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Plum is about to head to the guesthouse when she realizes that no one else is moving out of the square. She listens to the sherrif’s request. ”I’ll need something that can hit at a range. Getting my trident back would be wonderful.. Do you think that the Choker is behind this or something else has stirred up the Cloaker?”
"Thank Robori or whoever’s listening," Molume breathes, relieved. "Come with me and I'll see what I can do about getting you properly armed again."
After a quick jaunt over to the carriage house, Molume is true to his word and returns all of your confiscated weapons. In addition, he offers you a longspear, a scroll of Scorching Ray, a wand of Bless with 20 charges, as well as a single arrow. "This arrow has been handed down in my family for generations," he explains. "My great-grandmother used an arrow just like this one to strike through the heart of a wild creature that was trying to tempt people to a watery grave. It wouldn’t feel right not to give you everything I can to help you defend Mercy, so please - take it." A quick study of the arrow reveals it to be a +2 Cold Iron Fey Bane Arrow. He frowns a little at Plumeria. "Normally I'd offer you my bow but I might need it myself and I think it'd be a little, uh, big for you. But I've got this child's sling that I confiscated from little Gavin Morrow - kid was going around breaking windows with it! You can borrow it, if it'll help."
"And I’m afraid that’s about all the help I can give you," Molume sighs. "Wish I could do more but I can’t leave the town undefended in case that thing shows up again. The bats were with it so if I were you, I’d try following the bats back to wherever they roost - maybe you’ll find that monster there or at least find a clue or two telling where it does live."
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Uproot's eyes light up as the sheriff mentions the option of getting their weapons back. And then positively start to glow at the option of getting the cloaked all to themselves. "Really? We can have the thing all to ourselves? YES! Grilled cloaked is to DYE for! I swear I'd go pink for it! Maybe not as far as purple, though... You're missing out sheriff! Though I could probably save you a slice if you change your mind!"
"I don't know. I think cloakers are genetically modified." Sticky says dubiously. "Say, do you think they make pantsers or cumber-bunders?"
At the sheriff's words Sticky dusts off one of the pitiful bats, and throws it with both hands up into the air [b]"You're free man! Fly!"
It falls pathetically back to earth.
Sticky tries again with another bat.
"Oh...and to answer your question, I don't know if something's just stirred the thing up or not," Molume replies to Plumeria. "Do you think it's smart enough to...have a plan or something? You folks know more about them than I do. If it is that smart, then all the more reason to kill the thing and fast!"
After escorting you all back to the square, the good sheriff gestures towards the south. "The bats come from that direction every night and that's usually where they head come dawn, but lots of them travel back and forth all night long so it shouldn't be too hard for you folks to follow them. Just...take care out there, okay?"
He pauses, frowning as he watches Sticky try to convince some of the burnt and splinter-riddled dead bats to fly again.
"Um...not to be rude or anything but your friend...was he dropped on his head when he was a child? Er...sprout? Er...whatever you folks call yourselves when you're little," he whispers.
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Skarlit listens to her friends talking about the nuances of cooking cloaker and she suddenly realizes that she's famished. Visions of cloaker steak begin to dance before her and she feels practically faint with hunger, imagining the possibilities of bat-stuffed cloaker d'mercy. "Well, let's go! What are we waiting for? That thing's not going to cook itself!"
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Plum looks at Sticky. "I think it's the time he's spent in the desert it's made him a little um light headed." she nods. That's a good explanation. "Yep. Light headed."
She turns to everyone, "Sticky pick up your bats. They aren't going to fly anywhere, and let's get moving."
"I see...well, there's not much time to do anything about it now but maybe I can have Zuri take a look at him later," Molume whispers. "*ahem* At any rate, I'd better let you folks get to it. Stay safe out there, alright?"
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Luckily for you, even after the battle in the market square bats continue to fly south out of Mercy, their flight path easy enough to trace. You follow it out of the town, unable to help but notice that as you travel, the landscape grows more and more overgrown and wild, much like Vintner's magic revealed earlier. It takes some time but eventually, roughly five miles south of Mercy, you finally come upon a dark crevice that splits open the landscape. An oppressive heat pours out of the fracture, and the area smells like rotting flesh. Shining a light into the crevice reveals that it descends for about 30 feet or so before opening into a narrow hallway.
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"Thank Robori or whoever’s listening," Molume breathes, relieved. "Come with me and I'll see what I can do about getting you properly armed again."
After a quick jaunt over to the carriage house, Molume is true to his word and returns all of your confiscated weapons. In addition, he offers you a longspear, a scroll of Scorching Ray, a wand of Bless with 20 charges, as well as a single arrow.
"You wouldn't happen to have a bit of rope would you? Hemp preferably."
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Seedy also takes advantage of the use of the rope, looking a bit troubled as he heads down. "What is hemp made from? It's not a type of vine is it? My 'Dad' used to scare me sometimes when I was being a little bit bad by telling me he'd turn me into a rope if I didn't start to behave!"
Thanks to Vintner's rope and, for some of you, a little natural talent, everyone begins making the descent into the crevice with no trouble - even Prickles, who actually seems to be particularly skilled at climbing! Nira rides along atop the cactus, not perturbed in the least by his prickles and thorns.
At the bottom you can see that a narrow tunnel runs a short distance before opening up into a large cavern. These caves and tunnels are thick with an underground forest, and trees grow out of the walls and ceiling at odd angles.
The two most prominent species of plant in this cavern are quaking aspen trees, each connected to a single root system, and parasitic plants known as corpse flowers. The corpse flowers feed off the nutrients of other plants — in this case, the vines surrounding the trees. However, the quaking aspen trees shouldn’t even be growing down here at all.
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"Oh look! Quaking aspen trees...oh and those parasitic ones are corpse flowers. They're connected to a single root system. The corpse flowers feed off the nutrients of other plants...in this case the vines surrounding the trees...sort of like plant vampires, I guess! Only thing is that those aspen trees shouldn't be growing down here at all! Strange!" Seedy, the keen little herbalist that he is, shares with the group.
"No...rope," Nira suddenly responds, her head rattling slightly as she turns to look at Vintner. "No more murder. We...I...won't allow it..."
The doll then turns to look at Sticky. "I will...keep you safe. Everyone safe. Mercy and...all of you."
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Seedy also takes advantage of the use of the rope, looking a bit troubled as he heads down. "What is hemp made from? It's not a type of vine is it? My 'Dad' used to scare me sometimes when I was being a little bit bad by telling me he'd turn me into a rope if I didn't start to behave!"
"You can make pasta out of it too, man."
I believe hemp is made from the same type of Vine as Sticky. He is one we have to make sure doesn't get turned into rope...
"No...rope," Nira suddenly responds, her head rattling slightly as she turns to look at Vintner. "No more murder. We...I...won't allow it..."
The doll then turns to look at Sticky. "I will...keep you safe. Everyone safe. Mercy and...all of you."
"Er? Good?"
As Plumeria moves down the short tunnel the fissure widens and opens into an underground forest. A mass of leafless vines covers all of the cavern’s walls, and a colony of trees with white bark and pale yellow leaves emerges from the walls and ceiling. Thousands of bats hang from the tree branches, and a thick layer of guano carpets the ground of hard-packed dirt. In the southwest corner of the wall, the vines seem particularly sparse compared to the rest of the cavern.
You notice that the cavern actually continues onward past the thinner section of vines.
Before you have time to really think, a sudden flapping is heard as the cloaker swoops down from the cavern’s ceiling...heading straight for Nira! And faced with the cloaker's apparent ire, Nira darts further forward into the cavern as if to face it herself!
"YOU! Murderer!" she hisses, pointing with a small, wooden finger. "I will...make you pay!"
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Round 1
Nira
Skarlit
Seedy
Uproot + Prickles
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Cloaker
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Sticky
Plumeria
Vintner
Active Condition: None
Skarlit, Seedy and Uproot + Prickles are UP!
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"Whoa, this whole thing reminds me of this thing where our faction didn't have an emblem, so I submitted this one that looked like a picture in a frame nailed to the ice house door--I was going for deep meta--anyway it was picture in a picture of a phoenix feather on a golf course green. I was gonna use a turkey because they are so majestic and they keep well in the ice house for sandwiches ('meta', see?), but...."
Although the cloaker hasn't yet had a chance to truly make its move, Skarlit's blast of wood and splinters sails harmlessly past while Seedy readies himself to strike should the creature approach closer. Uproot, more of an up-close-and-personal kind of leshy, darts forward as he calls for Prickles to follow him. The pair charge up to the cloaker and attempt to tenderize it for dinner!
And both blows lands, despite a strange blurring of the cloaker that makes it harder than expected to strike! The cloaker utters a wail of pain but ignores its attackers as it moves towards Nira and provokes retaliatory strikes from several of you!
As the cloaker draws up to Nira, Seedy's readied strike goes off and he shatters a seedpod against the creature's snoot, eliciting another wail of pain!
Still focused on its quarry, the cloaker surges forward and engulfs Nira, grappling her tightly! The little doll reflexively lashes out, splinters and thorns emerging from her joints and jabbing into her attacker again and again but the cloaker continues to maintain its hold on her!
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Round 1/Round 2
Nira
Skarlit
Seedy
Uproot + Prickles
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Cloaker
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Sticky
Plumeria
Vintner
Active Condition: None
Everyone is UP!
Vintner conjures forth the Flying Frying Pan of Doom and attempts to smack the pesky cloaker with it, but the creature proves difficult to strike - even while wrapped around a tiny doll.
On the other hand, Seedy fares better and cracks the cloaker upside its head with another seedpod!
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Round 1/Round 2
Nira
Skarlit
Seedy
Uproot + Prickles
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Cloaker
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Sticky
Plumeria
Vintner
Active Conditions: None
Skarlit, Uproot + Prickles, Sticky and Vintner are UP!
Both Sticky and Skarlit continue trying to wail on the cloaker but the dang thing is just proving too slippery and flappy and floppy to strike!
Seeing how difficult it is for his companions to strike the cloaker Uproot steps into flanking with Plumeria and calls for Prickles to do the same for Sticky - and of course both of them continue trying to snare themselves a tasty dinner! And save Nira, of course, that's probably important too.
But even the Dynamic Hungry Duo can't seem to duplicate their previous success. Plumeria tries once again to skewer the beast with her trident...
...and faces similar difficulty, finding that just as she's certain she's got the beast dead to rights the strange blurring and flickering of the light throws off her aim!
Not all is lost, however. Considerably wounded, the cloaker suddenly releases Nira from its grip and attempts to fly up and away towards the southern end of the cave! As it does, the strange blurring of its space also seems to come to an end.
But Nira races after the cloaker, firing another barrage of splinters and brambles up at the creature as she does!
"No! Your turn to die!"
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Round 2/Round 3
Nira
Skarlit
Seedy
Uproot + Prickles
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Cloaker
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Sticky
Plumeria
Vintner
Active Conditions: None
Everyone is UP!
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Uproot gives a sigh as the thing takes off into the sky again. "Dinner's going to try that again, eh? Oh, wait anyone mind if I call him dinner? He's going to make the best steaks!"
Slightly annoyed, Uproot drops his scimitar and draws out his sling and loads a rock into it. "Prickles, hit me ... with the magic I mean!"
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Prickles, deprived of a target to punch, gives a slightly incredulous movement as his master asks to be hit. The surprise lasts for just a second though, as the plant seems to relish the idea of punching his master. The large cactus winds up for a second before the soon-to-be-punchee realizes his mistake.
Giving a small heave that you could almost swear was a sigh of disappointment, the cactus starts it's clearly embarrassing dance before reaching over and tapping the magic onto his master, though a little more forceful than necessary.
Determined to not let the cloaker flee, the brave leshies give chase and start throwing everything they have at the beast! Vintner's ghostly frying pan zips along behind, swatting away, while Vintner himself grants everyone a small blessing to help in the endeavor.
Seedy flings another seedpod, connecting against the cloaker's backside and leaving it looking a little more worse for the wear and deafened by the loud *POP*! it makes as it explodes! Skarlit tries a similar move with her wood blast but the cloaker is still quite slippery and evasive, even without its strange blurring defense.
Meanwhile, Plumeria and Uproot draw out slings and Sticky does something, which may or may not be effective! And although the cloaker makes for a rather annoying and difficult-to-strike moving target, the group of you are able to chase it down and pummel it out of the air before it's able to flee back out of the caverns.
Though your pursuit of the fleeing cloaker led you on a merry chase through some smaller tunnels and into one or two small, dead-end caverns, you recall the thick wall of vines back in the large chamber that seemed to be hiding another way forward. After returning there and pushing your way through, you enter into a small cavern cluttered with various items, many of them rotted well beyond salvage. More importantly, you also find the partially decayed remains of a human female, dressed in a tattered orange robe.
The woman has been dead for roughly two months or so and the cause of death appears to be several large bite wounds dotted across her limbs and torso...bites that would be consist with those of a cloaker.
Although most of the items here are too decayed to be of use, a search of the chamber does reveal a length of vine that holds two spherical seedpods. One of the seedpods contains a potion of Desperate Escape, a bright purple liquid that functions as both a Potion of Cure Light Wounds and a Potion of Vanish. The other seedpod contains a gray Potion of Protection from Alignments.
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Seedy looks down at the vines and the pods, nervously reaching up to touch one of his own pods on his neck. "Y-you don't suppose that used to be one of us, do you? I-it's sort of creepy, like looking down into your own coffin at your own corpse!" He gulps and then shakes his head. "Although my pods don't hold goodies like those...or at least I don't think so, perhaps one day they might!"
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Well... I think this is Amenira. Cloaker got her I would guess. She never did get to solve the mystery. We owe it to her to get to the bottom of this I think
The young plant draws his notebook and begins sketching Amenira.
Bite wounds. A couple months old too. Still this cave is VERY green. Maybe the key to out mystery is here somewhere
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Uproot happily starts to hack apart the cloaker as soon as he's positive that it's down and dead. He soon has all of the pieces loaded up on Prickles and ready to grill.
He then gladly bumps around the cave with everyone else, he frowns at the dead body of whom he assumes is Amenira. "Well, I don't think we can help her too much more... Maybe the society will spring for a resurrection?"
He nods at Seedy's comment, once the seedpods are explained to him. "Oooohhh, that'd be amazing if you could grow your own seeds with goodies. Do you think I might be able to do that someday?"
He then nods at Vitner's comments. "It is very green for a cave with no sunlight... Someone must be an amazing gardener! I'd love to meet them, see if they could teach me a few things about how to grow things in the dark!"
Although Skarlit kindly covers Nira's eyes, the little doll still can't help but hear the discussion happening around her. For a long moment, she's silent.
"We...I...are avenged," she finally says. "The Mad Shadow...no more. No more danger...to Mercy. This is...good. I am...happy? No...satisfied. I am...satisfied."
With Skarlit's little hand still covering her eyes, she slowly turns to face the rest of the group. "Now...I go with...you? Leave this place. Learn. Learn who...what...I am...now. I want to...do this. If you will...let me."
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Regardless of your answer to Nira, you're all bound and determined to finish exploring these caverns and tunnels, now convinced that there's something yet to be discovered that might shed new light on everything you've experienced since arriving in Mercy.
You continue to explore the cavern, making note of the numerous small tunnels and caverns that you encounter along the way. Thankfully, nothing else seems to live in this place except for the numerous plants that sprout from the ground and hang from the walls and ceiling and the bats. However, that changes as you come to another large, dead-end cavern at the southwestern end of the cavern complex.
The temperature is much warmer here than elsewhere in the tunnels and you see that a tangle of vines spins and twists out of the rocky ground to cradle an enormous seedling. Both the seedling and the vines glow with a vibrant green light.
"Oh..." Nira whispers, sounding as amazed by this as any of you might be. "How...beautiful..."
As Vintner reaches out and connects with the vines, the sleeping seedling seems to shift in its cradle...and smiles.
"Yes...that's what they call call call me, that's what they call me," the seedling's vines reply in a dreamy tone. "My children children children, my children. But you can call me the Verdant Spark Spark Spark, the Verdant Spark. They planted me, years years years ago, the green ones did. A new hope hope hope, a new hope for them I was supposed to be..."
You suddenly recall that a renegade druid named Ghorus created a new form of plant life that could survive the blighted landscape of the Mana Wastes many centuries ago, creatures that eventually became known as ghorans.
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Skarlit gazes at the dead body they believe to be Amenira sadly, and then tries to cover Nira's eyes so that she won't see the horrific sight. Some things are too much for a doll to bear, even such a brave doll as Nira.
Sticky sticks a finger into the mess a takes a taste.
"Yep, it's probably a human corpse." He takes another taste. "You can tell by the taste of nitrogen. Oh, and the clothing. Humans wear clothes. It's a dead giveaway."
As Vintner reaches out and connects with the vines, the sleeping seedling seems to shift in its cradle...and smiles.
"Yes...that's what they call call call me, that's what they call me," the seedling's vines reply in a dreamy tone. "My children children children, my children. But you can call me the Verdant Spark Spark Spark, the Verdant Spark. They planted me, years years years ago, the green ones did. A new hope hope hope, a new hope for them I was supposed to be..."
"Verdant Spark would be a cool name for a band."