The party readies themselves against the wild boars, who have taken notice of you now, especially after the spellcasting and noise coming from your direction.
The first boar charges Gregor!
The second boar lumbers up with its pal while the third charges Rando!
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Ceric will wait to see which of the boars are left standing after the onslaught the rest of the party has started and sends some toppling magic missiles into those ...(if all 3 of them are standing 3 into boar 1, and 1 into each of the other 2) before taking a few quick steps away from the boars
(please divide damage as needed and at +1 per die and a trip attempt against each of them still standing)
Rando and Riddywipple scorch and burn two of the boars while Gregor finishes one off before turning to the next and cutting a gash across its shoulder! Ceric sends a set of magic missiles at the two boars and knocks the first one to the ground!
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The first boar tries to stand
but Gregor takes it down before it can stand!
The other boar continues to go after Rando!
But is then quickly slaughtered by the rest of the party!
The badly trampled campsite is laden with dozens of scattered prints of both man and beast.
[dated three weeks ago]
Today we killed four savage natives who dared assault us on the river. We fed their corpses to the crocodiles and chased their ignorant companions back into the jungle, though Gharm, that clumsy oaf, fell into a pit. That night in camp, we heard what sounded like a beautiful woman somewhere in the jungle beckoning to us for help. I’m not stupid, so I remained here but Dolmar, that foolish idiot, wandered out there to find out what it was and never came back. Serves him right. Lichten says we’ll be at the stones tomorrow.
—Lang
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[dated one week ago]
Returned from the stones. If Lichten ever asks me to go there again, I’ll gut him in his sleep. Lost two of the expedition down there-Holtuin and clumsy Gharm- and heard that woman’s voice again before we went in. Lichten was acting strange and told us that Wyrn was a Pathfinder- not likely, but I’m not going to disagree with the crazy bastard. We left Wyrn behind. On the way back, we found a bloody mermaid in the middle of the river- I don’t remember what she said but the things she made me think would make Asmodeus blush. We fled from her as fast we could but realized after returning to camp that two more of our expedition was missing. Lichten is nervous, I can tell, and he holds the bag of stones we recovered from the cave like they were his baby. Smart guy that he is, he doesn’t know we all have some of the stones. The men are grumbling about getting out of here faster than planned, but Lichten insists we’re to stay here and “wait for orders.” I’m not so sure. I think I’ll leave tonight. I’m starting to feel that Lichten doesn’t have my best intentions in mind.
—Lang
Near the edge of the campsite, a crude cage woven from jungle vines covers a 15-foot-deep hole in the ground, which serves as a makeshift prison cell. Within the pit is a man covered in mud and blood.
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"I wonder what happened to these men," Riddeywipple says as he flies over and takes a closer look at the bodies.
"Oh my this is most disturbing," he says as he flutters from body to body."It would appear that they all died from self inflicted wounds, but why the tracks? Rando I don't like this place it reminds me of what happened in the Sanos forest."
"Wyrn?" the man calls up wearily as he raises his dirty head. "No. Lang. I. . . hid in here. . . to escape. Wyrn. . . he's missing. . . but I can't remember what happened. Some mermaid and her skum companions murdered everyone. Please don't leave me alone out here."
The man shakes his head at the questions. "I. . . I don't know. . . they just walked about everyone and whispered. . . and then. . . everyone started killing themselves."
"Greater danger? Where are you going?" the man asks. "Please don't leave me here alone, that will be certain death for me. I know some of this jungle, I can help."
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Rando whispers something in Riddey's ear.
"Well we were sent to make sure this expedition was a success and to return with any artifacts before the Pathfinders can get involved. You are a member of the Aspis Consortium yes?"
Riddywipple does as he is told and turns up with four badges.
The man answers Rando, "Yes. . . yes, of course. Are you still planning to go after the Stones? I know the way. It's tricky. The last few miles are rough and hidden but I know the way, yes I do! I can show you!"
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"While you are egar to help there is the problem of why you are in this cage. There is also the issue of punishment due to your missions failure. If you tell us all you know we may let you out and mention you more favorably in our report."
-Posted with Wayfinder
"I. . . well. . . I told you everything I know. I jumped down here to escape the mermaid b&~#~ and now I'm trapped. I know how to get to the Stones and I can help you with that but this mission's failure is not my fault. We could not have foreseen that mermaid coming at us in the jungle. I've told you all I know and agreed to help you find the Stones; what more can I do to prove my worth to you?"
The man reluctantly puts on the manacles and directs you back to the rafts, telling you that you'll have to follow the river for a few more miles.
Five miles upstream from the Aspis Consortium expedition camp, the river drops to a shallow trickle. This marks the point where you must beach the raft and head north into the jungle.
Rando finds that the stone is magical but it is beyond what he has encountered before.
It’s a short, but grueling, 3 mile hike from the river to the entrance of the Drowning Stones. A half- mile short of the stones, with the sounds of a huge waterfall filling your ears, you come to a clearing where you see ahead of you a mermaid sitting on a rock in the middle of your path. She smiles warmly at you, although your guide backs up into the jungle quickly and refuses to follow along further. The mermaid calls out to Gregor, "My, what an enormous sword! I only wish I had the strength to carry such a weapon!"
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The compliment stops Gregor in his tracks. He looks down at his weapon belt and, not seeing a sword, turns to his companions. "Either one of you lads carrying a sword…or is she talking about weaponry of a different sort?" Afterwards he turns to the man he had placed in manacles and says "I stand corrected. That does indeed appear to be a mermaid."
Gregor clears his throat before shouting "This here is a morningstar lass; but I don't think a lesson in weaponry is what you're after. What say you put your hand behind your head and, errr, flop on over here in a non threatening manner?"
She again smiles warmly and says, "Oh, morningstars are even better." She raises her hands in the air. "And I've never tried this before, but I'll try anything once I suppose. . . " She uses a finger to beckon you closer.
As you approach, however, Gregor and Lini note two other creatures hiding in the undergrowth on either side of the path.