round 3
HP 35/35
Ood taking a cue from the party stops fighting and attempts to bridge the communication gap through instruction, pulling out quill and paper given the opportunity.
"Stony, draw some storm clouds, too."
Round 3
HP: 34/48
Since attempts to communicate are going poorly, Odie holds up the unconscious plant and dangles him/her over the edge while pointing his club a the one attacking Ood and screams to get its attention. Once it looks his way, he will shake the creature then while looking into the creature's eyes, he will drop his great club on the bridge next to himself. Once the club has clattered to the ground, Odie points his massive finger at the creature across the broken bridge, indicating that he should do the same.
Once he does, Odie will point to the others, trying to get the other to tell them to drop their weapons.
For some reason, they don't want any of these little ones dead. Maybe they are children?
Through Stonewall's gestures, the leshies eventually stop their attack. They don't understand his mapmaking skills, and just nod their heads at everything you say. They let you pass unharmed but keep their unconscious member close by.
Well done, I hope these guys are okay... and I hope we can get back through too...
Alset cautiously attempts to heal the unconscious lesh-ling by laying a gentle hand on him.
Seeing that the leshite it still rather damaged and still unconscious, Alset uses the wand to cure moderate wounds. He hopes to revive the leshian to a conscious state. He doesn't intend to heal him fully just enough to get him awake and moving again.
"There that should help," he says with a kind look in his eyes and a nod of his head.
Stonewall sees Alset about to use his wand and says, "Wait Alset, I picked up a wand of cure light wounds in town and I forgot to tell you, here, save that one for healing in combat."
Stonewall is frustrated that the Leshies don't understand but tries not to show any anger in case they take it the wrong way. "OK guys, lets get a move on. Maybe we ought to avoid this area on our return trip if we can."
"Aww, I was looking forward to fightin' a big green cat."
The leshies are grateful for the healing, and send you on your way.
The rest of exploring the hex is uneventful. You map the area over two days and then head to...
"I think we should head northeast until we reach the river then turn back to the southeast."
”I agree, let’s head to the river and then swing east if we don’t find what we want.”
Stonewall says this as he cooks the fish he caught earlier that day.
That night at camp the storms blow in. Howling wind and lashing rain batter your tents and the trees as you settle in and finish your dinner.
Mud warms his hands by the fire. "Looks like it'll be a long night. Know any good stories from home to keep us warm during the storm?"
Alset begins a rambling story about the rise of Iomedae . . . Soon heads begin to nod as his story telling ability is somewhat lacking.
Stonewall does indeed begin to nod off during Alset's story, but at the conclusion, he jerks awake and says, "Well said, well said" with bleary eyes.
Odie falls asleep 3 words into Alset's story.
Ood listens attentively taking notes as Alset rambles, asking questions where appropriate.
The next morning Mud wakes up and says, "Well, I expected a few more stories to be told during that long night. No matter."
The rain is pouring down but there is no lightning. You trek, sodden and wet, to the northeast through the jungles. With the thick trees and the pouring rain, you find your vision severely limited. The wind is blowing strongly from the north as well, giving you a chill as you trek through the wet trees.
The soil is wet and slippery, and you feel rocks and hard stones getting stuck in your boots and bruising your feet through the soles of your footwear. As you step, you notice the rocks and stones increase in frequency, and when you look down you see they are not rocks at all; they are enormous bones.
Looking up, you see a valley open up below you, mounds of enormous bones littering the ground around the edge of the valley. The sheets of rain part for a second and a pit of bubbling tar appears before you.
Below is a small campfire, battered by the winds and drizzle, burning sullenly under the cover of immense rib bones the size of small trees. From the edge of the valley you think you see three figures huddled around the fire, but are unable to see anymore before the rain obscures them again.
"Do you guys want to talk? Last time that didn't work out so well for us."
Mud reminds you that he's good at sneaking.
"Mud, go check it out."
Alset will go with Mud. "I'll go with you.
Alset wraps his elvin cloak around himself and with much stealth follows Mud out of the camp and towards the fire expecting the rain to mask any noise them may make.
Face down in his namesake, Mud crawls forward through toward the rainy campfire. A handful of javelins are piled near three lizardfolk crouched on their heels around the campfire. Their eyes are emotionally dead and they are blankfaced, as if they were staring their inevitable death in the face. The fire bubbles and smokes, and one of the lizardfolk feeds the fire with a ladle of tar, black smoke pouring from the fire. Near one of the lizardfolk sits a monitor lizard.
Mud awaits and follows Alset's direction.
Alset cups his hand around his ear and points at the group. He and Mud will listen to their conversation.
After a minute of sullen silence the one with the pet lizard says,
One whose arms are covered in burn scars shakes her head. "What's the point in eating? A clanless exile is as good as dead. I didn't come to lie with our ancestors because I had something to live for."
"That is no reason to starve to death," the first says, grabbing to cauldron anyway.
The burned one shakes her head and says, "We have suffered too many humiliations, brother. First at the webbed hands of the Blackbruise Boggards, then at the public fight between Othok and Shathva, and lastly from our fellow Mireborn and that madlizard Daruthek. All that is left is to die."
The third speaks up. "Better to die knowing we were right than to live guilty of doing wrong. Othok lost to Shathva, but they should never have attacked the human settlements. If Daruthek continues to grow in power, soon another rift will split the remaining Mireborn into further disarray. They cannot survive another fracturing."
They cook up a grisly gruel from bird droppings and old bone marrow. The conversation carries on, sullen and depressing, but nothing else of interest is said.
Alset motions for Mud to return with him to the others.
Upon their return Alset says, "It sounded like they may know some things about the source of the evil times in this land. They did not think it a good thing that the lizardfolk attacked the human camps. Perhaps we could talk with them. What did you think Mud?"
"Uh, we kill lizards not talk to them."
Mud shrugs. "I don't speak lizard."
"They might speak Polyglot, but who knows. It seemed that the ones with Reszavass did but I don't know if that is common with Lizardfolk.
If you think we should talk to them, I'll try."
Alset remembers that he detected evil while listening to the lizardfolk.
"I can understand their words, but not always the meaning of the words. These seem like outcasts from infighting among the Mireborn. If they aren't evil, perhaps we could convince them to help us stop the attacks on human settlements and the storms so they can return their people to the north and drive out the Boggards. If they're evil, they have no hope, and we can just help them to reach their pitiful end a little sooner."
They're Evil.
"OK, Alset and I will go and try to talk to them. Ood and Odie, you guys be ready to charge in if things go bad."
Stonewall readies himself to confront the Lizardfolk. He checks over his equipment and tunes out the distraction of the storm, miserable though it is. As he approaches the Lizardfolk he says in Polyglot, "Hello in the camp, we couldn't help but over hear your troubles, maybe we can help."
The scarred one says in Polyglot, "Intruders! In our sacred burial grounds!" she holds her javelin at throwing position.
The pet owner stays his friend. "We need no help. Leave and be on your way, softskin."
The third glares angrily at you.
"Well how were we supposed to know it was a burial ground? Of course we will leave, but we would still like to talk." Stonewall stays relaxed and backs up away from the camp but not towards Odie and Ood. "Come, lets have a nice discussion. Maybe my friend and I would be willing to share some food." Stonewall tries to hide his disgust at their "meal".
Stonewall says quietly to Alset in Dwarven, "Lets set up camp a little away from here but where they can see us and see if we can't make ourselves more appealing to them."
"Look at the bones!" the scarred one says, motioning to the littered soil of dinosaur fossils soaked in the pouring rain. "No talking. No sharing."
They look ready to attack if you do not leave
Alset attempts his own diplomacy with the LF.
"I believe we can help you restore your people to their rightful place, you pitiful, loathsome creatures."
"Since you seem so intent on entering this graveyard," the quiet one says. "You must be DYING to get in!"
The scarred lizardfolk screams and says, "Let us help restore you intruders to YOUR rightful place: YOUR GRAVES!"
The pet-owner says, "Uh, you're going to die."
Round 1
"Eep!" Mud squeaks. He raises his banner and points at the monitor lizard. "That one could eat me! The others will just eat you."
Alset pulls out his long sword sensing that his bow would respond poorly to the driving rain. He speaks to the lizardfolk, "We did not intend to fight, but if you insist, you will regret it."
He swings his seldom-used, masterwork, adamantine longsword at the monitor lizard.
The wet ground causes his back foot to slip a little as he misses the ML.
Round 1
HP 35/35
Ood runs up to the nearest foe and swings a fist.
Round 1
HP: 48/48
Odie runs aroudn the back of the lizards and attacks the centern one.
Ood cracks one lizardfolk's neck, and Odie cuts another in half. The remaining lizardfolk and his pet muster their courage and attempt to fight back.
Two claws from the lizardfolk sink into Odie, and the monitor lizard sinks his teeth into Alset but does not get a firm grip on the paladin's rain-soaked boots.
Round 2
Party is up.
Round 2
HP: 37/48
Odie roars at the remaining scaled creature and slices at him.
Alset plants his feet, including the injured one, and drives his sword into the pet monitor.
Alset's damaged foot and the rain, yeah, it's the rain, cause him to slip and miss the monitor. "I think I've forgotten how to swing this new sword."
Round 2 | HP 34/34
Stonewall approaches the Monitor Lizard and takes a swing at it with his axe
The remaining lizardfolk and monitor lizard are hacked to pieces.
The rains continue to pour down. You see a thick sludge of tar to the north and west. A wooden suspension bridge crosses the tar to the west. The campfire sputters in the torrential rains.
”I wonder if we’ll come across more who are so aggressive.”
Ood looks around for attritional threats.
”Well, let’s get this over with so we can try to get out of this rain.”. As Ood searches for more threats, Stonewall heads toward the bridge so search the far side of the Tar Pits as the rain continues to drench him.
Alset looks around for anything of interest or value.
"Odie, help us look around. You have the best eyes. Besides, I can't see much in this rain. My soaked hood keeps getting in my eyes."
No more threats are apparent near the campfire area. You find four potions of cure light wounds, a potion of neutralize poison, a jar of defoliant polish, and two potions of remove paralysis. The three lizardfolk also have a few javelins and hide armor on their person, old and worn.
The bridge is composed of oversized femurs and ribs, bound together into a ladderlike structure supported by log rafts that float atop the tar. The ramshackle bridge leads to the adjoining island across the bubbling tar, rain splattering onto the black surface.
Stonewall eyes the questionable bridge with his knowledge of engineering.
”Well, the bridge appears sound, if unorthodox.” Stonewall yells over his shoulder at the others.