"Bring it down, Anevia, Daisy, I'll stick with Xander." Ary says clearly as she watches her surroundings patiently, ready for any bulette that might opt to treat Xanderghul as a free meal. Anevia pauses for a moment... but opts to trust her commander to be the best target to get ambushed by a greedy predator of doom... and slips back to nearby her allies. She lines up a shot in between them... but she's clearly not in her element today.
Anevia's shot bounces off one of the bulette's armored plates, just as Lann manages to heroically jam his blade up underneath another. That manages to get her attention away from Hinagiku and her mate. The massive landshark wheels on him - and even as the Underfolk soldier backs behind his shield, it manages to sink its teeth into his shoulder, even through the thickened flesh granted by Xanderghul's magic. But by now Lann has fought all sorts of fearsome demons and abyssal-tainted beasts, and just shrugs off the pain. He holds firm, knowing that his friends would be coming to his aid soon.
The Heroes are Up!
Taking another step back, Isilme fires off a shot at the remaining bulette, deciding that attempting to bring down the remaining one would be more useful than rushing to heal Xanderghul for the moment.
Hinagiku, Valaria, Ehren, Lann, Ary and Anevia are up!
Hinagiku nods at Ary, both in thanks for having been saved by her shield and in agreement about Xanderghul. She would rush toward the other beast, but only after making sure the wizard would not succumb to his wounds. With a quick wave of the hand, Hinagiku gathers the good will of her godly patron, blue and white ribbons of light surround Xanderghul in an attempt to heal him. Yet, unbeknownst to her, the wizard’s innate power has already stabilized him.
Then, in a succession of graceful steps, she makes her way across the battlefield all the way to Lann’s side.
”Keep on the defensive Mr. Lann.” she simply says.
"No matter how thick the hide, we'll wear it down in the end," Val grunts as she turns and makes another swipe at the resilient beast.
With one arm still injured from the bulette's attack, Valaria lashes out as the monster rears away from her in an attempt to eat Lann. At the same time, Isilme fires off a shot from her enchanted bow, piercing it in a crack between its scales.
Round 4!
Ehren, Lann, Ary, and Anevia are up!
Not seeming to take notice of his second spell's failure to take hold, Ehren resorts to his first idea, launching another blast of acid at the bulette's hide. "Hold on, Lann."
Lann nods when he hears Hinagiku's suggestion, believing that it is best to heed her wisdom now that everyone can focus on the one landshark. Poising himself to avoid the bulette's next strike, he slashes at it twice more, making more measured, cautious strikes this time.
Ehren blasts into the bulette with acid, dissolving a chunk of its armor. Seeing the vulnerability, Lann drives his blade into it in an instant. The creature thrashes in pain, but the wound is not enough to bring it down! As brave as Lann is, the bulette is still many times larger than he. It surges forward, forcing Lann to retreat backwards, getting bodily in between himself and Hinagiku. He stumbles over a stone and hits his head and shoulders hard on the cavern ground. The wind knocked out of him, he is an easy target for the landshark to dig greedily into him with teeth and claws. The monster's enraged mind goes blank as it comes to taste his blood.
The Heroes are Up!
Ehren sets his jaw, a crack beginning to form in his countenance. If things continued like this, Lann would meet the same fate as Xanderghul - or worse.
Veins of brilliant white energy run across his arm as he draws from the ley, augmenting his command over the elements. Trails of freezing vapor race into his cupped hand and coalesce into a large, white-blue sphere. To top it all off, Ehren infuses the spell with a portion of his own mythic power, adding several more layers of ice to his snowball.
With a heavy thrust of his palm, the druid then putts the sphere right into the female landshark.
Too slow to dodge the ferocious bulette's attacks, and much too weak to bear the full brunt of them with his shield, Lann finds himself on the receiving end of a world of pain. His survival instincts kicking in, the Underfolk scrambles backwards, putting as much distance between himself and the monster as he can manage without provoking retribution. Panting from the exertion, he raises his shield once more, but its featherlight mithral form feels leaden on his arm.
Hinagiku, Valaria, Isilme, Ary and Anevia are up!
Taking a quick step to her right, Isilme gets behind Hinagiku. "I will take care of Lann, focus on the beast," she says to the group, knowing that Ary and Hinagiku especially would be focused first on Lann's safety. "Stay down and cover yourself with your shield," she says to the underfolk as she crouches down beside him. She then reaches over and draws upon her magic again, teleporting Lann to near where Xanderghul had fallen.
Hinagiku, Valaria, Ary and Anevia are up!
"You don't need to tell me twice," Val agrees as Isilme sends Lann a safe distance away with a flicker of magic. Knowing she's got a good chance of being the next target, Val goes in swinging, attempting to get another hit that penetrates the monster's thick hide. Perhaps a bit too quickly as he hurried swings meet little success.
Anevia watches as Lann is getting forcibly eaten by the the bulette, rapidly launching off a shot towards its muzzle, but the hide is simply too thick, and the attack too ferocious. She sighs a sigh of relief as Lann vanishes and reappears at Ary's side. She's already threading more silver together as she kneels down low, and fires once more, a little to the left...
Ary stays guarding Xanderghul, ready to pull his body out of the way of an attack should one occur... ready to pull them to safety and out of reach of a beast at a moment's notice.
Hinagiku is up!
Her plan of action confirmed by Isilme, Hinagiku moves in to both defend Lann's withdrawal and to attrack the beast's attention. Not being good with yelling or gesticulating for attention, the monk focuses on what she knows best, striking at ki points. Closing her eyes, she lets the herself become part of the world flow and the ley guide her strikes.
And so, stepping sideways, Hinagiku finds a breach in the beast's plate right where its leg meets its underbelly. One jab, duck, second jab, step to avoid being trample, jump and land with two quick kicks to the inner thigh.
Hinagiku finds that the beast's body has a spiritual circulation to its form, same as any other living thing. Striking in the right vital spots in certain ways, she brings the beast to swift unconsciousness.
The bulette is going to die very quickly.
Combat Ends!
A few moments pass and all goes very quiet. Xanderghul is still unconscious.
Lann lays back on the soft cave floor for a moment longer. "Yes. That hurt," he groans, before forcing himself back on his feet. "I need a medic."
"Val, come here by Xanderghul and Lann. I have just the spell to heal some of these wounds."
Isilme waits until Val gets in position and then begins to concentrate. She stretches her arm out towards the ground at her feet and then lifts it towards Valaria. Light builds beneath her as she does, and moments later it surges forward along the ground in a line under Valaria, Lann and then Xanderghul. The light wraps each in its warm embrace and slowly their wounds begin to close.
After a minute the light fades away, leaving the room dark and silent.
Seeing that her three companions are still looking worse for wear after the healing spell, Isilme calls upon the healing energies granted to her by the Song of Spheres.
Ehren regards the fallen beast briefly before deciding to leave it to its fate. He could not hold a grudge against an animal - however bloodthirsty they may be, their only real crime was to defend their territory. Under different circumstances, he might have considered stabilizing the creature, giving it a chance to recover on its own. Unfortunately, there was no guarantee that the group would not have to pass through these tunnels again during their return trip. It would be much wiser to avoid a repeat incident.
"That was a close one," Ehren says to Lann, helping his friend back onto his feet. Thanks to Isilme's magic, most of his wounds were already healed. Still, it was plainly obvious that the bulette's assault had taken a toll on his body. Ehren reaches for his wand of lesser restoration and presses it against Lann's shoulder for a couple of seconds, replenishing his stamina. With a wry grin he adds, "It seems the really big ones always want to give you trouble."
"With our healing used on combat, we'll not be able to press as far tonight... at least not safely." Ary says as she stands over Xanderghul still, now that the fight was over - at least for now - her worried expression turns to a grimace as she looks to him.
"So, we'll need to focus on what we can do to stay safe... we should also possibly look for the children, in case they have any, even though it would be out of the way to do so... without parents they'll either starve or become slaves. Would you be able to communicate with their young, Ehren?"
"These landsharks behave like animals, but they are not of the Green," Ehren replies, shaking his head. "I would not be able to communicate with them."
"That said, there might not be any young to be found. I imagine that even a juvenile landshark is a formidable predator, unlikely to be defenseless - if so, then it is likely that the nest is already empty."
"In any case, I believe we should press on a bit further. The Underfolk's village might not be very far ahead," he says, gesturing again to the stairway.
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Xanderghul gasps back to consciousness as Isilme heals the worst of his wounds. The bulette had really done a number on him, so his body is still ravaged. Of course, his body is used to being ravaged...
As he wakes up, he looks around to find that the group had still not disappointed him. He was not dead, and the bulettes had been taken care of. He tenderly rubs his side, which is still raw and painful. 'I wish it would heal a bit faster...' he muses.
His divine magic works his will upon his body, turning some of the surface-level wounds into yet more scars. Satisfied that he's been healed as much as he's going to be healed for now, he stands with a grunt. He gives Ary a small punch on the shoulder. "Thanks for standing over me," he says. "Thought I had that handled, honestly."
He also looks to Ehren. "I agree that we should press on just a bit further. We all heal quickly. A single night's rest is enough to erase any wounds."
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"Clearly," she says sarcastically when Xanderghul explains he thought he had it under control. "I'm certain the heartburn they would have suffered from eating you would have been fatal."
"I have healing left if we wish to keep pushing forwards, and I also agree with Ehren and Xander."
Afte felling the beast, Hinagiku slowly backs toward Isilme and the wounded. She had planned to use her own healing powers, but it appears that her azata companion had gained so more healing skills in the past few weeks... more than enough in fact. Still, she does cast a concerned glance at Xanderghul. Things had gone quite badly for him, and he seemed not to care so much... she knew about his pride.. but to that degree?
"I think it might be wise, if there are signs of the village here, it must not be too far, we should make our way there." the monk adds, still inspecting their surroundings.
"I wonder if one of the bulettes might make a useful peace offering, either the carcass whole, or some of the more useful parts. Ehren, Ary, Lann, what do you all think?"
After Isilme channels Desna to heal the worst of the group's wounds, only Xanderghul still looks visibly injured. His clothes are ripped and torn to shreds, save for his under-shirt, which magically mends itself. He is covered in gores and claw marks, though the wounds have all sealed leaving only puffy flesh and coagulated blood. Several of these claw marks instantly mend into scar tissue, though they are still tender to the touch.
The soft ground here is moist under your feet. Good for farming fungi.
Anevia shrugs. "Unless.... they worship bulettes and we just killed their gods" she whispers, dramatically.
Lann shakes his head. "I doubt they worship bulettes," he says. "So, I don't think it could hurt."
Sandricaan had said that their leader, Felgriss, was a druid.
Anevia puts her arms up, defensively. "I meant no offense, it's no big deal. People worship weirder things back home."
Isilme pulls out her spellbook for a moment and flips to a blank page. After waving her hand over the page and incanting briefly, she pours some ink out on the page. The ink blot begins to expand, and then amazingly spreads out in tendrils across the page, weaving itself into words. When the ink finishes moving, both pages are filled with relevant snippets of information about the darklands and the underfolk who live there.
"Apparently this land is ideal for farming fungus. Bringing evidence of the death of the two Bulettes might allow them to use these lands for farming, apart from any benefits they might get out of the corpses themselves."
Moments later the words on the page begin to unravel and evaporate until the pages have returned to their original, blank state.
"I remember Sandricaan - my Pathfinder contact - mentioned that the Underfolk leader is a druid."
He checks himself over for hurt and wounds - it wouldn't do to get an infection. Then, while the group discusses what to do next, he begins to cast mending to repair his ripped and torn clothes. Ugh. He really needed to start carrying spares.
Anevia goes to gather her two arrows, but only finds one still functional. She gives a small shrug and drops it back into the quiver of bountiful feathers and twigs nonchalantly.
"It's my job, Xander..." Ary says, with just a hint of admonishment in her voice. "But... in the future, do you mind not making a habit of walking out alone amidst ambush predators? First Ammoch, now these... and that's just in the last two trips we've gone on. I... can't protect anyone If they're outside of my reach." she says, focused primarily on trying to get Xanderghul to understand that isolation could... and likely eventually would lead to his death.
"Ehren-kun, what would happen if you were knocked unconscious while taking the form of an animal?.. Or, die?" Hinagiku asks after Xanderghul mentions the druid.
"Hm. If the bulettes have been giving them trouble, it would certainly make a good first impression," Ehren agrees, finding that the ground is quite soft here, now that Isilme has brought attention to it. Hearing that the leader of the village they are seeking is a druid piques his interest. Even if they do not worship the Green as he does, having some common ground could help significantly. "But we should ascertain their relationship with the creatures first, just in case. It is entirely possible that we just killed their security."
Ehren looks to Hinagiku and frowns, wondering if she is implying what he thinks she is implying. "Unconsciousness alone would not force me to change back - I could sleep through the night in a different form if I wanted to. If I were to die, on the other hand... well, the magic sustaining my wild shape would cease to be."
The meat of the bulette is stringy and tough. While edible, it is not palatable.
The hide of a bulette is thick and hardy, but light-weight. It makes a good chitin-based armor, analogous to that of heavy metal armors.
The hardest part of a bulette's armor is the male's dorsal fin. It can be broken down to build sharp spikes for armor and shields. It is therefore the most valuable part of the bulette.
The meat of the landshark's dorsal fin is sometimes used as a folk remedy to brew a poultice used for masculine sexual stamina. Its actual efficacy at this has been disputed, but this practice remains.
Each corpse is worth about 650 gp in monster trophies on the surface. You think that under-dwellers may find these sorts of things more valuable, though you are unsure (none of the characters have participated in the Underdark economy enough to know for sure). Successfully harvesting the dorsal fins without ruining them would yield another 300 gp per corpse. The meat of the dorsal fins could be sold for another 500 gp each, if their supposed medicinal properties are played up to a buyer.
The healing surge from Isilme's magic quickly closes several of Val's wounds and she mutters a quick thanks as she tests her reach to make sure her muscles are completely healed. "Hopefully they have ways to keep themselves safe that are less likely to eat them if they get too close," Val suggests as she walks over to examine one of the corpses. "Just looks like a big fish with legs to me."
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Xander critically appraises the bulette when Ehren kneels down and begins to poke and prod at the corpse. "Hmm," he muses. "Start with the fin, but be careful with it. It's the hardest part of the creature, and the meat is valuable, but it's easy to mess up."
He strokes his chin. "Maybe we can distill some of the fin meat into a special gift for Aravashnial..."
"Feeling generous today, are we?" Ehren asks dryly as he tugs his dagger from its sheath. As sharp as the former cultist's dagger is, it is more a memento than a true weapon. In situations like these however, it proved to be a handy tool. He eyes the bulette fin indicated by Xanderghul, taking note of any seams in its natural armor he could exploit. "Would you mind lending a hand, Ary? You as well, Lann, if you're feeling up to it. This might take a while otherwise."
Ary's grimace turns into a frown as Xanderghul turns his attention to the Bulletes over the conversation she was trying to have, she sighs and shakes her head, and moves over to begin helping Ehren to harvest.
"Mmmm... they're actually all pretty valuable up on the surface. The parts that is. They'll... probably not make the trip, though?" she suggests, not really knowing. "But! We could probably sell them more easily to underfolk if we wanted to... or bribe them. Did I say bribe? I meant use as gifts of hospitality." she adds, grinning cheekily at Ary, not seeming to notice or care about her mood shift. "But they'd also be more valuable since they actually know what to do down here." she doesn't mention the fact that suggesting it as an enhancement would make it more valuable to a prospective buyer.
"Okay," Lann agrees, feeling much better after being on the receiving end of Isilme's numerous healing spells. He mostly contributes by holding the dead beast's body still while Ehren is focusing on his surgical cuts, keeping its huge corpse from rolling over and crushing him.
Isilme watches as the group works together to break down the two beasts, clearly fascinated at the work it takes to butcher such a gigantic beast.
"Asking for less than it's worth or giving a portion of it away would be ideal for securing their help I imagine. Anything else we get out of it is just a bonus for us."
As the group finishes up, Isilme makes use of prestidigitation to clean up each of those who worked on butchering, as well as any of the exteriors of the containers the parts are stored in. Beyond being hygenic, it was likely better if they didn't reek of fresh meat while wandering the caves between here and there, lest they attract something else.
Anevia walks off to one of the cave entrances to keep watch once it becomes obvious they'll be here for awhile. Ehren, Ary, and Lann then spend the next hour carefully butchering the two bulette carcasses. This yields:
- 960 lbs of bulette meat
- 50 lbs of carapace
- 10 lbs of fin horn
- 1 lb of fin meat
Once this matter is taken care of, the heroes continue onwards in search of the entrance to the Underfolk village.
After another hour and several more miles, the twisting tunnels converge into a single, wider tunnel that leads upwards towards the sound of running water. As the passage levels out, a crude barricade comes into view ahead: sharp spears, broken blades, and stakes of petrified wood jut at all angles across the twenty-foot width of the tunnel floor. The barricade completely blocks the tunnel. Across the top of the barricade, the heads of at least six guards can be seen - their heads a mishmash of numerous different humanoid races -- no two of whom look the same.
"Vrine'winith!" a voice calls out, commandingly. "Nindolen ph'roddata eairthil, niki. Shar'tleg tarthe, nin."
Lann's eyes widen and he freezes midstep. "Oh... um... guys? They're telling us to turn back. What should I tell them?" he whispers into message.
Isilme helps Ary and Val sort out the storage situation for the incredible haul they had managed. On a whim, and as a personal favor, Isilme asks Ehren to remove a set of five claws from the larger of the two Bulettes, which she cleans magically and then stores in her own backpack.
"It looks like we can fit just under half of the meat into the two bags of holding, but we will need something to hold the rest, as well as to keep the meat isolated from the contents of our bags," Isilme says, starting to think of a way of solving the problem. "If only we had some way to make this easier to handle..."
"I have an idea! Help me stack all this meat together into one mass, you can place it atop the chitin to keep it clear of the floor." After helping them pile the meat she stands back and turns her attention inward to draw upon the fountain of divine energy resting within her. She steps forward and inscribes a divine rune "हटना" upon the meat, and almost instantaneously the pile shrinks down into a piece of embroidered cloth representation of the pile. Picking up the large piece of cloth, she folds it up and hands it to Ary. "Here, this should be significantly easier to carry now. Lets get the rest of this chitin and horn into your bag of holding, Ary." With that she helps gather up the remaining things and load them into Ary's bag of holding.
"Thank you," Ehren says to Isilme, grateful that he will not have to walk around covered with gore. As competent a butcher as he is, a mess had been inevitable. However, upon inspecting the parts removed from the two landsharks, it occurs to the druid that they will have some difficulty carrying all of it.
Fortunately, Isilme has a solution to that problem as well. His eyebrows loft when the huge stack of meat shrinks down to a fairly manageable bundle. "Well, that's convenient."
-----
"Best that we are upfront about why we are here," Ehren says to Lann quietly. "Tell them that we intend to rescue one of our own from the duergar slavers and that we wish to petition their leader for aid."
Xanderghul pulls his notebook, tears several pages from it, and binds the fin meat in a neat cube in the paper, using some twine. Then, he calls upon his mythic powers to summon the knowledge of preservation from the ether. Combining the knowledge of the concept of preservation with a bit of raw magical energy, he shapes the mixture into a gentle repose spell upon the meat. He knew exactly what to use it for, but it needed to stay in his bag for awhile.
There were some days - Xanderghul was sure glad that he was born a wizard.
Then he continues along the path with the others.
When they reach the Underfolk caves and Lann recoils with surprise, Xanderghul steps forward with an answer. Between the two diplomats, they had Isilme and they had Valaria. While Isilme was clearly the more silver-tongued of the pair, Valaria had street smarts and wisdom that the raelis lacked. He touches her on the shoulder, and casts a spell which alters the language processing centers of her brain. Suddenly, all words spoken by all convey their meaning, rather than the puny noises that mouths make.
Ary simply grins at Isilme, as she twists the ring on her finger, and intones "I will shine in Her Legion," allowing the ring to fix her appearance while she tends to the others.
"Well... that's certainly simpler." Ary says, nodding. "That'll make it possible to carry in just our bags, I think." She takes a few moments to begin packing the trophies away, keeping each separate. The food would be enough to feed a small village. Luckily, they knew of one nearby.
So... what happens if someone eats it like that..?" Anevia whispers via the message spell, the winds carrying her cheekiness even when she wasn't present. "Deadliest filet, ever?"
* * *
"And tell them who we are." Ary adds. "That you're Chief Sull's son and that your friend called to us for help. Maybe mention the food as well, if we're open to sharing it?" she asks, assuming no one would object, but not really being willing to demand it be shared.
"Oh, and tell them we fear no man and walk where we will!" Anevia says, grinning widely, and not bothering to whisper. "Or, maybe don't. It is their home, after all."
"I'm with Ehren on this one. Just tell them that we come in peace and we're on a rescue mission. If the duergar are half as nasty to them as they are to surface dwellers, they'll probably at least sympathize." She nods to Xanderghul and mouths a 'thank you' as he grants her the ability to understand. "Why don't you start?" she suggests to Lann. "Another Underfolk might make the best impression. I'll back you up."
"I agree, the best bet would be to mention that we are on a mission, and we have brought gifts of the two bulettes, as we wish to ask for their help." Isilme chimes in via message.