Another pair of vines lashed onto Bruendor's swordarm, but with a sharp tug, he snaps them in half, turning his attention back upon the plant creature that has chosen Lefrik as its prey. "Seriously, after we get done here, we're going on vacation. Somewhere nice and safe. Nidal, maybe."
Attack the plant beast!
Calla sighs, and points at the vine again, calling down her goddess' wrath on it.
"Lovely epitaph we're going to have. They were brave, until they were eaten by a plant."
Lefrik hisses in pain as his leg is attacked again, "Yes, it will be embarrassing to go to the halls of my ancestors bested by a salad!"
Unfortunately, his words border on the prophetic as he can't find enough leverage thanks to his bad leg to rip free
Bruendor's blade dove into the foliage at the side of the trail and found a juicy target. The center bole of the plant that was attacking Lefrik was well armored in most places, but the thin blade of the rapier found a chink, and exploited it. The vines thrashed and flailed as the plant died, until they were stilled.
At the base of the plant was a pile of bones and other materials that the carnivorous plant couldn't easily digest. Many were the bones of animals, but there were quite a few humanoid skeletons as well, along with their equipment that couldn't easily be broken down by the vine's digestive juices.
160 XP to everyone.
"Good stab!" Anklebiter congratulates Bruendor. His ears twitch at the sight of the mess of bones. "Don't like to leave them out for the scavengers, but we don't have time to dig a grave," the little Goblin notes. "Calla, you give quick final rites? Just in case their spirit still lingers about the bones?"
Almost as an afterthought, the diminutive Wizard makes a gesture and speaks a single word.
Calla collects her dagger and then shrugs at Anklebiter's words.
"Vengeance is yours, thanks to the grace of Calistria. You may rest easy now, knowing your final mortal chore has been accomplished."
Looking sour, she comes to look over the goblin's shoulders at the potions, seeing if she might recognize either.
Bruendor relaxes as the jungle itself finally goes still, and he begins wiping the plant's viridian blood from his blade. "How are you doing, Lefrik? That thing had it in for you." As he awaits the Ulfen warrior's response, he begins examining the gemstones for their worth. "At least this bit of the trek just became worthwhile."
Taking 10 on an Appraise gives me a DC 20, which should be enough to price the gems.
Anklebitere only found the potions to be magical. One was a cure light wounds potion. Looking over Anklebiter's shoulder, Calla spoke. "I think that other one negated magic, you know a Dispel Magic potion." Meanwhile, Bruendor was examining the gemstones, holding each to the light and racking his brain to identify them. After a while, he was confident he knew what he had in hand and how much they were worth...roughly.
Red-brown spinel 76gp, Hematite 6gp, Alexandrite 116gp, Malachite 10gp, Zircon 16gp, Blue quartz 5gp, Chalcedony 23gp, Malachite 2gp, Turquoise 1gp
"I've been worse, Bruendor," Lefrik states, pleased at the treasure at least.
"Semi-precious stones, all of them," Bruendor said, pocketing them. "Maybe 250 gold for the lot. Maybe this thing was part magpie."
Kel prays for Lefrik to be healed, placing a hand over the wound as she does so.
"I can't believe I'm actually looking forward to finding Zincher's camp."
"Ahhh..." Lefrik sighs in relief as his leg mends cleanly. "My thanks."
"You and me both, Kel. I never thought I'd be wishing I were back in Riddleport, and yet here we are."
"We have a home in Riddleport," Anklebiter says, shaking his ears. "With tunnels to flee through underneath. A good home, that brings in money."
"Yes, I WAS Tempted to conquer this island, but its really making Riddleport look quite good now," Lefrik answers
"Home is just where you're staying. You never know when you're going to have to leave, so getting attached is just stupid." Calla says. "Now let's get on with finding Zincher. The sooner we can get off this cursed island, the better."
Anklebiter gives Calla an odd look. "I didn't feel bad when I had to leave the tribe," he says, quietly. "Not very. It was a bad place to be Anklebiter. The Golden Goblin has been a good place to be Anklebiter. Meet friends. Get paid for work that doesn't make my guts twist when I think about it. Read books nobody tries to burn. Do magic and be liked for it, not branded in the face. If I have to leave there forever, I will feel bad. As long as I can stay there, I'll feel glad."
Lefrik pats Anklebiter on the shoulder at that, "You have a touch of the skald in you, friend."
"All Goblins rhyme, giant friend Lefrik Olegson," Anklebiter replies, grinning. "Some better than others. Well. Shall we go on? The fatman awaits..."
"Mm, yes. I best take point again...Brue moves quieter, but in case something else attacks I think I can take it better. Desna willing, of course," the Barbarian moves onward keeping eyes out for more threats, and hoping to cope as a guide through the unnatural island.
Bruendor keeps his face flat as Calla speaks. Inwardly, he wonders what could have made the half-elf so dismissive of putting down roots, but almost as quickly shelves that topic for another day. Someday when an island wasn't trying to eat them alive.
Kel tries to keep her face flat like Bruendor, but fails terribly. Big teardrops welling from her eyes, "I miss home, and I miss family, and I even miss the Golden Goblin!" she cries as she flounces down the trail.
Calla rolls her eyes.
Anklebiter pats Kelendra on the knee as he scurries along beside her. (Patting her thigh or her rump might be misinterpreted, after all.)
"No worries," he says. "We kick stupid island's butt, and Zincher's and notlions' and drows', too, and then we go back to Golden Goblin, at least! I keep an eye out for you."
Walking and talking, the group made a fairly good progress towards Zincher's camp. Lefrik was on point with Bruendor, giving the dwarf some much-needed forward strength. As the sun fell, Lefrik caught a gleam from the corner of his eye. He spun, axe in hand, to see a pale green crystal about the size of his hand sticking out of the truck of a nearby tree, about 15 feet up.
"What is it?" Anklebiter asks when Lefrik suddenly turns. He blinks when he sees the crystal and makes a gesture, speaking a Word. "That's... odd," he says. "Another magic plant that wants to eat us?"
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"I've never seen a crystal out of a tree before. Anyone else?"
"Not that I recall. Maybe something from the explosion?"
"It's not magical, so maybe," Anklebiter says, shrugging -- and eyeing the crystal with interest. "Just so long as it isn't something that wants to eat us."
"Or bait for something that wants to eat us," Bruendor says, his eyes narrowing, scanning the area for hidden snares or ambushes.
Kel eyeballs the strange green crystal, wracking her brain for old stories or legends of such things.
Calla sighs and pulling out her shield and morningstar, advances slowly toward the thing.
Bruendor advances along with Calla, keeping his eyes peeled for anything.
The crystal is fifteen feet or more up the tree's trunk. It looks like if you want a closer look, climbing is in order. Samaritha was about to volunteer a levitation spell when she remembered Bruendor's climbing slippers.
Kel creates a Bridge of Moonlight that gracefully rises 10 feet over a stretch of 40 feet leading directly to the crystal and providing a fine viewing platform.
Bruendor smiles as the moonlight bridge appears, and he begins climbing it to get a good look at the green crystal.
As Bruendor gets closer, he can see that the crystal does indeed appear to have impacted the tree. The bark was blasted off around the impact site, and the hand sized shard of material appears to have embedded itself quite firmly in the trunk.
"Well, what do you know," Bruendor says quietly, admiring the crystal. "Friends...I'm not sure, but I think we've found skymetal." He pulls a knife from his belt and reaches up to cut the crystal away from the tree.
"At last! I wonder what sort of weapon can be made out of it?"
"We'll find out later," Anklebiter says, shrugging. "It's not magical, though."
Bruendor pries the chunk of crystal out of the tree and looks at it for some time. It weighs about a pound, maybe two, and doesn't look like quartz or any other true crystal. At the same time, it has a luster that most metal ores do not have, yet it obviously has not been refined.
Neither Bruendor or Anklebiter can determine exactly what the material is, but by that very property it is likely the skymetal everyone was so excited about.
"I'll look at it again later, when we have the time for it," Anklebiter promises. "And when I have a laboratory to put this thing to its proper use. For now: hide it! Zincher and the Drow don't need to know we have this... shard."
"I couldn't agree more," Bruendor says, descending from the moonbridge. "We'll have plenty of time to figure this out once we get back home." He unshoulders his pack and stuffs the shard into its depths.
"Hiding it sounds wise. I wouldn't trust Zincher not to sell his own mother, well, rent if he thought if he could get more money in the long run for it."
"Who says he hasn't already?", Bruendor says as he dons his backpack again.