The infected have all drank from the same waterskin. When you examine it closely, it smells 'off'. It turns out that the leather was prepared improperly. With help from you and from the trained healers in your followers, the sick all get better over the next few days.
Jarvak is glad the illness is cured. He continues to practise his performing and fighting skills.
Is there anything that you guys do before you set off to investigate the caves?
Jarvak tries to learn more about the caves from some of the scribblings he rescued before they set out.
Jynnjun makes sure that those staying behind know where the alarms are and how to tell which is which from the sound.
Xakroo will assist Jynnjun with telling whoever is staying behind about any alarms, while also making sure he is well packed for the travel.
Jarvak, one evening while you are making polite conversation with Aubrin, she remembers that a tribe of troglodytes called the Children of Stone may live in the caves. They often harrassed, and sometimes ate, the Charnesardo Rangers.
You are not sure exactly where the caves are, but you head off in the general direction you think they may be. You are about half way to the area where you believe the caves are when you meet a centaur. "Hello, fellow travelers! I am Yorc. Please, come join me for a meal of barley and apples. We can perhaps trade knowledge of what is in these woods."
Xakroo blinked; he had not heard of a centaur in the woods. Um...I'm terribly sorry Yorc, but we are in somewhat of a hurry to find safety.
"Oh my! A centaur! Like in legends! They appear to give advice to heroes! That's what we are, yar?" Jarvak says.
He does look around, trying to see if there are more centaurs or if this could be a trap, or if the centaur is actually two men in costume, which would really disappoint him.
He then steps forward to greet the Centaur.
"Greetings great and noble centaur! Me goblin! Yes, good to trade knowledge! But what might centaur want? Our rations drier than sand; taste like firewood," Jarvak says.
"Morgryn's got some booze though, if it's not all been drunk," adds Jynnjun. "You've heard about the hobgoblins, right?"
Kwiazy looks in wonder at the Centaur, never having seen one before... he leans over toward Jarvak and whispers in goblin, "Him gots horse's a$$! Him cursed by witch mebbe? Think he knowz?"
"I meant to share my meal with you, little friends."
Well, I do thank you for the kind gesture, sir, the kobold says, bowing a bit to the centaur, But I am afraid that when I said we are in a hurry to find safety, I truly mean we are running out of time as we speak.
He does have a somewhat serious look, noticing that...somehow, something was wrong.
"You think horse-man is good? Me feeling hungry now..." Jarvak says.
The centaur shows you a big bowl of juicy looking red apples.
Yewleaf slowly begins to edge towards the back of the centaur talking as he moves slowly. "We just ate friend, I apologize but we must decline your offer even though those apples look delicious. "
"Me like apples!" Kwiazy starts to move toward the centaur, a little disappointed that horsemeat was apparently off the menu.
"No those apples are likely poisoned Kwiazy, this centaur is not what he seems to be, don't eat any of them." Yewleaf turns and bows, "Sorry, his grasp of this language is poor, he didn't understand what I said so I had to clarify."
Unaware of what the problem is but sure that something's wrong, Jynnjun casts a quick message spell at Yewleaf, Kwiazy and Xakroo. "Hey guys, what's the deal? Four-legs seems decent enough."
Xakroo glares at the apples, then at the centaur before backing away a bit without saying a single word.
Kwiazy looks from the apples to Yewleaf to the centaur. back to Yewleaf in goblin he says:
Seeing your reaction, the centaur prepares to attack.
Everyone but Jynnjun is up!
Jarvak tries to flank with the others and stabs at the centaur with his rapier.
"Why you do this, noble horse-man? We could be friends!"
Xakroo bounds back and fires two arrows at the centaur.
Kwiazy steps up into flank and attacks the centaur with his cold iron MW scimitar.
Yewleaf slices and dices the Centaurs flank hoping to put him down.
The centaur goes down under your onslaught.
When you search his body, you find:
A large glass bottle of a strange looking liquid
375 gp
a rough map to the troglodyte caves
a package sealed with parchment and wax. The package contains a note and an amulet of natural armor +2.
Salutations Children of the Stone,
My emissary approaches you as
a sign of respect, but by now you
have seen my soldiers move unchecked
across this green and fertile land.
The Ironfang Legion means to make
all of Nirmathas a home to those the
humans would hunt, and turn those
same humans into our servants and
prey. You would be wise to join our
alliance. There is no room for neutral
parties when war is all around you,
and only one side in this conflict will
offer you strength and shelter.
As a sign of the protection the
Legion offers, kindly accept this
token of my generosity. Take your time
in making your decision, but I trust
you will come to the conclusion that
provides your small and vulnerable tribe
a future.
Kindest regards,
General Azaersi
Yewleaf wipes his bloodied blades on a cloth and slides them into their sheathes. He looks up to the rest of the party, "So it seems like our nice Centaur friend decided that this deal was worth taking, this is useful information, I wonder who these Children of the Stone are." He searches through the rest of his goods and pull out the map, "Ah, perhaps this is the caves we are searching for, so what next." He scans it to gain a sense of where to go.
Morgryn had been taking a long pull from one of the bottles of whiskey after one of the goblins had mentioned 'booze'. He brought the bottle back down and saw that his allies had decimated the centaur while he had been drinking. He huffed out angrily. "Hey! Ye did nae even WAIT fer me, scoundrels! So rude!" He quickly took another shorter pull on the bottle before re-sealing it and putting it away.
He wiped the remnants from his mouth and beard. "Right! Onward then?"
"We could have learned so much from each other.." Jarvak says. He composes a song for the fallen centaur, and then prepares for the journey ahead.
You follow Yorc's map and find yourself at the entrance to a system of caves. Beyond the tangle of roots shading the cave entrance, a
narrow tunnel slopes sharply down. The tips of tree roots
protrude from the ceiling like stained teeth. Faint light from
outside catches on a streak of cloudy teal crystal running
along the length of one wall. Bulbous brown and purple
fungal growths sprout from the ground, and an unpleasant,
faintly sulfurous odor hangs in the air.
Jarvak tries to identify the fungus.
"This place look nasty..."
"Smells nasty too!" Kwiazy says, wrinkling his nose in distaste.
Xakroo immediately dislikes the look of the cavern entrance; he tries to help Jarvak identify the fungus, as well as anything else out of the ordinary.
"That smell... there could be hot springs here! Perfect!"
Morgryn walked along as they followed the map. He slowly looked around as they stepped inside the caves. His nose wrinkled and his lip curled, his hands tightening on the polearm as he strode forward. Under his breath hu muttered, "...reminds me too much o'home." He was on his guard since it did indeed kind of remind him of the Underdark a bit.
"Hotsprings? me thought a dwarf farted!" He blinks, looks at Morgryn... "... or an elf"
Jarvak, you recognize shrieker mushrooms. They will go off when hit by light, or if anyone comes close. You notice that they are located so that the rays of the setting sun will hit them every evening.
Turning to her fellow kobold she suggests, "Xakroo, if we can get past those mushrooms without making a noise, your weak eyes will be a problem. Could you wait out here and give us a warning if something too big to fight comes along - shoot the shriekers or something?
"Or maybe we should get past when they're shrieking anyway? Who's for waiting? The same story for Xak - light gives us away from farther than we can use it to see."
Jarvak informs the rest of the party about the shriekers. "Screaming mushrooms! Hmmm... or maybe we can attack them and lure whatever in cave out?"
Jynjunn, knowledge geography suggests you aren't smelling hot springs.
Xakroo, with a bonus like that to knowledge:nature I'm going to say that you passively know that you are smelling troglodyte stench.
Xakroo nods to Jynnjun's suggestion. Thank you, but my eyes are not as sensitive as most kobold eyes-some light in them will not be a bother. What I'm more concerned though... he snarls, glaring at the mouth of the cave, are troglodytes. I recognize the stench even from here...