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After teaching the kobold leader about Torag you head back to Fort Bandu with the miners.
Striking a blow against the kobolds demonstrates Fort Bandu’s ability to defend its territory and reduces the likelihood of future kobold raids. Praetor Sylien is pleased with the results of your mission. For the Pathfinders, though, the victory is incomplete without having found Venture-Captain Nieford Sharrowsmith, whose journal entries confirm he had explored part of Ashkurhall before implying he traveled to the Mwangi Expanse to find the Krihirik. Sylien is amenable to helping you further, and he recognizes that the Krihirik are a tribe of grippli that live in the Kaava Lands just northwest of the Bandu Hills. He further shares that a member of the tribe visits several times a year to barter for good and gems, who left only a yesterday morning. What’s more, Amersanus Valacosti abruptly wrapped up his business at the fort and departed in the same direction only a few hours later.
Yeah!
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The journey from Fort Bandu to the Kaava Lands is oppressively hot, but it gets easier as the days go on and the terrain transitions from rugged foothills to open grasslands before giving way to dense jungle. Following the directions from Fort Bandu’s garrison captain, it is not difficult to find Krihirik village, which lies approximately ten miles inside the jungle’s border — and twenty feet off the ground. Narrow rope bridges connect a few dozen tree-dwellings overhead, forming a small but secure community. Bright-skinned, bulging-eyed gripplis go about their daily business nearby. Crates and sacks of trade goods litter the jungle floor, and several gripplis busily inspect a bundle of swords, throwing down their spears and nets in favor of freshly forged steel.
A blue-and-brown-skinned grippli in practical traveling clothes bounds forward and holds out his webbed hands in welcome. "More visitors come to trade with the Krihirik? You are most welcome here, though I fear we have little to offer at this time. Or perhaps there’s some other reason you came all this way?"
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A dark skinned man appear with a group of other adventurers. He has a crow on his green robe.
It will be great to do some exchange but we have already done it in Natambu. We are pathfinder. We are our looking for the venture-captain Nieford Sharrowsmith.
Also, a Garundi with the name of Amersanus Valacosti should have also came here. We would like to know if it is true and what he was doing.
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"He did not talk much. He was looking for an artifact, that's all I know." the gripply answers. He turns up to the gripplies in the trees and whistles.
Several gripplies lower a tall ladder from the trees to the jungle floor.
After you climbed up Gwellik asks you to follow him. Rickety rope bridges connect half a dozen grippli tree houses to one another, though to the north, many more appear overgrown and abandoned. One dwelling is larger than the others, hangs over a small pond. Inside, three gripplis with mottled gray-brown skin pass a finely crafted short sword back and forth with admiration. Gwellik announces you to the grippli elders, and introduces them to you: Mother Bogwynne, the lorekeeper and chief elder; Finyik, the hunt-master; and Diblop, the chief brew-mistress and miracle worker.
Mother Bogwynne, the largest of the gripplis, slowly gets to her feet and hands the sword to the trader. "Thank you Gwellik. You have done well in our time of need, bringing both weapons and travelers from afar to lend aid to the Krihirik." She pauses and looks over her guests in the meetinghouse. "What brings you here?" she asks.
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Beorin begins the opening.
"We are on the trail of one of our own. He had left clues that he'd be heading here or at least having to pass through here. His journal made mention of your tribe and it also mentioned a orb os sorts to deal with a Golden Guardian." Pausing a moment to let what he has shared rest, he continues.
"It is our hope that perhaps, you could share with us what you know of such things as we are certain other interested factions are making their moves to obtain and perhaps with malign intentions."
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"So, you seek a weapon to fight against the guardian of the Bandu Hills? Word of our tribe’s secret seems to have reached many ears of late. The Krihirik have such an object, but it is a treasured possession, entrusted to us long ago — one we could not surrender lightly. However..." She looks to Finyik, the hunt-master, whose old bones creak as he gets to his feet to speak.
"We are fewer in number with each season, for we are hemmed in by enemies on all sides. Those who would seek our remaining weapon would do well to bring us one in return, and this is the same opportunity we gave to those who came before you. Travel to Deepblood Ridge, where two beasts of the Kaava Lands reign, and bring back one or more of their eggs. These we can nurture as our own, far from the hungry talons of the lizardfolk who fear the beasts and would eat their young. Do this while surviving the dangers of our forest home, and you shall have our gratitude and our respect." Finyik sits down, and Diblop, by far the oldest and grayest of the three, speaks.
"The great scaled ones are mighty creatures, the king and queen of the Kaava Lands’ many beasts. But the lizardfolk — may curses haunt their breed to the ends of the jungle — chased them off, leaving the nest vulnerable. Now is the time to strike! Those who can defy the lizardfolk and aid us now will be most fit to wield the weapon dwarves gave us so long ago and end the vile guardian’s threat once and for all."
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"Yes, they are a small group of explorers Gwellik brought back from a recent trade expedition. They seemed eager to help us with our problem. One of them was carrying an emblem of a snake. We Krihirik have suffered much at the claws of the lizardfolk in recent years, and we hear rumors that the guardian of the Bandu Hills is causing trouble and fear that it might come this way. With so few warriors left, we can appreciate a stranger’s help, even if it would not normally be our way. The great scaled ones, your kind calls them dinosaurs. They are the mightiest creatures for miles in any direction, dangerous and untamable. The lizardfolk must have suffered great losses in chasing them off. The lizardfolk are cruel and disgusting creatures who eat the flesh of anyone they can get their claws on — including us. We have warred with them for many generations, but now they have the upper hand. They think only of resources, and any threat to their food sources is their enemy. If they find the eggs first, they will simply eat them as a way of eliminating a future competitor." Mother Bogwynne answers to your questions.
Deepblood Ravine runs from northeast to southwest in the eastern Kaava Lands. Most of the ravine’s western half is close to lizardfolk territory, and the eastern half is generally considered less dangerous.
Deepblood Ravine was once the home of a large tribe of lizardfolk, but the arrival of carnivorous dinosaurs in the ravine drove them out. Ever since, the lizardfolk have aggressively expanded their territory in every other direction.
The lizardfolk of the Kaava Lands are generally more open than others of their kind when dealing with non-lizardfolk. Nonetheless, they are highly unpredictable, proud, and violent — a combination that has resulted in a many deadly encounters over the years. The lizardfolk of Deepblood Ravine, in particular, are aggressively pragmatic survivors. Their conquest of the Krihirik village is inevitable unless the gripplis can secure some advantage.
Based on the Krihirik gripplis’ descriptions, a human with terrible scars on his arms leads the explorers. He carries numerous daggers, seems to know his way around the jungle, and wore a strange metal badge with a snake insignia. His colleagues sometimes referred to him by the nickname Fiveknives.
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Irisus looks a moment into the sky and than says:
"If I remember what my grandpa said about this region. We should go to the eastern half of the Deepblood Ravine. The West is the home of the Lizardfolk. But, since the arrival of carnivorous dinosaurs the lizard folk have aggressively expanded their territory in every other direction."
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You leave the grippli village. The jungle canopy shades the understory during the day, casting the ground in dim light even at noon. Some parts of the wilderness are especially dense with vines, tree trunks, and broad-leafed plants that try to soak up what little light reaches the ground. Other stretches are relatively open thanks to the relative darkness. Thankfully, the Kaava Lands are slightly less humid than other parts of the Mwangi Expanse and don’t expose you to dangerous heat levels.
The Kaava Lands teem with wildlife, from squawking birds and stinging insects to humongous trees that create a dense canopy above. Vines, roots, and large-leaved plants cover much of the ground. The gripplis’ directions lead northwest through the dark, virtually trackless terrain. The myriad sounds of the jungle grow louder, and the undergrowth grows thicker, as the Krihirik village vanishes into the distance.
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On your way through the jungle you spot several tracks left by your rival explorers, which include at least six Medium humanoids and a curious set of smaller tracks left by a barefoot humanoid missing two toes on the right foot.
About four miles from the Krihirik village, the terrain suddenly drops off into a deep ravine. The far side of the ravine is sixty feet away, and its craggy faces descend one hundred feet to the ravine floor below. The gap in the jungle allows a glimpse of the sky above, but the trees grow to the very edge of the ravine, and their dense canopy still blocks out much of the light. Several of the trees have massive, shaggy-barked trunks sporting countless twisting limbs. The trees’ strong roots grow deep into the earth and some even dangle over the side of the ravine. The jagged, root-strewn walls of the ravine offer adequate handholds.
The ravine is 100 feet deep.
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As the party approaches the ravine, Radagast gestures for everyone to stop.
"Now, you see those trees there? There roots look like a mighty-fine climbing frame, but they are a hidden trap; those are monkey trees, and they secrete an oil which creates an overwhelming, spicy odour. Unless we want to attract every predator for miles around, we should avoid those."
He then pulls out 100' of silk rope, hammers a piton onto the cliff-face, ties off the rope, and lets it down over the edge.
"That should get us down just fine!"
Radagast then shimmies down the rope to the bottom of the ravine.
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"it a wonder why you are not able find the venture captain by yourself",say Irisus who do not want to tell Radagast that he already know about those trees. And than he take the rope.
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You climb down the ravine and thanks to Radagast's warning you do no touch the monkey tree roots. The fastest way to continue to the dinosaur nests is to follow the washed out bottom of the ravine.
Fallen trees, rocky streams, hanging vines, and other obstacles litter the ravine floor, making travel through this area just as difficult despite the sparser foliage. After several hundred feet, the terrain gives way to a natural trail running through the middle of the ravine. In most places the trail is a mere five feet wide, though it widens to fifteen or even twenty feet in some areas. The ravine walls and the distant canopy still block out most of the natural light along the path.
Where the path narrows again, a humanoid corpse — one hand stuck in its vest as though desperately trying to reach for something — lies sprawled in the dirt next to a thick, thorny plant. Countless biting ants swarm over the corpse, making its features difficult to discern.
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Radagast winces.
"Ouch. That man stumbled into a thorny bush... which was acting as a nest for those ants. Interesting symbiotic relationship, really - the ants get a home, and the bush gets defenders. Too bad it did not end well for him."
Almost as an afterthought, he adds:
"By the way, there are a half-dozen sets of humanoid tracks going this way, which do not appear to have returned. Before we move on, we might want to search the body for clues... but before we do so, we may have to deal with the ants... does anyone have acid or alchemist's fire?"
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Irisus look at the ants.
"I have some oils that we could use and transform into a sort of explosive if we are lucky. We could also pour it on the earth and burn it when they come. a more reliable if dangerous alternative. Also we could burn them with our torch. I think.
Let's me see if i have other things."
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"we could combine the two. You will throw the fire on the oil i pour when they will come on it."
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"let's see if i remember what does this type of ant"
Irisus than move out of ant and draw another oil.
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" Radagast, if your power is like I think. You can't affect them. these are vermins not animal. What you could do is summon a mite who as this ability.
I remember too late I could have try to learn a energy spell. I hope that we will survive.
Cathryn. This is a really bad idea. Swarm don't attack like you and I they are so many that they hit you when they are on you. It will be better to take a alchemist fire of Tariq and use it.
Solution: We could retreat. and I learn this energy spell.