He stirs the fire a little, looking down at the flames, his voice lower. "I'm sorry for your mothers loss and that your dad blames you. That's clearly not your fault. My dad taught me almost everything I know. Most of it is how to survive and be satisfied where I'm at. No real property or carrier or anything to pass on. I understand your dad wanting to pass his life's work on to someone. It would give his life meaning, to be able to give you a way to provide for yourself." Ratel shrugs, "But he should have understood your desire to do something different. He should have been proud of you, Not for just the heroic things you've accomplished, but for the person you've become."
Smiling Ratel drinks his mutagen, growing larger and more ferocious in appearance, Holding his arm out smiling. "Go ahead!"
Once they are done with the 'blood donation' Ratel spends the next forty minutes running through the woods chasing Bear, climbing trees, splashing in the nearby creek and just generally burning off energy. Once the mutagen subsides, he takes an hour or so and re-mixes mutagen for the next day. Then going to bed
"I'd agree with you on Kinning. At least Father Noelan makes sense, most of the time, if he doesn't get his @rse stuck up on rules. Kinning...on the other hand expects everything to be done to the letter, not the spirit. And she'll even rearrange those letters to better suit her." Aubrin replies.
"No but if I were alone in the Fangwood...my lack of vision would be a liability." Aubrin answers. "You know, I envy you? At least your Dad didn't force you into something you didn't want to be. And cared for you."
"All my dad had for me were rough words, and disdain for the path I had chosen." Aubrin answers bitterly. "And he disowned me after I ran away from home. He said that I was a disgrace to the family and he had no such daughter as me."
"My mother tried to make peace between us, but it didn't work. I wanted to live my life my own way, and he kept wanting to dictate it." Aubrin adds. "And I was happier in the woods. Didn't have to deal with my Dad, no one to tell me what to do, how to live..."
"The Chernasardo Rangers were my family. They were the brothers and sisters I never had." Aubrin sighs. "And now my sister has been tortured and killed by hobgoblins, and I'm off to bury her tomorrow morning."
"She would want to be buried in Fort Nunder, wouldn't she? And her name on the Wall..." Aubrin stares at the fire.
"Fort Nunder, then. It's getting rather late," Aubrin looks at the stars. "Let's turn in for the night."
Ratel finds a fallen tree trunk to sleep under, and Aubrin finds a hollow between tree roots to sleep in.
The next morning, they head to Drellivielle's grave. "Drellivielle, we're taking you home." Aubrin says over the grave, then starts digging up the grave, and bites her lip until it bleeds as she sees what had been done to Drellivielle. "If only I could kill her torturer once for each cut that he did on her body..."
"Alas, he only has one life and it has been taken." Aubrin then casts a spell on the body, indicating for Ratel to take it up, with all her belongings as they head towards Fort Nunder.
They have not traveled more then an hour when they see two masses of flying, buzzing insects headed in their direction.
"Ratel!" Aubrin asks urgently. "What do you see?"
"I hear a whole lot of cicadas. How many of them are they?"
Purchases from Novvi:
Total cost: 624 GP
Well, at least I've got something to use against the blighted Fey and suits my Combat Style.
Hearing the swarm and not being fond of swarms Ratel encourages Aubrin, "Can we just go around them?"
"It'll be like 2 hours of detour, but we should be able to do it."Aubrin agrees, then the party sets off on their way. About 3 hours later, their way ahead lies a narrow valley, Ratel spots 6 green-scaled dragon has two powerful legs and a pair of long, leathery wings. A long spike adorns their thrashing tails. On seeing the party approach, they let out warning growls.
"That sounds like a packful of forest drakes. They spit acid. Let's just head back, I think you guys should secure the area."Aubrin suggests.
The trip back is uneventful and Ratel and Aubrin reach the caves that evening with Drellivielle's body , which is placed at the corner of the palisade. Aubrin promptly announces, "Ratel tried to escort me to Fort Nunder to bury Drellivielle, but the way there was unexplored - we ran into swarms of cicadas, and a pack of forest drakes. I know you need to head there, but be careful."
Placing Drellivielle's wrapped body near the palisade, Ratel asks Aubrin. "If it's ok I will ask Nigel to place her body in the bag of holding to take with us. Now your still going to guide us to the fort right?"
"No, I won't be guiding you to the Fort. I've already given you directions, 25 miles northwest from here. If any fighting breaks out, I'll likely be a liability, so it wouldn't be fair to you."Aubrin answers.
In Gnomish: "
あなたの街の難しさを残念に思います。ここで問題を安定させたら、私たちが助けてくれるかもしれないと思う。おそらく、私たちはあなたのためにいくつかのモンス ターと戦うことができることをお知らせください。"
"So I couldn't find wolfsbane, but I'll keep trying. Don't give up - you are safe for now, at least. We're going to go on an expedition in a few days, so I'll be gone for a bit. Make sure to keep your head down, but let Noelan know if there are problems. I'll see if Azriel can watch over you in my absence."
"Hey, so we're gonna go off and fight monsters or meet up with the rangers, I'm not sure exactly. Could you keep watch over Skinder a little while I'm gone? I'm gonna try to find her some wolfsbane, but just... I dunno, see if you can wrangle some folks to get her chained up, that sort of thing. I suspect she'll trust you."
At some point, Grenwold shows Skinder around her hut, and shows off her shackles. "I think use of those is at your discretion, but it may be good to lock yourself in most nights. You'll never know when it rains or if a full moon comes. I hope you like this space. I tried to get something warm and comfortable built for you, but everyone is just making due with very little."
"So, I almost took the head of that big jerk from the camp, stuck a note in its gross mouth, and tossed it into Phaendar, I was so angry. I thought it might warn them off of coming into the Fangwood - but then I realized I was being impulsive. It might very well make them angry. What do you guys think? If it's a dumb idea, I'll just toss the head in a ditch somewhere."
"Burn it and scatter the ashes to the four winds. Let Golarion itself forget the name of this ... criminal."
"I think Robert is right" - Hedran offers - "But if you do wish to do so, I understand and would not stop you" - he adds without hesitation - "They deserve to experience some terror of their own"
"私たちは、問題を自分たちで解決できるかどうかを見ていきます。私は誰もが自分の問題を抱えていることを意味します。" Novi replies.
We'll see if we can get the problems sorted out ourselves. I mean everyone has their own problems, its not fair to burden you with mine.
"Yeah, it's fine, Gren. You tried your best." Skinder says resignedly. "Well I could tell Noelan when he's here, but isn't he going to go off with you?"
When being shown around her hut, Skinder's eyes widen in amazement, "Oh my... I have a place of my own.. I've never had one before..." She sniffs.
"I'll lock myself in then. I don't want to bite anyone by mistake."Skinder agrees.
"Sure, I'll keep an eye on her. And chain her up myself. We of the fur and feather folk need to stick together, you know."Azriel answers.
Aubrin agrees to have Drellivielle's body put in the bag of holding and transported to Fort Nunder.
Once the party is done with their purchases, they set off towards Fort Nunder as Nigel sends his wolves exploring the region.
For 4 hours the party travels through the Fangwood uneventfully. Then as they come to some bushes, Bear, Fenton, Pila and Cavall seem to be slightly on edge, as if smelling something in the air.
As they pass near the bushes, Cavall lets out a warning bark, but it's too late, as 6 large reptiles green reptiles at least six feet in length leap out, growling, "Szállj le fészkelőhelyünkről!" They have a dragon’s head filled with sharp teeth, and two arms ending in grasping claws. A cloud of greenish vapor wafts from their gaping maws.
There's a weird smell coming from the bushes!
Get off our nesting grounds!
Two of them pounce on Grenwold, two on Ratel, one pounces on bear and another moves out of the bush to attack Hedran.
As the creatures pounce on Grenwold, Fenton sweeps their bites and claws aside, while the rest clang harmlessly off his breastplate.
The two little nippers do not manage to bite Ratel, but he gets rather savagely clawed.
Bear gets clawed once by one of the little nippers with the bite and claw not penetrating his armor and hide.
Grenwold realizes that they are Tatzlwyrms, have a poisonous braeth attack that they can use while grappling, and they can rake.
A tatzlwyrm’s breath contains a poisonous vapor. While grappling, instead of making a bite or rake attack, a tatzlwyrm can breathe poison into its victim’s face. A tatzlwyrm must begin its turn grappling to use this ability—it can’t begin a grapple and use its poison gasp in the same turn.
Tatzlwyrm poison: Breath—inhaled; save Fort; frequency 1/round for 2 rounds; effect Str damage; cure 1 save.
Tatzlwyrms are thought to be primeval relatives of true dragons, having branched off the line millennia ago and evolved in a way that sets them notably apart. Undersized compared to their larger cousins, tatzlwyrms are nonetheless ferocious in their own right. And while tatzlwyrms are hardly impressive specimens when put beside their notorious relatives, most other reptiles can’t compare to them mentally. They understand Draconic, though other languages are beyond most tatzlwyrms’ limited comprehension. Nevertheless, tatzlwyrms are deeply cunning, building complex lairs and rudimentary traps.
Most knowledge of these smaller dragons comes from folklore local to areas with active nests. Peasants use tatzlwyrms as a sort of bogeyman, an excuse used any time a villager goes missing—“the tatzlwyrms took ‘em!” Often, when hunters fail to nab their quarries, tatzlwyrms become the scapegoats—“I would have had that elk, but a tatzlwyrm grabbed him before I could take my shot.” Some of these stories probably do have merit, however; tatzlwyrms are notoriously vicious, particularly to any creatures invading their territories, and those on the wrong end of their bites rarely survive.
After speaking with Aubrin about Drellivielle's body, Ratel finds Nigel and speaks with him about the possible needs of the camp, and purchasing said Items from the traveling gnome, writing a few of the items down on a list and adding a few ioun stones that he wants to purchase. When the gnome arrives the next day, Ratel goes over the list with him, purchasing the items available for 2,462 gp. When Ratel is done with the Gnome he presents most of the items to Aubrin and father Noelan, but he keeps the Ioun stones for himself and Bear.
Returning the way he and Aubrin had come the day before, Ratel is still surprised by the attack of the lizards, Getting raked by the lizards, he growls, ”Two can play that game, Attack Bear.” Bear attempts to mall the lizard that attacked him while Ratel swings his shield at one then attempts to punch it.
Grenwold reacts instinctively when the creatures pounce, flailing with his readied glaive.
He says to the party, ”They’re going to fight to the death... also, don’t get grabbed!”
He drops his glaive and pulls out the morningstar, he becomes infused with the strength of the bull, then he and Fenton take a whack.
Free - drop glaive
Swift - bull focus
Move -draw morningstar
Standard -thwacka thwacka
+1 Longbow, Precise Shot on Light Green (The one on the far right, flanking Bear).
|
Nigel leaves his crafting gear with Veld, giving her a list of items that he would like made.
He also takes out an Unguent of Timelessness, and applies it to the Banner that the refugees constructed, to ensure that it remains a permanent symbol for them, and applies another to the Ghillie Suit.
Nigel steps forward, and takes a swing at Unbordered.
Grenwold lashes out with his glaive, cutting the unbordered one by the side, spins and hacks at red on the shoulder before poking yellow in the belly.
He then bashes the uncoloured one on the head, causing it to totter dizzily, but Fenton is unable to stab through its thick hide.
Bear tries to bite at the one that attacked him, but misses, though he manages to swipe it with his claws.
Ratel bashes the yellow nipper, then bites it savagely on its neck, and it sways, then topples over.
Nigel moves up and clobbers unbordered and it collapses onto the ground.
Hedran hacks at the one next to bear with his longsword, but he stumbles over a root at his swing goes wide.
Father Noelan fires an arrow at the green tatzlwyrm.
He then steps forward and shoots at the red tatzlwyrm, sending an arrow sticking out of its ribs.
He orders Cavall to attack the cyan tatzlwyrm, but Cavall ducks out of the way.
The red tatzlywyrm , continues to attack Grenwold, but he ducks out of the way.
The cyan tatzlywyrm attempts to bite Ratel, but Ratel blocks it with his shield.
Another taztylwyrm comes out of the bushes and tries to bite Cavall and grab him, but Cavall is too strong to get grabbed.
Hedran moves over to pink and hacks at it with his longsword.
Father Noelan shoots at the red tatzlwyrm, then as it goes down, switches target to the cyan tatzlwyrm.
He orders Cavall to continue attacking the cyan tatzlwyrm, which Cavall gives it a nasty bite on its side.
Seeing the lizards drop like flies, Ratel motions to between the lizards then points to the one on the right, ”Atack Bear” he then kicks at the lizard and swings his shield at it, While bear steps between the lizards and attacks with tooth and claw.
Ratel gives the cyan tatzlwyrm a vicious kick and it flops to the ground, dead.
Bear circles around the purple tatzlwyrm then eviscerates it with its claws.
Father Noelan channels everyone up.
Concealed in the bushes, the party finds 3 tunnels which when dug out contain 6 speckled green eggs each.
One of Nigel's wolves return to him to report.
Where do I find the statblock for a Lynx?
Cavall perks his ears up, then starts barking at the wolf, getting a whine in reply.
So is the one stuck up there pink or grey?
Pink skin
Cavall then tugs at Father Noelan leggings in the direction that the wolf told Nigel, while howling.
Sounds like someone needs rescuing, let's go!
Father Noelan gives Cavall a plaintive whine.
Yes I got it.
"Cavall wants us to rescue someone."Father Noelan says to the party as he's dragged off by an insistent Cavall.
Several large, felled trees litter the ground here, each cleanly cut and shorn of its branches.An elf high atop a lone lodgepole pine, with a broken wrist shouts down to them, his voice cracked and hoarse “Halloo! I need some help up here!”
Grenwold realizes that the trunk beneath the elf has cracked on the inside; it snaps if more weight is added to the top 10 feet of the tree (such as someone climbing up to help free the elf). This weakened tree functions as a trap, dropping everyone atop the tree (including the elf) to the ground below.
Looking up into the tree, Ratel asks, "What do we do Now?" He begins to unfold his any-tool seeing how long of a ladder he can make out of it.
Grenwold says "Everyone be careful - the tree will break if much more weight is placed up there. Hello Mr. Elf, we'll try to rescue you. Don't move much ." He scratches his head and tries to think.
"I could climb the tree with some rope and hammer pitons into the side at various points with the rope looped around the trunk to keep it from splitting. If I do that in three spots around the trunk, each about two-three feet from each other, starting from the crack, that might reinforce the tree well enough to prevent it from splitting long enough that he could get down with a lowered rope." He shrugs.
"Maybe, if someone climbs up a nearby tree, wearing a harness, like the one in a climber's kit, he could get close enough to the Elf and cut away the branch that's keeping him trapped."
"Yeah, but I still won't be able to climb down with a broken wrist."The elf shouts hoarsely. "And my name is Vardalel, I'm part of the Erages logging camp."
"Once you're free, the climber can tie another rope around you so you could be lowered to the ground."
Hedran walks up to the tree, begins to focus on a mental discipline to make himself lighter, then begins to float effortlessly up towards the elf.
"Don't worry. I've got you." Hedran says as he reaches for the elf's waist, up in the treetop.
"Hey, I really appreciate the rescue,"Varadel answers, "But just to set matters straight, I'm not gay."
That being said, Vardalel puts his good arm around Hedran's shoulder as Hedran lowers the elf gently to the ground.
Once Vardalel gets his feet on the ground, he croaks at the party, "Thank you very much for your rescue. I thought I was going to die of thirst up there." Father Noelan uses create water to get a drink for Vardalel, who drinks it thirstily.
After he has recovered somewhat, he explains the reason for his predicament - his team caught sight of a and of hobgoblins and fled the site, abandoning him high up in the tree. He tried to descend, but slipped, jammed his hand, breaking his wrist.
He also describes what he saw while being stuck in the tree.
"I saw several groups of hobgoblins in squads of four patrolling the area, and saw them lure several Chernasardo rangers into a trap, Five hobgoblins hide in a shrub-ringed dell while another hobgoblin walked away.Then that hobgoblin came sprinting back several minutes later with three Chernarsardo Rangers in pursuit. I wanted to warn the rangers but was afraid of being shot by the hobgoblins." Vardalel tells the party.
"The hobgoblins ambushed and slaughtered the rangers, 600 feet from the tree I was stuck in, and I could only watch helplessly." Vardalel says sadly.
"Did you see any other members of the Erages logging camp?" Vardalel asks the party.
Hedran walks up to the tree, begins to focus on a mental discipline to make himself lighter, then begins to float effortlessly up towards the elf.
"Hey, I really appreciate the rescue,"Varadel answers, "But just to set matters straight, I'm not gay."
"Well met. I am Hedran" - he replies - "And neither am I" - and adds with a chuckle.
"I saw several groups of hobgoblins in squads of four patrolling the area, and saw them lure several Chernasardo rangers into a trap, Five hobgoblins hide in a shrub-ringed dell while another hobgoblin walked away.Then that hobgoblin came sprinting back several minutes later with three Chernarsardo Rangers in pursuit. I wanted to warn the rangers but was afraid of being shot by the hobgoblins." Vardalel tells the party.
"The hobgoblins ambushed and slaughtered the rangers, 600 feet from the tree I was stuck in, and I could only watch helplessly." Vardalel says sadly.
"Did you see any other members of the Erages logging camp?" Vardalel asks the party.
"Can you point us to where this happened? We should take a look in the area, and clear out any hobgoblins if we can"
Father Noelan lightly touches Vardalel's broken wrist, "Here, let me fix that."
" Kaelan is from the Erages logging camp. She was drinking at the Taproot when the hobgoblins attacked."Father Noelan helpfully supplies. "Other then that we picked up no one else."
"Yeah she was bringing lumber for the Phaendar market festival, wait a minute, you mean Phaendar was attacked as well?" Vardalel asks.
"Yes, we're all that escaped Phaendar. Or at least they did. I didn't manage that."Father Noelan answers somberly.
"You know when guys get too touchy with other guys, sometimes people misunderstand?" Vardalel raises an eyebrow.
"Here, I'll lead you there."Vardalel volunteers, then leads the party to the shrub ringed dell where three human Chernasardo Rangers—dressed in gray-and-green ponchos now stained with blood—lie dead.
The Rangers have been stripped of most of their gear, however the hobgoblin ambushers overlooked six +1 merciful arrows and a potion of protection from arrows on one of the bodies.
Realizing that they are not going to need a ladder, Ratel folds his any-tool back up and tucks it back in his belt. Following the lumberjack to the location of the ambush. After seeing the carnage, he begins to look for tracks, "We may be able to follow them, or do we want to continue to the fort?"
Ratel realizes that the tracks are around 24 hours old. It may take a while to catch up with those hobgoblins...
”The only issue is - if we don’t track the hobgoblins now we may not get another chance. The trail could easily go cold. I don’t know if it’s more dangerous to leave them or to try to find them later... maybe we can. I dunno.”
"Well the Erages logging camp is scattered, and I think I'd be safer in this hobgoblin infested region with you, then trying to get out of here on my own, so I'll follow you." Vardalel answers. "Besides, its getting dark."
Grenwold finds some Desna's star around the campsite.
As the party is setting up camp for the night, they see 10 creatures resembles an ugly, stocky gnome with a bulbous nose and reddish eyes headed towards the camp. They have a shaggy dark mustache and ratty beard, both unkempt and caked with dirt and filth. 5 of them are larged sized, while 5 of them are small sized. "それらをすべて殺して、彼らの戦利品を取る！" One of them commands.
Kill them all and take their loot
Grenwold and Robert recognizes them as Spriggans.
Spriggans are among the ugliest and certainly the most foul tempered of all gnomes. At one moment a normal-sized gnome, a spriggan can grow to giant-sized in an instant, gaining immense strength and taking unsuspecting opponents by surprise.
Spriggans are, by human standards, quite homely. They have stocky bodies and sickly ochre-colored skin and dark hair of brown of black. Male spriggans favor facial hair such as shaggy mustaches and ratty beards, but any head or facial hair they have is unkempt and filthy. Female spriggans do not have facial hair. Being unhygienic creatures, spriggans never bathe or clean their clothing or equipment. Thanks to their filthy lifestyle, spriggans reek with the foulness of dirt, body odor, and other unpleasantness. Despite being gnomes themselves, spriggans despise all of their gnomish kinfolk.
Spriggans can change their size at will and can sneak attack.
At will, a spriggan can grow from Small to Large size or back again. Weapons, armor, and other inanimate objects on its person grow proportionately with it when it changes size. This is similar to the enlarge person spell. An enlarged spriggan gains +12 Strength, –2 Dexterity, +6 Constitution, and a –2 to AC. While enlarged, a spriggan cannot use its spell-like abilities or its innate sneak attack ability (though any other sneak attack it may have, such as from rogue class levels, is unaffected when it changes size).
Spriggans have the following spell like abilities:
At will—flare, scare, shatter
Two of the small ones fire their heavy crossbows at Grenwold, but they clang off his breastplate.
Two of them fire their heavy crossbows at Ratel, and one of them sticks him in the ribs.
One of them tries to spook Bear off. "ブー!" He yells at bear.
Boo
Hedran and Robert realize it is using a scarespell. "Its using a scare spell!" Father Noelan announces.
Bear does not look very impressed by the stinky, smelly small spriggan.
Hedran, realizing the party is outnumbered, quickly snaps a glitterdust spell into as many as he can catch.
All of them are blinded by shimmering glitter.
Grenwold lets out a baying howl, and attempts to make vulnerable as many foes as he can with the howl He then has Fenton move forward a bit to present himself as a target to two of the unblinded spriggans.
Standard Action - Cast Hunter’s Howl, DC 15 will save negates, targeting all spriggans except pink, orange, and the bottom-right black bordered one.
Swift Action - switch Fenton’s focus to will o wisp, providing a bonus to saves vs fear and mind-influencing effects.
Move action - move forward 2 squares (10 ft)
The cyan, blackbordered and purple spriggans look fearful after Grenwold howls.
The red spriggan walks forward and tries to club Grenwold with his morningstar but Grenwold ducks out of the way.
The green, blue and purple spirggan attempt to rub the shimmering particles out of their eyes, while flailing around blindly. Green manages to shake glitterdust out of their eyes.
After seeing his friends blinded after Hedran waves his fingers, the other orange spriggan clobbers Hedran on his side with his morningstar.
Father Noelan seeing things getting ugly, tosses a burst of radiance on the purple, pink and orange spriggans.
Everyone except purple is blinded by Father Noelan's burst of radiance.
Father Noelan then orders Cavall to attack a blinded Orange Spriggan. Cavall bites at Orange, nipping him in his calf, but does not manage to drag him down.
"Pila," Robert says while pointing at Varadel, "guard him."
+1 Longbow, Precise Shot at Yellow(?), the one by Cavall.
, +1 for Point-blank Shot
Flinching as he's hit by the quarrels Ratel reaches into his pouch drawing out his mutagen, drinking it as the odd gnomes move forward. Seeing the large gnome to his left untouched by any of their spells he motions toward that gnome, "Attack Bear." as bear steps and attacks with tooth and claw, Ratel steps forward throwing a spinning kicking.
Robert shoots at Orange, hitting him in the thigh.
Ratel drinks his mutagen.
Bear steps forward and attacks with his bites and claws but only manages to land a claw, his other bite and claw landing harmlessly on leather armor.
Yellow changes to a large size, as does the brown bordered spriggans, yelling at Yellow, "オオカミはあなたの足、南西方向にあります".
The wolf is at your feet, south west direction.
Cyan, blackbordered and purple try to rub glitterdust out of their eyes, and Cyan manages it.
Pink stumbles blindly backwards.
Hedran steps foward, ehances his blade and slashes running the blinded Orange through with his longsword, then casts a spell.