A a whole minute goes by before the chameleon "speaks" again...
"Okay." it says. "Help me find a mate when the season comes."
The chameleon is now following Jaazkara.
- It has the Scent sense.
- It has a horn attack (base damage dice: 2d6, adds 1.5 Str to damage)
- Its bite attack is slightly weaker (1d8 base damage die. And only adds 1x Str to damage, unless the Horn attack is not used in the same round)
- It has a swim speed (20 ft)
- It has a +4 bonus against diseases and poison. It's immune to poison, diseases from the swamp and from rotten food, as well as ability drain from leeches and mosquitoes.
- It has a prehensile tail.
- Unlike most animals, it's not afraid of undead. He does still really dislike them, though.
If you take the "Animal Companion" class feature, it'll instead have the appropriate number of HD for your level.
Jaazkara assures the creature that she will help it find another of its kind when the season is right, and then looks to her companions perhaps a bit too excitedly.
"He will come wid us now. I will make da arrangements neccessary."
"Another reptilian friend!"
"Now there's more green than pink in our group" says Eitylen.
You move on. Finding your way back is much easier and not having to fight the undead is always a bonus. You find the raft given to you by Strom's uncle and row your way to the River Giants' village.
The shaman notices your presence with a rather surprised look, but doesn't make any comments or gestures.
"I see you survived... Good. It's bothersome having to deal with armed undead..." he says with a formal tone. "Did you face the guardian?" he adds while observing the giant chameleon following Jaazkara.
Jaazkara offers the giant the two white ironfin she managed to obtain fishing, and nods.
"We did. It was not so fearsome as dey say. More...miss-understood. And very, very good at its job. Brodder Cyrus spoke to it, he can tell you more."
"Sort of. We went our separate ways and it still guards it's garden. A flower grew out of one of the soldiers who almost made it and we managed to convince it that we came to bring the flower to it's heir."
The shaman raises a single eyebrow...
"I... See..." he says, somewhat reluctantly. "You're free to move as you wish."
The elderly giant then turns away and goes back to instructing and scolding other river giants.
Brother Cyrus looks around to see if they were getting ready to smash us if we said we killed the guardian.
"It seemed not unlike a museum curator. The only ones permitted to take from it's...exhibit were the ones who planted them or their descendants. If you were curious to explore the inner garden, you might be able to bring seeds and the like in without trouble."
"I understand..." he begrudgingly adds. "If you're looking for Strom he should be back in a few hours. You can buy provisions at the market, if you wish."
"Thank you."
Brother Cyrus turns to his friends.
"Lets see if we can offload some of that weaponry at the market."
"Sorry, shorty..." says the giant, apologetically. "I don't have the money to buy all this stuff... And I'm not sure if I'd be able to resell it around here. This things are too small for us. We have visitors on occasion, but not all that often. You guys and the two in the tavern are the only ones I've seen in weeks. You'd probably get a better price in a human city, anyway..."
At the giant merchant's words Jaazkara inquires, "Dhere are more...smaller people in da tavern...?"
"Yes... A thriae and a human, I think. You might remember seeing them last time you came here." he points at a large hut nearby. "They must still be there... It's the only place where you can rent a room in this town."
"Mornin', everyone!" a familiar voice shouts as its owner appears around the corner. Strom carries a couple huge baskets on his shoulder, one of them half torn apart.
"Done fishing already, Strom?" replies the merchant.
"Nah... A 'gator bit right through one of my baskets. Ah'm here to grab a new one an' then going back out there. Didn't think Ah'd see the smallfolk here so early. Half expected to never see these folk again, truth be told."
The merchant laughs and goes back to his work. Strom turns to you and speaks again.
"How y'all doing? Found yer flower?
Jaazkara greets the river giant when she sees him, and shifts the weight of the body she carries from one shoulder to the other. She rummages through her pack for a moment and pulls the two fish from it, then offers them to Strom.
"Sorry to hear about your basket; perhaps dese will help make up for it?"
"Good! Our resolve proved fruitful and we'll be returning to our people after we pick up a few supplies." Cyrus responds cheerfully to the giant fisherman. The priest leaves while the Lizardfolk offers her fish to the giant.
Cyrus' trader instincts kick in and he goes to the merchant.
He inquires if they get much rope out here in the swamps and if they don't, how much rope he'd be willing to purchase.
Strom smiles when he sees the fish.
"Ah... That's good!" says Strom, as he lifts one of the fish by its tail. "Those are some good scales ye have there! Ah can make sum good stuff from them..." He looks pretty satisfied with the fish you brought. "Ah don't have much money, but Ah can give ye some nice goods... Y'all live in that big smallfolk city, right?"
Meanwhile, Brother Cyrus tries to make a deal with the other giant.
"We use black vines 'round these parts, lad..." says the joyful merchant. "Rope rots too easily in swamp water."
Jaazkara nods and thanks Strom for anything he is willing to offer, then says "Doze fish provided a welcome diversion before entering da more dangerous parts of da swamp."
Cyrus nods and walks away...
"Tsk." He clicks his tongue.
"Heh... I'm glad ye enjoy fishin'." says Strom. "Ah'll take these home, get a new basket and then go back to work... Ye can stay here if you want, Ah got an extra room and sum hammocks if ye'd like to rest and spend the night... Or Ah could take y'all to the border of the swamp, if ye prefer. Ah'll still pay for the fish, of course. Ah just need a few hour to get yer payment ready."
"A ride back closer would be very welcome, thank you."
By request of Jaazkara, you decide to stay a little longer on the River Giant village. You spend your time resting and eating at the tavern, where you do eventually see the thriae and human mentioned by the merchant. Jaazkara recognizes the man's complexity as that of a member of the mountain tribes. Both of them seem to be carrying quite a bit of travel gear... They leave the tavern without as much as glancing at you.
As the sun starts setting, the village fishermen start returning home... Strom shows up a bit later and salutes you.
"Ah, there ye are." he says, smiling. "Here! Ah have something' for ya... Takes a couple days to turn'em into proper tool, but Ah'm sure ye can find someone who does it at yer city. Just tell'em to cold forge it. That Goldensmith family still livin' there, right?"
He drops a small bag with a modest collection of coins (12 gp ) and a bigger one filled with white scale-shaped objects made of iron-like material, each one about half a foot long.
"Tis about half of the iron fin scales ya brought me. Good thing to 'ave when walking the wilds... Helps keep disease away an' gives them pixies pause."
For all purposes and intents, this material counts as cold iron, except with a few differences:
- It costs no extra gold to enchant.
- If used to make armor, it gives the wearer a +2 to all saves vs diseases and poison.
- ACP for swimming is halved .
- It's not actually metal, so it's immune to all effects that target metal, such as rust. A druid could use an armor made of this stuff without any problem.
There's enough here to craft 1 set of medium armor. Alternatively, this could be used to craft:
- 4 light armors
- 4 light or heavy shields
- 8 weapons
- 240 pieces of ammo, such as arrows.
Or any combination of the above, as long as you keep in mind the proportion of material necessary for each item.
"Y'all can sleep in mah extra hammocks tonight, if ya like... Ah can give ye a ride tomorrow morning when Ah go fishin'."
Cyrus yawns and nods.
"A ride sounds like it'll save us a nice bit of time."
Jaazkara bows at the giant's offering and thanks him, saying that she'll put them to good use.
"And I won't say no to a nice hammock either. It's been a long day."
You (and the Chameleon) spend the night at Strom's "guest room" (which is really just a smaller hut with a few places for you to hang your hammocks)
Next morning, when going out on his daily fishing, Strom takes you back to the place where you first met him.
"This is it..." he says with a joyful tone. "Farewell, friends. Have a safe! journey!" he waves at you with one hand while handling the oar with another. "Come visit Águona again some day... I'll tell sis to make lamprey soup for ya!"
His rafting starts floating away... Strom waves a little bit more before turning back and putting some actual effort into his rowing. He leaves while whistling the same familiar-sounding song.
Eitylen looks at the rest of your group and speaks.
"Well... I guess now we go back to the thriae."
"Right, we need them to brew the potion and then we need to pick up Ayren."
It takes about half a day for you to reach the thriae settlement. As you approach it, you are intercepted by two thriae sentinels.
"Halt, strangers! What brings y-" the sentinel stops her speech halfway and widens her eyes. "Is that a corpse?!" she says pointing with her spear to the dead man on Jaazkara's shoulders. Her companion is similarly alerted.
"Who are you?!" she adds quickly, but with authority and confidence.
"Were we gone longer than we thought?"
"The Hive Queen is expecting us. We're here on behalf of Pillowstone. We've met with her before...we came to finish what Lord Boddam began."
"Er...We were here only three or four days ago. Cyrus, Frederick and Eitylen? The lizardfolk is a friend we met along the way...surely the Queen doesnt have many visitors that are outsiders. I'm sure she'll remember a human, a half orc and an elf traveling together!" Cyrus laughs at the absurdity of it.
"I'm sure we were quite the oddity if you ask around a little..."
The sentinel raises her eyebrow and looks at you with skepticism... Her partner thinks for a moment and speaks in their native tongue...
"Hmmm... I did hear something about foreigners visiting the Ivory Conservatory..." she says.
"I suppose it wouldn't hurt to check..." the first thriae replies.
After their brief exchange of words, one of the scouts shoots an whistling arrow at the sky... It falls harmlessly on a tree a few feet away from you.
A few minutes later, a third thriae shows up... She quickly glances at you and hits the palm of her left hand with the bottom of her closed right hand, as if she had remembered something.
"I know these ones!" says the newcomer. "They were here a few days ago!"
"They... have a corpse..." replies the scout.
"Well... They were looking for a dead man."
"Hmmm... If you say so..."
Their short conversation ends and the scouts leave... Flying away to continue their patrol. The newcomer floats down and hovers next to you. Her next words are spoken in common.
"Hello, travelers!" her words carry a friendly tone. "Haven't seen you in a while. Come with me! I'll take you to the Ivory Conservatory... I don't think they see you as a threat, but they'll probably ask for your weapons all the same..." the thriae then points at the giant chameleon following your group and speaks somewhat nervously... "And keep that... thing... Under control. They might not like how mammals taste, but they aren't so picky when it comes to thriae.... There have been... Incidents... In the past."
She does as she promised and leads you safely to the Ivory Conservatory through a very narrow road and equally well-maintained road. Once again your presence piques the interest of the thriae, though their distraction is always short-lived as they are invariably reprimanded by a tutor or colleague.
Once you get close to the oval building where you met Lady Qirra, her two apprentices float down from one of the large windows in the building and start hovering only a couple feet above the ground... They politely salute your guide in their native tongue, who does a short reverence and flies away, humming...
As usual, like the rest of their kin, the two apprentices wear quite a few adornments made of silver, gold and jewels... But these two seem to match each other almost perfectly...
"Welcome back, travelers..." her words are exceedingly formal "We weren't sure if you'd return... It's good to see our worries were unnecessary."
She points at your gear... "We must ask that you allows us to once again hold on to your weapons. They'll be returned to you, of course." ...and the chameleon... "The Ivory Conservatory is no place for wild animals... However, we have a painting class going on, just a few meters from here. I'm sure our students would be delighted to have the opportunity to paint such a rare beast. One of you can stay with it, if you so desire, but it's not necessary. We give you our word that no harm will come to it. "
"Of course, protocol and all that." Cyrus hands over his walking stick/spear.
He tugs on a piece of twine from his robes as an idle habit.
Frederick hands over his falcata.
Jaazkara looks to her allies, and seeing them comply, begins producing a number of weapons from her person.
"We appreciate your compliance." says one of the thriae with their typical overly polite tone. "I'll lead you to Lady Qirra. My sisters will take your fallen friend to one of our sanctuaries... It's not in good form to drag the dead around."
As she says these words, Jaazkara feels the weight on her shoulders go away... She looks up and sees two of the thriae now carefully lifting the corpse she's been carrying since the swamp.
The first one gestures for you to follow her and then slowly hovers away following the spiral stairs you climbed the first time you came here... At the uppermost floor you enter the one room in sight.
Once again you smell the scent of incense, honey and... sugary things.
"Greetings, friends..." says Lady Qirra from behind her golden table. "It is good to see you well. I hope your search has yielded results." After she says these words, she reflexively grabs a slice of strawberry pie from a collection of desserts and sweets in front of her... She then quickly adds... "Oh! Where are my manners... Feel free to partake as well."
"Frederick Forsythe..." she says, making some effort to remember the names of the rest of your party, but failing... "...And friends." she adds, somewhat embarrassed . "I see you made a new ally as well. Of all the things one expects to find on a trip to the Boiling Swamp, this is possibly the most unexpected."
Jaazkara bows slightly at the Lady's words, then eyes the sugar-sweet feast before her.
Jaazkara relates the sparse information she gleaned from her trip through the swamp, in particular the odd nature of the guardian construct and the strange albino man with the pet monster. She also mentions the spectre with apparent control over weapons and the forge area, with its mechanical "door-man." Finally, she inquires about any knowledge the Lady Qirra might have as to why creatures in the swamp and the swamp itself show signs of disease or corruption.
"This can't be the MOST unexpected, can it? We could be coming back with news that the swamp is full of unicorns and good fairies who have just been giving bad press to keep people out."
"I am Cyrus and this is Eitylen milady. Though I'd love to spend more time here, we have returned successful. To warn you, this flower has somewhat...morbid nourishment." With that, Cyrus unveils the Moon Rose from the Belljar.
"How long will it take to brew the potion?"
"This can't be the MOST unexpected, can it? We could be coming back with news that the swamp is full of unicorns and good fairies who have just been giving bad press to keep people out."
Lady Qirra lets go a gracious, lady-like laughter...
"That is true, Frederick Forsythe..." she says, kindly. "Although... If you ever deal with as many fey as I have... You will learn to expect anything and everything from them."
She then listens to Jaazkara's tales.
Jaazkara relates the sparse information she gleaned from her trip through the swamp, in particular the odd nature of the guardian construct and the strange albino man with the pet monster. She also mentions the spectre with apparent control over weapons and the forge area, with its mechanical "door-man." Finally, she inquires about any knowledge the Lady Qirra might have as to why creatures in the swamp and the swamp itself show signs of disease or corruption.
Lady Qirra listen attentively to every detail... At the most gruesome points, she recoils her hand to just below her chin, but never gasps or displays sign of shock... She does comments on a few parts of the story, though.
"I never thought the swamp beast could be guarding... a garden. I entertained the idea that it could be a construct of some sort, but no thriae was ever able to observe it long enough to give me more details on its nature."
"What an incredible journey... Are you sure you destroyed that spectre? Restless spirits are difficult to end permanently."
"Hmmm... Forgemaster? I have heard of this word before... Certain ancient texts in certain ancient ruins mention something like that, but they never specify who they were or what happened to them."
"I have never seen a diseased creature in the boiling swamp, despite its... hazardous aspects. Those trolls and fishmen you saw... Whatever affected them must have been caused by an foreign influence."
"I am Cyrus and this is Eitylen milady. Though I'd love to spend more time here, we have returned successful. To warn you, this flower has somewhat...morbid nourishment." With that, Cyrus unveils the Moon Rose from the Belljar.
"How long will it take to brew the potion?"
Lady Qirra looks at the flower and instantly understands what Brother Cyrus means...
"Oh..." she says, a suprised look in her face. "How... Fitting." she adds, her voice suddenly sounding rather sad.
"The potion... It only takes one day to brew. But... It will take much longer than that." says Lady Qirra. "There is a reason the Moon Rose has that name. It is only during the Purple Moon that her mystical properties are fully revealed... When a beam of that rare moonlight shine upon her petals, the rose seemingly absorbs some of its powers... Whatever they truly are... And its petals gain the purple shading of the Moon. Plucking these purple petals and mixing them with merope and certain herbs results in an... elixir.... of sorts. The elixir is powerful. I have seen it lift illnesses, poisons and even curses we had thought incurable. I am confident it will cure whatever evil haunts Lord Boddam's paramour... But it will hurt. Three days the agonizing pain will last. A pain unlike any other, if past patients are to be believed... One that not all can bear... Many do not. But the ones who do... Are reward with renewed vigor. They are not only cured of their diseases... The elixir also makes their bodies healthier, stronger."
Lady Qirra walks calmly around the room while telling her tale... She stops in front of a certain book stand and takes a single envelope from inside on of her books. She then handles it to Frederick.
"This is... a secret. It teaches how to brew a medicinal tea that I hope and expect, will keep the patient alive for a few months and maybe relieve some of their pain. You may leave the rose here or take it with you and then bring it back... Either way, I must have it at hands during the Purple Moon to brew the elixir. It is your choice."
"I would feel more comfortable leaving it in your protection, Lady Qirra. You would know more than we what it takes to preserve it, and I fear such a rare ingredient might be coveted by thieves were we to bring it with us."