"What's a campsite doing here?
Hopefully it's not from grave robbers."
Evangline:
Rova:
Vertielle:
Wood:
Zhiden: In
Evangline:
Rova:
Vertielle:
Wood:
Zhiden: In
Rova, Vertielle, and Zhiden also locate a coracle hidden in the trees and brush along the southwest shore of the island. The coracle contains an oar, a mouldy leather travel bag containing a damp artisan's outfit and a vile object...what appears to be a detached human face.
Eva and Vertielle also realize that there is dried blood staining the coracle.
There is also a length of rope attached to the boat leading into the waters below.
DC10 Str to pull it up.
"Who wants to pull the boat up?"
This may lead to an underwater lair. Who is a strong swimmer?
Vertielle peruses the myriad clues with an air of detached interest before asking Wood his opinion on the vial and using Detect Magic on the scene.
Perhaps we should have hired a good tracker, she points out as she examines the strange scene.
Testing the rations for age, she remarks, This is no golem camp. Incapable of enjoying either wine or food, they are driven instead by slaved spirits.
Vertielle examines the blood and the face, wondering if perhaps speak with dead or Blood Biography might reveal additional information before sketching a rendition of the human the face might have belonged to.
"Gr-grave robbers might not be far from the truth," Zhiden cleared his throat, having had to fight a catch in it to get the words out. "Look, these graves look like they collapsed, maybe they were dug up and then covered over wrong?" He pointed at the graves in question, drawing the rest of the group's attention to them.
Gkirkhan shrugs and begins pulling on the rope, taking the hint from Eva (whether it is there or not).
Wood examines the dried extract.
"Hmmm, remains of a darkvision extract; didn't know carrots really help you see in the dark. I wonder who needed to see in the dark?"
After moments of thought, "Someone was pulling the puppet strings. This is not the case of Construct Gone Wild."
This may shed doubt in the theory, but proves nothing. The Beast could still have committed these crimes; this could well be a coincidence.
Her denial lacks vigor, and it's obvious she's doubting herself on that.
"Wep, th' potion wasn' th' beast's iff'n it can't drink. An' I thought they kin see in th' dark widout magic. So..wait..did th' guy say it was cussin'? Beast can't string three words tagether, an' acts lik' a scared five-year ol'. Don' think it'd be swearin' up an' down like the guy said."
Rova moves to the sunken graves..
"An' iff'n it was diggin' up graves, I don' think it would be so neat as ta cover 'em agin."
Rova seems pensive, then..
"An' didn' th' guy say when the 'beast' got bit, it was bleedin'? Didn' think THA' worked wid a golem. It looks like we got two 'beasts' 'round here."
"Oh, goot. Hy vas vorried I vas not goink to have eny fon."
Gkirkhan continues to slowly, but surely, haul whatever is on the other end of the rope. His toothy grin is genuine and not at all what you'd what to see on his face if you found him in a dark alley.
Imrijka looks very angry as she examines the gravesites. She turns to Gkirkhan and Rova. ”Once you've finished over there, I give you permission, as a representative of Pharasma, to dig up and examine these graves. I want to know if we do have grave-robbers blaspheming against my goddess.”
Gkirkhan has finished pulling up the weight at the end of the rope. It turns out to be a large sack (big enough to hold a medium-sized humanoid, in fact), soaked with dried blood and containing some rope, a gag, a rusted lantern, a trio of heavy knives, and a rusted shovel.
Evangline
Gkirkhan
Rova
Vertielle
Wood
Zhiden
Evangline
Gkirkhan
Rova
Vertielle
Wood
Zhiden
Evangline
Gkirkhan
Rova
Vertielle
Wood
Zhiden
Further examination of the brush along the shoreline turns up a leather-bound case filled with fine tools, made of silver, with amethyst handles.
@Vertielle: Blood Caimans are a local variety of crocodilian with a red-scaled head. They are regarded as quite tasty.
Apparently, something else finds them so, as a partially chewed body drops into the group and you hear an animalistic scream of rage.
Evangline
Gkirkhan
Rova
Vertielle
Wood
Zhiden
monster of the day
"What the heck is that thing!"
It looks like it might be a...
"DEAD!"
Gkirkhan yells with glee as he charges in with his sword.
The creature has a vaguely humanoid head, the body of a lion, and the wings of a dragon. Its tail ends in long, sharp spikes. Vertielle quickly recognises it as a female manticore.
The manticore flys over the nest, checking it out, before moving in to attack.
Even as she begins a fly-by attack to launch her spikes, Gkirkhan's mighty swing connects with the creature before she can launch them.
Round 1:
Gkirkhan: hit
Zhiden
Wood
Rova
Manticore
Evangline
Vertielle
AC 17, touch 11, flat-footed 15 (+2 Dex, +6 natural, –1 size)
hp 57-19=38
Oh! I hope there are eggs, I've always wanted a pet manticore! She exclaims as she winces at Gkirkhan's blow. Her fascination somewhat limits her reaction as she stares longingly at the airborn creature.
Say, Zipper, think you can knock out it's wings, she asks, almost as if it were a betting game.
Zhiden watched as the beast flew around them, trying to find the opportune moment. He found one and, without being prompted, he charged at he beast, vaulting off a nearby headstone and launched himself into the air, hoping to grab hold of the manticore and pull himself onto its back.
Assuming it worked, Zhiden drew one of his weapons and stabbed it into the creature's wing, hoping to ground it.
Attack:
Damage:
Unencumbered by armor, Rova draws his nodachi and moves to attack...
"Le's get this thin' afore it gets skyborne."
Attack:
Damage:
A solid hit..
Round 1:
Gkirkhan: hit for -19
Zhiden: hit for -2
Wood:
Rova: hit for -19
Manticore
Evangline
Vertielle
AC 17, touch 11, flat-footed 15 (+2 Dex, +6 natural, –1 size)
hp 57-19=38-2=36-19=17
After Rova's strike, the creature rises in the air and snaps its tail, sending 4 spikes into the group.
Evangline=1, Gkirkhan=2, Rova=3, Vertielle=4, Wood=5, Imrijka=6 [Zhiden, on it's back, is out of range]
Vertielle
Imrijka
Wood
Vertielle
The first spike catches Vertielle solid in her chest, knocking the wind out of her, but stopped by even her thin armor, striking one of many thin studs. The second, however, hits her upper shoulder, exploding through her back and neatly impaling her under the clavicle just above her bodice. Nearly knocked off balance by the powerful blow, she screams in pain and stumbles back.
Reaching for her whip, she uses the momentum to snake out the long leather cord, it's thick many-tailed snapper writhing in anticipation. Vertielle's injury pains her greatly,however, and the subtleties of the whip brook no faults.
Wood quickly fires two bolts of force at the creature after taking a solid spike through his shoulder.
Imrijka moves to Vertielle and casts Cure Light Wounds
AC 17, touch 11, flat-footed 15 (+2 Dex, +6 natural, –1 size)
hp 57-19=38-2=36-19=17-4=13
Round 2:
Gkirkhan
Zhiden
Wood
Rova
Manticore
Evangline
Vertielle
Muscles bulge as an enraged Gkirkhan glares at the thing that had injured his friends. His swing is wild and does nothing more than show that no one wants to get hit when the half-ord is pissed off.
Eva casts CLW on Wood
Zhiden held on to the creature with one hand, not willing to risk falling off; with his other hand he turned the sword so that he'd be able to stab the beast with it. He stabbed at the creature's back, shouting "Stay low! I don't want to die because I fell off of you!"
Attack:
Damage:
Staunching the bleeding, the wizard looks grateful and leans weakly on Eva as Eva heals his horrible wound.
Vertielle nods grimly at Imrijka in thanks before tearing out the spike as the wound starts to heal.
Little chance of that, slip, I'll catch you, she responds to Zhiden with a grimace.
AC 17, touch 11, flat-footed 15 (+2 Dex, +6 natural, –1 size)
hp 57-19=38-2=36-19=17-4=13
Evangline=1, Gkirkhan=2, Rova=3, Vertielle=4, Wood=5, Imrijka=6 [Zhiden, on it's back, is out of range]
Once more the seriously injured creature swoops to launch her tail spikes, does a twisting maneuver in the air to dump Zhiden off, then flees into the swamp, screaming insults at the group.
spike_1_victim Rova
spike_1_attack
spike_1_damage
spike_2_victim Evangline
spike_2_attack
spike_2_damage
spike_3_victim Rova
spike_3_attack
spike_3_damage
spike_4_victim Wood
spike_4_attack
spike_4_damage
Imrijka rushes to Evangline's aid.
As promised, Vertielle barks a command in a forgotten language, and Zhiden drifts to the ground lightly without harm.
With vague interest, Vertielle uses the spell sift to search for the creature's nest.
Maybe I can spare us the pain, since I go before it gets to...
Rova twists the blade in hand, and stabs with the 11' long blade's chisel tip as ripples of null power shudder through the blade..
<Expending PF to use Psionic weapon>
Attack:
Damage:
<Well, that didn't work...sigh>
Rova's thrust goes rather wide of the mark, finding only air.
The energies Vertielle uses to shift form into a large red arrow pointing to the nest you all saw as you arrived. The one the manticore flew around before attacking.
In the nest you fnd:
3 eggs
1 corpse (a dwarf, wearing a colorfull patchwork coat with numerous pockets.)
In those pockets you find a flask of oil, a packet labled bodybalm, a sliver hip flask filled with liquid, and a crimson felt purse containing 31 pp and 22gp.
On the ground below the nest you find a very well-made shortsword and a wand.
Vertielle sniffs at the liquid, trusting wood to determine the wand's function.
She delightedly wraps an egg in a patterned Varisian scarf, weighing the item to determine it's term.
"Vell, et iz eazy peazy to tell vhy dis vun died."
The liquid in the flask appears to be a very nice brandy.
"Thanks," Zhiden said to Vertielle as he landed softly on the ground.
When they came to the nest, the first thing that interested him was the crimson coinpurse. He grabbed it like a squirrel going for an acorn. He opened it and looked inside, then said, "Wow, that's a fair amount of money to die with. Oh well, I guess his loss is our gain."
Wood rushes to Eva, his face ash white (or more pasty white then normal), a potion ready in case she falls. Noting she is okay, he pretends to be only mildly concerned.
Eva is a strong one--don't want to appear like a mother hen.
After removing another nasty spike, Wood holds the wand then shortsword then cloak and casts a spell to detect magical auras in turn.
"Thank you, Wood"
Only the wand is magical: it's wand of Ghost Sound, nearly fully charged (22 cgs).
The shortsword is masterwork, though.
Vertielle holds the cloak against her bodice, frowns, and holds it out for someone else to try. She doesn't even bother with the short sword, but shows vague interest in the wand.
Why would anyone need THAT? She says, before catching Wood's look and flushing. Sometimes, she forgets not everyone is spontaneous.
The archaeologist disguises her embarrassment by cataloging a vial of the Dwarf's blood and searching him for distinguishing marks and sketching his face.
Furhter examination of the graves, with Imrijka's permission, verifies that the graves are empty except for shattered coffins and tattered remains of graveclothes.
She blesses and reconsecrates the land, but is obviously furious about the looted graves. "I report this. Hm. Could be Beast if creator wanted parts but is dead. We think. Hm."
"But it could also be some other grave robbers not related to the beast and may try to use the beast as cover for their actions."
"Also possible. True that Beast not need see darkness stuff. And...creator supposed dead. Not need parts."
Unless he was assembled here, Vertielle points out, but this looks relatively fresh.
"Doesn't a golem making require a lab, Vertielle?"
I meant here, this region, she clarifies.
"Uh, is it possible that the manticore was responsible?" Zhiden said quietly, worried that he was horribly wrong, and not wanting to say it too loud if he was.