With another small gesture, Tatsuo casts message on Letha. He then softly murmurs in common. "It seems the lizardfolk are scared of some beast. Apparently there was also some 'witch' and her brothers some time back. I'm going to try talking to them some more."
Tatsuo then stands calmly up, motioning at Sora to stay put.
As he speaks, the lights above in the cave continue to dance.
Tatsuo approaches and the lizard folk move to keep the river in between him and themselves. the one fascinated by the lights turns his attention to the new potential threat.
they keep thier Javelins at the ready, obviously cautious.
The Undrathar, The burrowing beast. Stikes without warning bursing from the cavern walls. Chief Stilthack of the black scales says we will slay the beast, and he will display its head and rule over all the other tribes.
the other lizardfolk, (the one that was not facinated with the lights) speaksquiet, you, a deal we will make, yes? You are not with the beast, nor with the witch. a deal. will you listen?
he awaits your response
the Undrathar is a rare beast, it is like a lesser Umber hulk, they dwell closer to the survace world as opposed to thier stronger cousins that dwell in deep caverns and mines below the surface. but despite the fact they are only lesser Umberhulks does not make them any less deadly. they still packa powerful ppunch, and they still can cause confusion with but a single gaze
Tatsuo inclines his head slightly in assent.
Mickey spins his staff over his hand like a baton as he waits for news from the tunnel.
Premi has both of his paws help up and Reeves is swinging from one to the other and back.
"They don't seem immediately hostile. Just wary. One of them wants to make a deal of some sort."
The two lizardfolk by the river lower thier weapons. while the two in the back by the campfire remain at the ready just in case.
the smoke from the fire is escaping the cavern via some small fissures in the stone.
we want you to find and eliminate the witch. she has turned a few of our fellow tribesmen into ghouls. our poisons are useless on her.In return we will help you defeat the Undrathar. Also, if our Chief will allow it, you may rest among our tribe.
Tatsuo turns slightly to address his comrades in a normal voice. "These lizardfolk are from the Blackscale clan. There is some witch that has been turning their tribesmen into ghouls. They wish for us to eliminate her. In return, they have agreed to help us defeat some beast they call the Undrathar, who bursts from tunnel walls to attack. In addition, if their chief, Chief Stilthack, agrees, we may also be allowed to rest among their tribe. I am inclined to agree to this bargain, but did not want to presume to speak for the rest of you."
"What do we get? Got beds."
"I would imagine we would get a safe place to rest where tunnel beasties are unlikely to try to eat us while we sleep. I will tell them that we agree. I'll also ask them what they know of this witch that could aid us."
With that Tatsuo turns back to the lizardfolk.
Mickey blows air through his nose. Premi follows suit and Reeves follows Premi.
He doesn't understand any benefit from this. The beds upstairs don't have tunnel things.
"Oh, they did also say they'd help us fight some tunnel beast. And who knows what other intel they might be able to provide us. Besides, I tend to think we'd probably wind up having to face this witch either way. So why not make a few allies and get something in return while we're at it?"
The lizard folk look at each other then back at you.
You stay there, we will get our chief.
One of the lizardfolk in the back runs off down another passgeway. after a few moments a black scaled lizard folk arrives.
you claim to help with the witch? present yourselves to Chief Stilthack.
he punctuates his command by pounding the but of his spear onto the ground.
If you approach you are prevented from crossing the log bridge keeping the river between the two parties.
"They're bringing their chief to talk with us. If anybody else would like to join in the conversation, I will act as translator."
Tatsuo steps forward to address the newcomer.
Sora quickly moves forward to stand next to and slightly behind Tatsuo, who affectionately scratches her head.
Mickey squeezes through the hole to see what's on the other side. He has to squeeze through as he is rather large, but Reeves and Premi make it through no problem.
He looks over at the lizard things, if only to assess a possible threat.
the chief holds up his black scaled hands and speaks to everyone in broken common
Chief Stilthack, welcome new Chief of NeMoren tribe. only chief of NeMoren Tribe know way to our caves. but evil witch, called Lissette, is enemy of NeMoren and now enemy of Blackscale clan.
the lizard chief moves to the edge of the water.
witch kill several of lizardfolk and make them into zombie. we thought Lissete dead, she had no food, no clean water. but Lisste live on, we think she zombie now too. many of Blackscale tribe afraid to fight zombie witch, they no want to be like her.
the chief pulls out a small crudely made clay vial.
we have this to aid you to kill witch. he tosses it across the river to Tatsuo. (he easily catches it)
break vial on weapon. it make weapon hurt witch.
Tatsuo bows formally to the Chief.
"We thank you, Chief Stilthack. Both for this vial and your welcoming words. Could you possibly tell us where this witch has been seen that we might find her? We were also wondering if you'd give us leave to rest safely amongst your people as we explore the tunnels here."
"Should rest first," Mickey says simply to anyone listening. Not loud enough to hear on the other side, but not whispering.
Chief Stilthack motions for you all to cross the bridge.
You may rest here by this fire. two of my tribe will stand guard while you rest..
Pointing to the Northern passage That tunnel will take you toward the lair of the witch. and pointing to the Eastern tunnel That will lead you to the rest of our tribe as well as to a hidden cave on the surface.
Putting his distrust of the lizardmen aside, Mickey prepares some frog meat for himself and his simian troop.
When this is gone, the three of them curl up into an intimate pile and fall slowly asleep.
Tatsuo again thanks the chief as well as their guards. He spreads out his bedroll and carefully tends to Sora's wounds before laying down to rest close to his companion.
Tatsuo hands the vial the chief had given him to Conner. "I think this will be of more use to you than me. I have...my own ways of dealing with things." A few sparks of lightning flicker across his hands.
The rest period is un eventful. the Lizard folk provide guard duty on a rotating basis.
We you awake you are greeted by a lizardfolk shaman.
Chief Stilthack as asked me to give you my blessings.
he lays before the group some token tribal fetishes. to be worn around the neck.
for protection
So where to next?
Tatsuo bows his head towards the shaman.
"Chief Stilthack has asked his shaman to bless us. These necklaces are for protection." He places one carefully around his neck before continuing. "Now that we are rested, I suggest we go ahead and deal with this witch before more of the Blackscale clan meet their untimely end."
Mickey looks the proffered necklace over with distrust. He scans it with detect poison left from yesterday. If nothing shows up, he grudgingly slips it on.
After this, he removes and unfolds his kite and mutters a spell with it in his hands.
He looses the string and it blows as if on a windy day despite the lack of wind in the cavern.
"Readying magic."
He flies the kite and reflects on what of nature's bounty he shall need today.
As the group readies themselves to depart. the lizardfolk that were on guard duty try to converse with Tatsuo as they realize he can speak thier language.
Are you really going to kill the witch? he asks
I heard from slithertail that she was once a bride to the human that once owned the island. Well thats what he heard anyway
As the lizardfolk ponder their response, Tatsuo turns to his companions. "Our gracious guards here apparently heard that this witch was once the bride of one of the owners of this island. I originally suspected as much, except this witch is apparently called Lissete while, if I remember correctly, the missing bride of the late Baron was called Amielia. I've asked if they know if this witch was the bride of the most recent baron or an earlier one."
the Lizardfolk resonds
Chief hear that Amellia was bride, but, Slithertail say Lissette was bride first. So Lissette take new bride. then baron lock Lissette in dungeon. nobody ever find Amellia
"Hmm, we seem to have a lover's quarrel here. Apparently this witch was the late Baron's wife first. She apparently kidnapped Amelia, so the Baron locked her up down here. Is there anything else we want to ask before continuing onward?"
The walls of this tunnel are rough and ragged. as you travel...
the tunnel makes a bend to the left but there is something odd in the wall. it appears to be very thin and with the light shining in just the right angle you think you can sort of see through it. revealing another tunnel.
"No. What?"
Sora stops and starts to sniff at a wall. Noticing, Tatsuo moves closer.
"Maybe it's a tunnel created by that burrowing beast I heard the lizardfolk talking about earlier?"
He points out the very thin wall to Mickey.
"Mm. Leave for now. One problem at a time..."
Tatsuo nods his head. "We can come back to this." Tatsuo makes some markings to identify the area later.
He then continues onward with Sora following behind him.
moving forward...yayyy...
You follow the narrow tunnel and it opens back into the vault. You can tell by the construction of the walls. but you are definitely in a different location than when you exited the vault and followed the first tunnel.
directly to your south is a potion of tunnel that has been caved in. and is apparently unpassable.
the corridor continues North as for as far as you can see. just barely 10 feet from where you came out of the tunnel, there is a corridor heading west.
there is a strong odor of decaying flesh in the air around here. and it seems to be coming from that westward heading corridor.
Tatsuo points to the collapsed tunnel. "Other side of the collapsed tunnel earlier?" He keeps his voice low, not wanting anything unsavory to overhear him.
"Based on the smell, I'd say we're getting close the witches lair. If anybody wishes to prepare themselves for the battle to come, I would suggest doing so now. Sadly, the best I could offer you is a calming influence to prepare you for your next challenge." He takes a deep breath, clearly centering himself. As he does so, his hand absently strokes Sora's head.
"If you can, it would be nice to keep the area around the witch-- or possibly around a group of her minions-- open, so that I can summon electricity to strike as many foes as possible without endangering any of you."
"Need to be close."
He gestures to himself.
He makes the clicking sound that indicates Premi and Reeves to stay back.