”And we already have a scent.”
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With a new objective in mind and an angelic new friend in tow, the party ventures back into the frigid, rapidly darkening streets of Kalsgard. Uksahkka was staying at a shrine of Shelyn while the party was away investigating the funeral of the now truly deceased Snorri Stone-Eye--it's there that they are returning, with news of who may have truly stolen Ulf Gormundr away.
The party makes its way through the milling throng of people with haste. Now that they have an idea of who they're really up against, there's no telling what lurks in the crowds, waiting to strike... but a clamour suddenly rings out as the party turns onto the street the shrine is on.
The sounds of screams and the crashing of tumbling masonry roll down the street over the normal noises of the crowd. Ahead, above the press, the shrine of Shelyn slowly sways and then collapses into the street, dumping its facade of stone and mortared brick on those unfortunates below, resulting in another wave of screams of pain and fear.
Friday let’s out a sigh before moving towards the ruble to search for Uksahkka.
"Oh no.... no no no no!"
He began pushing forward past the others and torwards the rubble. He immediately dove into trying to pull rubble away.Reaching up and letting holy energy awash over the possible wounded within.
Eyes widening in horror, Kasha breaks into a run, racing towards the toppled shrine to help those affected, quickly scanning the scene to find the source of the disaster.
Valeria was as shocked as the others, hurrying after them to help but not before considering that the collapse might not have been accidental.
"Xel; get in the sky, look for anyone or anything that stands out - especially any raven-looking creatures with a red mark on their chest."
Kavell's efforts to heal people manage to save quite a few still clinging to life.
"Oi!" Friday calls out to the mound as he readies his spear.
Skidding to a halt, Kasha locks her eyes on the massive earth form destroying the shrine of Shelyn. Her eyes flash angrily, the air around her beginning to thrum with power as she calls to the elements the spirits of nature answering her angry call as the clouds above the shrine begin to roil and darken, the shamaness' hair beginning to rise as tiny sparks leap across her skin.
”Big rock monster, dead ahead!” Xel called down before using his connection with his mistress to try and identify exactly what the creature was. Valeria’s fire wand was already grasped in her tail, she wasn’t sure if it would do much against what could turn out to be an earth elemental, but it certainly wouldn’t hurt to try.
She quickly moved up to Kavell and wove her magic into his glaive, hoping it would be enough for the monster.
The earthen beast turns at the sound of Friday's challenge. The sound of shifting stone and crunching dirt accompany the creature's stride as it moves forward to strike!
He was torn between wanting to help the hurt and save lives and between stopping the monstrosity responsible... in the end the fact the creature might continue its rampage and hurt more won out, he advanced
torwards the creature while chanting out a blessing from his goddess.
"Alright; it's an earth elemental, so if you're on the ground it's more dangerous. So I'm perfectly fine up here." Xel called down to the team.
While Valeria was pretty sure Xel didn't need to add that last bit, it did make her regret not learning some form of levitation. Not to mention that she was still running low on magic after the farmstead and funeral ship.
On the plus side, she thought to herself as she transferred the wand into her hand, rock monsters of any flavour make easy targets.
While still trying to keep her distance, the tiefling moved to get a clearer shot at the elemental with her wand, lashing out with a beam of fire.
Not having much experience with fighting elementals, Friday nonetheless moves up I stab the rock creature.
Friday's spear and Valeria's rays of fire strike their marks, charring chunks of earth and splintering stone where they strike. The beast flinches for a moment, but its ire hasn't abated in the least--it turns its stony fists on Friday with a vengeance!
The elemental practically falls on Friday like an avalanche. Its two fists easily catch the ranger and savagely crush his bones!
"Everything okay on your side of things?" Friday calmly sends out to Zaiobe as the rocks fall on him.
Completing her spell, Kasha gestures calling a bolt of lightning crashing down from the roiling sky to strike the elemental.
Kasha's bolt doesn't seem to have been very effective--the elemental steps aside from the worst of the shock, and a small clump of earth falls off where the bolt grazed it.
Friday keeps attacking.
<What do you mean a 'rock monster'?>
Friday's spear doesn't find its mark this time--it skips off of a slab of hard stone covering where the beast's heart would be.
After Friday misses he stands still for a moment before shrugging.
He moved closer to the thing in fact pressing past Friday to hopefully take the creatures attention until he could get a proper healing into the brave man, he slashed the glaive torwards its head.... well what looked to be the head area at least.
"Come on you big slab of rock, First we will quell you... then we will find whom sent you and I swear on Shelyn's Grace they will pay for this blasphemous attack!"
He began angrily.
Kavell's blade slices off another chunk of earth, and draws the beast's attention.
Cursing at how hard the creature hit Friday, Valeria kept up the onslaught with her wand, cursing that she didn't have any proper combat spells ready.
A layer of sand on the elemental's shoulder turns to glass and shatters under Valeria's burning ray. It flinches again, and it takes longer to recover.
It swings its stony fists once more, once for Friday...
...and once at Kavell.
The earthen beast's fist collides with the ranger's skull with a sickening *CRUNCH*, sending him to the dirt. Kavell's chest takes a nasty hit from its other fist.
Remaining standing Friday focuses his gaze on the rock monster and lunges again.
With a shout of anger, Kasha calls down another bolt, desperate to take the elemental down before it could kill her stalwart friends.
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He felt something crack within, but that wasnt what held his attention. The vicious blow struck to the quiet painter was what held his focus. forgetting the attack for now hands aglow he tapped his holy symbol on his chest feeling the light first flow through him, then he moved and touched the stalwart painter letting the light flow into him as well.
This was getting bad, Kavell and Friday were badly injured and Valeria didn't rate her or Kasha's chances if the elemental closed the distance.
"Xel; get the others!" she called. If they took out the elemental in the meantime then they'd need Koya to patch everyone up and help caring for the civilians. If they didn't, then three veteran adventurers, an Ulfen shieldmaiden, a harpy, and two clerics would be a big help.
In the meantime, all she could do was maintain a solid distance from the elemental and keep trying to burn it down.
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Friday shakes his head before nodding to Kavell as the Paladin heals him with a touch.
Though the elemental manages to avoid another lightning shot, its movement puts it right in the path of Friday's next spear lunge. The spear drives between the walking hill's diamond-like eyes with a *CRUNCH*, causing the stone creature to freeze in place before falling apart in a clamour of earth and rock.
As the creature collapses into pieces Friday turns to Kasha. "It is dead or can it get back up?"
"I'm pretty sure it's dead, but just in case..." her words are drowned out by the crack of another bolt of lightning slamming into the collapsed rubble of the element's body. "We need to see if Ukshakka is under this."
Friday nods and begins looking through rubble.
With the creature down and pain everywhere he channled some of the healing energy the goddess granted him into bursts of flowing healing energy hopefully helping those still trapped in the rubble.... and certainly healing himself and Friday more.
He began to really focus hard on removing the rubble. But it was clear to him quickly he just didnt have the energy to do much... or perhaps he should focus on rubble he actually had the ability to move. It was clear he was beginning to get a bit frantic trying to help the people.
Unfortunately, when you investigate the ruined shrine and its cellar, you find no trace of the Varki tracker.
But you do find a large black feather lying in a corner of the cellar. It's too large to come from a raven, even a blood-feather one...
...and you find a small blowgun dart lying next to it. Its tip still drips with some fluid.
Sifting through the rubble and coughs and groans revealed by Kavell's healing but finding no Ukshakka, Friday narrows his eyes before using a bit cloth nearby to scoop up what appears to be a dart. "These 'ninjas' are vexing me more and more." he says as he brings the dart over to the others. "Careful, I believe there may be poison on it."
Kasha inspects the dart, sniffing it to see if there was any sort of natural based toxin used.
"What happened before the elemental attacked?" Friday asks the priest when he seems coherent.
"Smells like blue whinnis. It's a knockout toxin. Leaves the victim a bit weaker for a while" Kasha says holding the dart.
”So she’s still alive. For the moment.”
"These guys are really starting to piss me off. If I wasn't so drained on magic and you boys just hadn't had the crap kicked out of you I'd suggest heading for our next target right away."
"But we're in no state to go doing that without a lot of rest and some medical attention. And I'd like to hear what everyone around here saw before and during the attack."
Friday reluctantly nods.
The elderly priest coughs and sputters as Kavell's healing fixes him.
"...I was simply giving mass to the faithful. The tracker girl, Uksahkka, asked to be sheltered in my cellar before I began. So... I let her stay."
"Near the end of my sermon, I thought I overheard someone saying something... like, an incantation. That's when the stone beast started attacking."
Friday nods. ”Thank you. Do you know where we can find the Rimerunner’s Guild?”
"Rimerunners?" The man groans and unsteadily gets to his feet. "They're one of the most wealthy and influential merchant's guilds in Kalsgard. You can find them at the river's edge in the Jade Quarter... but why would you need to speak with them?"
”About a boat.”