Selena rolls her eyes at Quasit's response, then turns politely to the tree for it's answer.
The maiden like tree does its best to seem not to threatening as its branches lurch toward and away from Selena as it replies. "It was but a riddle given me ages past. To ensure that only those who serve the one who made this place can enter easily."
She goes to offer Tezuzu a drink from her water skin. She pats him on the arm and smiles at him. "You did good, Feathers."
After taking a swig of water Tezuzu responds back "Thanks, I hope you enjoyed the flight. I got quite queasy the first time I flew."
He then finds a nice quiet corner to set up a bedroll and works on infusing a bit of cloth with his magic as he prepares to rest.
Upon overhearing the discussion on the tree guardians riddle he Tezuzu stays out of the speculative discussion for the most part near the end chiming in only briefly. "You know the answer could be much simpler than Baba Yaga having a hand in this. The guardian could simply be a practitioner of divination. Were I stuck in one spot for weeks with the right magic I could have figured out what happened to the black rider and come up with such a riddle. She could be simply bound to allow allies of the riders entry and a bit clever."
Though the most of the night is uneventful, just before everyone is awake a voice can be heard from the hall beyond the arch. It sounds like someone is arguing with themselves.
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As Fin hears the voice, he quietly awakens Quasit first, holding a finger to his lips as he rouses her, pointing towards the hallway, and then to his ears, till she can hear it...
He whispers, "I'll sneak up and check out the noise...wake the others quietly and then follow...I won't act on my own, I'll await your arrival..."
Fin, with his bow drawn, will cast blend and move quietly down the hall, staying in the shadows when possible, to find out who, or what, is talking...
Pre encounter: One full round of actions for all please. Order isn't a big deal as I will be resolving Findurel's first.
Findurel lurks near the mouth of the hallway, motionless. The rest of the party can hear distinctly two voices arguing. They are very close together. It seems whatever the source of the voices, it is getting closer quickly and has not been interrupted by the elf's presence.
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Fin can't make heads not tails of the argument. Seeing it come closer, heading towards him as well as the hallway that leads back to his friends, the Elf gets concerned. Has it smelled or heard us? He knows he can't let it come too close as he can't match it physically...taking a look back and seeing no sign of them, as he wonders, Where are they? he also knows he can't let the giant go past him and have it come upon his friends unaware...
Fin waits till the last moment and, as it looks like the two-headed giant will continue this way, he'll unleash a volley of cold iron...knowing he'll hear a mouthful from Selena...
After firing, Fin steps back 5', yelling, "GIANT!" to his friends...
"Giant!?" Maka yelled back at Fin as she unleashed a blast of fire at the new foe.
Clearly caught by surprise the giant becomes suddenly smaller, turns around, and tries to run away.
Surprise Round: Quasit, Tezuzu, Selena, Bulvi, and Sakitu are up.
Tezuzu looks up alert once Findurel moves quickly towards the tunnels. Nodding towards Sakitu speaking barely above a whisper "Whatever it is I doubt it is friendly. Sakitu would you mind casting those protective wards you are so good at on myself and yang? I fear today is going to be quite dangerous."
He then begins to mutter words in a harsh language as small spirit strands appear floating out of the rest of the party tangling before flowing into Tezuzu's outstretched claw. Yang hops out of his cage and growing to the size of a small wolf in a magical flourish as his growls and swishing of his tail betray his excitement for battle.
Glancing quickly towards Bulvi he asks "I could use that ring of yours again. I have linked my life force to all of you. Do be careful not to take any unnecessary injuries for I shall share in your pain."
He moves towards the tunnels staying a bit behind Findurel and Maka.
Surprise Round: Quasit, Selena, and Bulvi are up
Bulvi moves towards Tezuzu and holds out the hand with his finger. "Of course."
The now smaller giant that Findurel saw continues to flee down the hall. Selena follows in the rear of the group.
Round One: Party up.
As Findurel's arrow catches the fleeing giant he sees it slow down, the look on its face indicates that it is not the pain bothering it - but rather something it has run into.
Round One: Maka, Tezuzu, Selena, Bulvi, and Sakitu are up.
Tezuzu quickly moves down the stairs after Quasit he advises cautiously "Careful it could be leading us into a trap"
He then begins to focus on the creature an inaudible whisper escaping his beak carrying down the tunnel towards the giant.
As the shrunken giant falls asleep, a frost giant crawling on all fours lumbers into view.
Round One: Maka, Selena, Bulvi, and Sakitu are up.
Running up behind Fin, Maka braced herself on the steps before thrusting her arms forward to unleash a powerful blast of fire.
The fire blasts the frost giant.
Round One: Selena, Bulvi, and Sakitu are up.
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Sakitu races down the hallway. From her vantage point she sees Fin loose a couple arrows down the hallway and then Maka sends a blast of fire down the hallway. Something must be down there!
As soon as she gets close enough she touches Yang and sends a pulse of magic into the creature to provide some protection.
She wrinkles her nose as the smell of acrid smoke wafts back up the hallway. "What is it? What do you guys see?"
Bulvi moves in the same direction at the others.
Selena continues to follow with the others.
The frost giant pushes the sleeping and still shrunken giant out of the way who rouses and gestures toward the first person she sees. Quasit seems to be suddenly trying to cover her ears.
Round Two: Party up.
Fin's arrows were followed by another blast of fire from Maka.
The nearly dead shrunken giant dies easily at Quasit's hand. Similarly, the Frost giant yells loudly as it is slaughtered under the assault and slumps to the floor as Quasit just manages to roll out of the way of the large creature's corpse.
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"Well, I think that confirms our guess that the frost giants and their evil centaur friends are in here. That dead centaur was the sacrifice to get past the Giving Tree. Poor schmuck. I would've liked to see the look on his face when he drew the short straw."
"Fin, good call on lighting up Mr Two-Heads. But maybe shouting 'Giant' wasn't such a hot idea. Unless you were trying to call Gruesome here." She chuckles and gives the dead giant a little thunk with her booted toe into its forehead.
"Anyway, I think that's the end of our rest period. Let's regroup and move on."
She wiggles a pinky around in one ear. "Anyone else hear a ringing sound, or is that just me?"
Tezuzu looks over the bodies making a close examination of their condition while Quasit talks before turning back to the rest of the party he sighs uncomfortably as he brings up something he knows is taboo "...I know this may be a bit...'unorthodox'...but I could re-animate this giant here and send him ahead of us a vanguard. It isn't an entirely pleasant ritual as it requires my soul briefly dip into the negative energy plane, but having this big lug of meat triggering any traps and drawing the ire of our enemies instead of us seems like a worthwhile opportunity in service of keeping the rest of us living...We can always dispose of it later. I do not expect to particularly enjoy employing this option, but it would be negligent not to offer up the idea."
A faint sound of a woodwind instrument can be heard further ahead.
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"...I know this may be a bit...'unorthodox'...but I could re-animate this giant here and send him ahead of us a vanguard..."
Quasit looks horrified and is momentarily speechless. But she looks at the the gigantic corpse and seems to consider the idea. Briefly. Then she shakes her head vigorously in revulsion. "I can't... we can't." she blurts.
Selena follows behind, but keeps finding herself with no open shot as everyone else keeps stepping between her and the oversized beasts. Near the end Selena just stops trying, she is extraneous to the fighting it seems.
As Tez makes his suggestion, Selena shrugs, "Well, it is an enemy. As a temporary measure, I don't see why not."
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Fin grins at Maka, playfully bowing. "Mistress of Fire, indeed...nice shooting, Maka..."
"...I know this may be a bit...'unorthodox'...but I could re-animate this giant here and send him ahead of us a vanguard. It isn't an entirely pleasant ritual as it requires my soul briefly dip into the negative energy plane, but having this big lug of meat triggering any traps and drawing the ire of our enemies instead of us seems like a worthwhile opportunity in service of keeping the rest of us living...We can always dispose of it later. I do not expect to particularly enjoy employing this option, but it would be negligent not to offer up the idea."
Fin arches an eyebrow as he nods in agreement with Quasit. "Sorry, but it's not my thing either, Tez; undead killed my father, that's why I kill the bastards. But I do realize it is your thing and...it could prove useful. This may not be the best time for it though...the frost giant was already moving slow on its knees and I imagine it'd be much slower as an undead on its knees...and since the evil centaurs and frost giants have a headstart on us, I think we need to move a bit quicker than that will allow, at least for now. Just my opinion...but it's not my call."
Quasit looks horrified and is momentarily speechless. But she looks at the the gigantic corpse and seems to consider the idea. Briefly. Then she shakes her head vigorously in revulsion. "I can't... we can't." she blurts.
Tezuzu nods "Cannot is not the same as will not because I assure you it is possible. I am fine settling for the latter of the two, however. The taint on my soul for such dabbling in such dark arts is a hearty price to pay and I would do it to protect my friends... but I will acquiesce to your judgment."
Upon hearing Findurels input Tezuzu looks a little embarrassed and sympathetic for a moment. "Ah yes...uhmm...yes... it certainly is not optimal conditions. With a little extra energy I could theoretically make such a tool quite fast, but that is besides the point I guess." his tone softening to a near whisper as he scratches the back of his neck nervously.
Once the group presses forwards he will place a claw gently on the Findurels shoulder and suprisingly speak in very rough elvish.
Fin grins at Maka, playfully bowing. "Mistress of Fire, indeed...nice shooting, Maka..."
"And to you 'Master of Arrows'."Maka replied with her own bow and toothy grin.
The taint on my soul for such dabbling in such dark arts is a hearty price to pay and I would do it to protect my friends.
"Well I suppose I was going to say a knife isn't good or bad but a big NO to anything that "taints souls". Unless it's a good taint, but I've never heard of that!" Maka huffed smoke to accentuate her point.
"Are all undead created through soul tainting? No wonder they are always so evil and violent. I'm sorry about your dad Fin."
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Fin smiles at Tezuzu, answering him in Elvish.
"And to you 'Master of Arrows'."Maka replied with her own bow and toothy grin.
Fin’s smile grows wider. ”Seems cold iron and fire make a deadly combo...”
Upon hearing the music, he turns to Quasit. ”Do you hear that, Q? Similar instrument to what you play, yes? I’ll check it out...”
The Elf then draws his bow and continues on down the passage quietly and warily...
Though it seemed natural in the forest above, loosing track of Findurel in the tunnel - which seems small filled by the frost giant's corpse - is quite unsettling.
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"So we're going down that tunnel? Does anyone know how far it goes? Also, do you think it will be dark down there?"
Quasit takes this moment to stretch like she's just woken up, then arches her back and does a few torso-twists.
"I don't think you make this place a half mile into the sky then not have a huge dungeon behind it. My guess is that we're going to be in here for a few days. And the we have two more giant statue women to go after we get done deflowering the Maiden." she says lightly.
"But I don't see why it should be dark. It's not like people used to live here and now it's been abandoned. This place was designed to house Baba Yaga's treasures and wicked guardians and act as a statement of her mystic power. I suspect she wants you to see everything, except for the things she doesn't, but she doesn't want you to see what you're not seeing, so she'd let you see."
She blinks a couple times.
"Wait... does that make sense? I think I just tied my brain in a knot."
”Do you hear that, Q? Similar instrument to what you play, yes? I’ll check it out...”
"Probably more fey." Quasit mutters with a frown. "But if they're advertising their presence like that, they might be riddle fey, and not murder fey."
The creature is pelted with several arrows before it moves slowly forward. It stops after moving just over half the distance of a steady walk for most of the group and then turns itself inside out.
Surprise round: Party (other than Findurel) is up.
Selena preps Unseen Servant today and then casts Light on a pebble and Unseen Servant and has the servant carry the pebble around, and hangs back herself so the servant can illuminate areas but without drawing attention to her. She also has it follow the party's commands.
With the abberation, Selena commands the servant to keep it's distance.
Tezuzu looks at the new abomination that has shown itself before taking a small step forward and whispering a dreamy word from his beak as it flows down the tunnel and into the strange creature assaulting its mind with an otherworldly lullaby.
He eyes the creature with caution trying to determine what foul creature it might be.