"I don't know. We were clearing out one of the forts, when Hedran, Ratel, and Bear simply walked off into the woods."
"Rather irresponsible of them." Jet grumbles. "If they do show up here, I'll be sure to give them a tongue lashing for leaving a job half done."Jet promises, her eyes flashing.
Grenwold arrives at the settlement looking wan and tired, with dark rings under his eyes. He brightens up, and appears to affect a friendly attitude. ”Greeting everyone Lyria how have you been? It looks like everything is safe, which is good. I hope the visitors we sent here have been interesting and helpful. Did you meet Herge and the Leshies? We had quite a trip, not all positive.” He unpacks saddlebags from Fenton and lets him loose on the surface. "You may have noticed that Fenton got much bigger. Don't be alarmed though, he's only rough on bad guys." He sets Fenton loose and kisses his nose before whispering something to him in Gnomish.
He will greet each of the villagers in turn, and save his longest dialogue for Skinder and the troglodytes. When Noelan mentions the sack, he says "I... yes. Let me take care of a bit of business. We can talk about it tonight. After our failure with the dragon, and the druid, I am feeling a bit raw. Jang does not know what she meddles with, and it could kill the whole of the Fangwood. Oh, and would you help me use this wolfsbane on Skinder, please? I have little in the way of restorative magic. She was desperate to have her lycanthropy cured, and I promised I'd help her. I think she has to take the effect of the poison to cure the disease - but you may know more about such things. We could do it tomorrow if it would give you a bit of time to prepare some different spells."
Grenwold approaches the hobgoblin as she's working, and says, ”I have some good news! I found this bunch of wolfsbane while we were traveling. With Father Noelan's supervision, we might be able to cure you. I think you'll have to let the poison of the flower burn away the disease, which will weaken you for a time, but Noelan may be able to help clear that up quickly. Would you like to try using it tomorrow morning? We can make a concoction - Nigel seems to be very adept at that, I can ask for his help. I hope that everyone's been treating you well." Grenwold smiles at Skinder kindly.
Grenwold will spend some time speaking with Ighiz about how the Troglodytes have been treated, and whether there has been any difficulty sharing the space. "I hope everything is going well, have you made a good home here? It looks like everyone is getting along, at least, which is a great start. My patron Shelyn doesn't teach much about things under the ground, so I am fascinated by your close connection to the earth." He will also participate in their evening prayers, sitting and meditating as they intone in their peaceful draconic language. At the end of the prayers, he approaches Ighiz, and scratching his head awkwardly "To what I was speaking about earlier, I was wondering, I prayed to Shelyn to help my friend, Fenton, the deer, a bit stronger, and well, he's got a bit of planar magic in him now. And so do I, for that matter. Do you think we could do a ceremony maybe... and give him a bit more, maybe to recenter him? He seems to be an earthy creature these days, so I thought maybe you'd have some ideas."
"Let's take off the bandage, I'm ready. Did that butcher kill any of the gnomes of Phaendar... am I finally alone?" Grenwold searches Noelan's face. "I have compartmentalized where I can, but I have to deal with this."
Grenwold nods, "Whatever we can do - either that or mount a rescue mission and clean out Phaendar. Either would help. My family may still be there."
"Well, we had quite a number of interesting visitors," Taidel replies, "We met the Snapdragon Leshy, Hessilda, and the lichen leshies, Bilo, Stef and Rej on our watch, and Bilo, Stef and Rej are now cultivating the hillside."
"Hessilda sang Its not easy being green in the Misthome tavern," Lirosa adds, "Which was beautiful. I didn't realize that leshies were such good singers!"
"My watch didn't turn out that well...got clawed up by an owlbear, Good thing Ighiz managed to put me back together," Leo says.
"And about 5 days later came a second batch of owlbears, five this time." Lorethiel replies, "We managed to fend them off, but without the troglodytes help, I don't think we would have managed to withstand the assault."
"Don't worry about Fenton getting bigger," Tarethelan answers, "Deer aren't that small when fully grown. It shows you've been taking good care of him." Tarethelan tells Grenwold.
”I agree that Jang doesn’t know what she’s meddling with, but it wasn’t as if you didn’t try to warn her, did you?” Father Noelan says matter-of-factly. ”And its not as if we have the resources to go after her and the black dragon now, either.” He sighs.”Tomorrow would be better so I can prepare restorative spells – we’ll need Nigel to brew up the concoction anyway.”
”Does Nigel have to prepare the concoction?” Skinder says nervously. ”He’s made his distrust and dislike of me clear enough. I’d…rather not drink anything he prepares. Could Oreld do it instead?” She suggests tentatively. Skinder sighs, ”Well Azriel is nice, but Kinning…eh...well is only interested in whatever work she can get out of me.”
”Well other then the unwelcome owlbear visitors, which we sorted out with Longfrond eventually we’re doing fine. “ Ighiz furrows her eyebrows, ”We could help centre your friend, Fenton, to the Earth, but we need his consent and that of Onos’s as well.”
”These belong to you.” Father Noelan says contemplatively as he passes a harvester’s pouch that Grenwold remembers his uncle, Davwin likes to carry, a bandana that his aunt Fenla liked to wear. ”We can only hope that we’ll be able to liberate them when we free Phaendar from the Ironfang Legion. The other refugees said the hobgoblins tried to take them as slaves. Hopefully that is the case for your aunt and uncle.”
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Nigel listens to what the guards have to say, nodding thoughtfully.
"It sounds like you have all been busy vhilst ve vere avay! I am glad to hear zat you are all doing vell, and zat ze extra leshies, and Herge, have managed to settle in reasonably vell."
He then smiles.
"I zink ve also have a few zhings to help give you a little more of an edge..."
When Nigel hears of Skinder's reluctance, he shrugs.
"Zat is her choice. If Oreld zinks he can do it, zen by all means, let him."
"Kaelan and Aubrin would find these useful," Jet takes up the lumber and hammers,"And we could certainly try to beautiful up the place."She takes up the paints. "Looking at rock walls gets trying after a while."
"Oh thanks, Nigel, we'll put them to good use."Leo tells Nigel.
"Wonderful, the leshies are quite remarkable. I'm glad that they decided to live with us. Treat them with respect - their ways may be a bit odd, but I suspect the first world calls to them somehow."
"Nor did I, but leshies are quite different from many other plant creatures. They have many behaviors that are similar to the fey folk, from what I can tell."
"It sounds like it was good that you were here to help defend the town, and that your watch turned out well if everyone survived! If you had been asleep on the job, who knows what would have happened. And to think... all of this came from a cherry treant trying to save the leshies. Grenwold nods at Terethelan.
"No, I suppose not. But a time will come, when she will likely have to be dealt with - for the good of the forest and even Golarion, I suspect. That sounds fine, Father, thank you." He turns to Skinder, "I'm sorry, there's not much we can do about Kinning. If you'd like to work somewhere else, we can talk to the others. As for the potion, we can ask Oreld to do it, I'm certain he'd be amenable. Let's ask." Grenwold leads Skinder to Oreld, and says "Hi Oreld, so, our friend Skinder here would like to take a shot at curing her lycanthropy. Could you make a potion or concoction out of this bunch of wolfsbane? We need something that she can drink all in one go - hopefully not enough to kill her, but enough to burn out the disease. Could you help?"
"The other villagers are very appreciative, you should know. You and your people are the backbone of this community. As for Fenton, I can ask him. He only knows Gnomish, so we'll have to have him stamp his feet to answer, or something. Who is Onos? I haven't heard of them, I don't think."[/ooc]
Grenwold looks dejected, not for the first time this week, then shakes his head, [b]"they're clever, they should be okay. There's even a chance they could escape. But there's nothing much we can do at the moment - I'll talk to Nigel and maybe we can make an excursion to Phaendar. If it is lightly defended - we could mount a rescue mission and free any remaining prisoners... thank you Father again, for these tokens and your wisdom. You are a faithful friend. May you find beauty in the moments large and small."
"I don't know anyone else. Kinning only lets me out when she wants me to deliver the pots because she doesn't want to climb up the ladder," Skinder says miserably.
"Well wolf's bane is an poison, I could certainly whip up the concoction, but it will come with its inherent risks. The nature of the plant is that it is so potent that it can burn out lycanthrophy, but it can also kill. The whole thing should run its course in about 6 minutes." Oreld says slightly dubiously. "You can't get one part without another."
"I'll do it. I've got nothing to lose." Skinder replies bleakly. "I mean in either case, either some or all my problems will be over."
"I suggest you get Father Noelan down here in case...any medical emergencies occur." Oreld tells Grenwold.
"Onos is the god of many doors, and holds sway over the elements. It's not like I know a lot about pink skins, so I don't know if any pink skins venerate him." Ighiz answers.
Grenwold knows that Onos is a deity associated with palanr travel, and was worshipped in anicent Azlanti.
"The ritual of earth binding would involve him taking in earth mixed with blood." Igghiz says sagely. "Blood is a powerful tool for many magics - it signifies the user's intent."[/b
[b]”We could certainly make a trip back to Phaendar – maybe we may have whittled down their numbers sufficiently such that Pahendar will lbe lightly guarded.” Father Noelan answers.
Robert pats Edran on the shoulder. "I heard what you did. It looks like we're rubbing off on you. Well done."
"Thanks... I've heard treants can get very nasty when they get angry. Like razing cities nasty."Edran says somewhat bashful by the praise.
"Well, we'll find you a better job. I'm sure we can find something. You've been nothing but helpful I'm sure."
"Well wolf's bane is an poison, I could certainly whip up the concoction, but it will come with its inherent risks. The nature of the plant is that it is so potent that it can burn out lycanthrophy, but it can also kill. The whole thing should run its course in about 6 minutes." Oreld says slightly dubiously. "You can't get one part without another."
"I'll do it. I've got nothing to lose." Skinder replies bleakly. "I mean in either case, either some or all my problems will be over."
"I suggest you get Father Noelan down here in case...any medical emergencies occur." Oreld tells Grenwold.
Grenwold nods, and says "Yes, we understand the risks, we wouldn't be here if we had any other choice. Father Noelan will be on-hand when we administer the poison. Hopefully that will be enough to keep Skinder safe. We intend to administer it tomorrow morning."
Grenwold says "I have heard of him, distantly, he is associated with planar travel is all I know."
When Ighiz mentions the ceremony, "Oh no, blood! Who's blood do we have to use? I don't know if Fenton would like that. He likes fruit mostly. I'd have to ask him if he could stomach it."
"Well, I have learned a bit of different magic that I could use to sneak about, barring some sort of magical sentry. After the debacle with the dragon, I figured I should learn a bit about scouting so that we don't get caught unprepared again, if we can avoid it. If we could even clear out the enemies, we could rescue the remaining citizens and maybe get them here... and Phaendar isn't too far. It might be worth doing instead of the blighted pixie. I think we'll have to confer with Nigel and Robert."
"No surprise he is associated with planar travel," Ighiz replies. "The plane of Earth is also another plane of existence, that one day I hope to be able to reach. "
"Mine and Slate's, since we are both disciples of Onos, and will be his sponsors."Ighiz answers.
"Yes, I think you should be doing more reconnaissance. Like the last time, I had to remind you about it." Father Noelan chides Grenwold. "Come to think of it, the Chernasardo Rangers probably could have told us about Fort Trevalay's troop strength, like Cirieo told us about the fey," Father Noelan continues, "But no one bothered to just tried to storm the tower immediately. "
"I would be doing you both a disservice if you didn't know the risks." Oreld replies. "Informed consent is a fundamental element of all clinical interactions between a doctor and his patient and forms part of his overall duty of care to his patients." Oreld elaborates.
"How quickly does wolf's bane take effect?" Father Noelan asks Oreld.
"In about a minute for 6 minutes.After the first minute, you can neutralize the wolf's bane. It will either have worked, or not."Oreld tells Father Noelan.
"OK, then there will be time for me to help her."Father Noelan replies.
Oreld gets Skinder to lie down on a pallet before passing her a grassy smelling thin, watery black pungent substance in a wooden bowl.Skinder sniffs at it dubiously for a moment, bites her lip, then drinks part of it down, before holding her nose and fighting the urge to gag, as tears well up in her eyes and her nose starts to pucker. "Bleh, that's horrible, it's bitter and spicy."
"Better get it over and done with,"She pinches her nose, closes her eyes and drinks the remaining potion, and curls up into a ball as the first set of convulsions set in.
Between convulsions, Skinder pants weakly as cold sweat streaks down her brow and she turns pale. Skinder's fur begins to fall off in clumps and her tail also drops off as her ears transform from rat ears to grey hobgoblin ears. Her claws shorten, changing into nails and she reaches out for Grenwold's hand desperately. "Grenwold..can you hold me as I go?"
"You don't have to get so melodramatic. You're not going to die if I've got something to say about it."Father Noelan tells Skinder as he chants a prayer of purification, cleansing her of wolfsbane poison.
Skinder uncurls as she is freed from the poison and realizes that she isn't going to die as well as what she said to Grenwold earlier. " Ooops, sorry," She blushes. "Forget what I just said."
"Well if you can blush, it should mean you're fine. Let me counteract the effects of the poison and you should be good to go." Father Noelan casts lesser restoration on Skinder. "There you go."
Skinder straightens up as she looks at her skin, now grey and smooth like a Hobgoblin and her claws, finally nails after years, and her behind no longer marred with a rat tail. She weeps tears of joy, "Oh my gosh! I'm free from the curse... How can I thank you enough!" She gushes as she hugs Grenwold, Father Noelan and Oreld.
"Uhh.." Oreld stammers, looking slightly embarrassed, "I was just doing my duty, no need to thank me."
"By living your life well and helping others whenever you can," Father Noelan adds serenely.
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Nigel spends his time with Veld, going over item design, including his next 'big' project.
"I'll send funds and equipment dovn ze line, as necessary..."
He then spends a bit of time exploring the modifications to the community, nodding with approval when he sees the water management alterations made to the cave system, and happily engaging in conversation with the leshies.
Nigel then checks-in on the fortifications, seeing how they have been upgraded, and making some suggestions about things that could be done to improve upon them.
He then goes to speak to Cavall.
Cavall whines at Nigel.
Problem is there are always other threats that they need to take care off, like incursions on the Shores of Heaven. You'd need to ask Father Noelan on that though and be prepared to pay the usual fees for their time.
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Personally, I, the player, am more than happy for Skinder to have a successful redemption story line :-)
After all, it gives hope for successful human/hobgoblin rapprochement after the war is over... since I highly doubt that we would be aiming for total annihilation of the opposition - genocide is not something I would, personally, be able to stomach...
Nigel nods to Cavall.
Grenwold nods, "thank you, that's kind of you to say. I wish we had another choice."
Grenwold nods, and says "Well, I'll ask him. He's very smart, he can make the decision on his own. I appreciate your effort. Oh, and is Terbius around? I'd like to say hello, show him how I've been working on my strength training."
Grenwold holds Skinder's hand as she takes the wolfsbane, and tries to keep her steady during the convulsions. He holds tight to her hand as she worries about her impending doom, and then smiles when Noelan heals her. He accepts the hug happily, and says "Well, it looks like it worked! It was worth all the effort, right? Thank you Oreld and Father Noelan, Skinder here is free of a debilitating problem - it took a lot of courage for you both to put aside our feelings about the legion, though Skinder has no love for them... and to help someone in need." He leads Skinder out to the entrance. "Well, I think if the legion is still active, you'd be better off staying here, but there's not much holding you any more. The fangwood is apparently extremely dangerous these days - so I would be careful if you want to leave. I'm sure we can find you a better job, though. Kinning is a bit of a bitter pill. Would you like to stay in town, is there a job you'd prefer?" Grenwold watches her for her response.
Grenwold approaches Fenton, and says in Gnomish:
Grenwold says "Well, we don't have much of a choice now. I'm just glad I was able to re-calibrate my spells a bit. Thank Shelyn for that. You have a good memory, but I think it is unwise to second-guess. I think our plan was decent, given our time constraints. We were afraid for more rangers getting killed. We might have even pulled it off if Hedran and Ratel hadn't gone off to investigate. We have to move on." Grenwold has a look of determination.
"Terbius is around. You know he's always under the ground, chilling out. Though he still doesn't speak anything but the language of stone, so if you want to find him for an arm wrestle, I'd need to translate." Ighiz answers.
Skinder grabs Grenwold's hand very tightly as the convulsions wrack her wiry form. "Well - you know we wouldn't be alive if not for you rescuing us in Phaendar, so whatever request you'd ask of us we'd try to fulfill it." Oreld tells Grenwold.
"I think if Skinder truly wants to make amends she should be given a chance to do so. And also not having to worry about lycanthrophy is also a plus." Father Noelan replies.
"The legion would kill me on sight. To them I'm a traitor who has thrown their lots with humans." Skinder answers flatly."And after that nasty green flapper I'd not take my chances in the Fangwood."
"Can I work for you? You look like a nice sort to me." Skinder begs Oreld. "You do know that an alchemist laboratory is where nasty accidents can happen, right?" Oreld warns her.
"I have working experience! I know the things that go boom and the things that don't." Skinder eagerly volunteers.
"Ok - state how you would store a piece of sodium. And why." Oreld questions her.
"In mineral oil. Sodium reacts violently in the presence of water or oxygen." Skinder answers promptly.
"You seem to know what you're doing...fine, I'll take you in." Oreld agrees.
"Yippie!" Skinder cheers.
Fenton stomps a hoof once.
"I wouldn't be asking the Rangers to scout or anything, just what they saw while they were locked up." Father Noelan replies. "It's a pity about Ratel and Hedran, and actually I'm more worried on what happened to them. They know their way around Fangwoods, and we haven't seen them yet. Nor did they report back to Misthome."
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Nigel makes a point of checking in on Jet's progress with the wolves, and is pleasantly surprised to discover that she has managed to set-up a tavern in her spare time (with help, obviously!).
"If I had known zat Oreld vas zat much of a brever, I might not have spent so much time avay!"
He then grins, with a twinkle in his eye.
"Ze fact zat it all disappears after 24 hours, makes it imperative to use it, razer zan hoard it, after all..."
After that, he goes around the food stores, and is pleasantly surprised by the massive stockpiles that have been accrued.
"I am, quite frankly, beyond impressed. Zis is truly amazing! I don't know how you managed it..."
Nigel, recalling the party's reduced healing capabilities, then goes around, and ferrets out all of the Potions of CLW that have been produced...
Once again, he is pleasantly surprised by the stockpile that he discovers, and happily collects as many of them as he can.
Remembering a criticism that was made earlier, he then visits Oreld, to see what, precisely, has been made recently...
Cost = 40 Gp
"Oh, I don't want to bother him too much then. If you see him, just let him know I said hi. And for that matter, I hope that you and your people are doing well. You can tell me if you're having any problems with the neighbors, and I can try to talk to them for you."
Grenwold listens to the exchange between Noelan, Skinder and Oreld. When she finds a new job, he claps, and cheers a little for her. "Yeah! This is a great idea. I didn't know that you knew alchemy." He turns to Oreld, "Thank you, for everything. Skinder has a good heart, and has done nothing except help us. Please be kind to her" He says to Skinder, "I have some other business to attend to, but I'll check in while I'm here." He pats her hand again, and gives her a hug.
When Fenton agrees, Grenwold nods, and leads his friend through the cave to Ighiz' sanctuary. "Fenton agrees, so what do we have to do?"
"I am too, we split up so quickly after the dragon. We should have stopped them before they left. Let's make a plan, then, with Nigel and Robert. Maybe once we check out Phaendar, we can see if we can contact the rangers, maybe regroup after they've had time to cool down. We could even enlist them to fight the dragon. Maybe with a dozen of us, all working together, and good preparation, we could actually fight the thing. I don't know... We also have to track down the lead on the blighted pixie."
"Nope, we're getting along with the pink skins fine, they just had a new load of fruit they're sharing with us." Ighiz says. "Though if you're going for another long trip in the Fangwood, after that incident with the owlbears, it would be good if there were ways to open communication lines in case there are any problems popping up that we can't handle."
"I was helping my cousin with alchemy when you attacked Camp Redjaw." Skinder replies. "Besides none of you actually asked what I knew, just assigned me a job."
"Don't worry, Grenwold, I know you're big heroes among your kind and have many things to do. We'll manage." Skinder answers. "I don't think Oreld would be worse then Kinning."
Ighiz and Slate start looking for different types of earth, the earth from beneath the ground, the earth from the hilltop, the earth from the underground river bed and the earth from the forest. They mix the different types of Earth together in a wooden bowl, then nick open a vein with their claws, letting some blood flow into it, and mix again throughly. Then they light incense made out of red clover flowers, before dancing in a ring around Fenton while shaking a cane rattle, while chanting in prayer to Onos.
God of Many Doors, Opener of ways, Great Onos, let us welcome our new brother Fenton into the fold. With our blood and our earth we bind him. Grant him your protection and strength, Great Onos like the way you watch over us, the Children of Stone.
Then Ighiz tells Grenwold, "You have to get Fenton to swallow a bit of the earth."
As soon as Fenton takes the earth, a vibrant green aura shimmers around briefly, together with the smell of spring, then both fade almost as quickly as they appeared. "It is done," Ighiz declares. "Fenton is one with the earth now. "
"I don't know if we had the time to stop them, since Cirieo stormed off, the Rangers vacated in a hurry. We should find a way to establish contact with the Rangers - if we can figure out where they went to." Father Noelan replies. "I agree that if we can, we should try to take out the black dragon and its hobgoblin druid friend in case they decide to come back to plague the region."
After the Earth Binding ritual, the party sets off into the Fangwood to find the sick pixie and Nigel calls his wolves to his side. It takes about 2 days to get to where Seff said he saw the sick pixie. Father Noelan also uses some of the diamond dust to cast restoration on himself.
Low hills and tall trees surround this secluded glen where only a few patches of short, tough grass grow in the dirt. A human man in a gray-and-green poncho lies facedown in the center of the glen, several small arrows protruding from his shoulder. The man rocks back and forth with something clutched in his hands, a grimace of pain.
The glen is 30 feet long and 20 feet wide. The surrounding trees and hills cast deep shadows, and the illumination is only dim.
Cavall gives a bark as he sniffs the air.
This isn’t right…I smell only death down here.
”So be it!” A high pitched hollow voice squeaks out as a tiny arrow flies at Nigel.
Nigel feels arrow strike him, but the tiny arrow does no harm.
The party sees a horribly disfigured pixie, with skin covered in bleeding lesions and her gossamer wings crusted with fungal growth, wearing dark-coloured clothing with her hair shorn and her mouth set in a wicked green, 30 feet above the ground.
Nigel and Grenwold recognise the pixie as a pixie infected with the darkblight. As a result she has 10 DR cold iron and good, resist cold and electricity 10 and pixies can turn invisible even while attacking.
"Agreed, you're exactly right. I don't know if we have an easy way to communicate over long distances though. Can you do sending or anything else like that?" Gren looks contemplatively at the ceiling, as he tries to recall the different options that might be available.
Grenwold looks sheepish, "That was my fault, we were in such a rush to resolve everything, I didn't think about what you wanted to do. Noelan made a suggestion, and I was new enough that I didn't want to question it. Now that you're cured, you should feel free to speak your mind. You are a citizen of Misthome too. And if anyone treats you badly, they'll answer to me." He chuckles when Skinder calls him a hero, "tell that to poor Cirieo. I'll be a hero when I can stop the blight and free the people of this land to live in peace - that includes hobgoblins and troglodytes, if they want to. Until then, I'm just a little gnome with a big deer." Grenwold smiles, "though it is kind of you to say that."
Grenwold pats Fenton as the ceremony commences, and helps feed him the mixture, as it takes effect and Fenton is infused with a bit of elemental power, Grenwold steps back, impressed. Fenton stamps and shakes a bit, and a few clumps of fur fall to the ground. His already majestic antlers seem to shed a layer of bone, and are veined with various metals, while his hoofs seem to be made of a dense, tough mineral rich crystal. His hide seems to have developed metallic ridges at the thickest points, and the ridges protrude at the thinnest points on his coat, showing crystalline growths here and there. Fenton's eyes appear to have turned a liquid bronze color. He nudges Grenwold after the ceremony is complete, and licks his head, a raspy, coppery smell coming from his breath. In gnomish,
He turns to Ighiz, "thank you, thank you. I can rest a little easier knowing he has the binding of the elements protecting him."
"No, you're right, we didn't have much of a chance. But we did our best, and we survived, which is worth something. Let's try to make up for our mistakes."
Grenwold approaches Ighiz later, and asks for the large barding he managed to get scrounged up to be made masterwork. He pays Ighiz for his time and his services.
"I don't have the power to speak over long distances, besides that power is more common to those who are sworn to Onos's aspect of air." Ighiz shakes her head.
"I didn't want to complain too much since you told be to scoot off to the Fangwood and you had no reason to even take me in."Skinder replies. "And who is Cirieo? I've never even heard of him?" Skinder asks Grenwold.
"You see, the issue with the Legion," Skinder says contemplatively, "Is that humans are the dominant race on Golarion. And horribly intolerant of non-humans. We worked with the Molthuni before because they offered us a place in their ranks."Skinder spits on the ground, "They just wanted disposable troops."
"We learnt your human ways of tactics and organization, then we struck out on our own. Since no one would give us a place we could call home, so we swore we would forge our own kingdom."Skinder explains.
Nigel tosses a bomb, burning the pixie badly.
Father Noelan fires two arrows at the pixie. One of the arrows bounces off a greenish-black shield while the other goes wide.
Grenwold appears to focus a bit, then waves his hand and five magical, flaming wings spring from the flanks of Fenton. They then move closer to the creature, with Grenwold switching to his morningstar and activating his fire focus.
"She resists cold and electricity, and most weapons."
Swift - Bull focus
Free - Drop Glaive
Standard - Cast Shield of wings on Fenton (share spells)
Double Move (Fenton) - Fenton moves closer, flying over the river.
Move (Grenwold) - Draw morningstar
"Believe me, I understand. Most humans in Nirmathas didn't raise a finger to help my family - resentment makes sense. But just as one shouldn't judge all hobgoblins by the actions of the legion, don't hold it against humans for their... humaning. Most people just want to be left alone, in my experience, human or otherwise. If you disrupt them that they can get pretty cranky. That said, the world isn't all bad, right? We became friends, and we only met because of all the chance encounters and difficult garbage that the world threw at us!" Grenwold smiles and Skinder.
”It’s not the same. Refusal to help you is one thing,” Skinder insists, ”but getting shot on sight is another. At least your race is tolerated, if not well liked.”
”You do remember what Nigel said right, he said that no member of the Legion deserves to be left alive. Does that sound particularly hopeful for peaceful relations between hobgoblins and humans?” Skinder asks Grenwold.
”Or would the Phaendarians be happy only after every single hobgoblin in the world was dead? Because of whatever our race has done to yours.” Skinder says.
+1 Adaptive Comp. Longbow, Durable Cold Iron Arrows, Precise Shot on Pixie.
"Father, do you have Align Weapon?"
"Nope, I didn't prepare that."Comes the reply.
Robert manages to shoot the blighted pixie once, then it vanishes.
From the same direction another arrow flies at Nigel.
Nigel is unaffected by the arrow, but now the pixie is no where to be seen.
Robert fires in the direction Nigel points. +1 Adaptive Comp. Longbow, Cold Iron Arrow, Precise Shot (to avoid hitting Gren)