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After recovering a bit, Arcalinte begins clearing the vines.
"Elven. It's an old dialect, but it's similar enough to modern Elven that I can at least translate the general meaning."
The characters on the obelisk are clearly ancient, but just as clearly related to the modern elven script. With your knowledge of modern elven you're able to translate portions of the writing.
'Ye who bear inquisitive minds, who seek the beyond, know that you approach Loskialua, monastery of starsong, embassy of the spheres, and Temple of the Twelve.'
Fragmentary phrases seem to indicate warnings to be respectful of the site, especially in the presence of any 'messengers from beyond'. There are further mentions of an 'academy' and an order of 'Interpreters of the Beacon'. The remaining text is too far worn away to make out, or too ancient to make clear sense of.
"We are on the right track, it seems. This Temple of the Twelve must be what our rivals were seeking. If I were to make a guess, I imagine the 'messengers from beyond' must mean outsiders. Angels, or maybe azatas? Elven places of worship wouldn't allow evil outsiders."
After a rest to recover, you're ready to continue your journey with the confidence that you're on the right path. Before long, the Rune Obelisk is well behind you and out of sight behind the dense jungle foliage. Sydney re-orients you and leads the way towards the next landmark described by Zan's journals, The Forsaken City!
You spend the rest of the day traveling without further incident and you're able to make camp and rest without interruption.
The following morning, you find the terrain slowly getting steeper and steeper. It seems you're entering the foothills of the Singing Range! If anything, the jungle here seems to get denser and more lush. Massive bell-like flowers hang from overhead and clusters of brilliant fungi cling to fallen tree-trunks.
-=-=-=--=-=-=-=
JUNGLE EXPEDITION
Day 6
Bright and Steamy
Location: Post-Rune Obelisk Foothills (72 miles to go)
Sydney spends a point to get back her stamina.
"What a rough way to die," Sydney comments on remains of the corpse. "Think this was one of the peons following the professor?" She kneels down to examine the corpse. "Maybe they scarified him to escape the plant."
"We are on the right track, it seems. This Temple of the Twelve must be what our rivals were seeking. If I were to make a guess, I imagine the 'messengers from beyond' must mean outsiders. Angels, or maybe azatas? Elven places of worship wouldn't allow evil outsiders."
Sydney stares at Arc. "So... what? There are elves on this planet?"
Sydney taps the back of her helm with the palm of her hand and narrows her eyes.
"Oh... Yeah," Sydney comments lamely. "Not very welcoming then, huh?"
Sydney takes you up through rocky, overgrown foothills, easily navigating you directly towards the next major landmark. While the travel is tough, you're able to make good time.
It stays fairly far away, far enough that you often lose sight and sound of it for minutes at a time before it shows up yet again. From the way its forward tentacles quiver when your team starts exchanging banter, it seems to recognize the noise.
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"This is also the troll homeworld?" Spectre asks.
"Spectre, you're the most computer-savvy of our entire group, surely you know what online trolling is!" Arcalinte replies.
While Sydney guides them, Arcalinte keeps his eye out for more kaukariki or other creatures...
...and spots the creature following them.
"We're being followed. Another animal, with a tentacle face. A smart one too. When we speak to each other it seems to recognize the sounds of our voices."
He provides a brief description, hoping the others may have a clearer idea of what this thing is.
"Arc, the trolls must be most intelligent here if they have access to the Infosphere and do their trolling online." she titters.
Then follows his hand to look for the strange creature he has seen.
Solaria recognizes the creature skulking about behind your group as a ksarik, a type of mobile four-legged plant creature. These plants exhibit similar behavioral patterns to mammalian or reptilian predators, despite their dramatically different true natures. The ksarik's most well known, and most frightening, ability is its capacity to copy genetic code and psychic resonance from creatures it strikes with its tentacles. It can rapidly assimilate that DNA to adjust its own physiology (and rumors say, repeated DNA assimilation from intelligent races has caused some ksariks to gain a rudimentary intelligence and culture).
When it notices Arc and Solaria trying to inspect it, the ksarik raises a tentacle to point back in imitation of Solaria before turning and vanishing back into the jungle.
----
It doesn't take long before the ksarik returns, growing bolder in its approaches with the passing minutes. You begin to hear strange intermittent gurgling sounds from its direction, and at one point Arc's ears pick up a reedy half-intelligible voice from it.
In the late afternoon, in an area of thinner foliage, you all catch a clearer look of the creature as it stands atop a half-buried stone block about 80 ft away. Rather than just observe you in return, its tentacles convulse and a thorn flies out at a terrifying velocity!
The thorn dart rockets through the air and strikes Ted in the stomach with a dull thhhhnnk.
When Ted pulls the thorn out, he notices that the tip was covered in luminescent yellow spores. Luckily, his shallow wound bleeds enough that any spores that are delivered are ejected.
There are plenty of trees around to get cover, and he's able to interpose one between him and the distant ksarik threat.
Give me a moment, I might be able to remember a bit about its defences. Solaria says as she moves over to comfort Ted in the cover of the tree.
The icy beam from Spectre's zero rifle takes the ksarik in the face. It lets out loud gurgling noise and retreats with all haste into the jungle. It's clearly not eager to stick around and get shot at again.
Solaria recalls a few more facts about ksariks. As plant-based lifeforms, they're immune to mind-affecting effects, paralysis, poison, polymorph, sleep, and stunning. Furthermore, she knows they're capable of rapidly healing their own wounds . They're exceptionally hardy, but not too hard to fool by magic compatible with their rudimentary intelligence.
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Arcalinte gives a small "hmph!" as the ksarik retreats.
"It's testing us," he says, gazing after it. "It was trying to tail us without attracting attention, listening for us when we speak, and now it's struck at us to see how we'll react. Fleeing when we struck back, I'm guessing it's trying to develop a strategy against us. Maybe it's protecting its territory, maybe it's looking for a meal, maybe it's just toying with us, but I'd bet my mote that it'll attack us again when it thinks we're vulnerable enough."
Arc's speculation proves at least partially true. As you continue traveling for the day , you find the ksarik returning to watch your group from a distance. Shots from your weapons injure it and scare it off, but each time it comes back fully healed. Thankfully, it doesn't throw any more thorns.
The ksarik continues to stalk you throughout the day, but once it starts getting dark, it stops showing up.
Your overnight rest is surprisingly uneventful and you wake the next morning recuperated.
-=-=-=--=-=-=-=
JUNGLE EXPEDITION
Day 7
Bright and Steamy
Location: Post-Rune Obelisk Foothills (60 miles to go)
Solaria waks to the new dawn, her antennae droop in the steamy air, a drop of liquid falls from the tip. "Not such a bad day, is everyone feeling good, Shouldn't be more than a couple of days to go if we're lucky." she says optimistically.
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Upon waking, Isu attempts to rebandage Arc's wounds.
"Arcaline Soter, stop squirming. You are acting as if this one has never successfully bandaged a wound before. Which is, in fact, true. But! This one needs the practice."
Fails!
success! 3 HP. Plus 3 HP for another night of rest puts me almost full HP.
Isu also does his best to help navigation by referring to their notes and trying to maintain a single compass direction.
Sydney weaves your group this way and that, and for a while you start to think that she's lost her way through the endless greenery. Thankfully, after consulting the set of navigator's equipment that Arc brought, you're able to get back on track and not lose more than a few minutes. Mercifully, you're left unmolested by the ksarik from the previous day. You don't see or hear any sign of it. Even better, there don't appear to be any kaukariki in this section of the jungle to throw rotten fruit at you.
It's close to noon when you all clearly hear a hoarse cry rise up out of the jungle, somewhere ahead of you. The cry turns to a ragged wail that slowly peters out. Before it can be dismissed as another strange jungle animal, you hear it speak in Common.
"D-Dh-Devourer! Gh-g-g-" A terrible groan of pain emits from the direction of the voice. "G-grant me death! I b-beg." The voice subsides to a low, agonized groan.
With dense jungle between you and the source and the voice, you can't make out its exact origin.
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----
Sydney is unapologetic about her faulty tracking. She was probably feeling a little on edge from another sentient plant trying to mess with the party, but didn't let it show.
By day 7 Sydney's become accustomed to her week-long stink but feels uncomfortably oily. Her hair has an greasy sheen and her clothes underneath her protection suit feel stiff.
Sydney narrows her eyes, "Castrovelian?" She quick draws her static arc pistol. "Hey, big-shot professor! Come out to where we can see you!" She lifts her gun up to where the noise originated from.
Confused by the various conclusions others have drawn from the noise, Solaria creeps forward to look herself.
"It sounds like someone's in pain, but the ksarik could imitate sounds, but if it really is someone in need of our help we should approach with all haste." Her eyes open wide with bewilderment, before she makes up her mind, "If it is someone, we can't let them suffer, if it's a trap then we shall be ready for it. Let's go, forward. Spectre, Arc, Isu be ready for battle, follow me..." as she gets her pistol ready.
.
Arc, Isu and Solaria rush forwards towards the voice, with the rest of the party following a little more cautiously behind them. The continuing groans are easy enough to follow and before long, the trio burst into a large clearing.
The verdant clearing in the jungle is dotted here and there by massive, man-sized fungal growths. A pale and sickly looking lashunta lies sprawled out against the trunk of a large tree in the center of the clearing. She wears a set of soiled lashunta ringwear and what looks like a semi-auto pistol lies two feet away from her limp arms. A massive thorn dart from a ksarik has pierced all the way through one of her legs. Her eyes roll in their sockets as she mutters and wheezes.
"D-dh-Devourer. I- I" her body spasms "I- deserve y-your embra-"
With great difficulty, her eyes lock on to your approaching group. Her face spasms- it seems she's attempting to smile.
"S-Star-eater blight you- f- f-" She grits her teeth against the pain and doesn't finish what she's trying to say.
Solaria looks around the clearing and around the injured lashunta and doesn't spot any traps.
----
Just as the rest of the team start to arrive at the edge of the clearing, you all hear a wheezing warbling voice coming from the west.
"S-Star-eater blight you-" The words are accompanied by a whizzing sound as a thorn flies through the air towards Isu! The kasatha ducks and the thorn flies well over his head. The surprise attack reveals the ksarik's position, a clever hiding spot behind a large shrub and a tree to the western side of the clearing.
The ksarik's tentacles whip through the air, it seems ready to fight!
-----------------------
|||||INIT - ROUND 1||||
Ted
Ksarik
Arc (13 HP damage)
Spectre
Sydney
Isu (1 HP damage)
Solaria
??? Lashunta
Bold are up
Ted's magic missiles sail unerringly through the air and pummel the ksarik. For its part, it raises a cluster of vine-tentacles into the air and starts thrashing them about, as if to knock further magic missiles out of the air before they reach it.
It stalks around behind the trees and fungal blooms until it has a clear line of fire against the technomancer and then rears back. From its underbelly, a yellow proboscis bunches up and shoots a glob of digestive fluids at Ted! The acrid goop strikes him cleanly in the chest.
|||||INIT - ROUND 1|||||
Ted (11 damage)
Ksarik (10 damage, it has fast healing)
Arc (13 HP damage)
Spectre
Sydney
Isu (1 HP damage)
Solaria
??? Lashunta
Everyone is up!
Solaria feints to shoot her pistol at the plant-like creature, before moving towards the lashunta.
Sydney dashes forwards and flips off a tree trunk to deliver a quick and dangerous blast from her laser pistol. But the laser strikes well off-target, scorching a mound of fungus instead.
Solaria's distraction provides an easy opening for her allies to capitalize on, which Isu is able to take to land a blast from his artillery laser. Unfortunately, Spectre's shot is less well aimed.
Ted's grenade flies through the air and catches on a branch mid-flight, knocking it off course. Its explosion still catches the beast, engulfing it briefly in electricity.
The sickly lashunta lying against the tree grunts with effort as she tries to reach for her pistol. Unfortunately, she's so weak that she's not able to move more than just her fingers before she begins to pant with exertion. She looks up at Solaria with madness in her eyes "K-kill me..."
---
The ksarik spins its tentacle'd head-stump from side to side as it considers which creature approaching it is the most dangerous. It suddenly spits a point-blank thorn dart at Isu, which caroms off his armor, and then it turns and bounds behind some trees to the north.
|||||INIT - ROUND 2|||||
Ted (11 damage)
Ksarik (20 damage)
Arc (13 HP damage)
Spectre
Sydney
Isu (1 HP damage)
Solaria
??? Lashunta
Everyone is up!
Round 2:
"Why's it running?!" Sydney shouts incredulously. She dashes around a tree and speedily makes her way to stand next to Arc while checking the remaining charge on her pistol. To assert her presence, she lightly presses on Arc's stomach with the flat palm of her left hand while squeezing the trigger of her gun in her right.
If DC passes,
Sydney winces at her poor shot and immediately blames her companion. (Because why would it ever be Sydney's fault?) "@$$! Why's your head so big, Arc?"
Solaria is shocked by the lashunta's request for death, "No, I'm sure we can help, what is it that makes you want to give your life up so easily?" Her heart want so desperately to want to save one of her own. She quickly scans for injuries to see if there is any hope of saving this unfortunate.
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Sydney winces at her poor shot and immediately blames her companion. (Because why would it ever be Sydney's fault?) "@$$! Why's your head so big, Arc?"
Arcalinte rolls his eyes at Sydney's words as his armor flares into flame again.
"So I can attune to the Cycle enough to do this!" he declares as he blasts towards the ksarik.