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Oret wastes no time and charges in, his morningstar drives the man from the horse, he cluds to the ground.
Bokkah approaches rider in red.
The pony tries in vane to hit the Captain, but misses, managing to keep the man busy nonetheless. Meanwhile, Garduk's bolt finds the Aspis rider driving the man back in his saddle, he looks woozy.
Kulga takes a defensive posture.
The rider with green hat badly damaged from the bolt in his side, leads the horse out of the battle.
The rider with the orange britches, however steers his horse backward a bit before letting lose another arrow at Kulga.
The shot is poor.
The red rider also backs up his horse while firing at Bokkah.
The arrow whizzes by nearly missing.
The rider with the yellow cloak rides into the camp and shoots at Oret, as Raimondo dives into the back of the car.
Another poor shot misses.
The captain once more moves his mount back to line up his lance.
The lance makes devastating contact against the summoned helper.
Round 2: Effects Active: Bless
Oret
Round 3:
map
Bokkah 4 dmg
Garduk
Pony 20 dmg - gone
Kulga
Aspis Riders
Aspis Captain 5 dmg
Oret
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Oret rushes over and unhorses another of the riders, his morningstar finding the mark.
Bokkah's furious claws and bite devastate the red rider.
Garduk takes aim at the yellow cloak, but just as he gets ready to fire, he sees the man go down from Oret's attack, thinking quickly he wheels around and spots the retreating Aspis agent and fires his shot is on the mark and the man slumps in his saddle.
Kulga rushes the last agent (other than the captain), her waraxe sings as the crimson flows, the man comes down.
The Captain circle his mount around Kulga.
And drives the lance toward the dwarf.
But he can't find the right angle and misses with his attack.
Round 3:
Oret
Round 4: Effects Active: Bless
map
Bokkah 4 dmg
Garduk
Kulga
Aspis Riders All down
Aspis Captain 5 dmg
Oret
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Oret and Bokkah both rush toward the Captain.
Garduk greases the lance.
The lance slides from the man's hands.
Kulga's waraxe drives into the unarmed man, but the horse turns and her shield bash misses.
With his men all slain and all of the pathfinders up the Aspis leader retreats, riding north. But not before opening himself up to Kulga's axe or shield once more.
Round 4:
Oret
Round 5: Effects Active: Bless
map
Bokkah 4 dmg
Garduk
Kulga
Aspis Captain 14 dmg
Oret
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Kulga's attack misses, and so does Bokkah's; but Garduk's crossbow bolt buries into the man's back, he looks close to falling off the horse, but manages to ride off into the jungle.
Oret begins to search the downed and dead. Of course you've added five horses to your team and also find each rider equipped with masterwork studded leather, longbow with 18 arrows, shortspear, and 9 gp.
Most are still breathing and can be bound and stabilized.
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"The down are still alive. We should question them, seek answers for their intentions." Oret suggest to the party. Being attacked, Oret does not take his questioning lightly, and roughly holds them by the rope, pushing them and shaking them from time to time as he speaks.
"Tell us, why did you attack us? What is your motivation?" He says harshly. However harsh he intends himself to be, due to fatigue, he starts slurring his words.
And at the end of it all, Oret has them strip of their belongings, without a penny to spare, and later leave them bounded where they found them as a punishment for their crimes.
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Garduk gathers up his scrollbox and replaces it in his pack.
"Should we wake one of them up and see if they have anything to say, other than 'Ha ha, surrender, Pathfinders, you are all doomed to fall victim to the long-arm of the Aspis Consortium!'? It would make a nice change of pace to find out they are just bandits."
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Bokkah doesn't find anything else.
The Aspis men are pretty tight lipped, but you manage to find out thier basic plan.
We spilt off from the main larger group, they are moving to cut you off before you reach your excavation’s camp.
At the news Raimondo starts to panic, We must leave immediately. If we want any shot at beating them to the camp! He begins to ready the team to go.
----
Back under way you press on. You climb ever higher out of the jungle, the series of thin switchback trails just large enough for Raimondo’s caravan 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 dozens 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.
I'm Juliet Dias, Welcome to Azlant Ridge. I see you’ve met the locals. She gestures back at the ape-men chasing the Aspis mercenaries up the trail.
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Oret approaches the lady with shield in arm, as usual, but not drawing his Morningstar or placing his hand anywhere near it. He walks confidently towards her. "Greetings, I am Oret. A knight of Adabar. And these are my friends." He points out the rest of the group, and introduces each of you by name in no particular order, before concluding why the group are in Azlant Ridge. "We don't bring trouble like those men and hope the locals take kindly to our presences here. We're here merely to run a delivery errand."
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After one look at the ravening hordes coming up behind them, Garduk turns back to Juliet, clutching his crossbow, wishing desperately that he had more than 7 bolts left and forgetting for the moment that there are entire crates filled with them inside Raimondo's wagons.
"Yes, Aram Zey sent us. We have your supplies and something else he gave us and maybe it would be best to have the rest of this discussion inside your camp with the gates tightly closed?"
Garduk looks back over his shoulder again, then back at Juliet. He gives her one of his horrifying scarred smiles in a thoroughly unsuccessful attempt to look harmless.
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Excellent, yes quickly! Trust me, you don’t want to be out here when they get here.
You move inside, the fortified gate of the palisade wall is constructed from thick logs, lashed tightly together and sealed with pitch. A sturdy log stands above the gate, serving as both a lookout post and a brace to lash the gate to when it’s closed. Two guards push the gate closed on two sets of enormous wooden wheels; then tie ropes to the brace log holding the gate in place. The gate is covered in dents, scrapes, chips, and blood.
Well here it is Juliet waves here hand around the to show the camp. The Azlanti dig site! She smiles a thin, tired smile and you can tell she looks far to thin.
Over there on the left is a test dig, nothing was found. We have our camp here.
You see that in the middle of the camp rest two large, but dirty and sagging tents. 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.
Then we began to dig over here. She motions to her right, that's when we found the sphere.
A precise and professional terraced dig site surrounds a half-sphere of a smooth, almost mirror-like white material. It looks almost exactly like polished ivory and glows with a soft, white light.
And then of course we have the door!
A fifteen feet high and ten feet wide door is quite a sight, made of a dull yet shimmering metal. 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.
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Garduk is about to suggest that maybe the first thing they should do is get the archaeologists something to eat from the stores brought in from Bloodcove, but he is immediately distracted by Juliet’s offer of a tour of the site. As he gapes first at the glowing hemisphere, and then at the enormous door, all thoughts of the pursuing small army of Aspis agents - and the much larger army of hyperintelligent killer apes - are driven from his thoughts while he racks his brain for anything he may have read referring to artifacts such as these.
Garduk peers at the door, looking for a keyhole.
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As Garduk looks about, Juliet answers Kulga's question.
Well just getting here is more help than you can imagine. We'll get this stuff unloaded and give everyone a proper meal.
Quite a few other people have come out hearing the gate, they all look dreadfully thin and some of them look unwell too. Looking to one thin and haggard looking man who seems to missing hair in an unusual pattern, Creel, let's get this unpacked and sorted, perhaps the bolts and arrows first, as it look like we may soon have company again.
Now then, Juliet begins walking toward the back of the camp. Did you say you brought me something special from Aram?
Garduk does not know what the sphere is, but does notice it's seems to be gradually getting brighter. Reaching the door, you see 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. Garduk knows them to be magical in nature, but it would take some time to work it all out.
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Garduk tears his gaze away from the hemisphere back to their host. "You see that it's getting brighter, right? Was it glowing that way when you uncovered it?"
As Oret approaches the doors with his grappling hook, Garduk smacks himself in the head for a fool. "Oret, can you give me a moment? Should I try to read those carvings first? Perhaps you have a spell that you could use to check the doors and sphere for magical wards or traps?"
Without waiting for an answer, Garduk casts Read Magic. For a moment, his eyes flash with the color of scroll parchment, and he turns his attention back to the symbols and runes carved into the doors.
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Garduk is about to cast Detect Magic when they are interrupted by the shouts of alarm. He trails along behind Juliet, loading his crossbow as he walks, and growling a rapid-fire stream of questions that he does not expect her (or anyone else) to answer under the current circumstances.
"What good is a key without a keyhole? Why is the hemisphere getting brighter? And why is an army of hyperintelligent apes spending weeks besieging a tiny camp that offers no plunder worth the effort other than two mysteries that the apes can't be any better positioned to solve than the Pathfinders are? Especially when they could march a few days southeast and burn through Bloodcove like fire on a thatch roof?"
Garduk pulls a scroll of Mage Armor out of his scrollbox and tucks it into his belt so that it will be easy to grab if needed, and hurries after their host.
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As you reach the gate the archaeologists look to Juliet, scared looks on their faces.
Let us in! - Have mercy! - They'll tear us limb from limb! and other frantic calls can be heard from the other side of the walls. The Aspis agents have arrived and are seeking refuge from the ape men hordes approaching.
Juliet looks to you a pain expression on her face.
What do you think? We could use extra swords against those things, but they’ve been chasing you and trying to kill you for days and probably can't really be trusted. I’ll back your decision.
The pleas continue, Oh gods have mercy! Did you see the size of that thing. - They are getting closer! - Help us, please!
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Oret gives a sincere and worry look on his face. "Clearly leaving them in the dark would seem heartless. But they do cry for Mercy. I am at a loss." He considers his words, "It's my opinion that we should grant them sanctuary but only with conditions, so that we can bring them back to be tried under the court of law, of my choice." He makes himself very clear, and emphasises on the court of law of his choice.
He shouts out to the Aspis, "Leave your weapons at the door! We shall decide shortly regarding your fate!" As he waits an answer from the rest.
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Garduk glares at the Aspis agents. If our situations were reversed, I have no doubt they would let us die. Oret's morality aside, I do not care two coppers whether they live or die, unless they can help fend off the damn gorillas.
"Does anyone think their gratitude for being saved will last longer than it takes for the gate to close once they are inside?" Turning to Juliet, he asks, "Will someone be able to keep an eye on them, to make sure they fight and not us?"