountain, now that they are above the timberline there are no more trees and few shrubs. The landscape is a swatch of dull greys, interspersed with pink hues. They breath is labored as they work extra hard against the natural incline. As they make their way up the trial, it becomes more and more rugged until it fades entirely.
Before long, the Companions are bouldering across the mountain scree.
Steep Slope: Characters moving uphill (to an adjacent square of higher elevation) must spend 2 squares of movement to enter each square of steep slope. Characters running or charging downhill (moving to an adjacent square of lower elevation) must succeed on a DC 10 Acrobatics check upon entering the first steep slope square. Mounted characters make a DC 10 Ride check instead. Characters who fail this check stumble and must end their movement 1d2 × 5 feet later. Characters who fail by 5 or more fall prone in the square where they end their movement. A steep slope increases the DC of Acrobatics checks by 2.
Scree: A field of shifting gravel, scree doesn’t affect speed, but it can be treacherous on a slope. The DC of Acrobatics checks increases by 2 if there’s scree on a gradual slope and by 5 if there’s scree on a steep slope. The DC of Stealth checks increases by 2 if the scree is on a slope of any kind.
The time passes slowly, but not as slow as they progress. The rangers constantly have to turn back and assist the heavily armored Benaiah and Ariar as they trudge up the mountain. All the hard work eventually takes a tole on their bodies, unaccustomed to the thin mountain air.
+5 vs cold weather
Eventually they reach the first site. Draslas, inhaling and exhaling heavily, approaches the group. He explains that there are odd ruins and crags that are likely spots for the harpies to lair. About 300 feet away, on a top of a sheer cliff face, are the ruins of a temple. From their vantage, the companions can only see solitary carved columns and ruined walls of a temple. It would be a steep ascent over scree to reach the cliff face, before ascending the wall 40 feet to reach the temple. There are multiple large boulders that could be used to hide behind on their path to the cliffs.
As they approach the eerie site, Arimar pops in the beeswax earplugs and says softly, "Now, remember, if you're in trouble, whisper."
Noticing their halfling laboring more than she should be, Arimar asks her back quickly for a touch of relief. He lays his hands on the top of her head and asks her to breathe more deeply. "Okay, back to scout it out," the paladin smiles encouragingly and waits for the 'all clear' before he noisily sets off agin
When they reach the cliff face, the aasimar lets out a long, soft whistle. "Well, even in plate mail, I can make it up there if someone can get there first and tie up a knotted rope. Let's see what we can do about staying behind the boulders first and then quietly - perhaps invisibly? - scaling the cliff to tie it off?"
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Benaiah checks the plugs in his ears, paranoid about just how sealed they are. Eventually he grabs a second pair and jams them in as well, just for good measure. The sounds of nature around him, down to the backdrop of wind and the expansive space is muted, and all he can hear is the blood rushing through his ears.
Suddenly Arimar's voice fills his head, an eerie whisper with the stark contrast of no audible backdrop.
Wanting to be prepared for what might be on the otherside, Benaiah weighs the risks of using some of his resources now, and decides it is worth it. He looks around, his blood pressure rising slightly and ducks behind a nearby boulder as Arimar sizes up the situation. He quickly reaches into his powder box and picks a couple of his recently made concoctions out. Snorting them quickly, He feels the chemicals hit his system and his body begin it's rapid changes. His eyes roll back into his head as he enjoys the moment.
Coming back around the boulder, his companions see his grotesque change, fully in his mutated form. "I'll bring the rope up." he whispers through the spell, acting as if nothing had changed and avoiding the accusing eyes of Arimar. "Just let me know when we are all ready."
Before setting out, Kaddren selects a set of spells that is versatile, yet slightly more geared towards subtlety and cold weather than usual. He takes the bouldering cheerfuly in stride... at least until the climbing starts to get as monotonous as hiking through harpy-infested terrain can be.
The arrival at the first site is a welcome change, and he readily plugs in the earswax. When Arimar whispers to the group, at first he makes a show of mouthing "What?" before adding in a message of his own "Ah, right. Well, I can cover the Invisibility if you want to give it a go. Or you can Levitate me, and I can try to take a look around some. I'm probably the sneakier of the two, and trying to cast Feather Fall on you if you're jumping off the cliff invisibly could be a bit messy... I'd rather not get blood spatter on my nice clean weather outfit, you know."
0 Ghost Sound
0 Light
0 Message
0 Prestidigitation
0 Read Magic
1 Feather Fall
1 Grease
1 Heightened Awareness
1 Endure Elements
2 Invisibility
2 Glitterdust
Each steps is a struggle.
The halfling looks to the others, watching as each hauls gear, equipment, laden with armor and weapons, even strapped with supplies. From across the rocky landscape the biting winds cut into her, sapping her strength and sending Gwendolyn nearly toppling back down the hillside and erasing any progress she had made. Her feet beyond heavy, feeling as if weighed by having stones. Nearly all her life had been spent in warmer climates, and the low temperatures tingling and stinging her exposed skin was now almost unbearable. She had never felt at such a deficit to her companions as now, simply struggling to hoist herself up the incline, slowly step by step, when the others were already doing so much more than her.
She carried almost no gear of her own, save the heavy winter coat strapped tightly to her body, a pair of clattering snowshoes hoisted over her shoulder, some snow goggles, and, of course, her precious violin. Even so, she could not keep up with the others, struggling with each step to maintain pace. The earplugs, which she kept securely pressed into her ears, caused the thundering beat of her pounding heart to sound loudly in her head. But most of all, she could not make eye contact with her companions, not while she was struggling to even haul herself, when they were contributing over and above their own needs.
She hated to be a burden, but knew that was her lot in this place. The only resolve being to be as little of a burden as possible.
When at last she was on the verge of giving up, not wanting to admit to her friends how much she was indeed struggling, she felt the calming touch of Arimar on the top of her head. Within in moments she was breathing easier, and looking up to the paladin with a watery, tear-filled eye. "Thank you," she says with a labored breath, but steadying herself as the seconds pass. "I was having a hard go of it there, but was afraid to bring it up..."
"Thank you for noticing," she finishes, patting the paladin gently on the arm before pulling the fabric of the heavy winter coat close about her body.
Looking across the 300 foot expanse, then up the shear cliff face to the skeleton of the ruined temple. "I'll cross with the louder members of our party," the halfling adds, looking on in wonder at the daunting terrain still to cross. "I will help and support however I can, but I don't think I'll be much help at scouting..."
"I'd be afraid of causing even more trouble for the group than I already have..."
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"Eh, Gwen," Benaiah mentions, getting the halfling's attention, "Hop up here if you want. I've got broad enough shoulders. Will be a lot easier than your short legs churning through this scree." he says, patting his shoulder a couple of times with clawed hands.
He looks up the steep slope to the sheer cliff face. He waits for the de-facto scout to begin making his way in order to follow at a proper distance.
"Hey Gwen, just a thought I had... Do you think your own music might be able to counteract the magical call of the harpies, should it come to that?" He asks, betraying his worry of falling under their spell.
The halfling looks up to her towering companion and cannot supress a beaming smile. As much as she didn't want to be completely dependent upon her friends, she knew in this place it could not be helped. "Thank you," she says, beginning to make sure the odd pieces of gear hanging off her are secure before moving to clammer onto the man's back.
"And yes," she continues once she is sure the last, but most important piece of equipment is tightly strapped to herself, wanting to make sure the violin will not fall from her body even if she should topple. "If we can stay close enough together, I know I can find a melody which will fight off the call of those harpies. I won't be able to inspire you at the same time, but at least those harpies won't leave you dumbfounded."
"When we get to the base, before we go up, I can detect the presence of evil creatures - such as the harpies - from the bottom," Arimar suggests over their message as everyone moves out, "That should at least let us know what we're likely to find up there."
With that, the paladin waits for the advance party to get slightly less than charging distance away, and then moves off.
Kaddren looks at the boulder coverered scrag, then to the imposing climb. "I've seen dresses on Varisian exotic dancers less sheer than that cliff... but I can cast Invisibility on myself, pop up, take a look around, and drop a rope if nothing immediately looks like it's going to bring immediate pain. If you hear... well, anything, assume the worst."
Of course, if things do turn sidewise, it's unlikely that the party will be able to get to me in time to save me... Cheery thought.
Kaddren casts Invisibility and spends two minutes of his precious stealth to wind his way towards the cliff face. He's reasonably confident nothing noticed his approach, as he stares up at the 40 foot cliff. He collects himself and thinks to himself Just like sneaking up onto balcony of the Women's Floor back at the Institute as he bends the rules of space and distance to form a crack between where he stands and the top of the cliff, traveling 50 feet in a single stride. Once there he peers around, with his Heightened senses , looking around.
Kaddren, calling upon his arcane abilities, scurries invisibly from boulder to outcropping without incident. Settled at the base of the cliff face he motions for the others to follow and gives the all clear before realizing that he is invisible and they can't see him, so he whispers the all clear.
No matter, as Arimar and Benaiah the Carrier have tried to follow a short distance behind their unseen companion. Doing their best to remain incognito, difficult with Gwen perched on Benaiah's shoulders, they do their best in the mountain scree.
Quite a bit less stealthy, the trio follow and reach the base without incident. Arimar calls upon the blessings to Sarenrae to determine if their is an evil foe present. As he searches his feelings, he cannot feel anyone of an evil nature near by.
Kaddren then bends the physical laws of space to stride to the top of the cliff face. Still invisible he drops the rope before scanning the area.
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"You say nothing is up there?" Benaiah looks at Arimar, "And by nothing, you mean nothing evil..." He trails off, turning to some general direction he assumes Kaddran is in.
"What do you see wizard?" he asks, waiting for the rope to get dropped.
Benaiah grips his powder box, wondering if he should be grabbing the levitation snuff to get up the cliff as quickly as possible. The gods know he certainly wasn't quiet, huffing and puffing his way across the scree. Maybe he scared everything away...
"Nothing evil, not necessarily nothing hostile," Arimar does his best to put on a disarming smile, "I guess we should send Gwen up there first so she can calm any aggressive creatures down before the heavily armored of us arrive."
Still grinning sheepishly, Arimar grabs onto the rope and hoists himself up .
Arimar doesn't draw his blade. Evil creatures were on thing, but if none were there then it would not do to act in a hostile way. That said, he studies the temple entrance for a while - not knowing who it is a temple to - detecting evil again and making sure to interpose himself between unexplored areas and their arcanist.
He Messages down to the party. "No hostiles so far, though the temple seems to be dedicated to a deity of mountains, winter, and or volcanoes, in order of the potential to be truly horrible it possibly could be. I'm sneaking a bit closer to make sure nothing pops out."
As the companions explore more of the cavern, they find it in a ruinous state. The only abnormality seems to be an abundance of water in the usually barren environment. Gwen muses it might be an underground spring but she cannot say for sure. Small pools are dotted throughout, many half frozen, and a multicolored pattern of fungi and lichen decorate the area in the damp, dark temple.
The Companions come across a few mundane items, a cup with giant with ram's horns on his head, cracked pottery, some discarded and moldy furs. Nothing of any real value.
Until they come a bit too close to a spread of mold.
Kaddren and Gwen steer the companions away from the mold, knowing that it has the potential to belch a cloud of spores at the companions. They explain to the rest that is is a variety of Russet Mold, and if you are infected and die from infestation, you become a vegepygmy.
As the duo are waxing rhapsodic with their book learning, five vegepygmy burst forth and rush the companions.
They systematically attack the Companions, the claws of the vegepygmy drip with Russet Mold spores.
Only one vegepygmy lands a claw, but the barbchemist is so used to odd chemicals in his bloodstream that he easily shakes the effects off.
Tearing into Kaddren's fine clothes, the youth also is able to resist the strange mold spores.
Gwen too is slashed with the vegepygmy claw and she too is able to ignore the mold in her bloodstream.
Again the vegepygmy take advantage of the Companions slow reactions. They strike out as a team trying to keep the Companions off balance.
Picking up some loose pebbles, the vegepygmy tosses a handful into Arimar's eyes, attempting toblind him, but the paladin often wades into combat with his eyes closed so suffers no ill effects.
Benaiah is not so lucky. Both vegepygmy team up to bind Benaiah's boots together causing him to become Entangled for 2 rounds.
Another vegepygmy boxes Kaddren's ears causing a ringing sensation. Try as he might, Kaddren cannot hear what his friends are saying to him for three rounds.
The last vegepygmy dances around, under, and behind Gwen before showing her a sparkly prism whose light dazzles the halfling for two rounds.
All the vegepygmys retreat from their foes giggling heartily.
[ooc]Current Conditions: Benaiah -5 hp & Entangled (0/2); Kaddren -7hp & Deaf (0/3); Gwen -5hp & Dazzled (0/2) [/b]
You can attempt to hinder a foe in melee as a standard action. This maneuver covers any sort of situational attack that imposes a penalty on a foe for a short period of time. Examples include kicking sand into an opponent’s face to blind him for 1 round, pulling down an enemy’s pants to halve his speed, or hitting a foe in a sensitive spot to make him sickened for a round. The GM is the arbiter of what can be accomplished with this maneuver, but it cannot be used to impose a permanent penalty, and the results can be undone if the target spends a move action. If you do not have the Improved Dirty Trick feat or a similar ability, attempting a dirty trick provokes an attack of opportunity from the target of your maneuver.
If your attack is successful, the target takes a penalty. The penalty is limited to one of the following conditions:
blinded, dazzled, deafened, entangled, shaken, or sickened.
This condition lasts for 1 round. For every 5 by which your attack exceeds your opponent’s CMD, the penalty lasts 1 additional round. This penalty can usually be removed if the target spends a move action. If you possess the Greater Dirty Trick feat, the penalty lasts for 1d4 rounds, plus 1 round for every 5 by which your attack exceeds your opponent’s CMD. In addition, removing the condition requires the target to spend a standard action.
The halfling stumbles back from the small, humanoid creature and rubs her eyes wildly with both hands. It only takes a moment for her to realize that she can do naught to improve her sight within the next few seconds, but also that it should not alter her ability to release a rousing song from the violin. Gwendolyn could play in the pitch dark on a rocking boat in the middle of a swelling sea without missing a beat, and so, here and now, a little uncomfortableness in her eyes would not prove much of a hindrance.
Pulling the delicate violin free, the bow is instantly in hand while a screeching song is resounding loudly off the walls of the cavern. For the first instant she plays a shrill note to drown out the disgusting, slathering noises coming from their assailants then quickly changes the tempo and pitch to more pleasantly guide her friends with steady beat and rousing arpeggio.
Arimar calmly draws his blade, advancing on an outer vegepygmy . "I don't know if you can understand, but it doesn't have to be like this," Arimar notes, "Retreat or die."
To illustrate his point, he slashes deeply into the nearest mold-creature.
His attack complete, Arimar holds his blade back and points to the most obvious point of retreat. "Go. Or die." Giving them more than enough opportunity to save themselves... I hope Sarenrae approves.
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Benaiah, emboldened by the song that Gwen produces, strains against the moldy bindings around his feet. It takes a moment longer than he might have liked, but they easily burst, leaving a stain on the leather straps that interlace with the plate greaves. The big man reaches to a pouch on his hip that carries two currently inert greases and snaps the thin membrane that separates them. The concoctions gets warm in his hands immediately, bringing a smile to his face.
Stepping into the throw, Benaiah aims for a tight cluster of the little moldy freaks and puts his weight into his best fastball.
for
Kaddren reels first from the claw that pierces into his favorite shirt, then from having his earplugs driven into his ears. He hastily shakes off the mold residue, Messaging to the party, as he takes in the tactical situation.
"I'm currently deafened, so if for some reason we need to run, please flail in an appropriate fashion. Also relevant, these creatures seem related to Vegepygmies: plants immune to electricity. These clearly aren't typical for their breed; can we agree to call them 'Vegemighties' if we survive this?"
Gwen is the first of the companions to act. Striking up a tune, her friends feel a burst of courage to defend themselves against the plant attackers.
Arimar swings his falchion with deadly ferocity, slicing through vegetative matter. A pool of clear, thick fluid trickles from the creature's wounds. Whatever he said to his assailant seems to either be ignored or not understood.
Benaiah decides to fling fire through the air. It lands directly on the red vegepygmy. Strangely much of the fire fizzles out before it scorches the vegepygmy. The resultant splash only produces a small puff of steam rather than hurting its companion.
Kaddren releases a jet of grease causing one of the plant creatures to slip and fall. The other retains his footing but makes no effort to follow the human as he slides away.
Left with only three targets, the vegepygmy once more resume their attack.
While the blue vegepygmy swings at Arimar, the green advances towards Gwen with its arm cocked high. Reaching the halfling, it tries to deliver a strong uppercut to the halfling's jaw.
But misses
As the red vegepygmy regains its feet, the orange and yellow all close the distance with Benaiah surrounding him and begin to rain down blows.
[ooc]Current Conditions: Arimar -14 hp; Benaiah -28hp; Kaddren -7hp & Deaf (1/3); Gwen -5hp & Dazzled (1/2); Blue -18 hp; Red -20hp [/b]
You can attempt to hinder a foe in melee as a standard action. This maneuver covers any sort of situational attack that imposes a penalty on a foe for a short period of time. Examples include kicking sand into an opponent’s face to blind him for 1 round, pulling down an enemy’s pants to halve his speed, or hitting a foe in a sensitive spot to make him sickened for a round. The GM is the arbiter of what can be accomplished with this maneuver, but it cannot be used to impose a permanent penalty, and the results can be undone if the target spends a move action. If you do not have the Improved Dirty Trick feat or a similar ability, attempting a dirty trick provokes an attack of opportunity from the target of your maneuver.
If your attack is successful, the target takes a penalty. The penalty is limited to one of the following conditions:
blinded, dazzled, deafened, entangled, shaken, or sickened.
This condition lasts for 1 round. For every 5 by which your attack exceeds your opponent’s CMD, the penalty lasts 1 additional round. This penalty can usually be removed if the target spends a move action. If you possess the Greater Dirty Trick feat, the penalty lasts for 1d4 rounds, plus 1 round for every 5 by which your attack exceeds your opponent’s CMD. In addition, removing the condition requires the target to spend a standard action.
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And here is where it gets fun! the big man thinks, deflecting his thoughts from the pain of the attacks the three have reigned down on his large shoulders.
With a growl and a roar from his distended maw, he wipes a trace amount of residual powder off of his hand to his nostril. It only takes a tiny amount, and his eyes go bloodshot. He feels a rush of adrenaline in his veins, and his leathery skin gets goosebumps as his body can barely contain the energy now bubbling inside.
"Thanks for stepping up so close! All the easier to mow you all down!" he laughs, lunging first with his razor sharp teeth before slashing wildly with his claws.
Arimar growls at the blue creature, which is clearly not getting the message. Perhaps this will dissuade them... He quickly touches the wounds the creature caused him, and utters, "Sarenrae heal me." The chant was unnecessary, but he liked to pray to his new goddess whenever possible. Quickly, his wounds begin to seal over.
"You cannot win, retreat now."
Grinning, Arimar slices once more into the fibrous flesh of this odd plant-creature.
Kaddren peaks from around the corner and (tone)-deafly inquires, "Are we winning yet?" Not hearing an affirmative, he continues to go with the tried and true methods, muttering in Draconic, "It's the Way" before causing another pool of Grease to form under the Vegemighties.
That done, Kaddren's chivalry gets the better of his self preservation and he whispers Gwen "I'm sure that getting hit on is nothing new for you, but you might want to withdraw to near Arimar..."
Gwen manages to avoid the worst of the vegepygmy' attack before moving back slightly.
Once again Arimar swings his falchion with deadly ferocity, slicing through vegetative matter and slicing it in half. It falls in different directions to the ground.
With claw and bite Benaiah manages to rip apart the red vegepygmy. It's verdant body lies lifeless on the temple floor. His last claw tears a bushwhacked path from shoulder to hip on the orange vegepygmy.
Kaddren releases another jet of grease at the Green vegepygmy.
And promptly falls down. It gets back up and seems to twist and run in an odd fashion.
As the red vegepygmy dies, the orange and yellow continue to engage Benaiah with multiple blows. Thur move around the big man trying to, but not quite attaining flanking position.
Only some blows land and not very damaging to the rage monster.
[ooc]Current Conditions: Arimar -5hp; Benaiah -23hp; Kaddren -7hp & Deaf (2/3); Gwen -5hp; Blue Dead; Orange -15hp; Red Dead [/b]
"Stay close," Arimar warns Gwen, as he rushes over to help Benaiah with his foes .
Praying that Sarenrae forgive him for having so little mercy on these persistent fungus-creatures, Arimar slices into the creature trying to flank his friend.
Shortly after, Arimar realises that he is still wounded and prays that his goddess correct this small issue that he may better protect his friends.
Kaddren looks over the situation, and still deaf, decides to delay rather than potentially waste a spell due to fumbling over his words.
[b}"Those Vegimighties don't stand a chance!"[/b]
As Benaiah and Arimar once more tear into the vegepygmys, the sole remaining vegepygmy retreats back towards the fungi that spawned it. It makes no moves to advance or attack.
Arimar looks around at the fallen vegepygmies to see if any yet breathe.
Arimar follows up by administering to his friends, beginning with Benaiah. "This should ease your wounds, as well as your raging soul," Arimar places both hands on the top of Benaiah's back and call's upon Sarenrae to both seal his companion's wounds, and soothe his mind.
"Shall we move on now?" Arimar indicates the remainder of the ruins, "I think there's still a lot to find here."
Peaking out from behind the armored form of Arimar, the halfling watches as the paladin checks the creatures which had been enemies mere moments before to see if they needed healing. She looks quizzically at the towering, muscular man, taking in the depth of his transformation from self-serving to selfless, which had happened in such a short span, and truly appreciative of his continued protection.
"Thank you," she adds to Arimar. "For helping keep me safe and looking out in the fight..."
Thank you for everything-- she thinks the last but does not voice the thought.
Looking around the ruins, she turns and scans. "It doesn't appear there is much here. I had hoped we would find more-- more of something usefull-- but I guess that's not our choice nor in our control."
"I guess we should continue on elsewhere with our searching..."
Kaddren watches the ending of combat, waiting for his ears to finall stop ringing before approaching the others. "Well, that was exciting. Noone got any of that stuff in your mouth, eyes, or open wounds? I'd hate for anyone to turn into one of them, if you died from it." Although, now that I think of it... Kaddren shakes his head and vanishes thoughts of creating a Vegiarmy. "Do you want to deal with the rest of the fungus before we move on? Does 'kill it with fire from a distance' suffice for everyone?"
As Arimar heals one of the vegepygmys, it raises from the floor and scurries defensively by the fungal mat that spawned it.
Being the intrepid explorers that they are, they continue to search the ruined temple, looking for treasure or clues.
Sadly their search only yields a leather journal. Opening it, they find many of the pages missing or illegible except for
As the sun continues it journey across the sky, the companions realize that night will be falling soon.
"These things are not inherently evil, or unintelligent," Arimar notes, "Since the threat to us is now over, I would have strenuous objections to killing them in cold blood, or with fire. I think it might be impossible to remove the mold without destroying them also in some way, but I'm certainly open to suggestions. Otherwise, let's just write a warning for others in as many languages as we know - which seems to be fewer than I used to know - and return to camp. Agreed?"
As he waits for a response, Arimar flips through the journal. He is surprised to see that the pages are numbered and notes that it has opened on page 63, one of the few legible sections.
Kaddren spreads his hands as he looks to the mass of mold in the cavern, then back to Arimar. "A rabid dog isn't inherently evil, or unintelligent. It might be better analogy to consider those creatures as carriers of a plague. Even in this remote locale, who knows how many have been slain by that fungus?" He sighs. "If we had the time I'd suggest camping here and I could clear it out safely, but for now I suppose the multi-lingual warning would suffice."
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Benaiah stoops down, hands on his knees as he gasps for air. Expecting the feeling to last for a short while, he is surprised when Arimar's healing instantly takes the fatigue away. "Wow, That's... some good, ah... healing." he says, blinking his eyes once or twice as he tries to register the sudden sensation.
His head then begins to bob back and forth as Arimar and Kaddran banter the philosophical discussion. His mind filters back suddenly to his days with the pathfinder society, exploring lost ruins and temples such as this, with the intent to defile and steal anything of historical value within.
"Our intent here is to find a way to pit the harpies and the giants against each other. There doesn't seem to be a solution to that problem here, so I say we shouldn't bother wasting the resources to clear this place out. If there is nothing of value here, then these plant warriors will be left alone. We can certainly warn the Oreads about the dangers within, and they can avoid it. If the damned Pathfinder society, or those wicked snakes should decide there is a reason to investigate, then let those murder hobos sort it out." Shrugging his shoulders, Benaiah begins to head back towards the cliff they recently ascended.
"Another temple to explore tomorrow, and if the harpies are there, we won't be leaving any survivors."
"So Gwen, tell me about that song you just played. I like that one, I don't think I've heard it before."
Deciding that caution is the better part of valor, the Companions create their warning sign to help any wayward travelers avoid the deadly fungi and its spawn.
Rappelling back down the cliff, the walk back over the scree and find Draslas huddled deep in his furs on the lee side of a large boulder. Scanning the companions he quickly surmises that they did not in fact, find the harpy lair. He is a bit surprised at the fungi lair, and is grateful for the companions altruism in leaving the warning sign.
With a nod, they make their way back to advanced base camp. Hot tea and dried fruit await them. As they sip and scorch their throat, Draslas explains, "You see the higher up you go, the more your body shuts down." he throws a handful of fruit into his mouth. "If you ate a normal meal, it would just sit in your gullet undigested. Before long, it would get logger jammed in your bowels. Now you have a problem." the two young rangers nod their ascent. "So please do not think that we are poor hosts." The conversation that began so strong quickly fades as each person is lost in thought. The sun dips, the dark blue black shroud of night begins to stretch over the abundant horizon. Twinkling lights of faraway stars begin to blink in the night sky. Draslas nods to the youths, "Unless you have an objection, they will take watch while we sleep, and on the morrow while we explore, they can catch up on their rest/" The Burgomaster waits for your approval before seeking his tent.
The scorchingly hot tea brings back very uncomfortable memories as it sears Arimar's throat. For a moment, he is six again and back in Riddleport, the unsympathetic priests of Pharasma forcing hot coals into his mouth simply because he could command the undead. Visibly shaken, Arimar places the hot cup down and waits for it to cool while he eats the fruit. The flavors and textures remind him that he is no longer physically scarred by his experience and he thanks the Dawnflower once again for his salvation.
"You are exceptional hosts," Arimar thanks Draslas, "The food, company and aid is more than we could have expected and it is all much appreciated. Your suggestion for watch sounds adroit. Let us get our rest and repeat this process tomorrow."