Attai taps Liamae again...
Iagon mutters under his breath. More like it has us cornered.
Instead of lamenting their failures, he targets the beast...now frighteningly above him, and looses another blast.
Unfortunately Attai's bit of luck is wasted as Túrante must take the time to discard her blade and shield so that she can switch to her bow.
Liamae fires one into Rujabu's back.
With a roar of pain, he loses his grip on the ceiling and falls to the stone below.
As she watches Rujabu climb onto the ceiling, and then fall due to Liamae's well timed shot, Túrante pauses and hesitates midway through switching out her weapons.
Iagon's blast hits the rock ceiling where Rujabu was, while Attai again shares the Harrow's fortune with Liamae.
Kytes takes advantage of the situation and steps forward. With Rujabu lying prone conveniently at shoulder height, he stabs.
His blade deflects off of Rujabu's stone-like skin.
Gurp spits another puffball, hoping to add to Rujabu's current misery.
The puffball sails clear over the fallen monster and bursts against the back wall.
Rujabu claws out at Kytes while on the ground.
Kytes holds it off with his shield. Then Rujabu gets to his feet, giving Kytes a chance to retaliate.
This time, he hits harder and cuts deeper.
Haven taken some hits, Rujabu stands fiercely at the top of the mound and growls in a guttural tongue.
Having switched back to melee fighting, the princess closes with Rujabu again, but without much success in pressing the attack.
Iagon huffs out a breath, exhaustion from his own energies beginning to take a toll.
Does anyone know what this thing is saying?!
He doesn't stop too long to think about it, though, instead launching another blast at it.
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
Guided by Attai's blessing, Liamae fires an arrow right into Rujabu's neck!
Attai huffs and puffs, bleeding and battered, up the slope and rocks to stand toe to toe with the fetid troll...
With the harrow's fortune guiding her aim, Liamae looses an arrow that hits Rujabu square in the chest. Rujabu roars again, but his howl is choked off into a gurgle, as cyan blood rises up his throat and trickles out his mouth.
Túrante climbs a ledge and slashes at Rujabu's feet, but he hops over her blade. Iagon's blast acks enough force to hurt him, and Attai is only able to get into position.
Kytes stabs upward at the monster.
In a critical moment, his blade gets caught on the rocky ledge.
Gurp hops over to the other side of the mound, to cut off Rujabu should he try to escape.
Cornered and desperate, Rujabu lashes out wildly against these home invaders.
Rujabu rips across Túrante's throat, and the princess falls.
Likewise, another clawed hand slashes across Attai's face. The sylph passes out from the pain. Now only Kytes is left facing the troll.
Rujabu seems to lose steam, and shield and breastplate keep Kytes standing. Having felled two invaders, the injured Rujabu takes a step away from Kytes, looking for a chance to escape and recover.
”Your Highness! No!” Liamae shrieks as Turante falls. Her anguish causes her next shot to go way off target.
Iagon curses to himself as he sees Turante fall. No! He rushes forward toward her body, then kneels down and tries to keep her from bleeding out.
Liamae's arrow flies errantly as Iagon leaps to Túrante's side, placing a firm hand on her gashed throat, effectively stopping the bleeding.
Attai continues to bleed out. Seeing two of his companions fall, Kytes jumps to action. He crouches, and with one hand, touches Túrante, while Eir lands on Attai. With a pulse of light, a flash of positive energy washes over them.
As their eyes reopen, Kytes' fall on Rujabu with regained focus, "May the Inheritor smite you down, fell beast. Your torment ends here!"
Rujabu looks frantically about, finds an opening and makes a run for it. He hugs the wall and runs past Iagon and Túrante, making his way down the rocky mound, across the floor, and down the tunnel leading back into the rat warren with accelerated haste.
Túrante coughs weakly and sits up, then when she sees the troll fleeing she weakly stands, picking up her shield as she rises.
Liamae quickly fires an arrow into the fleeing troll's back!
Iagon rushes down the slope, gathering power as he goes. Forcing his power in a focused rush, he sends it flying at the beast once again.
As Túrante and Attai regain their feet, Liamae fires one at the fleeing cave troll. She keeps her aim on him as he makes his escape, and puts the perfect lead on him. Her arrow pierces his spinal column right between shoulders, skewers his trachea, and out his chest. He falls with a hard thud, his hasted momentum skids him a few feet across the cavern floor.
After attending to Túrante, Iagon’s catches up to the fallen Rujabu and blasts through the back of his head, ensuring he doesn’t get up.
However, as Iagon stands panting over Rujabu’s splattered brains, he notices the grey matter slowly gathering itself back together along with skull shards and scalp scraps.
"Thank you, I'm better, no, check on the troll!" says the wounded princess. She clears her damaged throat and says, "Make sure it's done."
Liamae crosses over to the troll and retrieves a torch from her pack. She quickly lights it and drops it amid the creature's gruesome remains, hoping to incinerate it and stop it from regenerating.
Uh, guys!
He quickly stands back as Liamae rushes in to light the beast.
Oh...right. He looks around. Is everyone alright? Forgetting again that he and Gurp don't speak the same language, he asks. Gurp, still with us little buddy? There any more of these things?
Attai stands uneasily, and misses most of the finishings and refinishings of the troll. For the moment he is contrnt to be alive.
”My thanks again Kytes...and Gyr! Gurp!” he continues, also concerned for their erstwhile guide.
Liamae sears Rujabu’s wounds with the application of a torch, until the regeneration ceases. With this, the party can rest assured he is no longer a threat.
Gurp carefully staggers down from the mound, badly injured.
However, he grins widely with his unusually large mouth:
Then, in a separate sort of speech, he releases a faint stream of spores that slowly drift down the tunnel behind him, the one clogged with tree roots. After a moment of everyone gathering themselves and checking in with each other, the two other leshies, Gerp and Girp, emerge from the tree roots tunnel. They reunite with Gurp and the three of them move over to Rujabu’s dead body. Opening their large mouths wide, they begin consuming him.
Kytes moves next to Túrante and holds out a hand, "Your Highness, if I may?" If she allows, he channels for her again.
Liamae steps back from Rujabu as the leshies approach. She wrinkles her nose in distaste as they start to devour his body. "Oh! That's just, um... Ew."
The elf moves to Turante's side and holds her hand. "Princess, are you alright? You had me so worried!"
"Thank you, yes," says Túrante as she carefully stows her gear. "I am... keenly aware of how close to death I came." She manages a faint smile but then winces involuntarily.
"I am... glad this is done, but I will be pleased to put it behind us."
Liamae smiles at Turante. "Indeed, I will be as well. Drinks are on me when we return home. After a hot bath, of course."
Iagon also turns from the site. Though happy that Gurp is now safe, to see nature take it's course is a bit disturbing.
So...we've made it safe here...at least, as far as it can be. Shall we continue on with our original quest? I feel as if we may need to rest a bit before we continue on though. He looks specifically at Attai.
”Definitely going to need a good cleaning,” says the princess as she wipes away some of her own warm, slick blood.
Attai spares no thought for the consumption of Rujabu, Gurp and the other 'rps returning the offensive material to the great whole. The sylph nods wearily, smiling a little at the thought of some more civilised comforts. Still, it sits not well with him to leave without some semblance of closure.
"Gurp!" he says by way of acknowledgment of their shared close call, and the end of subterranean tyranny.
Gurp looks up from his feast and flashes Attai a happy grin, his face and large teeth smeared with the dark blood of Rujabu.
At the top of the mound, next to a half eaten giant rat, there is a large wooden chest. Inside there is found a set of masterwork studded leather armor, decorated with stamped motifs of running stags. A pair of masterwork hand axes, handles carved from deer horn inlaid with bands of silver, accompany the set of armor.
From here, you can return to Gurp's lair through the tunnel choked with tree roots. You'll have to crawl and squeeze your way through, but you can feel safe doing so. Or, you can take the long way, back around the way you came. But, before you go, there's another passage off of this chamber left unexplored.
Iagon sighs and stretches. Well, we could continue on and clear this entire cavern of danger, but I think at some point the course of nature has to remain intact. I feel like even Lilacea would concur. Shall we make our way back to finish our delivery of the treaty, then?
Liamae nods. "My magic is nearly drained. I'd cherish the opportunity to finish our task, get home, and get presentable." She looks down at her dirty clothes and skin and shudders.
"I almost died. I feel like maybe it's time to regroup."
Having helped out the leshies and defeated Rujabu, the party returns to where they last made camp in the lair of the chaneque. Back through the dire rat warren, past Midge's dark pool, through the chamber with the druidic altar, the leshy root garden, the chamber of whispering stones, past the forest of midnight mushrumps and the foul smelling bat guano, past the corpses of long dead druids, and finally emerge into the chaneque lair, tired, battered, boodied, and bruised.
Ashilia jumps as you come into the chamber, "My goodness! You all look like you've taken a beating! Uh, here..." he opens his palm and offers up magical berries. "I was about to start getting worried about you guys. Hey, do you think we can get outta here? This place gives me the creeps, and I think a spider's gonna jump outta that tunnel any second. Oh, but you probably need to rest, huh? I mean, we should probably get back to Lilacea's Court, right? It's probably a lot more safe than here."
The donkey seems to be packed up and ready to go.
Iagon smiles as he sees Ashilia. He gently pushes the offering towards Turante, Kytes, and Attai. I thank you, Ashilia...these brave companions freed these caverns from evil...at least all of the evil that we could. It's my hope that this area can now prosper. And...I couldn't have said it better.
Please, let's make the trip back to Lilacea's Court and take our rest there. I know it's not ideal to have to travel further, but I also feel as if every shadow here will manifest into something that wants to eat us.
”Indeed! Let us make haste to the court,” Liamae agrees.
After a quick moment to catch breath, perhaps snack and drink, everyone gathers up and exits out of the bog cave. The day is half past, and sunlight beams down through the moss covered branches of otherwise dead trees. It is warm, and humid, but a relief from the dank darkness of the cave. Ashilia rides the donkey as Kytes pulls it through the bog. Everyone trudges through the black muddy waters, and has to spend some time cleaning the muck from their boots. But on the other shore from the island, it becomes much cooler as you enter back into the dense canopy of the living forest.
Finding your way back to Lilacea’s Court is a bit of a challenge. Túrante follows the cut notches and snapped twigs she left as trail markers, but the glen is not where it should be. Even Ashilia seems stumped.
A few hours pass in searching, and dusk begins to fall. By your best reckoning, the River Road is still a few hours of bushwhacking to the west.
Iagon frowns, his jovial mood at having left the cavern having been somewhat diminished over the lack of a trail for escape. He looks around at his companions, most of which have far better vision than he in the dark.
It looks as if darkness will fall before we can make it back to the road; do we wish to continue, or should we find somewhere to camp? I must say, I don't relish the thought of camping in this forest with dangers all about. If we press on, though, I will be nearly useless without a light.
He searches around to see if there even is a feasible area around for a camp - a clearing perhaps?
Attai is equal parts sore, tired and out of sorts. The below ground sojourn semed like an epic adventure, and though happy to be back outside, is still not in his element. He isn’t really sure anymore what his element is and the Harrow seems to have left him high and dry of late. He feels an urge to pull a card but decides against a casual reading. He waits to see where the rest of his friends wish to go...
Iagon is able to find a suitable campsite, relatively level and clear. His phytokinetic powers prune back the undergrowth to make the site more hospitable. In doing so, he discovers an empty wine bottle.
Iagon situates the camp, making idle talk as he goes. We will need watches of some sort. I can take first if you like, but I am also fine with being woken up in the middle of the night. One learns to get sleep when one can when camping, I've...oh, hey.
He grabs up the wine bottle, heedless of any dangers it may bring with it. He examines it more closely for markings of some sort.
The bottle bears the symbol of Kyonin. Túrante recognizes it as the bottle she gifted to the fey giant toad.