The terrible hill of flesh shudders with each pulse of Kyra's holy symbol. But any damage it sustained is quickly subsumed by the mass and somehow healed.
|
Lumo gingerly gets off the ground after a few moments. "By Gorum's plated fist! Those ghouls packed a punch. Well done, all. " He pulls a wand from his back pocket and hands it to Kyra. "Sarenrae Seems to have blessed you. Would you please heal my wounds with my wand? I hope one day Gorum will smile upon me so that I can repay the favor. "
Lumo returns his greatsword to its sheathe and pulls out his Earthbreaker. "Kyra, you are right. Explore now, mine later. "
|
Kahwen scowls at the unholy mass in the center of the room. He does not like it and feels that it needs to be destroyed but shrugs as Remmy voices his opinion.
"I will take your word for it, Friend Remmy. Perhaps if we can find the orb and make it easier for people to come here a more experienced group of Pathfinders can come here and destroy that thing," he says.
He opens his Wayfinder and he explores the edge of the room in the light that it sheds, looking for any passages besides the one they came in and the one that is collapsed. He avoids the mass as much as possible, though that is difficult in some places.
"I see another door, Companions," he calls out from almost across the room.
He sidles up to it and takes a closer look. The last thing he wants is to survive almost being eaten by ghouls then get killed by a poison needle trap...
I'm ready whenever everyone else is. Who wants to go first?
Kyra will cast detect magic and scan the pulsating pile of flesh.
|
|
Lumo, holding the torch in one hand and his Earthbreaker in the other, walks to the door. "Gorum is my armor and I shall be yours. I'll enter first. "
As he is walking, suddenly he pauses. You can actually see him thinking. It looks like it hurts. "My map! I nearly forgot! " He pulls out his paper and scrawls a new box marked 'gross ball of flesh. Don't eat.'
He looks up. "Ok. I'm ready now. We'll leave our friend in the other room. He's sleeping now."
The party bursts into the darkened room their light proceeding them and revealing a large chamber with a relatively low ceiling and eerie relief patterns carved into all the walls. The walls seem to buckle and bend for a moment upon your entrance like disturbed gelatin before settling into a seemingly fixed state. The far southwest wall is set at an angle, and against the center of that wall sits a heap of bones and skulls resembling a large makeshift throne. To the left of the throne sits an oak and brass sea chest, carved with images of sea serpents chasing their own tails. Bones and bits of junk litter the floor.
Like the large chamber with it's 20-foot-tall heap necrotic flesh the place stinks of unwashed bodies and death.
Seated or rather crouching atop the bone throne is a ghoul with a vaguely Vudrani-looking face, and a head-wrap. His clothes seem in better repair then his fellows. He wears a lot of jewelry made of teeth and bones, and the ruins of an ancient ship's officer's coat as a cloak over his narrow shoulders, all of its brass now tarnished.
Seated next to the throne like obedient wolfhounds sit a pair of large once-men now festrogs. Low deep growls and drips of saliva emanate from both.
"Hah! What rude guestss you are to come to the throne of Rajhan-Vol and not introduce yourselvess." The once-man on the throne hisses through a too long tongue. "My bosun would have done as much for you-" And then the ghoul's voice cracks with sudden rage, "-HAD YOU ALLOWED HIM TO LIVE!"
And then just as suddenly the murderous rage is gone. "But come, come introduce yourselvess that we may come to know one another and might parley like proper piratess. Heheheheh."
|
|
Lumo rushes into the room then pauses awkwardly. Is this undead... talking to us? Respectfully? I'm... confused.
He doesn't put away his Earthbreaker, but he also lowers it to a less threatening angle. He bows a little, uncertain of how to act. "Hello... sir? I am Lumo of Gorum. I'm sorry to be so rude. We didn't know that you... lived here. "
An indignant look crosses his face. "And to be fair, your Bosun attacked us instead of greeting us as guests. "
I guess we did burn him first...
Lumo rushes into the room then pauses awkwardly. Is this undead... talking to us? Respectfully? I'm... confused.
He doesn't put away his Earthbreaker, but he also lowers it to a less threatening angle. He bows a little, uncertain of how to act. "Hello... sir?"
"Yess, yess."
We're here to recover a relic from this spire. As you are an evil undead abomination, I doubt you will let us go about this peaceably. So lets just get on with killing you so we can get down to clearing the corridor in the other room.
"HA! Adventurerss! Piratess! Heroess!" He says the word like it's a bad thing. "Murder hoboess! Pathfinderss no doubt. I have been eagerly awaiting your return ssince your Captain Thrennt’ss no-lesss noissy vissit to the sspire some time passt. Come in, come in! You are letting in draft, and it'ss cold enough in thiss grave. Hehe. I have no qualmss about letting you or any who ssail under your flag passs. Ssevenfingerss wass no friend of mine. Where iss the Captain?"
|
|
Lumo, still very confused, speaks up. "You'll let us pass? Be sure, we are not here to honor Sevenfingers or to infringe on your domain. "
He offers a token of good faith and holsters his weapon. Deliberately, he steps in front of Kyra. "We were sent here for two reasons... sir. We need to collect the relic, as Kyra so kindly mentioned. And also to obtain passage for future Pathfinders so they may go deeper into this spire. "
He takes a step forward and bows his wide shoulders. Well, I guess someone needs to commit. No way I want to die here today. "I don't suppose you know how to get deeper? " He shrugs his shoulders and holds out a slightly wet piece of paper. "My map ain't very good. "
Kyra's shoulders drop a little. You're not sure if it is her dropping her guard, or disappointment that causes the movement.
Ummm... well that was unexpected. As my good friend Lumo says, we need the relic and assurances of safe passage for future Pathfinders that may come through. If we can make a deal to that effect, then I suppose we have no quarrel with you...
"I will if there'ss a man or woman among you with the rank to parley. Where iss Captain Thrennt?"
As Lumo said, Captain Thrennt is now deceased. I apologize for my earlier outburst - typically Ghouls are far less reasonable than you. We have the authority to parley with you and hopefully reach a deal that will make us all happy. You know what we want - an opportunity to recover some treasure from this tomb and potential safe passage for future expeditions. What is it that you desire?
Rajhan-Vol hops down from his perch and approaches Kyra in as nonthreatening a manner that a predator undead thing can. The stench of death about the creature is unbearable.
"Decisssive. I like that. Sseven years you say? Sso long.... Sstill what iss time to me? I will give you and thosse who ssail under your ssociety'ss flag leave to thesse dungeonss for the price agreed upon by your fellow Pathfinder, the late Captain Thrennt. You can all pisss on Ssevenfinger'ss crypt if you like, it matterss not to me. All that matterss iss that I and my fellowss get'ss what'ss coming to uss. By the way-" And at this point the ghoul leans in close to hiss in Kyra's ear with his rank breath. "You don't ssupposse that a follower of the Dawnflower like yoursself, and an old sseadog like me-"
|
|
Kahwen enters the room as the ghoul king gets a little too familiar with Lyra. He is careful to stay out of reach of the beast. He does not draw, or even touch his sword, but his hand is close.
"Pardon me, your majesty, but you are being a bit forward with my friend. Surely, we can remain civilized in our discussion. What is it you were promised? Perhaps we can provide it."
Kahwen enters the room as the ghoul king gets a little too familiar with Lyra. He is careful to stay out of reach of the beast. He does not draw, or even touch his sword, but his hand is close.
"Pardon me, your majesty, but you are being a bit forward with my friend. Surely, we can remain civilized in our discussion. What is it you were promised? Perhaps we can provide it."
Kahwen's beak gets a bit too close to the odoriferous ghoul.
"I was just--Wait. You don't know? Heh... HAHA! 'Sssivilized' hehehe he says 'sssivilized'. HAHAHAHA! A carrion bird like you s-sshould know." Rajhan-Vol laughs hysterically for a full minute. The sound echos all around the stone chamber and out into the grand hall. Wiping tears from his glassy eyes, he says in a deadly serious tone: "Captain Thrennt gave uss hiss wounded and dying."
|
|
Lumo takes a step back and his fist clenches as he takes in this proposal. Suddenly, a large smile breaks out over his face. "Well, that sounds like a splendiferous deal, your sir-iness. However, we have neither wounded nor dying with us today. May I offer you some diced slug? We have some excellent slug in the other room. Tastes just like gnome. "
The next Pathfinders can bring some chickens or something... probably. He smiles a slightly smaller smile. "I'm sure future expeditions could bring you something which might satisfy your...thirsts. Have you ever tried goose? "
Kyra retches a bit, but is able to choke it down and continue her conversation.
You are correct. I don't suppose that. As my friends said, we do not have any wounded or dying with us. The Dawnflower has kept all of us quite healthy. However, there is a leech we slew back there. I believe our resident ratfolk, Remy, has some fantastic ideas,[b] Krya winces and looks sick for a moment when considering this, before continuing, [b]for how to prepare it that you might be interested in. If that is not to your liking, there are w few bodies of up top that we could bring down for you. I am reticent to allow the desecration of their bodies in such a way... but if it can prevent further death, perhaps it is ok.
As for future expeditions, we will be more than happy to instruct them to bring you some live game to eat whenever they come. Chickens, geese, fish, rabbits. Your choice. Nothing sentient. And if you request something unpractical to transport here in a jolly boat, you may have to make due with non-living meat.
|
Remmy decides it might be a good time to pipe up.
I d-do happen to be a exp-pert at the p-preparation of food of all kinds.
Though I find the p-preparation of s-sentient flesh ab-bhorrent, p-practiced only b-by foul c-creatures my arts would be wasted on, I do hap-p-pen to know s-several recipes for enhancing raw and s-still living f-flesh.
He moves a little closer, choking back as the stench hits him, worse for his poor ultra sensitive nose, but he barely keeps his food down. He reaches into his pack, pulling out some of the leech muscle and offering it up to their "host".
F-for example, there is a variety of s-squid that with the c-correct application of salt, you can k-keep t-twitching even after it dies... so every last b-b-bite squirms as you r-rip into it. I have similar d-delicacies I can p-prepare for one s-such as yours-self. I also once or twice reached out to g-g-geb...
He looks at Kyra as if embarrassed.
P-purely for academic reas-sons, ab-bout the cooking s-standards of it's undead citizens... up-pon a return trip I could r-review my notes and see if there is anything else I c-could do to make things more p-palatable for you...
The ghoul seems to muse on the subject of alternative food stuffs, but blanches at the idea of 'cooking things'. "Don't think I'm not ssick of decadess worth of dead slug. Now dead gnome. Ahhh, that ssounds deliciouss."
|
|
Kahwen scowls at being compared to this disgusting thing. As closely as he may resemble a crow, he does not have one of those bird's eating habits.
The stench of the ghoul king hits him like a hammmer, then.
And that is pretty much the end of the conversation for the Tengu as he is physically overwhelmed by the presence of the Ghoul King.
|
|
Lumo takes a good hard look at the ghoul. He appears to be softening. If words were swords, now would be the time to strike. Conal is a diplomatic fellow. Hopefully my allies and I can aid him in this endeavour.
Lumo rubs his rhino birthmark for good luck. "Gorum's disfavor is shown when he allows a warrior to fall in battle. There are several such disfavored humans we can bring to you. They are... fresh, killed less than an hour ago. Perhaps that would win your favor? "
"An hour you ssay?" says the old ghoul licking at the drool dribbling from his terrible mouth.
|
|
Kahwen steps away from their foul host, but now that the smell is in his nose, he begins to doubt any amount of distance will rid him of the stench.
Perhaps it is the losing battle he's fighting with his last meal to keep it in his stomach and off the floor that makes him blurt out what might be better kept secret but might be just what he wants to hear.
"If you give us the orb we might be able to make the spires stop, then lots of Pathfinders will come and we will tell them of your deal." he calls out between retching.
"And is that your final offer; fresssh food for passsage? And Tell me what is thiss orb you keep mentioning? It interestss me that it interessts you sso. How exsactly could it sstop the Sspiress. Hmmm?"
"Ssentimental value hmm? Fine. Just so long as I eat well tonight. It'ss a bargain then. Now who or what are we having over for dinner tonight, rodent?"