The halfling looks through his wares and his eyes gleam as he pulls free a tan colored bag. "Ah, yes! This will serve you quite well." he says. "You can lose that pitiful lizard and have a real pet." he says.
"Ever want to have a king of the jungle at your beck and call?" he says as he pulls a lion from the bag.
The halfling jumps on top of the creature and pulls forth a small horse plushie from the bag. He tosses it to the ground at Ali's feet. "Perhaps you need a horse to cart you and your stuff around?" he asks to the magician with a wink.
"Only 16,000 GP and you can conjure up the scariest animals in the world!" he summarizes, having the lion plod around while he stands stoically on its back. "Seller not responsible for the actions of the lion, grizzly bear, rhinoceros and tiger..." he mumbles quickly after finishing his last sentence before coughing loudly.
The halfling looks displeased as he snaps his fingers and the animals disappear. He stores the bag in a nearby crate and leaps onto the horse pulling his wagon. "Fine! Let's go! We got a long half-week ahead of us!" he says grumpily.
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Within a few uneventful days, your caravan reaches a small, dreary town that you map calls Dustpawn.
You read Trotter's note and it shows that you are to meet your contact, Dalviss Crenn, at an inn called 'The Mineshaft'. You easily find the place as this is not Platonius' first foray into the area and he eagerly bids you adieu. "That's the last time I take a contract from the Society..." he complains as he heads east out of town.
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You enter 'The Mineshaft' and a sour-faced, stout man behind the bar nods at you as you enter. He says nothing and continues to polish glassware as a very eager and apparently excitable man approaches you. "Greetings Pathfinders! I am Dalviss Crenn! I'm so glad you made it!" he says cheerfully. "Come! Come! Take a seat! Nalan, can you get some ale for these fine gentlemen!" he says to the blonde man with the glass and towel in hand.
As you sit, he starts talking rapidly. "Thank you again for agreeing to help me. Fortunately, it seems no one else has located the fallen star yet, but not for lack of trying. The situation has changed somewhat, however. We've had several unfortunate events since the night of the meteor. At first it was just livestock going missing, but since then tempers have been rising and violence escalating among the townsfolk. Some of those who've gone searching for the impact site have disappeared, including one of my own employees, a woman named Leeara. And then there are the four strangers who came to town claiming to be Drumish prospectors, but who I suspect are looking for the fallen star as well. I'm starting to think the thing that crashed that night in the southern hills brought something to Dustpawn. Something bad!" he says in about fifteen seconds, well before the barkeep has even finished filling the first glass.
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Grimdoc looks around to see if they had been followed by "gentlemen" before he realizes Dalviss is addressing them.
The portly dwarf will bow as deeply as possible for his frame.
Grimddoc Clanhammer, at your service.
He will listen intently to the tale of the meteor or whatever it was that crashed...as intently as possible with the thought of food and drink coming. He mind and eye wander to the bar on several occasions before he snaps back to focus on the tale.
His thoughts wander back and forth as well...
Listen! Do not make a fool of yourself....but I am so hungry.
Ok, listen first then eat...but not too much.
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"Do not worry, Dalviss!" Ali says, not actually looking at the man but wrapping his arms around him as if staring out at an audience. "I have made many women disappear in my day and they usually turn up again. We'll find Leeara. How what about these other four fellows though? Do you know any more about them or should we... snoop around?"
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Vladek contemplates what he's been told.
"How quickly did it fall - as typical for a falling star, or perhaps faster or slower?"
"Have you noticed any correlation between proximity to the impact site and where these behavioral swings among your people have been most prominent?"
"How much livestock have you lost, and at what rate? Were some days worse than others, or has the loss appeared steady? Have some forms of livestock suffered more than others? Cattle as opposed to poultry, for example or males as opposed to females, or even black cows as opposed to white cows?"
"When you speak of 'violence' amongst the townsfolk, what degree of violence do you speak of: Just more tavern brawls and lover's spats, or old petty grudges suddenly escalating to murder, or even murder without any known motive? Is this violence more wont to take the form of mob hiveminds, or lone maniacs? What level of violence do you consider typical?"
"You said these other four newcomers 'claimed' to be Drumish prospectors - why bother using the term 'claimed?' Do you not trust them? What else can you say about them?"
"What of Leeara? Do you believe she is capable of handling danger...and more importantly, the Unknown?"
"Can recall the color of the falling star?"
Qadathra stares intently at Dalviss while Vladek poses his questions.
"Ah! A fellow astronomer!" he says excitedly, quickly rattling off answers to Vladek's questions. "Slower with a curvature uncommon for the celestial event. No. Seventeen large quadrupeds and twenty-two small bipeds. Variations in color and sex are wide, but not in the form of a pattern. General crankiness with the occasional flared temper, but nothing that would involve authorities. The use of the word claimed is self-explanatory. Leera is a cook which implies that she can cook and chop the head from a chicken, but not fend off possible alien threats if those are what has descended upon our world. And... red." he finishes with a gasp for breath.
"As far as I am aware, the people are legitimately missing and not being bedded by a suave gentleman such as yourself. It has been a while since some have been seen, but I guess anything is possible." he says with a shrug. "If you can find the crash site and report everything you find and see back to me, then I can give you 6,000 GP. If you help figure out what is wrong with the town and solve it, then I can give you my trusty Perfect Defense." he explains as he drops a pouch on the table and lays down a halbard.
Ali scans it and finds that it is a +1 Defending Halberd.
"The crash site is somewhere several miles to the south of town, but I'm not sure where."
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Sense of direction you say? I don't want to brag none, but I can tell true north from...well other not so true norths any day of the week.
Grimdoc will use survival skills to try and track down the crash site. He stops after a bit and scratches his beard.
You know, having a bird's eye view would probably make this a whole lot more expeditious
As you head south, you see a plume of smoke after a few miles and you head to its source. A great furrow has been carved through the hills here, creating a brand-new valley amid the peaks. The ground is blasted and scorched, and the trees surrounding the area are charred and burnt leafless. The furrow only somewhat resembles a crater for the huge object embedded at its center obviously struck the ground at an angle. This object resembles nothing so much as a streamlined arrowhead of stone and strange crystal. A huge crack along the object's southern side allows brief glimpses into the dark interior, revealing the thing to be hollow. Now and then, crystals along the object's length sparkle and sizzle, sending up a faint plume of strange green smoke. Dozens of large vultures perch atop the object or lurk in the burnt branches of the surrounding trees-the birds are strangely silent and watchful, as if they know death is imminent in the area.
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"There's more than one north?" Ali asks, who is already sufficiently bewildered by the standard four cardinal directions.
"Countless, really."
Vladek takes the ominous change in the environs as a cue to prepare for danger.
A swirl of autumn leaves suddenly blows in from an indeterminable direction, and settles on Vladek's form like a cloak.
Vladek approaches the, for want of more accurate identification, massive space-geode cautiously and extends his senses to determine if it carries certain inherent biohazards.
The group casts the spells, buffing themselves, but they see little in the way of intelligent life.
Vladek's eyes flash green as he scans the crash site for signs of poisonous material, but even the plumes of smoke and other gases only barely register as toxic to his special vision.
The vultures warily watch as Joesef scans the hard-packed, scorched earth for signs of others having found the crash or exeunted the curious spacecraft, but he can tell that his skills aren't quite good enough to track on this barren of a wasteland.
Grimdoc also sees no tracks or signs of survivors from the crash as he determines that it is nearly impossible to do so. Additionally, there is no need to clear a path as the surrounding area is barren and scorched.
The vultures are just hanging out in the area and don't appear to be doing much else besides watching the only living things in the area. Also, the ship appears large enough to enter and there is a rather large breach in the side of it.
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Vladek catches up behind Joesef and gently traces a symbol across the back of his head, causing him to have a startling and bizarre flash of vision....
As Joesef approaches, he accidentally kicks a pebble that skitters across the hardened ground. The mass of vultures flies up in a shriek and begin to circle as they caw and wail at the adventurers.
Despite this, there doesn't seem to be any threat. The group peers into the ship. A sizable chamber fills the space beyond the crack in the strange ship's hull. The crack spreads across the width of the room, splitting the area in half. The western half is taken up by what appears to have been a meditation area and by a kitchen with a large circular stove sitting in one corner, while to the east lie the ruins of several tables. A small storage area lies to the north.
As you look in, you spy two creatures in the shadows who boldly come forward with longswords drawn. These humanoids have the heads of a horned rhinoceros and splayed elephantine feet. They growl menacingly towards you, but don't appear to rush you. One speaks in a flowery language, surprisingly.
An id mutant loses its identity almost entirely, changing into an animalistic version of its previous self. If its adjusted intelligence score remains above 3, it can still speak and understand language, but it does not retain any societal affiliations it had prior to devolving. Survival becomes the paramount concern for an id mutant, and it focuses more on base animalistic desires-the thrill of the hunt, securing a safe lair, and procreation. An id mutant's personality is entirely new-one based on fulfilling base needs, and as such an id mutant's alignment changes to chaotic neutral.
When a humanoid becomes an id mutant, its physical deformations almost always result in a resemblance to a specific animal. Some believe this animal to be a sort of spirit animal, but in fact the animal associated with the mutation is somewhat arbitrary, influenced in part by the original creature's temperament and personality. For up to 10 days after a humanoid transforms into an id mutant, break enchantment or remove curse can remove the template.
After this window of time closes, the condition becomes much more difficult to reverse. Both miracle and wish can restore an id mutant to its previous life. Likewise, an id mutant that dies and is then brought back from death sheds the template and is restored to its previous life.
As Qadathra speaks into their minds, the creatures clench their hands over their pointed ears before yelling in the same language.
Initiative:
The creatures roar before charging in, longswords swinging, attacking the dwarf in the front of the group as well as targeting the creature speaking in Elvish.
The two id mutants prove fierce as they strike out at the elf and dwarf, cutting deeply into the pair. One more savage cut like that will likely drop Vladek as he reels from the blow and Grimdoc looks as if he can only withstand one or two more strikes.
Initiative:
1st: Id Mutants (Red; Blue)
2nd: Joesef; Grimdoc; Ali; Vladek
Status:
Grimdoc @ 53/84 HP
Vladek @ 22/36 HP
As the Grease appears, the Id Mutants appear unaffected as Vladek retreats back out into the wasteland.
As they Id Mutants close, Grimdoc takes a swing with his hammer, but is only able to clip one and his hammer doesn't appear to affect the Rhinocerosman as much as he would expect.
He renews his assault as Joesef tries to join the fray as well, but only one of Grimdoc's attacks hit and Joesef's attack are entirely in vain.
Initiative:
1st: Id Mutants (Red @ 30; Blue)
2nd: Joesef; Grimdoc; Ali; Vladek
Status:
Grimdoc @ 57/84 HP (Fast Healing 4)
Vladek @ 22/36 HP