Malthus drinks an alchemical mixture of shield.
Cassiel tenses up when the manticore bears down on them, jolting him out of his daydreaming.
He readies his shield in case Lorant's attempt at diplomacy fails.
Judah stared, open mouthed in fear and shock as the creature bore down on them.
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The manticore doesn't even stop to consider Lorant's words, diving instead for the party and firing a volley of spikes from her tail at the group (one spike for each of you).
Cassiel catches the spike meant for Lorant on his shield, but in so doing, takes one in the leg. Mathus erects his shield just in time for it to intercept another of the deadly spikes. And Judah is missed by plain luck!
"Not gonna talk, huh? Alright...don't say you weren't warned," Lorant says, more to himself than anything else. Raising his own shield, he closes with the manticore and lashes out with his sword!
The alchemist throws some paper wrapped powder in a flask and shakes vigorously before throwing it at it.
for Force Damage
Add 1 to hit and dmg if within 30
"F#$$!" Cassiel curses as the manticore spike gets him in the leg.
"Right--you started it, we're finishing it!" He raises his blade and moves to engage!
Judah blinked as a foot long spike breezed through his hair. His panicked paralysis exploded into panicked movement. He dove behind the nearest tree and put his hands over his head. A spiral of translucent eldritch energy formed above him as he babbled in fear.
"Of f%#!, oh f*++, I'm gonna die!"
"You're not going to die, Judah! You've got US protecting you!" Lorant barks.
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The manticore shrieks in pain as Mathus' bomb hits home, exploding right in her face! Before she can take flight again, Cassiel and Lorant are upon her, striking with their weapons. Lorant misses, but Cassiel's attack is well-placed and cuts deep into her right foreleg! The manticore roars in pain and anger and slashes at Cassiel, even as she bites at Lorant! Claws rip open the paladin, threatening to expose his innards! Lorant manages to avoid the bite by ducking aside at the last second.
Status:
Manticore: -25 hp
I HOPE this works!, says throwing another bomb at the manticores hind quarters but counting on the largeness of the creature to give enough distance before the blast hits his friend...
for +1 to hit and dmg if I can be within 30 feet...
Cassiel lets out a high-pitched "OWWWWW!" before calling upon Iomedae's mercy to heal himself.
Then he swings his sword again.
Lorant joins Cassiel in striking at the manticore!
"Nonnono, STOP THAT THING!" Judah yelled to the voice in his head.
The ground erupted as the serpentine thing burst forth...
What in the damn Hells?!
He is rattled but controls himself as the old terror tremors threatens to return.
"Relax, Mathus!" Lorant calls. "That thing protects Judah, so it's on our side!"
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Even as Mathus launches another bomb against the manticore's flanks, Cassiel heals himself slightly, then his weapon digs into the flesh of the creature. Lorant's attack is fruitless. For a moment, it seems as though the creature may flee the battle, but then the ground beneath her erupts as an eldritch form forces its way into our world! It grabs the manticore and shakes her like a dog playing with a squirrel.
The manticore yowls in pain and agony as the thing shakes her from side to side, the beast ineffectually flailing at her attacker. She launches an array of spikes at the creature holding her in hopes of making it release her. Unfortunately, the rapid motion throws her aim off and only one of the spines actually connects with the target. )
Status:
Manticore: -49 hp (grappled)
We have it! Huzzah!, cried drawing his rapier and charging in to attack its flank.
for
Cassiel swings his blade again...
Lorant takes advantage of the distraction to strike.
The blotchy serpentine creature disappeared as quickly as it had emerged, dragging half the manticore carcass into the ground with it.
Judah hesitantly came out from behind his tree and wandered over to look at the carnage. He looked pale and sighed sadly.
"You alright, Cass?"
Lorant sighs as the manticore is finished off.
"May you and your cub find peace in wherever Pharasma sends manticores."
He traces the spiral on his chest, then makes the sign of the sword. Then he goes over to tend to Cass.
Cassiel groans. "...nope. Not really."
Malthus mixes up a pair of vials and hands them over to Casiel.
and
Cassiel takes both potions and follows them up with a chaser of Iomedae's divine healing.
"You held the line like a true knight of Lastwall, Cassiel," Lorant says. Once assured the man's good enough to fight again if need be, he goes to locate their guides.
"You can come out now...the beast's dead."
"You held the line like a true knight of Lastwall, Cassiel."
"Yep--practically feeding myself to the damned thing, for all the good my armour did me." Cassiel winces and leans against a nearby tree.
"It was wise of you to avoid this place. If someone had stumbled upon the manticore, it could have learned your village was in its territory and attacked," Lorant says.
He begins looking around the area more closely.
"Was that what the stick things were supposed to ward off, or are there more nasty things on the island?" Judah asked the guides, hoping to get them thinking about anything other than what they might have just witnessed.
Judah gave the rest of the party a long-suffering look. "Of course it was."
Hey, you still around?
Ȩ͙̹̬̻̭̞̐ͩ̿͊t̳̞̪̖̤ͧ͆̂̀e̸̠͎͎̫̩̻̺̓ͩr͈̞͋͡n̶̤̰̻̍̃̂̋ȃ̵̜̻̝͈̖l̞͙̄̀̏́l͖̜͎̘̏ͬ͘y̡̲͙̅ ̰̙̯
Judah winced and rubbed his head. "Aroden wept..."
Seriously, do you ever say or do anything that isn't utterly terrifying?
Nevermind. I need you to stick around. No disappearing for now. Just, hang out down there in the dirt and stick with me.
You may take 10 or 20, if desired. The guides shake their heads. "Dat were no spirit. De gris-gris ward off evil spirits. Dat was... sometin else."
Lorant begins searching through the area, as thoroughly as possibly, even sniffing a bit.
The good Doktor assists.
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It looks as though the creature may have had a nest in one of the trees. It is about 20 feet up. Near the base of the tree containing the nest are a finely-crafted shortsword and a stick, about 8 inches in length, tapering to nearly a point towards the end.
Six graves in the boneyard appear to have been tampered with, sagging into the ground as though they had collapsed from below and leaving wide depressions in the muddy earth.
In the southern corner of the graveyard, you find the remains of a small firepit, a wineskin (still half full), the aged remnants of some trail rations, and a curious glass vial. The bottom of the vial contains the dried remains of a green substance that smells vaguely of carrots.
Hidden in trees and bushes along the southwestern shore, you find an abandoned coracle containing an oar, a moldy leather travel bag, and a particularly vile object; what appears to be a detached human face! In addition, a length of rope stretches from the boat into the waters below.
Finally, beneath a mound of undergrowth, Mathus spots a leather-bound case.
"Nothing up here but some junk," Judah said from the nest after he'd climbed up to look around.
"Ļ̞̙̥̣̼̞ͮ͌ͅo̸̗̫̊̏ͤo̤̼̦̭̩̮̤͐́͌̇͞k̹̩̮̬̲̳̒̀ ̡̲͍͖͔̩͉̦̋ͬa̬̳͎̜͎̹̼̜ͭ͢g̸̺̟͐̊ͅa̗̩̰̺̺̔ͬ̐͆͝ḭ̴͈̂ͥ̈n̷̥̲̩̠͈̖̞̟̄" his guardian whispered in his head.
Judah winced and rubbed his eyes. When he opened them again, they were glowing faintly as faint twisting runes circled inside his irises.
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Actually...
Judah fought back a wave of vertigo as the edges of everything he could see wavered and bled strange colors. The stick and the dirty cloak were glowing far more than everything else. He hesitantly picked them, along with the sword, and climbed back down.
"Found a decent sword, and... these. They're... i don't know, enchanted or something."
He handed the bundle of loot off to the others with runes still spinning in his eyes.
Mathus looks frowning at the graves.
Someone has been digging up corpses... why? And then filling in the graves after... curious. Sadly my profession has a passing acquaintance with things like this...
He makes a more detailed assessment.
Oh, and someone fetch that leather case over there will you?, he says pointing at it, even as he examines the grave sites with meticulous care.
"I've much more experience with sh*t like this," Lorant comments dryly. "Doesn't look like vampires are involved, though. Things would be much better kept, the village would have probably had a night attack or two, and the manticore probably wouldn't have tried to lair here with a superior predator lurking around."
When he examines the boat, his face wrinkles in disgust, but not surprise. He waves one of the locals over and shows them the face.
"That's not the face of someone local is it? No one's gone missing recently?"
When they answer in the affirmative or the negative, he asks "Have any strangers come through town before we did?"
With the questions done, he tugs on the rope in the water to see what it might be attached to.
Judah sat down on a stump and brushed himself off after coming down from the tree. "The only reason the graves would be filled in again is if whoever did it was trying to cover their tracks."
"Are people around here buried with their valuables?"