The party looks around them, trying to discern the location of the voice, but are unsuccessful.
In response to Valjoen's question, the voice responds "I could be a friend.. if such are to be found down here.. and I could also help you with getting to where you are going." As Kaleb speaks up, the voice replies "Depending on where you are going, I may be able to help you.. Where are you going, or what are you looking for specifically?"
As soon as Valjoen mentions Tseka, an extremely odd creature comes just within the light. Minute in size, it slithers on a fur covered serpentine body, but has the head of a fox. It peers at you with intelligence and wariness before speaking again, this time obviously to Ashara. "I know where Tseka and her cohorts can be found. Perhaps if you were to show me some interesting magic, I could be persuaded to guide you where you seek to go. Knowledge of anything I do not already know will also get you what you seek."
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Kaleb makes a half-step forward.
'You want knowledge? So listen... Verily I say unto you! There are Lords in the Heavens who did not leave the creatures living in the darkness! They care about them and remember them! They give everyone the right to redemption but do not require to leave the cozy, dark corners! For as the owl hunts in the night and not be able to do it in the daylight, so many of the creatures of darkness will not survive in the world of light! And it's not necessarily! Good can come out of the very Darkness, as darkness becomes good or evil only according to the will of those who dwell in it! So hear me! The first one is Benorus, Angel of Lightless Chambers. He...' - and then with a deep poignant voice of an experienced speaker Kaleb tells the stories about the four Empyreal Lords, who have the Darkness domains, and who patronize the night hunters, good werewolves, good creatures from the dungeons, the righteous spies and other such individuals.
The creatures ears perk up and her wide amber eyes become entranced as she absorbs everything Kaleb has to say. Once he is done, she tilts her head, contemplating the knowledge she has been given. Satisfied, she perks back up. "I will take you to Tseka, and point out the patrols between here and there, but you have to promise to share with me any secrets you find within. I have never been inside of her hideout, and would love to hear about it! What do you say?"
Satisfied, the little creature nods her head decisively. She then begins to circle each member of the team, pointing out deficiencies in their disguises, helping them to blend in with greater skill. She bids you to hide any jewelry, flashy clothing, or dangerous weapons. Finally, she circles back around to the front of the group, and says "That's much better. There are several Aspis checkpoints that you will have to pass through.. I can move around virtually unseen. You, however, must pass through the guards. If you are ready, we can go now."
The lithe little serpent-fox leads you through caverns and tunnels, chattering away. She mostly sticks to the magic users, querying them with questions about spells, general magical knowledge, and rituals. Occasionally, she remembers something important for the group, and casually drops that into conversation as well. "I have heard lately that the Aspis are trying to ally with a group of alley bashers named the Dragon Fangs. This is what originally piqued my interest about them.. I don't know much about the Dragon Fangs, but I know that they are bad news."
A little bit later, she brightens as she remembers another bit to help you along the way. "I heard someone who wore a wayfinder defected to the Aspis Consortium a few years back, but never knew what became of him.."
After about two hours, Yrishi stops the group and moves into the shadows. From there, she whispers "There is a checkpoint coming up. Make sure you are ready, then just follow the cavern. There is a choke point a little father on where they stop people and ask them questions. I will meet you on the other side."
The party checks their disguises once more, then heads forth. Purple and yellow bioluminescent fungi line the base of the walls of this tunnel. A thin, shallow stream of water flows lazily through the passageway. Ahead, the guards stand to, coming to alertness at you approach. As you get closer, the nearest one challenges you. "Who are you, and why are you here?" he asks, peering closely at you.
Phantomblade
Kaleb
Valjoen
-Posted with Wayfinder
"Open it up, and lets see it then. We hafta inspect all goods coming through, on Tsekas orders."
The guard looks over the contraband, then gives the group another once over. Finally, he grunts and tells you "Alright. Keep on going..Passwords "The Serpents rise again"."
Coming out the other side, you meet up once more with Yrishi, who suddenly appears at your side as you turn out of sight from the guards. "Up here," she says "The Consortium is in an old temple up here.. not too much farther."
As you continue, small communities of recently constructed but shoddy structures connected by narrow tunnels give way to large caverns littered with dilapidated buildings, the homes of squatters too poor to afford to live anywhere else. Yrishi leads the way through, slithering from shadow to shadow, but making sure you can keep an eye on her. She pauses frequently to listen for trouble, but you make it through with no problems. Eventually, the caverns shrink, turning into crude, winding tunnels. The tunnels open slightly into a small cavern that ends in a wall of worked stone. An iron door bearing a raised image of a three-eyed beast on its face prevents entrance.
As you approach the building, Yrishi hangs back. "I..I.. can't.. I won't go in there.. You will have to go ahead by your selves.. I will wait here." With this, the timid little creature darts fearfully into the nearest mound of rubble and is completely gone from sight.
You move within the door into a large entry room with three ratfolk guards. Four exits lead out of this sparsely furnished room—an iron double door to the northwest, and three wooden doors leading south, east, and southeast. Worn wooden benches line the walls, and discarded bottles are scattered across the floor. Flickering torches reside in sconses around the walls. The guards jump to their feet from where they were lounging against the walls, and one steps forward. "Whats tha pass..?" she growls at you, suddenly stopping mid-sentence. With a cry, she draws her swords, calling the alarm.
Phantomblade
Kaleb
Valjoen
Phantomblade
Kaleb
Valjoen
Captain
Guards
The guards flow forward at the call of their captain, fur and small stature giving away their own heritage as well. With a yell, they set upon the party.
The ratfolk with the blue cloak steps forward, standing next to his captain, draws a rapier, and attacks Valjoen.
The red cloaked guard steps forward, draws another rapier, and attacks Kaleb.
"Bold May Post"
Guards
~Blue
~Red
Kaleb- 11 dmg
Zalkuthar
Phantomblade
Valjoen- 18 dmg
Captain (Green)
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Through the Message, Zalkuthar states "There a holy symbol of Lamashtu, mother of monsters, on the entrance."
Seeing them hit party members in the kidneys, Zalkuthar goes for the most logical thing to do when things can hit you where it hurts. Blind them.
Zalkuthar steps away from the action.
He hits all three assailants with a Glitterdust.
Phantomblade brings his elven curved blade down on the captain, eliciting a squeal of pain and a rush of blood.
Zalkuthar steps back and begins to cast a spell, sending glittery dust out over the defending guards. They all three cry out as their vision is extinguished.
Vlajoen then steps forward, bring his monster greatsword down in a scythe like blow, blood flowing from the blue cloaked rat. the blinded ratman quakes in his boots as the human threatens his death.
"Bold May Post"
Guards Blind
~Blue- 25 dmg, blind, Shaken x3rnds
~Red- blind
Kaleb- 11 dmg
Zalkuthar
Phantomblade
Valjoen- 18 dmg
Captain (Green)- 23 dmg, Blind
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Having a sneaky hit, Kaleb felt not only pain, but also a burst of rage. Using the fact that the enemies are blinded, he does a slight step aside and pulls out from his small bag a surprisingly big scary scythe decorated with skulls, which radiant some sinister light. After a second's reflection, with an evil grin he unleashes a sharp blow, putting in it some kind of supernatural power.
Kaleb sweeps in and takes a chunk out of the red cloaked guard with his scythe.
The captain takes a defensive stance, waiting for her vision to return.
The two guards lash about around them with their swords, hitting only air.
"Bold May Post"
Guards Blind
~Blue- 25 dmg, blind, Shaken x3rnds
~Red- 20 dmg, blind
Kaleb- 11 dmg
Zalkuthar
Phantomblade
Valjoen- 18 dmg
Captain (Green)- 23 dmg, Blind
Phantomblade keeps the pressure on the captain, just barely scoring another hit.
Zalkuthar decides the battle is well in hand, and moves over to heal Jaljoen.
"Bold May Post"
Guards Blind 2/5
~Blue- 25 dmg, blind, Shaken x3rnds
~Red- 20 dmg, blind
Kaleb- 11 dmg
Zalkuthar
Phantomblade
Valjoen- 12 dmg
Captain (Green)- 46 dmg, Blind
Although Kaleb scores a slashing wound against his target, it just isn't ready to shuffle off his mortal coil..
"Bold May Post"
Guards Blind 2/5
~Blue- 25 dmg, blind, Shaken x3rnds
~Red- 34 dmg, blind
Kaleb- 11 dmg
Zalkuthar
Phantomblade
Valjoen- 12 dmg
Captain (Green)- 46 dmg, Blind
With a mighty gods-empowered swing of his greatsword, Valjoen removes the head from the Captain, sending it bouncing around the room as the body slumps to the floor.
The guards continue to lash out at the darkness around them.
The blue cloaked baddie completely misses anything he might have been aiming at, but Red manages to give Kaleb another scratch.
"Bold May Post"
Guards Blind 3/5
~Blue- 25 dmg, Shaken x2rnds
~Red- 34 dmg, blind
Kaleb- 14 dmg
Zalkuthar
Phantomblade
Valjoen- 12 dmg
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Phantomblade will atk blue
He will use debilitating strike to make blue have minus 2 Ac for 1 round
-Posted with Wayfinder
Phantomblade strikes the blue cloaked rat-man, sending him to the underworld, while Zalkuthar send magic missiles arcing through the air to blast the life from the remaining guard.
"Out of Combat"
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After the massacre, Kaleb carefully wipes the blood with his terrible scythe. "I like your tactics, Valjoen... we can work together in battle. When this weapon hurts, it weakens those who are scared. They say that fear is a disease. This weapon turns these words into reality."
He smiles. After with a routine movement he pulls out a bag a magic wand and heals himself.
He then directs the wand at the Valjoen.
'So. What do we have here?'
Zalkuthar tries to stabilize any remaining guards, but there is nothing left for the spell to cling to, and the creatures remain dead.
Once assured of their demise, Zalkuthar then turns his attention to the bodies at his feet, where a number of things glow in response to his detection spell.
Kaleb heals himself and Zalkuthar, then carefully searches the bodies. He doesn't find any codes, keys, or other interesting things, but he does find:
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Zalkuthar casts Guidance on himself for each check.
Zalkuthar begins to list his findings for magical equipment.
- Potion of Cure Serious
- Potion of Invisibility (x2)
- Wand of Shocking Grasp (12 charges)
- Cloak of Resistance +1 (x3)
- Unidentified: 1 wand.
"I could take the Wand of Shocking Grasp, even if it's not all that useful to me. The rest of this equipment is probably better in others' hands, as I can heal myself and Invisibility doesn't boost my abilities."
The party splits up the spoils, leaving behind what they don't want. You are confronted with three doors exiting this room.
The party moves past the guards, and into the next room. A flourishing mass of purple fungus separates the western portion of this room. Two cages lined with straw and fungal spores sit ajar against the north wall. To the east, smooth stone covered in scorched images of screaming faces gives way to rough stone. As you enter the room, there are three creatures over by the stand of fungus, one large and two small, all three resembling moving mushrooms. The large one appears to be removing parts of the fungus and placing them into packs. Nearby, other packs are already covered, appearing travel ready. They turn towards you as you enter, but do not otherwise react.
Fungus leshys are spawned from realms of underground wonder or the rotting places of the natural world. They perform an important service in the lands they keep, encouraging the growth of fungi, transporting rotting material to fertilize other plants, and making the most use of growth that has died off. Fungus leshys are most active at night and spend the day in the forms of plump fungi amid their ripest compost heaps or fungal glens.
Fungus leshys are 2 feet tall and weigh 25 pounds, their spongy interiors full of hollows and fluffy spores.
Immune: electricity, sonic, plant traits
Can shoot puffballs of spores at a specific target, or can release spores to cover an area.
Most myceloids have deep purple caps studded with white lumps, and paler purple necks and bodies of tough, leathery fungus. Their spores grow tenaciously in living flesh, causing a rapid spread of painful purple lesions that, in advanced stages of the sickness, sprout tiny purple mushrooms; plucking these mushrooms is painful to the victim and causes bleeding. This condition, known as purple pox, is the method by which myceloids both season their meat and procreate.
Myceloids prefer to capture victims alive for later infection and control. To a myceloid, a living creature has three uses—first as a slave, second as a host from which to birth new myceloids, and finally as a banquet to feast upon once the first two destinies have played out.
DR slashing; Resist: cold, fire, sonic
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"Leshys generally perform tasks to encourage fungal growth and transport rotten material to fertilize other plants. Myceloids enjoy using living creatures to feed off of. I think they have some intelligence."
Zalkuthar tries to say "Hello." in every language he knows, probably unsuccessfully communicating with them.
"I don't speak the language of nature and plants."
Zalkuthar addresses the myceloid in Common, and it replies "Leave us be. We are here to treat with Tseka, not you. Your business is not ours.