Prickles stays right beside his meek pet, growling and barking viciously at all the rivals that near her.
MINE!
BACK!
MINE!
When she's done he and looks up at his pet. She was still whole. He allows his tail to wag a little. He did good.
As everyone attempts to gain some information and make inroads with the locals, no one has ANY LUCK at ALL! Eventually, the sun is soon directly overhead and the docks beckon. Waiting for you in front of a ratty little fishing boat is Mirian with the crewman who showed you around earlier.
She smiles, ”so I’ve managed to procure a decent little ship for your trip across to... Anyway, you shouldn’t have any major issues, these boats are made to handle even some of the storms that roll in. If you’d like, I can send Jack here along with you to assist with the boat.”
Looking up at the sky, ”I’d suggest leaving now as the weather is good and the trip is about a full day’s sail, though you can shorten that a bit with some good seamanship.” The Captain looks at each of you and mouths, ‘good luck’ as she walks back towards her ship.
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Avasir cocks a suspicious eyebrow at the captain as she mouths "good luck" and then walks away. He then looks at Jack.
Yes, we assuredly need help sailing this vessel to our destination. Say, what is your track record for following course to destination directly, and your vessels arriving safely with no damage? I ask only out of curiosity...
White-Tooth Wallace takes the helm and throws commands in pretty rapid succession as they pull away from the dock and make their way out of the harbor. He manages to easily avoid bumping against anything in the tight areas and with the keen eyes of Avasir at the prow you are able to slip ahead of several slower moving ships as the assisting crew works quickly to get the sails in place on the nimbler fishing vessel. Bolting into the open sea Wallace breathes a sigh of relief, ”the hard part’s done, now we just hope the weather stays clear.”
With that everyone settles into routine. Gack trades off periodically with Wallace at the helm to give him breaks, but no time is lost as he keeps them expertly on pace. Danicka does an excellent job keeping Prickles entertained and preventing him from murdering any of the group. He even manages to take out a couple rats trying to get into their food stores.
Morning breaks and the group can see their destination. As they near coastline they can see a few stone ruins poking up from the jungle to indicate they are in the right area. It is approximately 1100 with clear skies, you definitely shaved some time off the trip, but the small boat did not provide a restful night and no one was able to get a full night’s sleep.
While White-Tooth Wallace is completely unable to stop his rampant yawning. He is obviously tired and advises everyone, ”all right, that’s my job done. I’m gonna take a nap, I’ll leave it up to you for the rest. Wake me when you need to head back.” He retires into the small bunk room and shortly you hear deep snoring.
The group slips the fishing vessel up close to the shore and ties it off against a few gnarled branches. The snoring is still constant from the cabin, but now the sounds of the jungle start drowning it out. Making their way into the old city, everyone keeps a close eye out for enemies and signs of the Aspis. Many foot and paw prints are found in the soft muddy ground, but none appear to be from booted humanoids. After about 45 minutes Dolora locates a few booted prints. Dark confirms that they appear to be humanoids, most likely who you are seeking.
Pointing it out the group quickly finds more matching prints. You all can easily follow the trail of the Aspis from here out. It appears they have headed deeper into the city ruins. What do you do next?
Prickles disembarks with a wag of his tail and what almost looks like happiness. (Or, at least not anger...)
He gives himself a stretch, lets out a groan, and gets back down to business...
..Growling viciously at everyone! He places himself between Danicka and all those meddlesome two-legs, and gives another ferocious growl...
The map roughly shows the different terrains, I have tagged each different section with what it is, I’ll try to put narrative clues in as well.
Bogs: If a square is part of a shallow bog, it has deep mud or standing water of about 1 foot in depth. It costs 2 squares of movement to move into a square with a shallow bog, and the DC of Acrobatics checks in such a square increases by 2.
A square that is part of a deep bog has roughly 4 feet of standing water. It costs Medium or larger creatures 4 squares of movement to move into a square with a deep bog, or characters can swim if they wish. Small or smaller creatures must swim to move through a deep bog. Tumbling is impossible in a deep bog.
The water in a deep bog provides cover for Medium or larger creatures. Smaller creatures gain improved cover (+8 bonus to AC, +4 bonus on Reflex saves). Medium or larger creatures can crouch as a move action to gain this improved cover. Creatures with this improved cover take a –10 penalty on attacks against creatures that aren't underwater.
Both shallow and deep bogs increase the DC of Stealth checks by 2.
The Climbable Rubble is actually quite stable and provides no movement penalties, but does require a DC 10 climb check to get on top.
The group follows the tracks through the ruined city streets, which turn damp and sodden as the aged stone pathways dip under shallow, green water. The surrounding buildings are little more than collapsing heaps of stone with few exterior walls standing upright, save for a large elevated structure to the southeast that remains mostly intact. The remains of a marble statue lies shattered at the knees in the center of the crossroads, its torso and head hidden beneath the increasing depth.
Just as the water gets too deep to easily see the tracks they hear a voice from ahead. ”Оооо, я збіраюся знайсці сапраўды вялікую змяю на гэты раз!”
Then another voice, ”Я знайшоў гэтую чарапаху, я збіраюся стукнуць яго па галаве ... пачакай, ты чуеш што-небудзь?”
Second Voice, ”I found this turtle, I'm going to hit him in the head with... wait, do you hear something?”
The voices go silent, you think they came from where the statue is submerged in deep water.
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As Danicka steps into the swampy water she lets out a shriek of disgust. "Eeek!" She hoists up her skirt, only to realize now she's sowing off her calves!
I'm indecent!
She blushes brightly, and clearly debates between letting her shapeless robes get wet, and showing off more leg than she's comfortable with. In the end, she drops her robes, letting them get soaked.
Clutching her broom in her hands, bristles up, she trudges through the swamp.
When she hears the strange voices, Danicka quickly pulls out a scroll and mutters a few arcane words.
Danicka pales as she listens to the second voice. "They hear us!" she whispers. "Oh, dear..."
She quickly pulls out a wand and uses it on herself and Prickles.
Prickles places himself in front of Danicka and looks around warily. A deep rumbling growl builds in his chest.
As about a minute goes by, the mist slowly solidifies into a larger version of Dolora that shows none of her cheerfulness. Its face is in a permanent grimace of pain or sadness, and tears fall from its eyes. It does not speak or acknowledge the party at all and merely starts floating in front of the group.
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As the strange transparent and silent version of Dolora appears, her physical body continues to not move or react at all. Anyone concerned enough to check closely will notice that she is breathing (although it's quite hard to tell) and so she is at least alive, but she does not respond to any stimulus during the phantom's materialization and movement.
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Gack hears the strange voices and looks to Danicka meaningfully. "Can you translate? If you don't feel comfortable, I have a scroll of my own." While she responds, he performs an arcane motion and a small layer of force covers his body.
Knowing that if they cannot understand Common, all is lost, Gack calls out to the swamp. "Hello, friends! We like eating reptiles too! I even shot a giant lizard last week!" He looks at Prickles and mouths. Be good, pup! He turns his attention back to the foreign creatures. "Can we help you with your hunt?"
Ruins in the jungle. Brother I can't help. I can't help. I can't help. Why are they always by the pillars? Brother...
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Avasir drags himself wearily behind the rest of the team, constantly thinking there should be a coffee shop around the next bend (regardless of how little that makes sense).
Does everything feel like a dream to everybody right now or is it just me?
He reflexively yawns.
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Does anybody understand...
He pauses and struggles for the next word.
what that voice was saying?
He doesn't realize how slow he sounds to the rest of the group, in his foggy, fatigued state.
Avasir slowly, clumsily, fishes a wand out of his pack and holds the tip to his chest.
He puts it away he draws his longsword.
After the ghostly figure appears near Dolora he stares intently at it for several seconds, blinking and rubbing his eyes. He keeps turning to look at the rest of the team, wondering if they see it too, but keeps quiet to avoid having them think he's losing it.
Keep it under control. Fake it 'till you make it... or get ahold of coffee.
He wanders over by Dark to ignore the apparition.
The phantom glances back at Avasir.
Mage. Mage. Help brother. Come help.
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He hears the voice and becomes curious.
Well, if this is a dream, what is the harm.
He wanders over near it and whispers back.
What do you need? Would you like a mage armor too? Would it even help?
He fidgets with the end of one of his long elf-ears as he ponders how to best interact with this vision.
The map roughly shows the different terrains, I have tagged each different section with what it is, I’ll try to put narrative clues in as well.
Bogs: If a square is part of a shallow bog, it has deep mud or standing water of about 1 foot in depth. It costs 2 squares of movement to move into a square with a shallow bog, and the DC of Acrobatics checks in such a square increases by 2.
A square that is part of a deep bog has roughly 4 feet of standing water. It costs Medium or larger creatures 4 squares of movement to move into a square with a deep bog, or characters can swim if they wish. Small or smaller creatures must swim to move through a deep bog. Tumbling is impossible in a deep bog.
The water in a deep bog provides cover for Medium or larger creatures. Smaller creatures gain improved cover (+8 bonus to AC, +4 bonus on Reflex saves). Medium or larger creatures can crouch as a move action to gain this improved cover. Creatures with this improved cover take a –10 penalty on attacks against creatures that aren't underwater.
Both shallow and deep bogs increase the DC of Stealth checks by 2.
The Climbable Rubble is actually quite stable and provides no movement penalties, but does require a DC 10 climb check to get on top.
The group activates a few protective spells and then Dolora begins oozing her soul or something worse out of her pores. What remains of her body appears to be statuesque. The mist-like ooze coalesces into a ghostly being that floats forward terrifying her allies. It wanders over to where Dark is carefully approaching the deeper water. Avasir seems to be the only one unconcerned with the aparition and wanders up to it, asking what it needs.
Suddenly, the head and shoulders of a creature pop out of the deep bog, southwest of the statue. The creature appears to be most similar to a very large toad with two bulbous eyes and warty green skin. Spikes protrude from shoulder guards and it holds some sort of spiked mace.
The creature eyes the group warily and yells while pointing back the way you came, "Вы цяпер сысці. Мы знайшлі яго. Ён наш. Nакінуць!"
When the creature appears, the phantom stops trying to talk to Avasir and spins around to watch the newcomer. The mist around it begins to draw in and it almost seems to thicken a bit. It is still slightly transparent but more solid.
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Dolora starts to blink rapidly and staggers forward.
"Sorry...I snapped out of it again didn't I? I sometimes do that to keep safe, usually on purpose but sometimes it just happens when I'm surprised or confused."
She shakes her head as she moves forward, clearing out some cobwebs and
"Oh and please don't mind my...well...that over there. She can seem imposing but she's on our side. We're of the same mind as to what is friend and what is foe."
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Dolora finishes slogging through the water and once again looks fully alert and aware, but her unbridled cheerful optimism seems to be gone for now.
"I've seen that thing before. It's a Boggard. They are very at home in swamps and will probably be much more agile than we are in the muck. If we get it angry it can grab and hold people with it's tongue like a frog can, and its croak has a tendency to impart some kind of fear effect, even on the normally brave."
"I'm a fan of not angering it if possible. Why upset the natives?"
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Gack, growing impatient that it had taken Danicka .7 seconds to translate, grabs a scroll from his pack and reads it. He smiles and speaks to the Boggard. "Hello, friend, can you understand me? I can understand you - but cannot speak your eloquent tongue, unfortunately." He bows deeply, beard nearly touching the swamp floor. He comes up with a large smile, trying to convey friendliness across the divide.