The pet occasionally became restless, and was taken out of the bag to walk on its own, occassionally being carried on Hanzo's shoulder.
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While by the fireside that night, Janira tells many stories of the great Pathfinders of history. She gets more excited with each story she tells, until the group tells her that while stories are good, sleep is better.
The night is uneventful and the group gets on the road quickly. As the party progresses deeper into the forest, the trees towering overhead begin to shield most of what remains of the day’s sun and the vegetation beneath grows denser. Janira pauses a moment and pulls out an intricate silver compass emblazoned with the Pathfnder Society logo: the Glyph of the Open Road.
“I received this wayfinder when I successfully completed my Confirmation. Should we be successful on our journey, you will get your own as well."
She flips open the device and holds it in front of her; the initials J. L. are engraved into the inside of the device’s lid. Afer studying the compass inside for a moment, she remarks, "We’re on the right path. We need to keep heading northwest past those large rocks up ahead."
a tree falls nearby, and a buzzing fills the air as a swarm of Kortos Mosquitos rushes away from the sound directly towards the group!
Brundie
Hanzo
Ystrizz
Takega
Foe
Sirius
Felix
Hanzo Yamizaki wrote:
Hanzo remained silent during the journey, quietly looking at the scenery.
Occasionally, the little pet animal sticked its head out, looking at the outdoors and present company.
From where?
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Brundie, cool as ever, shoots a ball of force at the incoming swarm of insects. It takes a chunk out of the swarm, but the mass continues none the less. Hanzo moves to a safer position. While Takega moves to protect him, Ystrizz bravely throws a bomb at the insect swarm. The bomb lands dead center and ravages the mob, causing them to disperse.
Janira immediately runs into the middle of the group and begins to congratulate everyone. "Wow! That was some wonderful teamwork! We're not even to the caves yet and you are already working together well! Great job, Pathfinders!"
After giving the group a moment to recoup and making sure nobody is hurt, she speaks up again. "Ok, as much as I love a good tussle in the woods, we need to get moving! It's important we get to the caves before dark. If we don't get to the caves by then, the Gillmen may leave before our arrival!" With that, she rushes off into the woods.
The group continues to travel through the wilderness, but the group soon finds trails blocked by fallen objects, shortcuts overgrown, and other minor delays that cost time.
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Not even mother nature favors her chldren at every moment, and the fox returns to Hanzo's arms.
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Brundie, using knowledge he learned from an old book, sees a game trail and leads the group around the snarled branches and felled trees. Janira pats him on the back. "Phew! I'm glad you saw that trail! I would have hated to march all the way there before nightfall! A stroll is good for me. You know? This reminds me of this one story about a great Pathfinder named Harsk..." Her story entertains the group and makes the rest of the trip glide by.
That evening, you near the cave. Suddenly, the dense forest opens to a wide clearing at the base of a sheer cliff. Thick vines cover the surface of the cliff stretching 30 feet overhead. “Here! The cave entrance is behind those vines,” Janira says with a broad smile as she walks to the cliff’s face. She pulls back several layers of vegetation to reveal a narrow crack in the cliff’s surface. “This is where I saw the gillmen enter.” As she motions toward the aperture, the surrounding woods come alive with the sound of small animals fleeing some unseen danger and a large creature crashing through the undergrowth. The halfling worriedly remarks, “Quick, take cover before whatever it is spots us!”
As if she’d summoned the creature with her words, a massive horned monstrosity emerges from the trees. Standing eight feet tall on a pair of cloven hooves and wielding a tremendous axe, the bull-headed creature roars with unbridled anger when it spots the group. Wisely assessing that a minotaur is beyond her charges’ capabilities, Janira screams, “A minotaur! There’s little chance we can stand against it. Take this bag,” she continues, pulling off her backpack, “and head deeper into the caves. Finish your mission. I’ll lead it away from the caves, lose it in the forest, and join you as soon as I can. Now go! GO!” She heaves her backpack into the cave, casts a spell, and darts off toward the minotaur before turning to lure it away.
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Ystrizz seems torn between taking her advice and running to help her against the monstrous horned beastie... finally, his urge for self-preservation takes over and he bolts for the cave interior.
Not seeing anything of interest, he grabs the backpack and waits for the others to come in. "COme on, you lot... we've no chance against that beast!"
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His soldiering instincts kicking in, Takega draws his naginata and takes station beside the cave entrance and commands Matsukaze to heel.
"THIS IS NOT A DEBATE, WIZARD! GAVIX-SENSEI GAVE YOU AN ORDER, GO!!"
Once everyone is safe inside, Takega will send Matsukaze ahead and have her squeeze through the 5-foot passage and follow her in.
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"A Minotaur should not, and can not, be taken alone! Order be dammed. One of the rules that they taught us was to be there for each other and look out for each other! I don't fight. In fact, I hate it. To messy. But, leaving someone to fight alone is WRONG! And worse yet, you know it! As a Samurai, your personal honor demands you help, no? Or, are you only good for following orders? You know the Society taught you better than that! We need to assist her, we ARE going to assist her!"
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"Her tactic is sound; she said herself she does not intend to engage but instead distract the beast and rejoin us. She knows this area better than we do and trusts her training and abilities. She will need her complete focus on the task at hand; worrying about our safety will deprive her of that focus and put her at further risk."
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potion of barkskin, potions of cure light wounds (2), potion of feather step, potion of vanish, scroll of entangle, scroll of gust of wind, scroll of identify, scroll of mage armor (CL 6), scroll of obscuring mist, wand of burning hands (CL 3rd, 4 charges), wand of cure light wounds (CL 3rd, 8 charges), acid, alchemist’s fire (2), holy water, smokestick, tanglefoot bag, thunderstone, antitoxin, sunrods (2)
As the group ducks into the cave, still debating the ethics of the situation, you can see minotaur chasing after Janira through the trees, fighting its way through the dense undergrowth.
The caves are damp, and moving quickly is treacherous, from water dripping from stalactites and the distant rushing of underground streams creates an eerie backdrop.
The narrow tunnel twists and turns for several hundred feet before slowly opening to a wider passage. A large hole spans the cave’s width and stretches ten feet down the path. About ten feet down, at the bottom of the pit is a pool of dank water, about ten feet deep.
The corners of the hole are rounded, making it more difficult to climb. The damp ground isn't making jumping across any easier, either.
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Hanzo had not inclination to disagree with Janira's request to head on.
The comment of being cowards, by mr Brundie, got Hanzo's eyes flaring up.
The fox however rubbed its head against his neck, seeking attention.
His rising anxiety got averted, as he held the animal close and stroked its head and back.
Hanzo puts the fox back into the hip back, then makes a leaping jump.
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As the party approaches the deep hole, both Brundie and Sirius recognize it as an artificial pit trap, dug around a year ago. Sirius, having jumped across one before, and Brundie, having read about these types of traps in a dusty tome.
Within seconds, Ystrizz and Brundie see a cloak beneath the scum at the surface of the water. Brundie recognizes it as a Cloak of Resistance , a necessary item for any well traveled adventurer. Or so the books told him.
While they are peering into the pit, Sirius and Hanzo leap over the pit with ease.
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Takega looks down at the pit as he pets Matsukaze reassuringly.
"I would need to remove my kusari gusoku to safely climb these walls or attempt to leap over the pit. It could be done, but that does not solve the whole problem, does it, Matsukaze? Were we in the open this would be nothing to you but in these confines I fear you would injure yourself on the ceiling if you tried to jump across."
He looks at the walls and ceiling of the cave to see if there is a niche he can launch a grappling arrow at.
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Brundie leaps across, nearly slipping on the wet ground. Felix climbs down with ease, and treads water, waiting for another rope. Sirius sees a rock jutting from the wall feet back, where he can tie the rope to help the others climb up from the pit.
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