With a growing sense of dread for the welfare of Laria's friend, Lubella moved towards the pier, trying to locate the source of the stomach-churning odor. I really hope that's not what it smells like.
Lubella heads towards the dock, following her nose towards the rank odor. Her light reveals the waterlogged body of a man floating beneath the pier. He looks like the description of Nan that Laria gave you, and, more disturbingly, there appears to be chunks missing from his body.
"There's a body floating under the pier!", Lubella informed the others. "Laria, I'm very sorry...I think it might be you friend.
Be careful everyone — it looks like something's been eating the corpse! There could a creature swimming around in the water." Without getting any closer, she looked at the marks on the body, trying to judge the size of the thing that might have been feeding on it.
A look of concern crosses Laria's face, and she approaches the dock, stooping to peer through the slats. She gasps as she catches sight of the man's face, or at least what's left of it. "Oh, Nan...what in the Hell have you gotten yourself into?", she whispers.
Lubella stops to take a look at the body. It's hard to tell in the poor lighting for certain, and she's no healer, but she can tell that whatever killed him has been feeding off the body for a few days - there's hunks of flesh crudely torn from the body, and a leg is missing below the knee. Assuming that whatever killed him could eat the leg in one go, she suspects she might be looking for a large aquatic predator, probably about the size of that birch log floating towards the pier...
...wait.
Logs don't have teeth.
That's a crocodile.
Lubella's blood ran cold. She hadn't been aware that these monsters lived near Kintargo, but every halfling in Katapesh was acutely aware of the dangers of crocodiles. They sometimes attacked larger folk, but seemed to prefer smaller targets — like halflings. As a child, she had been frequently warned to stay away from riverbanks.
"Crocodile!", she cried. "It's coming this way!"
She wanted to run, but they needed this place for the rebellion. Trying to control her primal fear, she adopted a defensive stance, ready to dodge if the beast charged.
Amalie steps a bit into the space, staying behind her compatriots. Fishing out some pebbles, she casts her magic stone spell over three of them, holding them in her other hand.
Anything special to know with Crocodiles? she says, unsure what to do more.
"They have big teeth, and like to eat halflings!", Lubella replied to Amalie, with growing alarm in her voice.
"It'll regret taking a bite out of me," Laria says, cracking her knuckles. There's a swift change in her stance - she raises her fists, and shifts her weight to the balls of her feet, keeping her knees bent, ready to shift away from the crocodile's attack. The rest of the Ravens draw blades, ready to defend themselves.
Initiative:
Lubella readied herself for the beast`s approach. Calling upon her faith to aid her against this deadly foe, she began her battle dance, waiting to strike when the crocodile attacked.
Amalie pulls her arm back and slinging it forward, sending one of her powered up pebbles at the creature.
Lubella drops into a defensive stance, waiting for the croc to approach. Amalie tosses a magic rock in its direction, but it splashes short of the beast. Felicia approaches as well, drawing a dagger from her belt and throwing it at the creature.
It lands in the beast's back, and she gives off a triumphant cry. "HA! Bullseye!", she says, striking a pose and giving a 'V for victory' sign. Arcos, in the meantime, approaches and readies a shot to blast the creature with lightning. He doesn't have long to wait, as the beast starts swimming rapidly to shore.
The arc goes wide, and it busts forth at Lubella. Now that it is upon you, you can see that the creature isn't a crocodile at all, but an alligator. Its scales are white, and its lizard eyes are pink, all marks of albinism. Lubella whirls in defense, hoping to avoid the creature's powerful jaws!
Despite her training (and her mother's admonishments), the alligator finds its way past Lubella's defenses, and its jaws seize her by the leg, drawing blood and savaging her side!
Laria cries out in alarm as the thing suddenly bursts forth from the water, then leaps into action. "Let her go, you damn brute!", she shouts, rushing forward and punching it right on the snout.
The alligator hisses in defiance as she strikes it, but it's clear it flinched from her strike. Nevertheless, it retains its hold on Lubella.
"Aagh! It's got me!", Lubella cried. "Amalie, if you've got any healing, I need it now!" She struggled with all her might, trying to wriggle free from the alligator's jaws.
Lubella twists her foot like her mother told her to, should the worst happen and a crocodile grabbed her, and manages to slip from the alligator's vicelike grip. She limps away, bleeding heavily from the gashes in her leg.
Amalie takes a short step behind Lubella, ensuring she's completely blocked from the crocodile. Reaching out while words flow through her, she places her hand in the middle of Lubella's back, sending a surge of healing magic through the other woman.
Amalie hobbles towards Lubella, healing the worst of the other woman's wounds. Arcos adjusts his position, and throws another bolt of lightning at the alligator.
Unfortunately, his aim is wild, and merely scorches the dock.
Felicia leaps into action, drawing her falcata and slashing at the reptilian menace!
She scrapes a few scales off the thing's thick hide, but doesn't draw blood any further than that.
Laria leaps at the thing, delivering a series of quick jabs to its side.
Though most of her strikes are glancing blows, one of them connects right in the alligator's eye! That doesn't endear the beast to her, and it lashes out at her!
Laria cries out as the alligator catches her as well, though the gash on her arm is caused mostly from dragging her arm against its teeth as she pulls herself free. "DAMMIT! This thing has a taste for halflings!"
The gashes on Lubella's leg closed up she felt Sarenrae's healing flow through her. "That's much better, Amalie," she said appreciatively.
When the alligator bit Laria, Lubella spun into action, stepping forward and slashing with her scimitar. "Halflings are NOT for eating!", she cried.
Arcos focuses and shoots a bolt of force at the creature he last attacked.
Amalie sees some wounds still on Lubella and the new nasty gashes on Laria's arm. Holding her hand to the sky, she felt healing magic flow into her body. Flinging both hands to the side, she radiates it in a large pulse. However, she keeps the crocodile firmly in her mind, bending the healing waves around the beast, denying it the succor of Sarenrae's light.
While Lubella's blade skitters off the alligator's scaly hide, Arcos' force bolts strike glancing blows on the beast. Felicia slashes at it again with her falcata, hoping to deal a decisive blow this time.
Her blade cuts deep into the alligtor's side, causing it to recoil in pain. Laria focuses her strikes, hoping to bring the beast down before it can snap at you all again.
However, her blows are guarded after the vicious mauling she took from the beast, and she can't quite bring it low. It lashes out at Felicia, snapping at her with its powerful jaws.
"Not today, bootboy!", she exclaims, rolling away from its charge with a smile upon her lips. "Get it? You're gonna be my boots!" The alligator does not respond, other than to his at you all.
Lubella attacked the creature again, but her rhythm was all wrong. She cursed in frustration.
Not seeing an immediate need for someone to receive more healing, she chucks another pebble at the crocodile with a soft grunt.
Both Lubella and Amalie curse their luck, as their attacks miss the creature. Arcos flings another blast of lightning at the alligator, aiming his shot carefully this time.
Despite that, his arc of electricity blackens the dock rather than the alligator.
"And now," Felicia says triumphantly, bringing down her falcata towards the creature. "To turn you into a matching handbag!"
She misses as well, her blade connecting loudly with the stone floor, causing her to hiss in frustration.
Laria continues her assault, kicking and punching to hopefully drop the beast before it can make a meal of her.
Having taken quite a beating, the alligator attempts to swim back into the channel. Laria gives it a stout kick as it flees. "Don't you turn your back on me!", she shouts.
Felicia takes a second swipe at it, more out of spite than anything else.
Lubella took a final parting swing at the retreating reptile.
Lubella paused for a moment to catch her breath. "Is everyone OK?", she asked her friends. "Laria, you look like you could use a little more healing!" She recited an incantation to mend the other halfling's wounds.
"Do alligators normally live around Kintargo?", she asked the others. "I hope it decides this place is dangerous and leaves! Otherwise, we're going to have to deal with it once and for all.
"Before we retrieve the body, we should see if there's anything else lurking about. I'm going to look in the other chamber." She moved through a gap in the wall, and looked at the space beyond.
Arcos draws his dagger and follows after Lubella.
Alligators in Kintargo. This rebellion business brings out the strangest in Kintargo.
Laria hisses as the wound closes on her arm. "Damn beast!", she curses, drawing a dagger and throwing it at the retreating beast, more out of spite than any real malice.
The blade sinks into the alligator's back, and it twitches in the water, soon ceasing its movements entirely. Laria blinks as the feral creature finally is still. "Can't believe that worked. Thank you, all of you," she says, composing herself. "Nan will rest easier now, and we won't have to worry about it coming back to the Wasp's Nest."
Lubella heads off into one of the two cracks, and finds herself in a large room. Clearly of different construction as the Long Roads, she quickly surmises she's in a basement of a nearby building. A disused staircase leads up to a doorway whose door has been removed, revealing brickwork, preventing the neighbors from entering the chamber.
As she looks around, she quickly realizes she isn't alone. A humanoid creature, tall and muscular, perches on one of the steps leading up to the other hole in the wall. It is covered in black, greasy feathers, and its head looks like a crow's - much like a tengu, but no tengu she has ever seen has claws like this monstrosity. As her light falls upon it, it roars in fury, launching itself at her!
"Is this really necessary?", Lubella asked, as she launched into her battle dance. "Can't we talk about this?" She readied to strike at the avian if it tried to attack her.
The beast says something in a harsh-sounding language, and leaps into the air, arcing towards the desert warrior.
It lands near Lubella, taking a secondary hop to complete the charge it had performed.
Lubella spins out of the way, and her blade easily finds its way past the beast's defenses. She cuts a deep wound into the monstrosity's side, but it continues to regard her with fury.
"YOU KILL LIZARD! CHOUGH KILL YOU!"
"There's a very unreasonable bird in here!", Lubella called out to the others, as she maneuvered for her next attack. "I don't suppose anyone can understand what it's saying?"
Amalie curses and hobbles to be closer to where Lubella shouted, so if healing is needed she's available.
The creature seemed intent on trying to harm her, so she did what she had to and defended herself. Having recovered her composure from her fight with the alligator, she danced and slashed with practiced grace.
Amalie heads towards the sounds of battle, ready to heal Lubella if necessary, though for the moment she seems to be holding her own against the creature. Arcos follows, and throws a lightning bolt at the beast.
Finding the accuracy he lacked against the alligator, his bolt of energy slams into the avian menace, charring its flesh and causing it to roar in pain. Laria and Felicia follow into the room, flanking Lubella against her large foe. "What the Hell did Nan get himself into?!?", Laria wonders aloud.
Lubella's blade flashes out again, cutting a deep wound into the raven creature, and it staggers to a knee. It locks eyes with Lubella, and while she can't understand the creatures words, she garners the intent.
I'm taking you with me.
It swipes at her with dirt-caked claws, but the slashes are slow and ponderous, and Lubella finds it easy to avoid them.
Lubella saw the hatred in the bird's eyes, and tried to figure out what could be the reason for such malice. "I couldn't understand what you were saying a moment ago — do you speak common?", she said as she dodged it's attack.
"Was that alligator your pet; is that why you're upset? I'm afraid I'm not OK with being dinner!"
Arcos lobs a bolt of electicity at the bird man. However, he is unable to get a good focus and the bolt fizzles out.
Since the bird creature seemed unwilling to listen to reason, Lubella continued her grim task, whirling and slashing with determination.
Amalie pulls back and throws her last stone at the birdman.
Both Arcos and Amalie hurl mystic projectiles, but they miss their mark. Felicia slashes at the raven beast with her blade, ducking under a swipe from its massive claws.
The fencer's falcata slices through several layers of filthy feathers, but does draw blood.
Laria unleashes a wild series of blows at the creature, hoping to finally bring it down.
She connects with a kick to the back of its left knee, doing little damage but driving the creature to a knee. "Lubella, take it down!", she shouts. Lubella's blade flashes out once more, taking advantage of the creature's dropped defenses to cut deep into its abdomen. Its life blood spills to the ground, and at last it falls.
Lubella looked down at her fallen enemy. It has looked at her with such hatred, but it was still an intelligent creature. Can this brute possibly be redeemed? I should at least try. She knelt down by the creature and tried to stop the bleeding.
"Is this a Tengu?, Lubella asked the others. "I don't remember seeing any with claws like this."
While the raven-like features remind Lubella of a tengu, the near complete lack of clothing and its feral nature make her pretty certain the creature was something else entirely. Whatever it was, though, it's most certainly dead now. The only items of interest it has on it are a trio of somewhat tarnished copper bracelets and a silver locket bearing a rune of flowing script.
The rune is Elven for 'mother'.