Ostrogard: After managing to duck a number of well-placed arrows, Ostrogard dashes over to the dwarf , pulls out his wand , and manages to activate the magical device .
Girzog: The feathered warrior unleashes a whirlwind of talons, followed by a gnashing bite. The first talon is diverted by the man’s chain overcoat, but the second talon digs deep into his leg. After clawing the lanced rider, Girzog attempts to bite the man, but gets nothing more than a mouth full of armor.
Kardiv: Continuing to focus on the lanced rider, the paladin fires another arrow into the fray. The arrow strikes the man almost in the identical spot as the last arrow. The man screams out in pain as a large pool of blood streams down the man’s torso.
Dumm: The barbarian once again begins twirling his leather sling, while attempting to inspire the dog to attack. After selecting a target the barbarian fires his stone at the green archer. The stone strikes the man on the side of his leg with a heavy thud.
Dog: The dog bolts over to the green archer and snaps at the man’s leg.
Jinhong: The swashbuckler lines up a second shot on the white archer and fires. The stone strikes the man on the side of his head, which causes him to struggle to stay conscious.
Butharn: The sturdy dwarf quickly moves to put himself between his companions and the mounted Aspis agents.
Lanced rider: The lanced rider continues to try and regain control of his mount.
Archer (Orange): Moves south and fires an arrow at Ostrogard.
Archer (Red): Continues to fire at Kardiv.
Archer (Green): Struggles to gain control of his mount, while the dog threatens the rider.
Archer (Black): Fires a shot at Butharn.
Archer (White): Takes a shot at Butharn, then falls to the ground unconscious.
Bold may post an action.
Ostrogard (23):
Girzog (23):
Kardiv (22):
Dumm (22):
Jinhong (20):
Butharn (2):
Lanced Rider (1):
Mounted Archers (1):
……..(Blue)
……..(Pink)
……..(Purple)
……..(White)
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Stay in Saddle: You can react instantly to try to avoid falling when your mount rears or bolts unexpectedly or when you take damage. This usage does not take an action.
Soft Fall: You negate damage when you fall off a mount. If you fail the Ride check, you take 1d6 points of damage and are prone. This usage does not take an action.
Girzog nowhops on the horse
Girzog screeches loudly as he guides his new mount to the southeast, and fires on another archer . Still adjusting to his new positioning, his arrow flies wide of his target.
Ostrogard: The rogue stands and moves into one of the southern shrubs for cover.
Girzog: The Tengu fighter continues his onslaught of attacks. The first attack is diverted by the horse, while the second attack digs deep into the man’s leg. After the onslaught of attacks, the lanced rider goes limp and falls to the ground.
Kardiv: The paladin changes his focus and fires a shot at the red archer. The arrow strikes the man in the chest, causing him to fall lifelessly into a nearby shrub.
Dumm: The barbarian launches another stone at the green archer. The stone seemed well placed, but missed its mark as the mounted archer is tossed around by his mount.
Jinhong: the swashbuckler fires a stone at the green archer, which fall short.
Butharn: Delays a moment to consider his options.
After watching their leader fall to the skill of the group, the remaining riders withdraw and head back the way they came.
Raimondo crawls out from beneath the wagon and yells out, “It looks like there is a lot more coming; we don’t have time to delay.” Without hesitation, the Wagoner begins hitching back up his team in preparation to depart. From the distance, a large trail of dust can be seen kicking up, as if a much larger force is on the march.
Ostrogard (23):
Girzog (23):
Kardiv (22):
Dumm (22):
Jinhong (20):
Butharn (2):
After searching through the fallen men, the group recovers the following items. (6) Horses, (5) MW studded leather armor, (5) Composite Longbows, (105) arrows, (5) Short spears, (1) MW lance, (1) MW Heavy steal shield, (1) Short bow, (1) scroll tube that contains (3) Scrolls, (1) signal whistle, (1) MW chain shirt, (1) short sword, and 1,845 gp.
Nothing looks unusual about the riders.
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Dumm pulls out his wand of the barbarian/ranger is the party healer and touches it once to each ally injured in the battle.
Ostrogard:
Kardiv:
Jinhong:
Butharn:
Self:
-Posted with Wayfinder
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Thank you, Dumm, you're a peach.
A peck on the cheek accompanies the sentiment, if allowed.
Jinny expresses interest in one of the studded leather. She does take a bow and 20 arrows.
Jinny will take one of the horses and ride it a bit behind the cart (approximately 1/4 to 1/2 mile depending on terrain) to serve as early warning. I've seen people ride horses -- how hard can it be?
Girzog, I like the idea of you going all knight with the lance. Jinny has no use for anything but a bow and the aforementioned armor.
Anything not claimed by a member of the Brotherhood should be donated to the wagon, yes?
Ostrogard:
Girzog:
Kardiv:
Dumm:
Jinhong:
Butharn:
You climb ever higher out of the jungle, the series of thin switchback trails just large enough for Raimondo’s wagon. Suddenly, from the canopy below comes an unearthly bellowing roar. Thousands of colorful birds take flight and wing off away from the noise, and a cacophony of screeching, chittering, and screaming follows the roar.
As you approach the top of the ridge, a dilapidated camp comes into view. The camp is surrounded by a hastily constructed palisade wall forming a semi-circle that both starts and ends at an imposing cliff face stretching hundreds feet up from the palisade. The bodies of hundreds of ape-like creatures lie outside the walls in various states of decay. The stench is overpowering, and a cloud of flies is thick above the carnage. A cry goes up from the tower built over the palisade’s gate as the lookouts spot you, and the gate itself rumbles aside on rickety wooden wheels. A tall woman with black hair pulled back against her head and a shortsword on her hip strides out from the camp to meet you.
At that moment, a horn sounds from down in the valley, closely followed by the screams of men and horses. Looking below, you see another group of Aspis Mercenaries, riding fast up the switchback trails, with hundreds—maybe even thousands—of ape-men hurling stones at them and running hard on their heels.
After entering the camp the lage gate closes behind you with a loud crash. The woman approaches the group with a hand held high. "Well met, I am Juliet Dias, the excavation leader. My I ask who you are?"
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Jinny steps forward and dismounts.
I am Jinhong Yeou. My companions Ostrogard, Girzog, Kardiv, Dumm, and Butharn. She indicates each in turn. I believe you are already acquainted with Raimondo Scevola.
We were tasked by the Pathfinder Society with ensuring that these supplies made it to you safely.
She proffers her hand in greeting.
We even managed to add a few extra weapons and sets of armor at no extra charge.
“They’re known as the charau-ka—my camp workers call them ape-men. They’re minions of the demon lord Angazhan, and this lot serve the Gorilla King of Usaro, though why the Gorilla King has any interest in this expedition is beyond me.”
The woman begins walking as she is talking. ”Come let me show you around the site, while we are talking. This area we are in is the main camp. “
In the middle of the camp rests two large, but dirty and sagging tents—one is used for cooking, and the other as a mess hall. Between them are 10 canvas tents lined up in two neat rows, but suffering from rips and tears that seem to have been made by claws. Inside several of the tents rest camp workers, all tired, hungry, and sick.
“We have been excavating mostly on the surface, but we have uncovered a couple interesting things. Near as my Azlant scholars can tell, this site was a weapons cache for a planned colonization of the Mwangi Expanse by the Azlanti. As we’ve never found an Azlanti site anywhere in the Mwangi, this is a huge find—some would say an impossible find. The Azlanti were simply not supposed to have been here.”
The woman continues her explanation of the most recent finds, as she escorts the group throughout the camp. ”The first thing we found was this large round object made of an unusual white metallic material.” She points to the west side of the camp, where a precise and professional terraced dig site surrounds a half-sphere of a smooth, almost mirror-like white material. While it looks almost exactly like polished ivory, it’s slightly warm to the touch and glows with a soft, white light.
“The next thing we found was the door that Butharn pointed out.” She points to a set of metallic double doors that rest next to the cliffs face, to the south. As she begins to escort the group to the doors, a loud warning horn sounds from the main gate’s tower. Shortly after, a man in heavy armor approaches Juliet. “Mam, there are survivors of the Bloodcove army at the front gate. The Charau-Ka are approaching quickly, and will undoubtable rip them apart. I estimate the survivors have only minutes before they are overwhelmed. Should I let them in?”
Juliet turns to the group, “It’s your call. We could use extra swords against those things, but they’ve been chasing you and trying to kill you. I’ll back your decision.”
The armored century waits patiently for the group’s decision as voices can be heard beyond the gate. “HELP! PLEASE! These things will kill us, please let us in!”
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Jinny recalls the brutal end of Senzer Rulkup and his poor hapless boy, and her natural penchant for mercy battles with her visceral desire for revenge.
She grimaces with the thought she's about to vocalize.
The Aspis soldiers may be evil, but they are only following orders. And their weapons may make the difference between life and death for the archaeologists, most of whom seem to be useless with a weapon from the looks of it.
The looks to Kardiv as her most likely ally.
I say we let them in.
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Personal hatred aside, I'd rather we not let them in. They were only just trying to kill us, and following orders cannot be used as an excuse for anything. If we let them in, they may help, but I guarantee they will quickly turn on us. We may be more at risk against them than against some animals that will be injured by Aspis by the time they get to us.
I believe we can protect these people ourselves, and have no interest in allying myself with the Aspis for even a single battle.
The century speaks up in response to Butharn's question. "From the looks of it, I would estimate the head count to be approximately (8), but it's possible more may have survived and not made to the outpost yet."
The century looks over to Kardiv. "My men in the tower can also provide some support, but even if we are successful in preventing the inevitable deaths of these men, what's to come next? They will have no chance outside these walls without help. Ultimately, they will die."
Juliet glances over her shoulder at the metallic double doors. “We have not been able to open the doors. Although we have tried a number of different methods. I had hoped that the society might have some insight on what I should do next. Did they mention anything about the doors before you left?”
”As of yet, we haven’t recovered anything that is specifically a weapon. That being said, we have yet to discern the use of the orb. The scholars have translated some of the ruins placed around the sight, which indicates that this is a weapons cache of some sort. So fare we haven't found any verification of this fact.”
The woman looks back over to the palisade, where the men outside the gate continue to scream out for help. “We have been fighting off the beasts, at no small cost of life or limb. Many have died to preserve this place, yet I am afraid we won’t be able to hold it much longer. The supplies you have brought, will help quite a bit, but we will eventually be forced to leave if we can’t find a solution to the ape-men.”
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Ostrogard kicks a rock with his foot and watches it tumble away.
Look here, I have no love for these Aspis scum. But, once these demon apes are done with them, they are coming for us. We all know there is strength in numbers. We should let them in and join forces. If we survive the ape onslaught, then we can deal with the Aspis survivors. That is what I think.
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Girzog calms down a moment
I understand Kardiv, and please know that I hold no ill will towards you for not wanting to leave anyone to die. If we are going to let them in, then so be it, but know this. My primary targets will be the apes not attacking Aspis, and at the first sign of even the most remote aggression from them, I will... fix the problem. I refuse to have a repeat of Lura and Senzer...
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Girzog's eyes open wide, having forgotten all about the key in recent events. He pulls it out and offers it forward.
We were given this key to bring here, but told nothing about it. Perhaps it grants entry beyond the doors!
He turns to Jinny and whispers
Let's wait a little bit and see when it's needed. Call me paranoid, but I'd like to be sure we can trust the people here before giving everything away.
With the group split on the decision, and Girzog sounding like he would be begrudgingly willing to accept the surrender of the Aspis, Juliet instructs the century to allow the Aspis survivors into the compound. “Captain, for now I want those men under lock and key. I want two of your guards assigned to supervise and interrogate them. Once we are sure that they are willing to help in the fight, I want them assigned to the palisade with a supervising partner. Am I understood?”
The century nods, ”Yes mam, it will be done.” After receiving his instructions the century moves to the front gate with hast.
After Girzog pulls out the key, Juliet looks it over carefully. ”This is quite interesting. I recognize a couple of the glyphs that are inscribed on it.” After quickly inspecting it, she heads over to the metallic door.
At fifteen feet high and ten foot wide, this door is an impressive structure. Carved from a dull yet shimmering metal, every inch of its surface is covered in runes, glyphs, pictographs, and intricate patterns. A single rift, about an inch deep, splits the door in half from top to bottom, giving you the impression that it might open were it only to have handles. The door sits recessed several feet into the jagged rock of the ridge’s impressive cliff face, which stretches a hundred feet or more above the camp.
”This key is defiantly Azlant.” After taking a little more time inspecting both the key and the door, Juliet holds the key up to the door and inserts it into an opening that didn’t exist only moments ago.
Slowly and silently the door opens outward causing a small amount of dirt to fall from the upper portion of the door. A sweet-stale fragrance spews forth from the ancient entrance as the doors open to reveal a wide set of stairs that descend into darkness.
As soon as the door opens a loud commotion can be heard from the front gate. Most of the compound’s centuries have climbed to the top of the palisade with ranged weapons and appear to be firing down at the ape-men. Loud thuds can be heard as the beasts throw their bodies endlessly at the barricade. From your vantage you can see that the Aspis have been successfully let into the compound and are responding to the treat by helping the guards repel the Charau-Ka.
Juliet turns to the group with a look of urgency. ”I don’t know how long we can keep this up, but you have presented us with a new option. If there is something down there that will help us repel these things we have a chance to make a permanent mark in history. Quickly investigate this place. May the gods provide us with something to turn this fight around! Go NOW..GO GO!”
Her words trail off as she takes off running towards the front gate.
Light, from the now widely open door, shines down the stairs and into a large room below. The room, measuring thirty-five feet wide by forty feet long, and more than thirty feet tall, is larger than you originally expected. The entire room smells sickly sweet, but the floors, walls, and ceiling are all smooth and clean—rather similar to the sphere in the ground outside. Four enormous monoliths, fifteen-foot-tall human-shaped metal statues, rest in the four corners of the room. They’re made of white metal, almost like a suit of full plate sized quite large, but without anything discernible as a face.
There is a hallway to the west that is laden with a number of alcoves. Darkness obscures normal vision and those with low-light vision can make out about half the hallway. An eerie quietness is only disturbed by the clash of battle, which is taking place up above.