Well, this is going to be awkward to ask now, so thanks, Tanith... Eben smiles fetchingly as the others make to leave. "After breaking through the lizardfolk's ranks to get in here, I'm kind of running low on arrows..." Eben admits to the guardsmen. "Do you have an armory here I could restock from? Fifteen or so would make my quivers feel comfortably full."
Carina just nods before turning to Tanith and briefly kissing him on the mouth.
"Let's just find Mom and figure out what's going on." She turns to Farrukh and Cuetzpalli. "Can either of you track the lizardfolk tribe to their lair? I think they called themselves the Twisted Branch..."
Carina bites her lip, but seeing that the situation has been calmed down, she nods and stands up.
"I should thank you for your hospitality, sirs. We'll be back with your men, Marzena, and some answers as to what's provoked them into attacking." She packs up her things and makes for the keep's entrance, clearly shaken by how close everything came to turning bloody.
The men salute, looking intensely relieved at the guarantee. "Thanks, ma'am. Hope your mother's alright."
They look at Eben awkwardly as he makes his request. "We used almost all our ammunition during the battle. That's why we couldn't give much cover fire."
That said, each of them volunteers a few, and Eben is able to get twenty arrows off of them.
Carina's kiss brings a smirk back to the big Kordite's bearded face.
He gives the olman a minor blessing from the Brawler as he looks for tracks.
Eben thanks the guards for the arrow supply. "If it's at all possible to get your people back, we will. Marzena is a friend of a friend, actually; we were coming here to consult with her in the first place. Don't worry about my friends, everyone is just a little on edge." He wishes them the best of luck with holding the fort, and heads out with the others.
"If everyone is ready, I shouldn't have any trouble following so many of them." He leads Spiny to the tracks and encourages him to sniff around, then begins to follow the trail.
It's a bit tricky to find the trail, but once Cuetzpalli locates it, it's not too hard to follow.
"I'm that friend, actually," Astraden says, fishing an amulet out of her beard. "I've got a little doohickey that brings a room coterminous to the Positive Energy Plane - here!" Healing energy closes some of the guards' wounds. "That'll get them on their feet if those reptilian shapeshifters double back."
She then turns on her heel, cloak whirling, and strides out after Cuetzpalli. "I've a few more favors left to call in, if our enduring spells run out."
Farrukh facepalms at Tanith's shenanigans, and follows along after the group as they follow the tracks.
Together, Farrukh and Cuetzpalli are able to find easier paths and vastly speed up the journey. By the time the sun is setting, they've traveled eighteen miles through the swamp.
”We should find a place to camp for the night. Anyone see someplace solid and dry enough to setup camp?”
"Well, we're definitely getting close guys. But we should maybe wait until morning, unless we want to fight our way through the swamp and gods know what creatures may live there. There are a LOT of bones around here."
As the group breaks camp, Astraden slowly conjures a plenitude of bread, stew, and drinks.
After a long, hard march through the swamps, Carina is more than happy to camp for the night.
As the group makes camp, she sits on her bedroll, her alchemy book at her side as she says a small prayer.
"Dweller on the Horizon, please let my path cross once again with that of my mother, and see her both safe and in good health."
Eben wrinkles his nose in distaste at the mucky ground choices he has as far as bedding down for the night. After some dithering, he picks what he thinks of as the least slimy option (at the cost of being on a slight slope and on top of some rocky ground) and sets his bedroll up on it.
The morning comes and the party continues. In about five hours, close to noon, they arrive.
A great, twisted grove of ancient mangrove trees stands before Farrukh and Cuetzpalli. Slightly elevated above the rest of the swamp, the grove is so dense even a halfling would have difficulty moving around with ease, and so wet even one of Carina's bombs couldn't hope to ignite it.
But the tracks lead within, through an incredibly well-hidden gap in the root structure. It seems to lead into tunnels that go deeper underground and perhaps, in some places, underwater.
"This isn't going to be pleasant. Astraden, do you have a spell that will let us breathe water?"
"Not for another ten hours or so. I've prepared a scroll, but I think it's best to wait until we know we'll need it."
Astraden draws her dagger and approaches the wall, eyes peeled for any guards.
"What do we want to do here? Try to sneak in? Kill them all?"
Tanith grips his poleaxe and follows Cuetzpalli forward.
Eben likewise looks around for any guards hidden in the trees.
"I don't know about 'kill 'em all'; there's probably noncombatants in there. I'd say, get in as stealthy as we can, and try and find either this dragon or the one the masked witch told us to speak with; Hrishka, something like that? I don't imagine we're going to be able to go without fighting, but we hopefully don't need to make this a slaughter if they're just being played by a dragon. If nothing else, just find their captives and get out, but I'd like to be able to get to the bottom of this too. Cut off any further attacks."
Nevertheless, he's readying his bow.
"Well, me and Spiny aren't very sneaky. But I don't really think we should split up."
"I'm not very sneaky either, but we only need to free the captives. If we can take out the dragon and whoever's dishing out its orders, it that'd be fine too."
Astraden approaches the wall of mangroves.
Carina's nerves are becoming more and more frayed as the party approaches the lizardfolk tribe's lair.
"Hopefully, I can convince one of the guards to take us to Hishka if the stealthy approach doesn't work..."
The grove itself is about two hundred feet wide and about the same in length. It is too dark to see the size of the chamber beyond for most of the group.
Tanith produces the Faceless man's arcane implement and chants one of Kord's blessings making his already brawny frame swell with additional might.
"The chamber ahead looks like a passageway... about five by seven feet. I'm not sure how long it is." Carina says, fingering a vial on her belt.
As the party gathers around the entrance, Astraden goes around and gives several members Olidammara's blessing.
Carina hands off her two extracts of shield--one to Tanith, the other to Cuetzpalli.
Astraden's spell settles in, instilling her with a feeling of mirth and relaxation.
Water (whether from rain or condensation from the daily mists) trickles on the mangaroos and drains through the earthen walls, floor, and ceiling in the lair. It drips almost constantly inside and creates tiny puddles everywhere; the place is humid and mosquitoes buzz shrilly.
Up ahead, a small alcove fills the southern end of a tunnel intersection. A few javelins and several wooden clubs decorated with shells are propped against the far wall of the alcove and a large clay pot holds what appears to be water. Mosquitoes cluster around the pot.
Astraden creeps behind Cuetzpalli, listening carefully for movement. "Left?" she whispers.
Tanith nods and gestures left as well.
"Left is fine with me."
Farrukh looks around carefully as they go along, looking for traps or beasties.
Astraden creeps behind Cuetzpalli, listening carefully for movement. "Left?" she whispers.
[dice=Perception]1d20+8
[dice=Stealth]1d20
"Sounds good to me," Cuetzpalli whispers back. He creeps up and directs Spiny down the lefthand passage. He holds the extract of shield in his off hand, and his axe in the other.
(which is right side of the map since we're walking in)
Carina follows the team down the left passageway, her hand moving from the vials on her belt to her light crossbow. She loads it and gets ready in case something jumps out at them.
The hall of roots and vines opens into a large chamber with a fifteen-foot high ceiling. This place stinks of bird droppings and the floor is covered with layers of white and gray avian waste. Several thick branches or roots grow horizontally here, and the scratches on them make it evident something large has used them for perches.
And indeed, five feet in the air, four creatures perch upon them. Save for the dull-colored wings and taloned feet, the creatures resemble feral women--save for the thick, cloying scent of carrion that hangs around them.
The women smile, showing sharp teeth...and begin to sing.
It's difficult to precisely describe the song. It doesn't have words in any language the adventurers know. Still, the seductive notes worm their ways into the minds of all those hearing them, entwining themselves in the consciousness like writhing parasites.
A victim under the effects of the captivating song moves toward the singer using the most direct means available. If the path leads them into a dangerous area such as through fire or off a cliff, that creature receives a second saving throw to end the effect before moving into peril . Captivated creatures can take no actions other than to defend themselves. A victim within 5 feet of the singer simply stands and offers no resistance to the singer's attacks .
Tanith barely manages to hedge out the feral women's captivating song.