Olimpia looks at the monstrous creature but just can't get her mind around it. What is that thing?
"That is a LARGE mutated bear, steer clear of that tentacle it can grab and squeeze. Swing hard because the hide on that thing is super tough." Figgy says as he backs up more
"Well that is most unplesant."
Getting his pistol ready for a fight, the slinger stared at the creature for a moment, kinda wishing he had his plasma gun with him. Still, he had a few magic shots, so those would have to suffice. "Wow... You're one ugly motherf*cker."
Raktar has no words to describe the horror he feels at the mutated beast's appearance. He stands dumbfounded for a second before he raises his hammer and prepares himself to protect his friends.
While large, powerful and intimidating in appearance the beast isn't the quickest, as it focuses on the party you all have time to act.
The party may now act.
"Lady Brigh, lend us your strength and your solidity," Raktar says, quietly but strongly. His scars flare as silver light bursts across the farm. He grips his hammer tightly, activates his armour, and readies himself to fight the beast.
HP 65/65
AC 21, touch 10, flat-footed 21 (+10 armour, +1 natural armour)
Speed: 30 ft
Fort: +8 (+4 vs disease), Ref: +5, Will: +8 (+1 to all from prayer)
Conditions: bull's strength, prayer, expanded armour
Melee attack (+1 earthbreaker): +10 (+5 BAB, +3 Str, +1 enhancement, +2 bull's strength, -2 Power Attack, +1 prayer)
Melee Damage (+1 earthbreaker): 2d6+15 (+4 Str, +1 enhancement, +3 bull's strength, +6 Power Attack, +1 prayer)
Realizing the full size Dilana flies up even further into the air.
As she moves her eyes flash red as she tries to work her magic on the creatures mind making it less likely to hit her friends.
Hoping to catch the beast flat footed Olimpia scampers forward drawing her musket and fires at a range that allows for sneak attack.
Figgy moves up behind Raktar, tossing a bomb at the large mutated bear.
Taking a step closer and lining up his shot, JJ let his first bullets fly before whistling to his bandoleer to reload one of his barrels for him with some special ammo.
Grit: 3/3
Active Conditions: Prayer (+1 attack rolls, weapon damage rolls, saves, and skill checks)
Fort: +6
Ref: +11
Will: +7
+1 Double Barrel Pistol (+15/+10) 1d8+3
Ammunition: 28 Bullets, 30 Adamantine Bullets, 2 Fire Mage Shots, 2 Electric Mage Shots
Dilana struggles to lay her hex on the monstrous beast.
Olimpia's shot misses.
It howls in rage as Figgy's bomb coats in in clinging flame.
Jeremiah shoots it twice, each time it's thick hide soaks up some of the damage.
The Yaogaui lashes out at Raktar.
All of it's attacks somehow miss Raktar?
The party may now act.
Like magic the situation changes before your eyes.
The tentacle lashes out and wraps around Raktar.
Olimpia's shot misses.
[/b]
HP 45/65
AC 21, touch 10, flat-footed 21 (+10 armour, +1 natural armour)
Speed: 30 ft
Fort: +8 (+4 vs disease), Ref: +5, Will: +8 (+1 to all from prayer)
Conditions: bull's strength, prayer, expanded armour
Melee attack (+1 earthbreaker): +10 (+5 BAB, +3 Str, +1 enhancement, +2 bull's strength, -2 Power Attack, +1 prayer)
Melee Damage (+1 earthbreaker): 2d6+15 (+4 Str, +1 enhancement, +3 bull's strength, +6 Power Attack, +1 prayer)
Still in the air Dilana winces as the tentacle wraps aroudn Raktar. No lightning then I guess.
Instead this time she speaks a word in an unknown tongue that translates too an old favorite "Misfortune."
Not trusting that the creature will be unable to attack her as she moves through threatened squares Olimpia drops the musket and pulling a scimitar spring attacks it, moving attacking, and moving again, without provoking. Her slice cuts deep into the creature.
Seeing his weapon had minimal effect on his target, JJ switched tactics for the moment. If he couldn't make a large dent in it, he'd slow it down however he could until he could make a larger dent. Whistling to get a regular bullet, he took aim at the creatures head and pulled the trigger. "Let go of my friend, you bastard!"
Grit: 2/3
Active Conditions: Prayer (+1 attack rolls, weapon damage rolls, saves, and skill checks)
Fort: +6
Ref: +11
Will: +7
+1 Double Barrel Pistol (+15/+10) 1d8+3
Ammunition: 27 Bullets, 30 Adamantine Bullets, 2 Fire Mage Shots, 2 Electric Mage Shots
Figgy still freaked out a bit, makes another bomb to hit the creature.
"Where do you think something like this came from? Springy see if there are more in the woods." Springy flies higher to avoid the creature
Figgy's second bomb finishes the Yaoguai off, though you make sure by putting a few more wounds into the thing will it's still twitching.
Redfang admires your integrity and skill when he sees the carcass. He retrieves a hearth mantle from the High Home and presents it to you as a gift in thanks for your help in making Iadenveigh safer.
Aura faint abjuration and evocation
The inside of this long, thick shawl is cool muslin, while the outside is decorated with a flame-like rune.
Hearth mantles are favored by the faithful of Erastil, particularly those among his worshipers who rely upon the hunt for their livelihood. With a hearth mantle, one never has to worry about building a campfire in the wild.
A hearth mantle's wearer gains a + 2 competence bonus on saving throws against fire-based effects; the mantle itself is immune to fire damage. Once per day, the wearer can cause the leather exterior of the mantle to smolder for 1 minute.
While smoldering, the hearth mantle sheds light as a torch.
If the user takes a full-round action to carefully spread a hearth mantle on the ground with its exterior facing up, a campfire ignites on the mantle's fire rune. This campfire burns for 8 hours and requires no fuel.
Any creature that sleeps within 20 feet of the mantle for the full duration of the campfire recovers a number of hit points equal to twice its character level, as if it had undergone complete bed rest for a full 24 hours. The campfire is automatically extinguished if the hearth mantle is picked up, but can also be extinguished through normal means.
CONSTRUCTION REQUIREMENTS COST 1,800 GP
Craft Wondrous Item, nap stack, produce flame
He then introduces you to the Town councilor Ivak Gunnett. Who nods in a friendly manner and recognizes you by reputation for your deeds in Torch. Gunnett confides in you that your work in dealing with Technic league spies in Torch could be needed here in Iadenveigh.
"I'm glad you've come to ladenveigh, as I find myself in need of your kind-people who have run afoul of embedded agents of the Technic League. ladenveigh has had its confrontations with the League, but they've largely left us alone of late, since we don't have anything of interest to them. Yet I have reason to believe a spy from the Technic League is somewhere in ladenveigh, a fear that has only grown darker now that I've heard tales of similar problems in other towns throughout the Numerian Plains. Alas, I can do little, for I have no proof. If the townspeople got wind of this, they'd point fingers every which way and might end up
punishing the suspicious rather than the guilty. I need to know if my fears are based in fact, and if so, I want the spy identified before I take any formal action. Will you help?"
What are you doing now?
With the bear-like tentacle monster quite dead, JJ was more than happy to put a few more holes into it with a sword to make sure the creature wouldn't wake up again. After returning and receiving their neat new gift, JJ listened to the councilor's words. While he was a bit worried that their big secret would've been exposed with their fame, other words caught his attention.
"I'm glad you've come to ladenveigh, as I find myself in need of your kind-people who have run afoul of embedded agents of the Technic League. ladenveigh has had its confrontations with the League, but they've largely left us alone of late, since we don't have anything of interest to them. Yet I have reason to believe a spy from the Technic League is somewhere in ladenveigh, a fear that has only grown darker now that I've heard tales of similar problems in other towns throughout the Numerian Plains. Alas, I can do little, for I have no proof. If the townspeople got wind of this, they'd point fingers every which way and might end up punishing the suspicious rather than the guilty. I need to know if my fears are based in fact, and if so, I want the spy identified before I take any formal action. Will you help?"
"You had me at 'Technic League', councilor." JJ said with his fist clenching around his weapon, his hated for the organization made plain as day. "If there's really a spy around, I can promise you that they won't stay hidden for long."
"I've not been as affected by the League as others," Raktar says, placing a reassuring hand on JJ's shoulder, "but we all saw in Torch the damage that saboteurs and spies can do to a town. We'll help however we can. What makes you think that the League has infiltrated Iadenveigh?"
I'm in. Olimpia says simply, nodding her head in agreement with the others.
Figgy listens to the tale, knowing full well what the Technic league is capable of.
"Is there someone new to the town or you think they bought someone out to do it?"
As you have agreed to aid him, Gunnett presents the few facts he knows.
One of the town's hunters killed a mechanical bird north of town the day before yesterday. The bird shattered from its fall, revealing a piece of paper stored within.
The hunter, a decent man named Abret, brought the shattered bird and its missive to Gunnett. The paper bears a sketchy map of Iadenveigh with the area of Badwater circled.
A message in a strange language is written on the back, Gunnett recognizes the language as that used by the Technic League, but he can't himself speak the language.
The message reads as follows.
"Locals identified southern springs as the source of the area's mutations and now avoid it. Afflictions consistent with mutagenic gas poisoning, as you posited from Silver Mount expeditions. I will explore with caution; locals avoid the area and my current cover would seem noticeably out of place were I discovered there."
Gunnett presumes the sender directed the message north to Starfall. The mechanical nature ofthe messenger and the casual reference to Silver Mount suggest the sender is a spy for the Technic League.
Badwater: Everyone in town knows that the swath of land known as Badwater is, well, "bad." The fact that this region is of apparent interest to the Technic League concerns Gunnett, and he has stepped up patrols in that part of Iadenveigh.
So far, nothing suspicious has been found there, but you might consider talking to the Bardleighs (a family of stonemasons that quarry rock from Bad water's western edge) as they might have seen something relevant.
Strangers in Town: If there's a spy in town, chances are good that he or she is a recent arrival. Regarding newcomers in town, Gunnett explains that travelers generally stay at the High Home or, if they are down on their luck, camp in Heddick Widefoot's lumberyard. Currently, you are the only travelers staying at the High Home, but Gunnett recalls some travelers camped in Heddick's yard recently. Perhaps they know more?
He asks the your investigation be kept as discrete as possible to avoid people throwing wild accusations around. Find out what you can and report to him. If you do discover the spy let him know without confronting them. Though if the spy attacks you then you can deal with them
What are you doing now?
Figgy will translate the letter to everyone.
"So there is an area you are avoiding? THey figure that is where the mutated creatures are coming from." Figgy hums over the cover of the agent. "A baker or someone who shouldn't be out exploring."
"Makes since that the mutated creatures would come form there. Still we may want to focus on the spy first. They could get word to the League that we are poking around. Might be good for that to be known."
"Makes since that the mutated creatures would come form there. Still we may want to focus on the spy first. They could get word to the League that we are poking around. Might be good for that to be known."
"That's not a good idea, Di." JJ started as he put his hand to his temple and rubbed. "With only an inkling of a spy being around without any real idea on who is responsible will only lead to needless suspicions and baseless accusations being thrown around. That'll only cause more trouble than it's worth and give the spy a chance to escape in the chaos. No... we keep this to us until we can safely accuse someone."
The slinger then moved his hand to his weapon and started spinning it around his finger. "Also... we only just got to town, and took out that bear-thing. You really think a spy would have the time to report us? And since no one stopped this Abret from bringing in the bird and message, that tells me the spy doesn't know his message was intercepted, which gives us the advantage. So, let's not waste the opportunity and explore this Badwater place."
"The lumber yard sounds interesting, I wonder if they use any technology there to make things easier on them?" Figgy asks Springy and everyone
"Agree. If strangers wanted to stay out of the way while they spied on the town it'd make sense for them to stay in the lumberyard." Raktar checks over his gear before they move out.
The High home where you are currently staying is 1 on the map. The lumberyard is 10, so you take the SW road to get there.
As you get closer to the lumberyard you can see a group of Varisian wagons camped in the area beside the yard.
What are you doing now?
"Ohh Varisian wagons, my parents always loved to trade with them. Maybe they have some interesting stuff." Figgy runs a head of the group towards the wagon
"Well Figgy that seems like a good way to start talking."
Not waiting for much of a response Dilana fixes a smile, all be it a little off, on her face and heads down to the wagons.
"Anyone home? I am guessing that, like me, you are not from around here. Are you traders? I am always looking for unique items."
Activating her helmet Olimpia will hang back and watch, looking for anyone sneaking around or trying to run away.
Seeing Figgy and Dilana heading straight for the wagons without so much as a cursory look round for danger Raktar hurries along with them, pulling his hammer out and letting it hang casually at his side. He tries to make himself look intimidating and ready to to protect his friends.
