Unfortunately for Seyhannah, more pressure is exactly what Zoisa provides as meeting this stranger causes her to forget she was leaving.
"Wow, survivor! What's your name? Where ya from? What brought you here to Kelmarane? Have you seen a woman named Haleen? She's human? Yay tall? Most common expression seems to say "this is gonna suck but I'mma tough it out?" King's glittering giggle, you're filthy! Lemme fix that!"
She quips an arcane phrase and snaps her fingers and the man finds his body and clothes are now sparkling clean, with just the slightest hint of lavender and pesh flowers.
Felliped seems surprised to be cleaned so quickly, but he is most appreciative.
"My thanks to you kind gnome." He begins to address the questions. "I am Felliped, a member of the Pathfinder Society. My organization believes a fabulous treasure has been hidden behind the magically sealed vaults of Kelmarane's ruined church of Sarenrae. If you can aid in my escape and help complete my mission, I would be indebted to you for the rest of my days. My previous party...they.." he looks aside, not being able to bring the words to his lips.
Seyhannah demeanor softens, "I am truly sorry for your loss. May The Dawn Mother's light guide them on their journey to the afterlife. We can get you safely out of here, have no worries. Unfortunately our path takes us into the very place that you suffered losses. Perhaps you can tell us what lies in store for us, that we might not come to the same fate as your friends. I understand the story may be difficult to tell but I'm afraid it's terribly important that we know. " Seyhannah reaches in her backpack and offers the man her water skin and a bit of rations. Although sympathetic of his predicament, it's clear that she is hoping for his story sooner that later.
"Pleased to meetcha, Felliped. You can call me Zoisa, THE MAGNIFICENT!"
She punctuates the declaration with a small burst of conjured confetti that quickly evaporates.
"We were just about to head back across the Pesh Fields to report to our boss about what we've seen here so far. Maybe we can take you back there with us. I'm sure Almah would welcome any info you've got on Kelmarane, and you'll be a lot safer there than you are here."
"Agreed, it's probably not safe here. We've already seen quite a few enemies," says Arian.
Perhaps it's the sheer giddiness of the gnome who refers to herself as the magnificent, but a genuine smile breaks open on Felliped's face and he begins to laugh.
But at Arian's statement, Felliped nods.
"There are patrols, and I know some have taken residence in the buildings here. We must be careful if we wish to not raise alarm. I'm not sure of everything's whereabouts, but I'd much rather return to you then be stowed away wondering if you'll return."
"As for my story, I don't think my old mind could take it. This place haunts me, and I'd rather die here quickly then recall such a discouraging tale."
"Then let's get you out of this place so you feel better, Felliped!" Zoisa replies.
She waves him after her as she prepares to leave.
Arian posts her pole arm and offers an arm to help Felliped to come along to safety.
Faffnyr nods to the man."Are you wounded, friend?"
Smiling her toothy smile, she tries to encourage him to talk.
Felliped nods to the half-orc and his hand is bracing a large almost gangrenous wound on his side. He looks very nervous about the thought of going back into the open, but his adventurer's spirit steels him and he keeps moving forward.
;
Zoisa leads the way, preparing to retrace her steps through Kelmarane.
Arian follows Zoisa's route exactly - the better to avoid setting off any traps off the path.
As Zoisa makes her way out, she waves for everyone to follow quietly. Everything seems to be going all right for a while. You all duck behind a destroyed building and slide down a hillside before moving up....right in front of a gnoll.
The gnoll looks surprised, its jaw agape, one hand at its side and the other holding a meatstick of sorts. There's a pause as your party and it are somewhat stunned by the events.
Then it start's running, throwing its meal behind it as it races away deeper into the city.
"Not so fast, jackal-face!" Zoisa quips as she tosses a glob of acid after the gnoll.
;
Arian, similarly, charges after the gnoll with the intent of silencing it quickly.
Faffnyr does not charge after the gnoll, she is much to slow and her magic does not hinder.
Zoisa lobs a glob of acid which caustically begins to break the gnoll down. It turns around just in time to see Arian's glaive slice through it cleanly.
There's a beat.
No scream, no alarm, but you can definitely hear a patrol of sorts rounding the bend, not panicked, but most likely part of a regular patrol.
What do you all do?
"Cheese it!" Zoisa hisses as she leads the way out, ducking into the buildings to avoid being seen.
Arian spins and rushes to duck into an alley, a corner, anywhere that she can break line of sight. The gnolls will find the body, certainly, but they don't need to see her immediately.
Josria tried to silently get away, but her clothes got caught onto something.
Hissing in frustration, she was trying to get away, but she was making too much noise.
There's a sudden change in the patrol's gait, as in it stops and someone barks out orders to stop, so he can hear without their stomping around.
"Let´s attack the patrol!"Faffnyr says after remembering their parties inability to move silently!
Alem, staying farther back from the front lines of the conflict, abandons his premise of hiding as Faffnyr boldly proclaims the attack. The orb on his staff glows as he begins chanting his spell.
Zoisa peeks out of her cover to see Faffnyr and Alem preparing for battle and shrugs to no one in particular. Then she preps her magic shield.
Once it's ready, she draws her scimitar and attempts to somersault out to the others in a dramatic way.
She does better than even she expected, managing to add a cartwheel into the mix, culminating in a heroic-looking pose next to Faffnyr.
"Come at me, fuzzfaces! You face the arcane accomplishment and scintillating swordsmanship of ZOISA THE MAGNIFICENT!" she declares.
Five gnolls round the corner and rush to the attack after hearing Zoisa's yell.
Order: Faffnyr, Arian, Alem Enemy Josria, Zoisa
Arian wastes no time in cutting into the latest round of gnolls.
Faffnyr quickly casts bless.
"Nice strike, Arian!" Zoisa cheers.
Arian's impressive weapon wielding bewilders the gnolls, and its blade descends, bisecting one it two halves.
The rest of the gnolls, not to be slaughtered while standing idle, leap into action surrounding Arian.
Attacked from all sides, the blows come raining down.
Arian ducks and weaves and manages to evade the worst of the blows.
While most polearm wielders would have to back up from such a mob, Arian simply shifts her grip closer to the center of the pole and starts swinging both ends, first the blade, then the haft, at the gnolls surrounding her.
Zoisa rushes in and fires off some acid at one of the gnolls.
"Everyone get out there! Arian's surrounded!"
;
Faffnyr moves at full speed towards Arian
As Alem finishes casting his spell, the ground next to Ffafnyr rumbles and comes to life as the very rocks beneath their feet stand to fight alongside the warriors. His spell complete, Alem shouts some commands in language with many hard, gravelly consonants, and the creature melds with the ground and slides along to attack the nearest gnoll.
As his elemental goes to work, Alem conjures up a cloud of mist to blind the gnolls and give Arian a chance to slip from out of her precarious position.
One of the gnolls falls as Arian cuts it in two. Zoisa tries to help but her acid attack only singes the bits of fur on one gnolls leg. Alem summons a helpful fighter form beyond who surges forth, but is unable to connect with its first attack.
The gnolls, seeing themselves outnumbered and realizing they will most likely be overpowered, begin to retreat at once.
Arian snarls and slashes with her blade again as the gnolls back up, but fails to connect.
Faffnyr moves forward, ready to support Arian.
These gnolls each spend their turn running at full speed. They are about 150 ft away (not reflected in the map). Do you attempt to follow/act/ flee/etc?
"Let's get out of here before they come back with friends!" says Arian. "We need to find a safe spot away from that patrol."
"A most sensible idea, Arian!"
The big burly shecleric turns and moves quite purposefully toward the rear.
The living pile of dirt and rocks throws a slow punch at the fleeing gnolls, but then they're gone. Sinking back into the ground, the stones return back to their normal, lifeless state.
"The mist will cover our escape, but we have certainly been found out. Gnolls are cowardly creatures when they face an overwhelming force, but if they return with greater numbers they will be fearless."
And so, the party does a quick retreat, and helps the still injured Feliped back over the dunes that lead up to the city of Kelmarane. You all can hear the sound of excited gnolls start to grow, but looking behind yourselves, you don't see any large groups.
Panting heavily, you all stumble back into camp, no sign of any group following you. Almah, concerned over the manner you return and the stranger you have brought back with you.
"What's going on?" she demands.
"Who is this man? What have you discovered?"
"He's a survivor," says Arian. "We ran into small sandworms and a patrol of gnolls. I killed a few and they ran, but we came back here before they could return in larger numbers. Much of the village outskirts is empty. My guess is that the gnolls have overtaken the place."
Zoisa follows the others' tactical lead as they score a small victory against the gnoll occupiers and then beat a hasty retreat back to the camp.
"Yeah, what Arian said! His name is Feliped, and he's with the Pathfinder Society. He was exploring Kelmarane too, but he got trapped there by the gnolls. We've bloodied their noses and now there'll be fewer gnolls to fight to retake the town."
"I have a full report of what we have discovered so far," adds Alem, offering his journal. "There is still much of the city to explore, and there is a defensible position on the outskirts from which to stage our scouting."
Zoisa nods at Alem's assessment.
"So...has anything out of the ordinary happened while we were investigating?"
Arian takes the opportunity to clean gnoll bits off of her glaive-guisarme while waiting to hear about any recent developments. She removes one of her many scarves and unrolls an old rag, carefully picks off bits of gnoll bone and hair, then starts wiping down the blade.
"No...no, we've made sure to secure the area. I had hoped to maintain the secrecy of our enterprise as long as possible, but we were bound to be discovered sooner or later."
"You all look tired. Take a rest and plan out your next moves. I also have a gift for you."
She removes a scroll from a scroll case on her hip, and hands it to your group.
"Before he passed, my fortuneteller gave me this scroll. It was blank at the time, but now. Well, take a look."
Zoisa's eyes bug out into deep purple orbs at the sight of the magic map.
"Oooooooh! A magic map! That is so cooooooool!"
She seems almost a little TOO mesmerized by this relatively simple magic item.