As Howard makes a mad dash for the other side of the courtyard, he hears hoofbeats and sees a spectral unicorn staring at him from the fog.
He also sees the vague outline of what looks like a barricade in the distance as well as 4 humanoid size figures, their features indistinct in the mist.
"Who or what are you?Don't get any closer or we'll attack!" The party hears a voice from the east. Howard can see it is one of those humanoids addressing him.
"And what is the weird shaped thing you have with you?" One of the figures point in Kaa's direction.
Kaa looks at Howard uncertainly, "Pam maen nhw'n tynnu sylw ataf?"
Why are they pointing at me?
Ilki pipes out, "Is the way clear yet? I'm not going through to get eaten by god knows what there is in the fog!"
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Howard frowns.
"That is Kaa, and he is under my protection. Kaa has been extremely helpful, and has more manners than some humans I have encountered. Now, kindly let us back in, so we can talk with the good doctor..."
He then pats Kaa consolingly.
"Yn anffodus, gall rhai pobl fod yn fawr iawn o ran pobl nad ydynt yn bobl. Rwy'n ceisio eu pacio. Sicrhewch eich bod yn sicr, os daw i lawr i ddewis rhyngoch chi a hwy, byddaf yn eich dewis chi."
"Yeah, nid yw dau garregwr yn braf iawn heblaw amdanoch chi a'r ddau frawdwr haen."Kaa answers. Then he adds on brightly, "Ond o leiaf maen nhw'n gwneud bwyta da!"
Yeah two leggers aren't very nice except for you and the raven haired two legger.
But at least they make good eating!
"Ok fine. But if that whatever-thing that is following you tries anything...we'll kill him." One of the figures at the barricade answers ominously.
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"Gallai hynny fod yn wir, ond byddai'n ddefnyddiol pe baech yn ymatal rhag bwyta unrhyw ddau gasgydd, heb ei wirio gyda ni yn gyntaf."
He then nods to the figures.
"Fair enough."
Howard then moves forward purposefully, to go and report back to the 'Good Doctor'.
"Urm iawn, os ydych chi'n dweud hynny. Felly, dydw i ddim i fod i fwyta unrhyw ddau ddarllenwr oni bai eich bod yn dweud wrthyf?" Kaa asks Howard.
Urm ok, if you say so. So I'm not supposed to eat any two legger unless you tell me to?
Howard makes his way to Doctor Wren, pushing himself past four robed cultists manning the barricade, the burning braziers, yellow tents and scrap structures and a horde of unwashed bodies to get to the Doctor.
When Doctor Wren Elbourne sees Howard, he closes the door behind him, "So is it done? Where are the rest?"
"And what the hell is that?" He looks at Kaa nervously, as if expecting to be devoured at any time.
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Kaa, sensing Doctor Wren's unease, bounds forward mischievously, yelling, "Boo!"
Doctor Wren starts screaming, "Arrrrghhh!" as he stumbles over a chair in trying to get away from Kaa.
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Howard chuckles.
"Don't mind Kaa - he has a slightly quirky sense of humor. Regarding what has happened with the others, well, they are finishing off the last pesky ghoul in the main courtyard out there. We have dealt with the creature that was in the tower, and the fog did thin after that; however, I dare say that there are more that need to be... erased."
Kaa rolls on the ground on his back laughing uproariously at the Doctor Wren's reaction, two legs clutching his belly, while the other four are twitching happily in the air.
"Oeddech chi'n gweld y ddau neid chwistrellwr? Roedd hynny'n mor hwyl!" Kaa gasps out between giggles.
Did you see the two legger jump? That was so fun!
"Oh. So you're a practical joker," Doctor Wren glares at the twitching six legged amphibian on the floor. "That was not funny at all." He berates Kaa. "Would you want someone to do that to you next time?"
Kaa continues to remain oblivious to Doctor Wren's scolding, still enjoying his little prank.
Doctor Wren turns to Howard, "You really should explain to him that not everyone enjoys his sense of humor. And he should learn to behave better." He gives the twitching Kaa a dirty look.
"You should have helped your friends with the ghouls. They're foul creatures that keep trying to break through the barricade to eat us up." Doctor Wren chides Howard.
"Zandalus and his most fervent followers are up the stairs," Doctor Wren indicates to the stairs. "Should you be dealing with them," Doctor Wren hands Howard a wand labelled "Cure Light Wounds", "You'll be needing this."
"Where is that lunatic going?! And the creature too?" Vincent says to himself as he watches them run past the unicorn into the fog. He shrugs and holds his spear ready, waiting for another chance to strike.
"The unicorn is a guard trap. Like a construct, no thought." he says to... Dakash, since Howard ran off and he doubts Seamus would understand.
Dakasy tries to clobber the ghoul.
The ghoul tries to bite and claw at Seamus, who hamstrung him.
Seamus feels an icy chill spread up from his arm as the ghoul sinks its teeth into it, and finds himself paralyzed.
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Howard grins at Kaa, and fondly rubs his belly.
"Rwy'n gwerthfawrogi jôc da hefyd, ond byddwn yn ofalus o gwmpas grwpiau mawr o ddieithriaid - efallai na fydd rhai ohonynt yn teimlo'n ddigrifwch..."
He then shrugs apologetically to Wren.
"Well, there are a lot of nastier things than ghouls out in the fog - we cleared the rooms, and I thought we were legging it across the courtyard again, but the others stopped to fight some stray ghouls - the last of saw of them, there was only one (heavily damaged) ghoul remaining, so they should be along presently."
Howard then accepts the wand gratefully.
"I am sure that will be useful. Thank-you."
He then begins buffing Kaa (having already buffed Claude), before heading upstairs.
Vincent stabs again, moving to flank.
Vincent stabs the hamstrung ghoul in the head, killing it. The ghouls have no lewt and the party decides not to search the courtyard.
Kaa makes a purring sound as Howard gives him a belly rub, and nuzzles Howard affectionately.
” Yr wyf yn gwybod, dyna pam na wnes i wneud hynny yn y barricâd. Ond un o ddau ddarllenwr mewn siwt doniol, a chau'r drws y tu ôl iddo fel na allai neb ei glywed? Pe bai'n dod.“Kaa answers smugly.
Yah I know, that’s why I didn’t do it at the barricade. But single two legger in a funny suit, and closed the door behind him so no one could hear him? Had it coming.
”What? That THING speaks?” Doctor Wren stares at Kaa, aghast, as Howard and Kaa have a private conversation.
The rest of the party haul a paralyzed Seamus out of the fog back to Doctor Wren, calling Ilki to follow after them. By then Seamus has regained control over his body, and the party sees Howard together with Kaa and an irritated Doctor Wren.
Doctor Wren looks at the party. ”He can brief you.” And looks at Howard.Thrn he starts complaining,
”And your “pet” there needs some lessons in proper behaviour. He scared the living daylights out of me!” He gives Kaa a dirty look, to which Kaa starts whistling innocently.
” Felly beth sy'n gwneud yr holl swigod doniol hyn yr ydych chi'n eu rhoi o gwmpas i?” Kaa experimentally pokes himself with a claw.
So what do all these funny bubbles you’re putting around me do?
Vincent raises an eyebrow and then touches Seamus on the shoulder with the wand.
Ilki decides to stay with Doctor Wren, which seems like the most sane place around.
A wide flight of stairs rises to a chamber that has almost entirely collapsed upon itself. Shattered pieces of wall and ceiling timbers, knotted like broken fingers, slump precariously. Despite the chamber’s near ruin, a number of tables, chairs, and bedrolls lie about the room. A hall choked with fog lies through a gap in the wall to the north. Three humans in yellow robes rise from their pallets and address the party."Go back down. Zandalus does not wish to be disturbed."
An old woman with baggy pink overcoat lying on the pallet, shouts, "Keep it down!"
"I believe we had an appointment."
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Howard nods.
"I did say he had a sense of humour; you generally need to be sentient for that..."
He then pats Kaa.
"O, peidiwch â mynd yn anghywir i mi - roedd yn hyfryd."
"Mae'r un cyntaf yn eich gwthio â chregen o rym, gan ei gwneud hi'n anos eich taro chi. Mae'r llall yn dilates gofod o'ch cwmpas, sy'n golygu bod y chwythu sy'n llwyddo i gyrraedd chi, yn colli llawer o'u grym, yn lle hynny, gan roi clis cas i chi, yn hytrach na chlwyf syfrdanol."
"Indeed. Let's do lunch! Kaa, if you please?"
Kaa then pounces on the spokesperson.
Kaa nods trusting as Howard explains matters to him.
"Om nom nom nom nom!" Kaa howls gleefully as he pounces and drags a cultist to the ground, nearly eviscerating him in the process.
Seeing the strange aberration unleashed, the other cultist retorts, "No, you do not have an appointment."
"Aggra, we're under attack!"
Vincent recognizes the old woman as Aggra Loomis, who terrorized Rozenport in the 4670s, killing several unfortunates living in the sewers near the Sincomakti School of Sciences. Reports of the murders referred to Aggra as the “Bag Lady” in the days before her capture, not as a comment on her social status—she was, in fact, a student at the university at the time—but due to her habit of smothering and choking her victims by wrapping grain bags around their heads. No one ever determined what incited Aggra’s murders, but psychopathic tendencies were diagnosed as a contributing factor. As such, rather than being sentenced to death, Aggra became a ward and subject of study at institutes and asylums across Versex.
Dakash moves up and strikes at a cultist.
Dakash crushes the skull of the prone cultist, splattering him and Kaa with grey matter. Kaa doesn't seem to mind.
Seamus shoots the cultist on the arm.
Vincent moves in front of Dakash and stabs the cultist (white), imbuing his weapon with energy (1min).
Vincent runs the cultist through his heart and he collapses to the ground dead.
The old woman stands up and takes a defensive stance.
The remaining yellow robed cultist throws his club at Vincent, then backs off into the corner.
It flies over his head.
Vincent moves forward to skewer the bag lady.
Unable to reach the cultist, Dakash moves forward and prepares to attack.
Seamus sends two arrows through the yellow cultist but he is still standing.
Aggra moves up to Vincent, with a sinister smile on her face. She then prepares to do something.
Vincent does not manage to hit her.
Then the other cultist comes from behind, drawing a sap and trying to club Vincent.
He seems to know the right spot to clobber.
Aggra then gives Vincent a hook to the jaw,also at the right spot, knocking him out cold.
The arrows whizz to the side of the cultist.
You find yourself in now-familiar deserted alleys, wandering an endless, alien city pursued by mists. Soon, a wall collapses, revealing a disproportionately small room. Inside, an ancient Keleshite woman sits on a stool at a simple table. She looks up at the you and offers a simple piece of advice, "Brairstone's mistress draws closer"
"Well then"
Dakash casts touch of fatigue, then steps forward to deliver the charge with a blow from his quarterstaff and twirls it around to strike with the other side as well.
Dakash caves in the skull of the wounded cultist and he goes down.
The first time Kaa tries to bite the old woman, she just steps to one side.
Kaa grabs onto Aggra and drags her down to the ground then rakes her with 3 sets of claws, leaving her injured.
She stands up, in which Kaa nips her.
She then tries to squeeze Kaa.
Aggra looks badly hurt as Kaa manages to bite her, but this time doesn’t manage to drag her down. He also claws her twice with his claws, the rest of the claws deflected by her exceptionally tough skin.
Aggra weaves a little to the side and Seamus's strike misses.