Gren watched the stag and nodded when the others wanted to leave.
The party might have managed to pass the stag without startling it, but the moment it smells Nigel's wolf, it leaps away, into the underbush, alarmed.
Following Nigel’s wolf, the party makes their way through the Fangwood.
An hour later, the party sees a handsome brown centaur resting by the side of a tree, eating a meal of barley out of a wooden bowl he has placed on a stone.
Legendary hunters and skilled warriors, centaurs are part man and part horse. Typically found on the fringes of civilization, these stoic people vary widely in appearance, their skin tones typically appearing deeply tanned but similar to the humans who occupy nearby regions, while their lower bodies borrow the colorations of local equines. Centaur hair and eyes trend toward darker colors and their features tend to be broad, while the overall bulk of their bodies is influenced by the size of the horses their lower quarters resemble. Thus, while an average centaur stands over 7 feet tall and weights upward of 2,000 pounds, there are vast regional variations—from lean plains-runners to burly mountain hunters. Centaurs typically live to be about 60 years old.
Aloof with other races and at odds even with their own kind, the centaurs are an old race only slowly coming to accept the modern world. While the majority of centaurs still live in tribes roaming vast plains or the fringes of eldritch forests, many have abandoned the isolationist ways of their ancestors to walk among the more cosmopolitan cities of the world. Often such free-spirited centaurs are considered outcasts and are shunned by their own tribes, making the decision to leave a heavy one. In some rare cases, however, whole tribes under progressive leaders have come to trade or make alliances with other humanoid communities—typically elves, but sometimes gnomes, and rarely humans or dwarves. Many races remain wary of centaurs, though, largely due to legends of territorial beastmen and the regular, violent encounters the centaurs have with stubborn settlers and expansionist countries.
They have undersized weapons.
Although a centaur is Large, its upper torso is the same size as that of a Medium humanoid. As a result, they wield weapons as if they were one size category smaller than their actual size (Medium for most centaurs).
” Ճանապարհորդել անտառներով: Ահա ես կարող եմ պատմել ձեզ տեսած տեսարանների մասին, որոնք ես տեսել եմ այս գիշերը 3 գույնի նման, դա նման էր նկարահանում աստղերի մոտ: Ինչու ես ինձ ընդառաջելու համար, ես պահեստային խնձոր ունեմ:”He then takes an apple out of his pack and starts taking a bite out of it, while gesturing with his free hand for the party to join him.
Travelling through the woods! Oh I could tell you about the sights I’ve seen…like those 3 sprites last night, it was like seeing shooting stars up close. Why don’t you join me for a break, I could tell you about my travels. I’ve got spare apples.
Hedran accepts the offer, moving close and grabbing an apple - "Thank you. I am Hedran" - he introduces himself.
"Hello Hedran!" The Centaur waves at Hedran.
Hedran and Nigel notice that the apple that the Centaur gave to Hedran has an oily sheen on it."For your common speaking friend here, as I was saying, I saw 3 sprites dancing around last night, and it looked like shooting stars.It was an extremely beautiful sight." He gushes.
"Then I saw three small petals of plants with large, flat, flowering head, sittings in a clearing and they were singing a hymn to Gozreh. I never saw plants sing before!"The Centaur says excitedly.
"Oh, and my name is Yorc. What's yours?" Yorc asks Nigel, as he passes Nigel an oily sheen apple. "Have one," He encourages Nigel.
Nigel and Ratel realize that the apples are coated with an Oil of taggit
"Poisoned?" - Hedran stands up with a growl.
"I was trying to make it easier on you."Yorc sighs. "It'd be just like going to sleep, just that you wouldn't be waking up."He adds.
"The Ironfang Legion have systematically blockaded the whole place."Yorc says slightly sympathetically. "Do you want to spend the rest of your life on the run, never eating or sleeping well for fear they'll find you? And eventually a painful, gruesome death at the hands of the Legion? Just give in, it'll be over soon." Yorc urges the party.
Blending magic and spell, Hedran summons a defensive arcane shield, then enhances his sword, and steps in to attack the centaur.
"They've got a bounty on all of you, you know. 100 gold pieces per head. Even now their patrols are subjugating the woods."Yorc says conversationally as Nigel tries to thwack him with his hiking stick, but bounces off his breastplate. "Your efforts, though admirable, are ultimately futile."
Hedran manages to open a nasty bleeding gnash on the centaurs chest. "Not bad...but I was not ready."Yorc comments. He then slashes at Hedran sword arm, opening up a small cut, then raises up on hindlegs, bringing his forehooves down on Hedran, but Hedran ducks out of the way.
Nigel gives Yorc a hard thwack on his lower back and hears some bones crack. "Yeah, I think so too. I'll ask them to raise the figure," Yorc agrees, "Also, I don't think collecting it myself was a good idea..."
Hedran grunts, then steps to the side, and swings again - "Keep talking treacherous fool. We'll shut you up in no time"
Yorc nimbly dodges Hedran's sword strike. "Look, you'll need to be faster then that."
Shrugging, ”I didn’t like all of those insects anyway.” Realizing what he said, ”I mean all the little biting ones not the … oh, never mind, I didn’t like the big spiders either.”
Smiling slightly he heads the direction of the cabin, seeing he stag. ”Hey look, a stag, they are really good eating.” Hearing Nigel and Robert uninterested in more meat, he looks crestfallen. ”Huh, too much food. Not very often you hear that.” Shrugging he moves on, following the directions given by the wolf.
Following the others toward the amicable centaur, Ratel see’s the sheen, just as he greets the centaur. ”A pleasure to meet you Yorc, I’m Ratel and this is Bear, thank…” frowning, ”Neither of us are fond of poisoned food.”
Reacting ever so slightly slower than his friends, Ratel get’s over the shock of someone attempting to collect the gold, and moves toward the bounty-hunter, ”You should have brought more horses. Bear flank attack!” Moving toward the centaur with Bear, Ratel attacks with his shield while Bear swings around Nigel quickly approaching the centaur from the rear and snaps at it’s flanks.
Gren was about to ask for an apple for Ringo, and was happily enjoying the company of the centaur when combat broke out. He wasn’t expecting this, so he isn’t wielding a weapon. But when the fighting starts, he grimly springs into action. Gren will move on Ringo towards Yorc and draw his morningstar while he goes, and takes a swipe when Ringo is in position. Ringo will then attempt a gore attack with the hunter’s trick “tangling attack”. Gren says ”This is how you spend your time!? With the darkblight about to swallow up the woods? What a waste...”
"Hey, the Ironfang Legion pays well. And a Centaur's gotta make a living." Yorc answers.Then Ratel plants his scizore into his chest, and Yorc gasps with his dying breath, "The Legion will avenge me..." , before collapsing on the ground dead.
Searching his body, the party finds a breastplate, heavy steel shield, longsword, spear, 6 doses of oil of taggit in a large glass bottle, as well as 375 gp, another 6 tainted apples and package containing a scarab beetle amulet and a note written in two languages.
Üdvözlet Children of the Stone,
A küldöttem a tisztelet jeleként közelít meg, de most láttad, hogy a katonáim a zöld és a termékeny földön át nem nyomogatnak. A Ironfang Légió azt jelenti, hogy minden Nirmathas otthont ad azoknak, akiket az emberek vadászni fognak, és ugyanazokat az embereket a mi szolgáinkba és zsákmányainkba fordítjuk. Bölcs lenne csatlakozni a szövetséghez. Nincs semmi semleges fél, ha háború van körülötted, és csak az egyik oldala ebben a konfliktusban kínál erőst és menedéket.
A Légió védelmi jeleként örömmel fogadja el ezt a jelképet a genorizmusomról. Fogd magaddal a döntéseid meghozatalában, de bízom benne, hogy arra a következtetésre jut, hogy a kis és kiszolgáltatott törzsed jövővé válik.
Szivélyes üdvözlettel,
Azaersi tábornok
Salutations Children of the Stone,
My emissary approaches you as a sign of respect, but now you have seen my soldiers move unchecked across this green and fertile land. The Ironfang Legion means to make all of Nirmathas a home to those the humans would hunt, and turn those same humans into our servants and prey. You would be wise to join our alliance. There is no room for neutral parties when war is all around you, and only one side in this conflict will offer you strength and shelter.
As a sign of the protection the Legion offers, kindly accept this token of my genorisity. Take your time in making your decision, but I trust you will come to the conclusion that provides your small and vulnerable tribe a future.
Kindest regards,
General Azaersi
Hedran finds the scarab Beatle amulet magical, but is unable to identify it.
There is also a map showing the route to the troglodyte cave.
”Late to the party again... oh well, glad that we took out this jerk.”
Gren will read the notes and determine if they say the same thing.
”It looks like they’re trying to recruit the troglodytes into the legion. Maybe we could convince them to leave if they haven’t gotten the notes yet.”
The notes in draconic and common both say the same thing.
The party then heads to where the wolves described they found stinky lizards that walked on two legs.
2 hours later, they come across two humanoids with scaly hides a dull gray. Their frame resembles that of a cave lizard, with a long tail and crests on its head and back.
They are accompanied by a oversized, smooth-scaled lizard has splayed, padded feet and a toothy maw.
The moment they see the party, they run away screaming, "Arrrghhh két lábgerinc! Meg kell adnunk az Ighiz sámánt!" followed by their giant gecko.
Arrrghhh two leggers! We must inform our shaman Ighiz!
The party knows all about giant geckos
"Várjon! Eljöttünk a tárgyalásra!" - Hedran shouts, hoping to prevent the creatures from running away from them outright.
Wait! We come to parley!
Gren visibly struggles to control himself when he sees the troglodytes. He is shaking a little, and has a dark look on his face. He is listening to the conversation about parlaying, but not contributing anything at the moment.
Robert follows Nigel.
"Néz. Azt mondták nekünk, hogy elkerüljük az összes felületkezelőt. Nem akarunk több bajt." One of them say bluntly as they skid to a halt, eyeing the party warily, while holding out a claw in a stop motion.
Look. We were told to avoid all surfacers. Since they'll try to kill us on sight. We don't want trouble. And don't get any closer, you're not going to like our smell.
As the party approaches, they realize that the stinky grey lizards smell like Rafflesia flowers!
Grenwold also detects no evil pings from them.
Seeing the Centaur drop, Ratel snorts, ”Gotta make a living, how’s that working out.” Helping stirp the body, he also reads the note, ”Looks like he was also playing messenger boy to these “Children of the Stone” if those are the troglodytes do you think they would actually leave their homes just cause we asked them too? Maybe they would join us. But as much as humans war on troglodytes wouldn’t they be more likely to join the goblins?”
As they near the large lizards and their pet geckos, Ratel looks at Hedran in surprise when the swordsman calls out to the Troglodytes. Seeing Nigel and Robert bolt after them, Ratel follows, ”come on Bear, keep up.” When Bear wrinkles his nose and lets out a moan Ratel calls back over his shoulder, chastising him. ”I don’t care if they stink, we can’t let the other down, come on.”
Seeing the lizard stop and raise a hand, Ratel assume what that means, but asks Hedran to make sure, "Um, Hedran, What did he say?"
”Um, he said, ‘We were told to avoid all surfacers. Since they'll try to kill us on sight. We don't want trouble. And don't get any closer, you're not going to like our smell’”
He turns to the trogs and let’s go a bit of tension in his voice and body, in draconic:
”I’m asking about sharing the caves.”
"A barlangok megosztása? Mi csak morgolunk, nem tehetünk ilyen döntést. Bár szeretjük a felszíni élelmet." One of the trogs answers, while taking out a wild edible mushroom out of his pouch. "Várhatunk a barlangon kívül, miközben konzultálunk vele."
Sharing caves? We're just grunts,we cant make that kind of decision. Though we like surface food.
You can wait outside our cave while we consult with her.
Gren translates, and says to the group ”Sounds like they like surfacers food. Maybe we could cook for them in exchange for sharing and protection?”
Raising an eyebrow at Gen's idea Ratel asks, "Isn't that called being a 'serf'?"
"Let's wait and see what their 'chieftain' says." Robert says as he looks around for good cover, in case discussions go South.
Profession: Soldier Take 10 = 16
Looking from Gren to Nigel, Ratel asks, "Won't like the smell? These people are Nirmathi they hate the idea of anyone telling them what to do. The only way their going to come here is if the troglodytes leave. If we tell them we want them to come 'serve' the lizards, they'll, well, I don't know what they will do. But we won't like it."
Pausing for a moment to think, he finally adds, "The only way this works is if we get the troglodytes to make war on the hobgoblins. The one thing the note said is true, they will have to pick a side. If they fight for us, we keep the Nirmathi at the cabin. If not we should evict the lizards, because if they are not our allies, they will scavenge on us like they have in the past."
Robert nods enthusiastically.
The trogs gesture for the party to follow them.
Grenwold notices some goblinvine and some willow trees on the way of following the Trogs to the caves.
Following the Trogs, the party soon comes to a small river, with waterweeds at the bottom. What appears to be waterweeds waves invitingly, and one of the trogs immediately gets a glazed expression on his eyes, as he shambles woodenly towards the river.
Grenwold realizes that that the shambling trog is under a charm monster spell.
” Segítség Sessrok!” The other trog pleads, as he rushes foward.
Help Sessrok!
Grenwold knows that that patch of seaweed is a kelpie, and knows all about them
Robert moved 30' and fires an arrow at the Kelpie.
Robert manages to shoot the kelpie in the shoulder and she gives a loud shriek.
Following the troglodytes, Ratel watches carefully as they go, Seeing the kelpie ‘attack’ the trog, Ratel rolls his eyes, ”Come on Bear I guess we have to help, Attack” Ratel and Bear run forward.
Gren moves forward as far as he can and glaives the kelpie.
Grenwold manages to give the kelpie a nasty cut on her arm. The kelpie, seeing her prospective meal interfered with, steps out and starts slamming Grenwold.
As the kelpie gives Grenwold a slap on his face, he suddenly thinks she's the most desirable female gnome he's ever seen and wants to make off with her.
Seeing her attack successful, she gives a nasty grin, then tries to slap Ratel, but misses.