Sir Dorick finds his bardiche merely clanging against the ancient, undead priest's bronze shield. Likewise, Francoix's rapier screeches against the metal splint armor without piercing the moss lich's body.
With skill practiced over the ages, Il-Shuma invokes his twisted divine magic while guarding against potential interruptions. He mutters hoarse words in the forgotten tongue of Kaskkari as he inches towards Dorick.
Summoned by the lich's command, a pair of bulbous plants, the size of large dogs, raise up upon spindly stalks, and long thorns become like fangs. One rises behind Dorick, while the other creeps from the overgrown sagging edge of the mastaba behind Soraya.
Although Soraya manages to dodge the spider-like creature leaping at her with its thorny fangs, the other manages to bite down upon Dorick's ankle. Through the sharp pain, he feels a hot wave pass over his face and he momentarily grows lightheaded. Some manner of toxin is carried within these plant fiends' fangs, but Sir Dorick manages to resist its touch.
Fendir's pillar of earth, formed from rising bricks pulled from the mastaba, scarcely even leave dents on the foe's bronze armor.
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Merciful mother! Soraya wasn't planning on combat coming right at her like that, but that's the way things are. She sidesteps the spider, backs up and concentrates on a spell. I've never used this before. I hope this works!
Waving her dagger, she inhales deeply, and lowers her head. Her mouth falls open, almost inhumanly wide, as hundreds and hundreds of spiders pour out of her mouth. They latch onto the larger plant spider and begin biting at it from countless angles. Soraya's face is one of both triumph and revulsion.
Seeing that his attempt at a surprise attack didn't work, Fendir takes a quick step to get a clean shot then summons stone and sends it flying into the creature.
"Now that's a sight," Kalig comments on Soraya's spell.
She hurls a magic stone at Il-Shuma.
Dorick grits his teeth and keeps swinging at the foe. Sheer stubbornness keeping him fighting despite plant horrors and waves of spiders.
As the moss monster lich abomanation stepped forward after Dorick He slid right behind it, stabbing both with rapier and dagger right in the small of where its spleen would be.
Soraya's own swarm of tiny spiders begins to feast upon the gourd-like spider creature called forth by the moss lich.
Although the creature's ancient armor protects it from the combined assault of Dorick, Francoix, and Fendir, Kalig's stone strikes the lich in the head, rousing his ire.
Much to your horror, Il-Shuma begins to grow to an immense size, like a sapling suddenly shooting up to become a tree. The sudden growth practically shoves Francoix back into the tunnel's mouth within the citadel.
The lich raises his large bronze mace and tries to bring it down upon Kalig, but she easily sidesteps the blow, which only cracks the bricks and severs the creepers on the ground.
One plant spider is thwarted by Dorick's armor, practically bouncing off the tempered steel, while the other begins busying itself eating Soraya's tiny summoned spiders, but it makes nary a dent in the swarm.
For a moment he could only stare in horror as the already scary moss lich grew in size. But then cold pragmatism took over. Bigger targets had more space to hit. With a renewed snarl he drove his rapier forward high then he stabbed his dagger low.
Soraya's spider swarm continues to gnaw away at the larger plant spider.
Worried that she might do more harm than good, she passes her herbicide to Kalig. "See if you can splash this on him!"
Hoping to turn things around, Fendir again steps back and levees a shot at the undead plant.
Kalig throws another magic stone.
But she is unbalanced from being targeted by the moss lich.
Trying to regain her footing, she speaks in her circle's tongue to the ancient creature.
Hoping that her usual lousy aim is true, Soraya lobs the defoliant at the moss lich.
"Yes!" she exclaims as her mixture hits its mark.
Unable to back away safely enough to wield his bardiche effectively, Dorick lashes out at the towering undead!
The moss lich is almost heedless of the latest volley of attacks that only clatter against his bronze greaves or barely clip his mossy body.
Then, the flask of defoliant shatters against Il-Shuma's armor, and the alchemical mixture begins to wither his pulpy, plant body.
He sends up a hoarse howl that almost rattles the surrounding bricks.
Despite the rage he turns upon Soraya, he maintains a calm, careful casting as he lumbers forth and invokes a spell upon her. The creeper vines at her feet begin to blossom with beautifully colored flowers that erupt into clouds of spores. Soraya cannot keep herself from breathing them in, and she is wracked with painful coughing. She nearly doubles over with a burning pain that runs from her stomach up through her neck, leaving her feeling incredibly weak. Her vision blurs, stirring a brief panic, but it quickly clears.
One plant spider again fails to breach Dorick's armor, and the other plant spider fights a losing battle against the summoned swarm that is slowly but surely consuming it.
"Come back here, you overgrown weed!", Dorick shouts as he hacks at the withdrawing being, indignant that his opponent would dare move away from him.
Seeing the creature cast spells, Fendir opts to change tactics: he will ready for it to cast a spell and then hit it with a chunk of earth.
Kalig throws her last stone.
And makes good with her last one, hitting him squarely on the noggin.
Beyond simply the blow to his large head, Kalig's stone seems to send a reverberation of magic feedback through the lich's body.
The moss lich focuses his primal ire upon Kalig. A guttural growl wells up from its throat, as though from within a deep pit, and words are barely perceptible upon this ancient voice.
Dorick's bardiche fails to even scratch his bronze greaves.
Soraya's swarm gnaws some more at the plant spider.
Still reeling from the magical attack of the moss lich, she grabs for her crossbow and fires.
She says to the others in Taldane, "I have a fire spell that might harm him, but I could also set this whole place ablaze and kill the leshys and ourselves alike. Can we draw him away?"
She draws her flail and swings at him.
And then takes a step back.
It was talking... maybe that was the start of something good, nevertheless Kalig hucked a rock at its head still, so it seemed it wasnt friendly. Glad his attacks seemed to do nothing... or at least nothing to attract its attention he went back to pragmatically stagging at what looked to be softer parts.
Soraya's swarm continues to chew away at the plant spider, even as her and Francoix's attacks do little to even attract the moss lich's attention.
A baleful emerald glow surrounds Il-Shuma's broad hand, clutching his mace. He begins to invoke a spell to inflict harm upon Kalig, but perhaps due to his building primal rage, he is less careful than before. He exposes himself to opportunistic strikes.
Dorick and Francoix feel a surge of adrenaline and lunge forward with their weapons, both striking true. Dorick buries the head of his bardiche in the back of the enlarged Il-Shuma's leg. Then, with quick flicks of his blade, Francoix slices off two fingers from the moss lich's right hand before plunging the thin sword into his wrist.
The combined onslaught robs the ancient undead priest of his concentration, and the magic glow quickly fades as he growls in rage.
Kalig then seizes this chance to launch her own attack. Her flail strikes heavily upon the moss lich's leg, nearly snapping the pulpy limb with the impact and bringing the foe down upon his knee.
Yet more thrown earth.
Fendir dislodges a sizeable chunk from the ruined citadel, and with his target brought down upon a knee, his aim is truer. The geokinetic projectile practically rips the bearded head from the enlarged moss lich.
Il-Shuma's grown body collapses into a morass of vines and moss that falls upon the mastaba - piling atop the greenery seizing at the bricks. With his magic broken, the plant spiders also fall and meld back into the vegetation. The undead priest's armor, mace, and other possessions are also found, half-buried within the pulpy remains, to have returned to a normal size.
Soraya sighs, thankful that the plant creature has been defeated...at least for now. "Let's make sure that those aren't cursed before we do anything with them," she says pointing to the artifacts he left behind.
As the undead druid crumbles, Dorick slashes the vines that were the plant spiders.
"Just in case."
Kalig stares at the fallen morass of leaves and armor. "It occurs to me that in my vision, he grew new bodies as his old ones rotted away. While it may take some time, we may want to be sure he does not appear later in a new pile of vines deciding to finish what he started." Kalig takes a breath. "Which probably means going into the temple to track down where his husks lie."
She puts away her flail and puts her shield back over her shoulder. "Still, well fought, all."
She peers over Soraya's should as she examines the items. "He mentioned he served the god 'Nisroch.' This must be a temple to him. Anyone ever heard of him? If not, maybe we should report back and ask Lena."
Like Sir Dorick, Francoix took a moment to stab to remains of the undead plant monstser a few more times... just in case.
"He ... he might come back?"
He responded to Kalig's words incrediously. Shaking his head he backed away from the corpse.
"That name means nothing to me im afraid."
"I have no way of being sure, but he's a creature of renewal. The leshys also said he died and was reborn repeatedly. I'd rather not take the risk if it's possible."
"Then why do we tarry here? We should hunt down his husks and put an end to this affront to the world!"
"So he's like a powerful cleric, that can come back to life over and over again?"
"He was a druid. He speaks the ancient tongue of druid circles and he made the leshys. All I know is based on what I saw, and what the leshys said, he grew a body from plant life, and over time the body would die or dry out or rot, and then he'd grow a new body."
She looks at the party. "Let me be clear--I have NO PROOF and NO IDEA of exactly how this works. I am speculating, and I have told you everything I know. Maybe if we just destroy the body without him dying naturally, he stays dead, and we're all done. But simply knowing he has died and renewed himself in a new plant body several times in the past... makes me think we should make sure he doesn't come back if we can."
"Wouldn't it be prudent to destroy all the plants in the immediate area then?"
"At least from what I saw, there seems to be one place his spirit grows a new body, within the temple. That's why I suggested we go in, to find that place." She sighs. "If I failed to make that clear, I apologize. I also want to emphasize I could also be entirely borrowing trouble. Causing a massive brush fire on the shore because I'm feeling a little paranoid is not a personal goal."
She shakes her head. "I don't know if destroying these plants is a good idea--first, if we decide to, we need to tell the leshys to evacuate. They were friendly and could be good allies. Second, from the way things are crumbling, the ziggurat is as much being held up by the vines as are holding them up. We could make the whole place collapse--with any clues to the history of this city, which you were keen on understanding--gone with it. But perhaps you could glean from the structure more clues on that."
"We also do not know how long it would take that druid to rise, if he will. I am fine with studying the building so long as we take reasonable steps to preventing his return."
Kalig feels a tugging upon her leg. She looks down to find one of the leshys has quietly moved through the undergrowth and approached her, like a child having crept out of bed.
The small plant creature awaits your inevitable question and seems almost eager to offer the answer.
"Father keeps his seed in the shrine at the top. He would always task us with protecting it from birds while it matures."
The leshy points up at the square temple or shrine sitting at the apex of the citadel, atop the highest mastaba.
Kalig starts at the touch, and begins to prepare a rebuke to Matilda, thinking it is her donkey once again approaching, then relaxes, seeing the little creature. She nods at the leshy.
"Well, I guess I was right. This one says he has a seed that allows him to rejuvenate--and it lies at the top of the shrine, outside. The leshys are tasked to protect it from birds... but I guess, not us. The little one says it is only a matter of days before Il-Shuma is reborn, so we will have to find our way up."
She looks down at the creature.
Fendir exits the room without further ado and begins climbing the stairs.
The leshy indicates, through Kalig's translation, that there are two ways up to the shrine surmounting the citadel.
Il-Shuma, perhaps acting upon rote behavior nearly forgotten from his old life, would ascend the stairs. His affinity for the wild growth carpeting the steps ensured that he never stumbled in his march. The leshys themselves would climb the vines and creepers hanging in thick curtains down the sides of the mastaba layers.
Fendir returns to the central stairs bisecting the citadel. He grasps the creepers growing along the handrails for support, but they rip clear from the brickwork in his hands - causing him to stumble and slide back down to where he began.
"Perhaps the best way is on the outside vines.", suggests Dorick, seeing Fendir's troubles.
Soraya concentrates for a moment and starts to float slowly off the ground. "Whoa," she says. "I should have practiced a bit more with this." She whistles for her owl who comes down and lands on her outstretched arm. "Lucias. Maybe you can drag me a little," she says.
Kalig smirks at Fendir, quoting him from earlier. "'As long as we can climb some stairs, it should be fine,' eh, Fendir?"
She retrieves her rope from earlier and holds it out. "Soraya, can you get up there and tie off the rope? Then we can use this as a handrail to help keep us from slipping as we go."
Soraya nods. "I think so," she says, taking the rope.
"I've a few pitons you can use to hammer in the rope so its secure... if you cant find a place to tie it off and all."
He offered not really looking forward to the climb at all.
The rest of the leshys emerge from hiding and watch with rapt curiosity as Soraya floats to the top of the citadel. With the rope, hammer, and pitons provided by her allies, the levitating witch is able to secure a more reliable route to scale the upper mastaba.
From her vantage point, she can also take better stock of the shrine that surmounts the citadel. Its actual architecture is impossible to discern since it has been entirely overgrown with ivy, moss, and creepers - essentially swaddling the ancient edifice with a green shroud. Nevertheless, a narrow opening gapes within the greenery, facing the steep stairs descending the front of the citadel.
Soraya calls down to the others, "There's some sort of opening up here. Come on up. The rope is secured."
"Thanks!" Kalig makes her way up, holding on to the rope and taking her time.
He followed along behind Kalig, quietly worrying over what they would run across.
With the aid of the rope to steady your climb along the vine-curtained walls, the party is able to scale the upper tiers of the stepped citadel and reach the summit. From here, you take a moment to savor the unobstructed view of the sweeping grasslands that encircle your new homeland. The blue-green of the river's water glints like a bed of emeralds and sapphires as it flows out to the sea. With a collective view of the crumbling Kaskkari ruins dotting the land, you glean a better impression of how the ancient city-state was once laid out.
Turning back to the matter at hand, you notice that the plant growth here is especially thick, underscored by a layer of moss thicker than the plushest carpet you can imagine. The ivy and creepers all radiate from the shrine sitting at the center of the upper mastaba, like veins branching from a green heart. The narrow door to the overgrown shrine sits open, though wreathed in shadows cast by the midday sun.