Iris asks, "What's happening? Is he dead?" Upon learning that he is dead, she steps forward and tries to kick him in the ribs, but catches nothing but air.
(51-100 is good)
"Well done. Let us try to take him alive if we can.
For information."
Zelligar will use his Wand of CLW to stabilize the sorcerer unless he is truly dead. While the bugbear is still in Bran's grip.
Then he will start healing Bran and the mounts of their non-lethal damage.
4 charges?
36 charges left.
"We should get back to the keep or the town. I don't know who this Ozzyrandion is, or if the bugbear was bluffing, but let's not risk more than we need to."
"First thing's first. Let's loot him."
"Good advice to pursue the bugbear, Zelligar. And good advice to loot him, Iris!"
Having quickly overwhelmed their foe, Tal'ariel starts searching him for items, taking the wand away immediately in fear of some last gasp heroics. She tries to identify the wand, despite being fairly certain of what it is, and identifies other items she registers as magic. She also notes any interesting papers.
"It's dangerous to take sorcerors alive. One can't just disarm them, after all. Let another day pass and he will burn everything in sight!"
"I agree with Tal'ariel. I think we should kill him. Now, before he kills us."
"Most sorcerers can't cast if their arms are bound. It is my hope we can get information from him, through magic or trickery.
But I will not prevent you if you truly wish to be done with him."
"We can also make sure he doesn't get a good night's sleep. That should prevent him from regaining spells."
"That sounds like a lot of bother. We've all had a rough day. We need our sleep." says Iris. "Where is he, Boots?"
(51-100 is good)
"I think there is a lot to be gained here... Though I don't think a regular old jail cell can keep him for long. Those townsfolk aren't as prepared as we are. Plus if he is as fanatical as the hobgoblins were, we won't get much out of him."
He takes a breath and continues, "We can always try though... If we get rid of him there is no going back from that; I think we need to exhaust our options first."
Iris nocks another arrow. She sighs as Bran supports Zelligar's idea of keeping the sorcerer prisoner. "Fine, you may keep him, but he is your responsibility. You must feed him and take him for walks. If he misbehaves or makes a mess, then it is on you to clean up after him." She clumsily puts the bow and arrow away and mounts the ram waiting to go.
Tal'ariel nods. "Keep his time on Golarion short, is all I am saying." After stripping the bugbear of valuables, she assists with tying him up.
Bran nods and helps to tie him up. He knows at some point he will have to kill the bugbear for what it has done, but for now he hopes to get some information out of him. I'm always put to the test it seems.
"Is he all trussed up? Good, let's return to town. Did we leave anything at the keep that we can carry? If so, we should get more stuff to sell on our way back to town."
Zelligar's healing staunches the bleeding, but the sorcerer remains unconscious.
Rifling through his possessions, you locate a wand, two potions and a bag that's larger on the inside than on the outside.
He's also wearing a deep red cloak, with a red gauntlet grasping a yellow disk. It has several pockets for carrying stuff, but is otherwise not very interesting. Aside from the cloak, he's just wearing a belt and some cut off breeches to protect his modesty.
Inside the magical bag is two more potions, and a considerable amount of money.
Tal'ariel or Zelligar can quickly identify the lot of this stuff.
There's two potions of cure light wounds.
One wand of Magic Missile, CL 5(15 charges left)
2 elixirs of truth
1 bag of holding, type 1
743gp and 2980sp.
You'll have trouble making it back to the keep before nightfall. Even disregarding the pace you set here, you've been on the move for longer than half a day, and by the time you make the keep, you'll handily have been walking for eight hours.
Tal shares her findings on the objects.
Shen then considers the sun, now low in the sky. "It seems unlikely we will return to the keep before the sun sets. Should we head on back and make camp on the road as night falls, or do we want to press back to the keep through the darkness?"
Iris seems inordinately excited upon hearing a description of the deep red cloak. "That will go nicely with my disguise. Once I cut it down to size, I'll look like a proper gobbo." She removes it from the bugbear, folds it neatly, and places it in her saddlebags for the time being.
"I'm for journeying partway there before nightfall, then bunking down in a safe space."
"Off the road is probably better, if the Red Hand is sending scouts, messengers, or reinforcements.
We don't need to worry about feeding our prisoner. We should be able to get him back to town tomorrow. Although these Elixirs of Truth he has are not that potent, they could be useful if we can weaken his will to resist. The more we know about the Red Hand, the better."
Tal'ariel admires the halfling's resourcefulness. "Iris, with that cloak and your mask, maybe you can even start ordering the goblins around!"
Tal'ariel works with Bran to load up her horse with the unconscious sorceror. "Let's get going, then. We can cover our tracks as night begins to fall and break off into the wilderness some to set up camp. Bran, if you need a break, you can start riding the horse, or we can alternate."
"I've worked this body harder before. Plus I need the workout, I have some failings to work off to the strong man." He smiles at the offer and continues, "Though I'll let you know when that time comes, deal?"
He stretches and gets ready for a long march. "I'll keep an eye out for a nice spot, though someone else should take over once the sun sets."
"Day or night is all the same to me. Boots and I will find us a nice spot when the time comes."
(find nice campsite)
Zelligar will act as Iris's eyes for scouting campsites.
He will also try to add some insights of his own.
As the time to rest approaches, Tal begins looking out with the rest of the party, trusting her eyes to remain sharp in the dwindling light.
.
"Well, we have to keep watch and cycle through. I'll take the middle of the night, I don't need an uninterrupted sleep as much as the rest of you. I don't know how magic works but I bet its taxing."
"I can take any watch. Wherever I can be most helpful."
You set up camp near the road. There's some rock formations that should keep the light of your fire from being obvious.
The night passes without incident. You come awake in the morning, and find that your prisoner is watching you.
Iris rubs the sleep from her eyes. "Good morning, all. It looks to be a beautiful day in the wilderness. The birds are singing, and I feel a cool breeze on my cheek. Should we eat breakfast, or hold out for a hot meal in town?"
Zelligar performs his ritual obedience to Nethys.
He then prepares his spells for the day, including Comprehend Languages and Remove Blindness/Deafness.
"Iris. Through the power of the All-Seeing Eye, I restore your sight."
Our prisoner is bound, gagged, low on HP, and had his sleep disrupted multiple times.
"Let's have a trail breakfast and then get him back to the town. With these elixirs and the right spells, we should be able to get information from him."
As they ride, Zelligar will use Comprehend Languages to read the documents and books that Tal'ariel took.
"Glad to see you're still awake," says Tal to the bugbear. Though in truth, she was disturbed by his glare. She checked his bindings and gag once more to make sure they seemed secure.
She smiled as the cheerful Iris talked of breakfast. "I'll need some time to focus on my magics, so let's have some breakfast now." She turned her attention to her spellbook, munching absently on some rations.
Eventually, she's ready to be on the road again. "Come on, let's load up our cargo again." By which she clearly meant the bugbear.
"Well that went better than expected. Figured something would have happened, but alas I'm not complaining. Uneventful nights are welcome once in awhile." He starts around the camp, and begins packing stuff away while munching on some bread; the juggling act would be impressive if there wasn't a slight fatigue in his movements.
When he hears that Zelligar fixes Iris' eyes he just smiles.
"Lets get marching whenever you're all set, we have a long day ahead of us. Is that nice day that much nicer now Iris?"
"One minute, Bran."
Zelligar sacrifices Silence to cast Cure Moderate Wounds on the warrior.
Then sacrifices Protection from Evil.
Iris blinks as her vision returns to her. "I can see! It's a miracle! Thank you, Zelligar!" She hugs her fellow halfling uncomfortably tightly. "This is wonderful. My thanks to your gods for restoring my sight."
When she notices the bugbear staring at them, she says, "He doesn't need his eyes to answer questions - just ears to hear and a mouth to speak. Let me cut them out. Or better yet, cut one out. Don't the gnolls have a one-eyed god? Or is that the lizardfolk? I believe his name is something like Grr-munch."
She starts gnawing happily on the apple that will be her breakfast.
"They have prisoners, you know. At the bridge. Innocent villagers, like."
For someone who's taken captive and likely to have his eyes put out, he seems quite smug.
Iris throws her apple core at the bugbear.
"Innocent villagers in need of rescue... Are we buying this?"
"We will take the bridge and free the prisoners after you tell us everything.
Elixir of Truth is not that potent, true. You could well resist it.
But what if we weaken you with magic and brute force?
Exhaustion. Sickness. Spells of Fear and Doom. A Prayer to my god. What gamblers call 'stacking the deck'.
Am I using too much magic jargon for you? I know you're just a sorcerer, maybe you don't really understand these things.
Point is, you will tell us everything, including what forces guard the bridge."
"I don't know if we can buy it, but if its true then there really is no other course." He eyes the bugbear as he says that, in hopes of seeing some tell.
"We will have to make a choice Zelligar, and I think that it may be in our best interest to get the truth out here." He moves his neck and shoulders giving off a crack, "Besides, time is of the essence as it always is."
The elf too responds with curiosity at the bugbear's claim. She looks at him intently, puzzling out his trustworthiness.
Zelligar will cast Comprehend Languages and start reading through the documents for any mention of the bridge or Ozzyrandion. As well as anything else of interest.
The bugbear pointedly ignores the applecore, preferring to banter with Zelligar.
"You could do that. Takes some magic doing though, you wouldn't be much use at the battle after. You wait 'till tomorrow, rest up, maybe Ozzy gets hungry and eats someone."
He appears to all of you to be telling the truth. He's obviously trying to get you to head to the bridge.
Rifling through the papers - there really is a lot there - the first mention of either is a note that a company of raiders came back with prisoners, which Koth then sent north to the Skull Gorge Bridge for Ozzyrandion to keep. Koth thought that they'd made for a nice sacrificial ceremony for when the horde reaches the bridge. That's supposed to be the fifth day of the march, making it a holy day, and so any blood sacrifices to Tiamat would yield a larger blessing, or it could be used to summon actual devils, or something. Koth has only vague awareness of that kind of rituals.
There's probably more notes about both the bridge and Ozzyrandion to be found, but he'd need more time to dig it up.
Iris seems indifferent to the plight of the prisoners until it is discovered that their sacrifice is expected to strengthen the enemy. She doesn't want to risk battling any devils. Iris heaves a sigh and resolves herself to freeing the prisoners. "I wonder if we have time to return to town."
Tal'ariel notices the mention of the fifth day of the march being a holy day to Tiamat. That seemed like enough information to figure out the precise day the army would be arriving . . . if she could only remember enough about Tiamat.
"You are awfully excited for us to see this Ozzyrandion creature, aren't you? What makes you think we won't simply slay him?"
Zelligar will keep reading the documents as long as his spell lasts (50 minutes).
He will also try to recall information about the holy day of Tiamat.
"Who is this Ozzy? What does he want?" He doesn't know what the documents say, but he knows that its no good if Zelligar is entrenched in it. "We may have time to return to town, but if what he says is true I can't risk a prisoner getting... eaten."
He looks perturbed at the thought and waits patiently for the mystic to complete the reading.
Catching a glimpse at the papers over Zelligar's shoulder, to his surprise Bran can actually read them just fine.
They're written in infernal, mostly.
As for Tiamat, she's the five-headed dragon who's supposed to be the ancestor of all living dragons. She preaches that the world is rightfully hers, and so her disciples are to conquer it in her name, for her eventual rise from the hell in which she resides.
The number five is sacred to her for obvious reasons, and so the fifth day of any particular enterprise is a holy day. It doesn't imply a calendar day.
Koth bares his pointy teeth at Tal'ariel. "You could try, certainly. You might even succeed in killing a dragon. As for what he wants, it generally boils down to eating people, and taking their treasure."
Zelligar finds a letter near the top of the pile. It's adressed to Wyrmlord Koth, and declares that the Red Hand is on the march, having dispatched this letter by worg riders the same morning. Koth is supposed to order his raiders home, leaving only the fastest scouts in the field. It's signed by a Wyrmlord Hravek Kharn.
The letter sits below one of Koth's own notes - the pair of worg riders who carried the message will be resting for a few hours in the stables, before they're off again. The note carries yesterday's date.
"Wait, seriously? A dragon?" Tal'ariel can hardly believe it. "We can't fight a dragon. I mean, we can fight it, but we won't win. This definitely makes the rescue plan a lot harder, and the invasion far more dangerous."
-Posted with Wayfinder
"We certainly can fight a dragon.
Our odds will be better if we can learn its abilities and prepare for it. With the right support from us, Tal'ariel, Bran could potentially defeat it as he did the manticore."
Zelligar seems somewhat excited by this challenge.
"I would prefer to face it with the right spells prepared, of course. But dragons can be killed."
"This... This is in the Infernal script. Can't say that I expected this. Mind if I take a look when you're done?" His surprise is entirely apparent, though he is doubly excited to be able to read the text and help out his friends. "Sorry for not asking about it earlier, I wouldn't have had you beseech Nethys if I knew better."
As he reads it the fog clears from his head, he's seen this before somewhere, "Tiamat's followers consider the number five holy, probably in relation to the five heads their patron has. Its not really any specific day, but the fifth day of anything." He's unsure who has already read the documents, but he decides to speak up anyway, "If I remember anything else I'll be sure to let you know."
Upon hearing about a dragon, Bran looks equal parts fearful and exuding machismo valour, "We can do it, but we just need to be smart, much smarter than it." He ponders a moment apprehension creeping in, knowing full well the task at hand is far more dangerous than a hydra or a minotaur. However when he hears the spark of confidence from Zelligar, the balance of valour and apprehension completely collapse as he flexes, revealing a golden chain hanging from his neck and a renewed smile, "Damn straight! Plus there are slaves and prisoners on the line, I can't just let that stand."
Iris is uncertain if Bran can wrestle a dragon and live to tell the tale, but she is confident in her ability to escape should the party's attempt to rescue the unfortunate prisoners fail. "A dragon will be tough to beat. Should we resupply, or make all haste for the bridge?"
She cleans her fingernails with the tip of her dagger. As she does so, she stares at the bugbear and fantasizes about cutting him open. She smiles.
Conspiring with her allies, Tal'ariel has her doubts, but admires the bravery of her companions. "Well, we can always be lucky and catch the dragon asleep! I bet that's how a lot of heroic feats of dragon-slaying actually happen, no matter what the stories say." At least, that's what Tal'ariel was telling herself to feel more comforted about their mission.
"So, I say back to the bridge, attack before it gets dark and we're at a disadvantage. Pray that a magically flying and enlarged Bran can wrestle even a dragon."
The elf then looks over at the bugbear, just to double check that he wasn't able to hear her next words. Shen then leans in with the group once more. "As for the bugbear, you were right to keep him alive, Zelligar. He told us a lot. That being said, I don't think we can keep our Wyrmlord guest alive for such a mission. He would only pose a risk of undermining our quest." Knowing what Iris would say, she focused on Zelligar and Bran. "A quick, clean death is what I suggest, a reward of sorts for him talking. Even if he did speak out of pure arrogance and boastfulness."
* * *
As she receives agreement from the cleric and warrior, Tal'ariel heads back to the bugbear with the others. "You've succeeded. You have convinced us of the need to return to the bridge you sought to escape to, and save these supposed prisoners your allies have captured. Unfortunately, you have not convinced us to take you there as well. To the contrary, your words reveal that you are wholly unrepentant."
Tal'ariel slowly unsheathes her long, thin blade. "Is there anything more you wish to say?"
Iris squeals with excitement and claps her hands in anticipation of Tal'ariel's next move.
"You'll all die screaming."