Dorick grits his teeth and climbs up the rope, the weight of his armour and weapons not slowing him too much.
Kalig looks around carefully as she gets to the top.
The rest of the leshys have also emerged from hiding and climbed the vegetation to watch the party curiously, although they keep to the edge of the citadel's upper tier.
Although it is easy to be distracted by the panoramic view of the Castrovin coast, Kalig spots your target within the overgrown shrine. Inside, set upon the altar within, is a grotesquely large plant bulb. Countless spindly vines radiate out, growing along the altar and inner walls of the shrine. Perhaps it is a trick of the light, but it even appears to occasionally pulsate.
Kalig is certain that this is the moss lich's rejuvenating seed, and that destroying it will be the key to protecting your nascent community from future destruction by a reborn Il-Shuma.
Staring at the bizarre sight in front of him, Dorick turns to Kalig.
"You had words with him, it? Is there a best way to destroy that...thing? Or do we just hack it to pieces?"
Dorick's halberd is held close.
"The leshy didn't say. With no other information, I'd suggest we take it away from here--uprooting it as need be, which is where the choppy choppy would come into play, so it can't try to grab onto the other plants--and burn it to ash."
"Soraya, Fendir, you guys have any thoughts? You're the magic people."
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Soraya shrugs. "I'm afraid I've never dealt with anything like this before. Generally, fire is a good idea though."
"Do we have any more of that plant poison? Hacking it up and covering it in that mess might work yeah?"
He asked.
"I can open up the earth around it to make it easy to move, but that's about the extent of my 'magic' knowledge."
"I am happy to remain in front while hacking, to hold it back from ye."
Navigating the narrow confines of the shrine, Dorick cuts at the spidery vines radiating from the bulbous seed pod as Fendir uses his talents to widen the gaps between the bricks and altar stone. He dare not exert too much force, lest he destabilize the ancient edifice and open a gaping hole, sending you all tumbling down.
The lich's seed pod comes loose and begins to teeter off its perch on the altar. Who will grab it?
Dorick will attempt to hook the seed pod with his bardiche.
Fendir will grab onto Dorick's belt to help keep him grounded.
Dorick finds a sturdy loop made from stiffer vines, and he hooks this around the curving back of his bardiche's head. The added leverage from Fendir's grip, keeps the cavalier steadied and prevents him from falling forward.
The seed pod is withdrawn and held aloft on Dorick's weapon. Exposed to the light of day, you see that its pulpy flesh is a sickly green hue, flecked with tiny veins of scarlet. It has surprising heft for its size, and Dorick feels as though he carries a pumpkin at the end of his weapon.
"Good job! Now let's get out of here." Kalig will do whatever it takes to help Dorick balance as they take the pod down the terraces and take it away from the temple to destroy it.
Presuming they make it down safely, once they are sufficiently away from the temple and near a stony region (where she can't accidentally start a brushfire), she will pour a flask of oil taken from Matilda's pack over it, and then cast spark to light it.
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Dorick stands 10 feet from the flaming gourd, waiting to strike it should it begin to erupt with undead foe.
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Even with the help of secured ropes, it is a slow and difficult descent from the shrine, navigating the mastabas of the citadel. All the way to the narrow courtyard encircling the citadel proper, the leshys follow and watch you curiously. Although Il-Shuma may have bound them with these physical forms, they do not seem too distraught by the notion of ending his ages-old cycle of rebirth.
Dorick lowers his bardiche and drops the seed pod into a gravelly patch free from vegetation a few dozen yards from the outer, crumbling walls of the citadel. This was perhaps once the confluence of several ancient roads, maybe even a plaza, and even after countless thousands of years, only spare patches of gorse and scrub grass eke out an existence among the rocks and gravel.
Kalig's magic quickly ignites the oil coating the pod. However, while the oil burns, the fire does not immediately spread to the seed pod or its lingering roots. You worry that the pod will not burn due to some unnatural property, but then you hear a sharp whistling sound. It becomes clear that the heat from the layer of burning oil is actually cooking the seed from within.
The whistling grows to a brief crescendo before it is replaced by a loud pop. A chunk of pulpy flesh erupts from the seed pod, and the cooked, liquefied innards begin to leak out in steaming gouts. More, smaller such opening pop open from the heat and pressure. Slowly, the seed pod begins to collapse into a bubbling, foul-smelling morass upon the gravel.
Dorick stands watch until the seed pod is a ruined mess.
He tries to pull cloth over his face to ward off the worst of the stench.
"Is it...is he *dead*? For good?", he asks as the flames die down.
Soraya also pulls a cloth across her face. "Hopefully. Though I may sprinkle some acid over his remains when the fire dies down. Not sure if it'll make a difference, but I doubt it would hurt."
"Ugh, smells like Old Gronk's tanning hut," Kalig mutters as it begins to burn.
Then she grows more solemn. "Gozreh, Pharasma, whatever gods care to listen to this mortal... may this act return this Il-Shuma to the true cycle, and not that monstrous perversion of it."
Once it seems finished, she replies to Dorick and Soraya: "We can only hope this is it. Acid's a good idea, Soraya. Then we can spread the ashes in the river. I feel like being thorough here."
She looks around at the others. "Then, what's next?"
Dorick smiles.
"Well now we claim the temple - and any loot from fallen foes of Il-Shuma!"
Soraya shakes her head at Dorick's suggestion. "I think the temple belongs to the leshys. I doubt they would mind us removing 'loot,' as you say, but we should try to be respectful so we don't have a brand new Il-Shuma on our hands." She looks up at the temple thoughtfully for a moment. "Let's try to be neighbors, not conquerors."
Kalig considers both Dorick and Soraya's words. "Maybe talk to the leshys and see what they need now that their 'father' is gone?"
From here, keen eyes can distinguish the small, bulbous head of at least one leshy peering at you curiously from a perch upon the courtyard wall surrounding the citadel.
The odoriferous fire fades into a smoulder, then becomes naught but wisps of smoke. The seed pod's remnant is a bubbling, tar-like puddle upon the gravelly soil. Soraya uncorks a flask of acid and pours the contents upon the foul heap, leaning her head away to spare herself the smell.
Moments after contact with the acid, a bright flash and loud, cracking report erupts from the melted seed pod - seizing Soraya with fright and knocking her back. She falls painfully upon her arm, but there is no lasting damage.
"Fair! Let us speak with the lesheys. And what a bang! Are you injured, Soraya?"
Kalig peers suspiciously at the remains, wondering if it has any further surprises. She offers Soraya a hand up, then spots the leshy spying on them, and gestures for it to approach.
Soraya takes Kalig's proffered hand. "Only my pride," she says to Dorick as she stands up and dusts herself off.
Fendir watches the entire procession without comment after having helped wrestle the pod into position.
When it reacts to fire, he makes not comment.
When it reacts to the acid AFTER burning, Fendir says "Can any of you tell if it is magic?"
"Well, given it was the vessel for the rebirth of an ancient nature priest, I'd say there's a fair chance it's magic. But if you're asking if I have a means of seeing magical auras or some other fancy wizard trick, nope. Soraya?"
Meanwhile, she watches and sees if the leshy responds to her gesture.
The leshy ducks back down when it realizes it has been noticed, but it carefully climbs back up to watch anew, like an overly curious child. A few more eyes also watch from the courtyard of the citadel, but none come any closer. The leshys seem unwilling to leave their home, perhaps still spooked by the recent turn of events or simply frightened of the wide open world outside of the ruins.
Fendir will reach through his pockets for something to offer then, but as he starts to hand them jerky, he realizes that he doesn't want them to be meat-eaters, so he tosses them some bread instead.
Soraya takes a look at the seed pod remains through her magical sight, curious as to whether or not any magic might remain (anything other than traces that is).
Quietly watching the scene he could only shake his head slightly and hope it was all over. He did watch the approaching Leshy curiously. Had the whole thing not been so terrifying he would probably be amused.
Dorick stands much more at ease, now that it seems the threat is no more.
Any magic contained within the seed pod is quickly fading, and Soraya can only detect the faintest remnants as the tar-like puddle begins to harden upon the ground.
Slowly, the largest of the leshys - standing an imposing two inches taller than its kin - emerges from the courtyard. As he walks on his stubby legs, he scans the skies, seemingly worried that anything could swoop down upon him.
He stops at the verge where the grass ends before the gravelly patch where you burned the seed pod. He looks at each of you, and Fendir's bread, with curiosity before settling his eyes on Kalig, whom he knows speaks his language. However, he says nothing and waits for you to speak.
Kalig approaches the leshy, saying to the party she will try to suggest what they were discussing earlier.
"We are also curious about the temple. If there is anything within it you cannot make use of, perhaps we could trade for something you need?"
Dorick does his best to appear reassuring and non-threatening.
Finder likewise just waits.
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The leshy curiously considers Kalig's offer before shaking his head.
Kalig's polite prompting about anything left within the temple seems to jolt the leshy, as though he suddenly remembers something. He bids Kalig and the party to wait while he and his kin retrieve something. The small plant creatures begin a scuttling procession, hauling gifts out from the deep recesses of the citadel.
At first, they simply heap small piles of ancient coins at your feet. Despite their simple, innocent nature, they do not seem ignorant of the idea that big folks like coins, as the tallest one explains to Kalig. The coins, bearing the stamped likeness of eons-dead god-kings, appear to be minted from bronze. Their modern value as coinage would likely put them only on parity with copper coins, unfortunately. A museum or antiquarian might pay a more significant reward for such a historical find, but you are countless leagues away from such collectors. As the leshys continue to deposit arm and leafy bags' worth of these bronze coins, you also wonder if they might simply be useful to melt down as a source of bronze to craft tools and utensils.
However, the leshys soon bring a different, more mysterious token of friendship. Two of the plant creatures work in tandem to haul an ancient clay urn down the stairs. They shuffle out the courtyard gates and set the urn down before Kalig.
"They say as long as we do not harm their home, we can be friends."
Then, as the procession of bronze begins, Kalig raises her eyebrows, as this immediate provision of bounty was not what she expected.
"Well, I think this is a generous and peaceful way of saying, 'Stay out of the temple,' and I'm inclined to declare our exploration is done. There's no more monsters, I'd warrant."
She thanks the leshys.
Then as the urn is placed before her, peers at it curiously, and taps it with a finger, asking the leshys what it is.
She also turns to the party's witch. "Soraya, is it magic?"
Dorick muses over the coins.
"These would cause quite a stir in archaeological circles in Taldor. Oh well, they'll just have to wait for our trade caravans or come over themselves.", Dorick chuckles.
Soraya pronounces her incantation to illuminate magical auras. You never know. She's glad the leshys are happy to have them as neighbors.
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Soraya casts her spell and focuses on the old relic, and her enchanted senses reveal that the urn is imbued with very ancient transmutation magic. In regards to size, the urn is large enough that a halfling could sit inside, providing he could squeeze through the vessel's mouth.
One of the leshys lifts the lid off the urn, revealing that it is filled with small yellow bean pods. They look very fresh, potentially a nice change of pace from the dried or pickled produce that the caravan had packed for the journey.
However, if these are samples of the types of crops grown by the Kaskkari and stored in their temple, perhaps as offerings to their priests, then how could they have possibly survived countless centuries without rotting?
Kalig nods at Dorick. "We should give Lena a few to keep for archeological interest."
She nods at the leshy when it explains the urn, translating in turn, and examines the beans.
She smiles, at the leshy and at the others. "They're like little string bean seeds. It's possible they might still grow. I'd hope they'd grow well in the soil since they are from this area, if the climate has not changed too much. If they're bred with what the farmers brought, then maybe we could get the better of both worlds as to size and hardiness."
Kalig nods to Francois. "Hopefully they're tasty too."
She thanks the leshys, and then addresses the others. "I am satisfied. Are you? If so we should probably dispose of the remains as best we can and move back to town and report."
"Aye that they are. Hey uh... those look very fresh. When did they get them? Where did they get them from I wonder."
Carefully he slid his hand torwards the opening picking up a small handfull of the beans and bringing them close to his nose inhaling a bit.
"They look good to me! We should certainly plant them and see how they grow."
"There is an old magic on this urn. Perhaps it was used to preserve the beans, to keep them from rotting."
As she continues to examine the ancient urns, Soraya becomes more certain of her initial conclusion. The enchantments upon these vessels allow them to preserve food stored within seemingly indefinitely!
This revelation makes it quite the tragedy that Il-Shuma, in his ageless wrath, may have destroyed many other such urns. Considering your settlement's first harvest remains uncertain, unlike the inevitability of winter, these could be an invaluable tool to stretch your food supplies.
The leshys seem pleased by your interest in the urn, and they tell Kalig that they would be happy to retrieve the other five.