"I agree Neltji. That child has been acting quite suspicious" Shalissa nods in agreement.
---
The next day Shalissa secures some boat for the party, using her knowledge of the native's language and gifting ten gold coins for all the goodness they have done to the group.
"Does anyone know how to row?" the elf will ready herself at the boat with her longsword, and will be glad to be among the ones with the breath water once the group makes it to the sunken hull.
"I know several songs that can help one row. I have tried my hand at it once or twice. It usually ends in a child taking the oar away from me and saying, "Let me do it."
"As you know, I was raised in the Mordant Spire. We are trained to dive from a young age, and I am no exception. I can take the lead in exploring the sunken ship"
She glances at the others, assessing their readiness "If Aomak or any other danger appears, I'll need you all to be prepared to cover me"
Shalissa steps to the edge of the boat, securing her equipment and making sure her longsword is within easy reach "I'll signal if I find anything or if there's trouble. Stay alert, and may the gods guide our efforts."
"Let's do it."
You all find that the wreck has been picked clean, but you did find a locked iron military trunk.
As you are rowing back to shore, an ominous shadow passes under your boat!
A few seconds a great head emerges from the lake close to your boat!
"It is there my friends!" Shalissa screams at the sight of the beast, strongly sit over the iron box.
As she picks sight of the creature, she casts blindess on it.
Neltji does not want to kill it but simply drive it away. As such she puts a temporary minor curse on it as she hexes it to lower its resistance to charm animal and other spells.
will save DC 17
Cevill will inspire the group.
Cevil inspires the group while Shalissa cast blindness at it!
It roars in anger!
Neltji hexes the creature.
Neltji's hes seems to work!
Ndombe will cast dominate animal and instruct the creature to "flee."
DC 16 Will Save
The creature flees!
”It was the will of Gozreh that we not harm the creature.”
Nothus releases his breath, "Well done, Ndombe."
Shalissa nods satisfied, smiling as the creature flees "Well done Ndombe!"
Helping to row to the land, she pulls the military trunk out of the boat "Does anyone know how to force open this?"
If no one has the tools to do this, she can prepare a knock spell tomorrow.
Ndombe shakes his head, "as I said, it was the will of Gozreh."
Happy that the creature was driven away Neltji lets go of the hex and does not prolong its agony by cackling at it. Gozreh was indeed with you and us Ndombe. Let’s hope it stays that way. As for opening this chest I don’t have such skill but I can aid someone whom does with magic.
Neltji will cast guidance as necessary’s
The villagers are a little disappointed that you did not permanently remove the threat, but nonetheless, they welcome you as heroes for showing the creature who's boss!
When you get the chest open, either through spell or otherwise, you find it contains the following:
1,000 gp in gold ingots, a potion of cat’s grace, two potions of lesser restoration, and an adamantine machete .
"This will be useful" Shalissa helps identify the magical items and passes the machete for jungle path opening.
"We did some goodness here, the beast will leave the villagers be for a time" she comments satisfied by the end result "It is now our time to continue our trip"
With that, she will join the group on moving forward to their next landmark.
"Well done, all creature quake at the mere words of Ndombe!"
After enjoying the hospitality of the village, you are soon on your way. A few days later, you come across an area where the trees grow broader and taller here, their gnarled branches rising to a tangled canopy that blots out the sun. Digging into their roots, giant, parasitic corpse-flowers blossom across the forest floor. Littering the banks of the river are several humanoid corpses, their armor and bodies ripped apart as if by large claws.
"It seems we have another threat in these parts" Shalissa says as she surveys the grisly scene before the party. The sight of the mutilated bodies, combined with the eerie beauty of the parasitic corpse-flowers, sends a shiver down her spine "These claw marks... they don't look like anything we've encountered before."
She turns to her companions, her expression grave "We need to stay alert. Whatever did this might still be nearby. Can any of you see any recent tracks or signs of movement?"
Shalissa scans the scene with detect magic and clinic eye, trying to discern who might have caused the mortal wounds.
What can I tell about the tracks and corpses?
+1 in jungle
Shalissa and Ndombe almost come to the same conclusion at the same time - A giant ape!
As if on cue, said ape emerges from the jungle roaring and coming right at you!
DOH!
Surprised at the carnage of the mutilated bodies, Neltji is lucky to respond before the ape attacks the group. Falling back on the tactics they used at with the water giraffe she tries to hex the ape.
evil eye saves dc 16
Unable to sense what is going on with the ape, Shalissa goes for a protective spell, casting mirror image, of herself appear around "Why that ape would cause such carnage? Is it scared or being used by someone else?"
Ndombe thinks it is just a regular dire ape! Neltj hexes the ape!
There are suddenly more Shalissas!
"Come Umngane, I take no pleasure in it, but your cousin here seems out for our blood."
Ndombe and Umngane charge the ape...
Ndombe:
Melee
Umngane
Ndombe wounds the ape, but Umngane misses!
Cevill will inspire the group. +2 Attack and Damage
"The ape is grape, the papes I make is great
The weight I break on plates is shake, don't hate
The flow is straight so no debate
I'm holdin' cake, unload the eight"
Neltji pauses in her hexing to look at Cevill. What did you just say? Is that some confision spell you are casting?