"And the report from the injured man of goblins is the first one that this town has seen in years, correct? Interesting. Thank you for your help Father. I don't believe I have any more questions for you myself although it is possible my companions may."
Lalia turns to the fetchling. "My apologies for the delay, Dra'hir, but I must check in upon the horses before we proceed. If you all prefer, I can simply catch up with you at our next location. Perhaps the bakery to visit one of the last two masters?"
Lalia waits to see if her companions have any more questions for Father Ildris and to determine where they will be going next, but will visit the horses before the next location regardless, moving on after finding them uninjured.
"Ah, it makes some sense as to why she might be interested in adventuring then" says Malochia "I'm sorry to hear about the incident Father, thank you for your answer".
He turns to the group "The graveyard also sounds like an interesting area to investigate then, I suggest visiting the last few masters like Lalia suggested and head over either there or the mansion after" he pauses, staring at the fetchling and wiggling his tail playfully "Unless there is a reason to do something else" he says with a smirk.
Perhaps we should comb over the orchard for clues? Dra'Hir interjects, This priest is the second person to tell us that our quarry were to meet here. We may find clues as to where they scampered off to... or at the very least have a chance to discuss what we find with the remaining Masters without back tracking. Turning toward the door, Then this evening we can venture to the graveyard, looking back over his shoulder, because where is the fun in a daytime visit to graveyard? A mischievous grin sneaks across his face at the thought of darkness.
“I have no objections to visiting the orchard next.” Lalia responds somewhat absentmindedly, but is fairly pleased at the prospect of staying outside and being able to keep Fyrra with her without risking unreasonable amounts of offense to townspeople they need answers from.
Then it is settled. I knew my lovely druidic friend would have little objection to the outdoors! Dra'Hir slaps the small fellow and the dashing gentleman on the back as if to cut off and objections. To the Orchard! Perhaps we could grab a bite to eat while there.
With that he rushes out the door.
Lalia shrugs. “True enough. It will be a relief to be in a more natural space for a time. I will visit the horses and then meet you there.” Lalia exits and gets Fyrra, who seems like she may have fallen asleep waiting. The two of them enter the stable where Fyrra then attempts to generally get underfoot checking out the horses until Lalia commands her to back off before she gets stepped on. Fyrra sulks briefly before wandering off to sniff the rest of the stable while Lalia finishes.
Lalia crouches down to talk to the snake while the snake sniffs at a wall. “All right Fyr, let’s take you somewhere more exciting than waiting in front of shop doors. It looks like you’re already getting bored enough to cause trouble.” Lalia pokes the python in the side. “At least you grew out of trying to eat my focuses.” Fyrra looks at her with one orange eye before happily slithering out the door. Lalia shakes her head and calls out to the departing Fyrra. “I don’t know why I ever chose to share my life with an 80lb python. Impossible thing.” She then heads out the door after the snake.
Saringallows orchard is a picture of disarray. Rows of neglected apple, apricot, and cherry trees sway in the wind, and the occasional rotting, worm-eaten fruit falls with a wet thud to the ground below. The earth is heavily trampled near the southern end of the orchard, and an overturned barrel of apricots lies broken on its side, exuding a sickly sweet scent.
The ground around the trees has been heavily trafficked recently, it seems.
As you begin to look around the Orchard, some of you hear a faint buzzing coming from the trees. Three glowing red insects dripping with a black tarry substance fly from the tops of the trees and attack!
Surprise Round! (1 Standard or Move Action AND Free Actions)
Dra'hir
Malochia (unaware of the foe!)
Lalia (and Fyrra!)
Earll
Blue beetle
Yellow beetle
Red beetle
Del
Lalia drops her pack to the ground upon seeing the insects and pulls out her sling and sling bullets. “These are unnatural creatures and must be eliminated from this place. Fyr, attack,” she calls, pointing to the red insect and targeting the blue insect herself. Fyrra might have trouble getting at the flying creature, but hopefully she could at least keep it busy for a time. Avoiding 10’ of muscle and teeth is a reasonable distraction.
Lalia addresses the others as she aims. “It looks like two people fought here with the smaller claiming victory and dragging the larger off.” She then looses the bullet towards the insect.
Unnatural to you my friend but I have seen this before... Flame and frost will be of little help in this fight. Master Fynn your acid bottles should still be effective if necessary.
With that Dra'hir draws his Kukri and with his left hand pressing against the spine, the blade begins to crackle and give off a hint of ozone as he casts Shocking Grasp upon it! He lunges toward the nearest beetle. He slashes straight down upon it's corrupted carapace.
If that hits
Dra'hir draws a wicked looking kukri from a belt sheath smoothly, preparing himself for trouble, while Lalia retrieves her sling from her belt. Fyrra, moves towards the red beetle to attack. Earll takes a step forward as he expertly unsheathes his rapier and takes a step forward, interposing himself between Dra'hir and the closest beetle, which has a slight yellowish tint to its shell.
The yellow beetle drops out of the tree, and viciously snaps its jaws at Earll trying to hamstring him.
The beetle is fast, and Earll cannot quite dodge the incoming blow. Just as it looks like he's about to get a chunk taken out of his leg, Earll grins rakishly and smoothly brings his rapier up to deflect the bite. A quick return thrust with his blade skewers the beetle, ending any threat from it.
The red beetle charges at Lalia, jaws snapping wildly as black ooze drips from its body, but she deftly sidesteps the attack.
The blue beetle charges at Lalia, jaws snapping wildly as black ooze drips from its body, but she deftly sidesteps the attack.
Del similarly finds himself under assault from the beetle with the blue-hued shell, and he barely evades its attack.
Arcane words of power pour from Dra'hir's lips as lightning gathers around his free hand. He steps towards the beetle that is assaulting Lalia, and slashes it with his kukri, injuring it severely.
He stretches forth his other hand, and sends bolts of electricity coursing through the beetle's injured body, leaving behind a smoking corpse.
Round 1!
Dra'hir
Malochia
Lalia
Fyrra
Earll
Blue beetle
Yellow beetle
Red beetle
Del
After being deeply confused for a while Malochia finally awakens from his deep daydreams about conjuring succubi and take a step in front of Lalia while grabbing his crossbow and stepping on the dead beetle.
While he loads a bolt into his crossbow "These would make nice pets really, I wonder how they got corrupted" he wonders.
“Fyrra, come back please- defense.” She points in front of Malochia. “Make sure you’re keeping yourself out of our allies’ line of fire. And don’t you dare give me sass this time! I don’t care if biting is more exciting- I want you playing it safe!” She calls. She loads a bullet in her sling, draws back, and aims at the last remaining insect.
Malochia steps on the beetle's smoking corpse with a sickening *crunch* as Lalia's sling bullet flies wide of the remaining beetle. Fyrra moves back to Lalia's side, preparing to defend her against the beetle.
Round 1!
Dra'hir
Malochia
Lalia
Fyrra
Earll
Blue beetle
Yellow beetle
Red beetle
Del
Earll strides over to the final beetle and lunges, piercing through its chitinous shell and destroying its heart.
The final beetle falls to the ground, dead. Under a nearby tree, a masterwork sap lies discarded on the ground.
Demon’s bile attracts vermin, and those that wallow in it (as well as some other creatures exposed to it) often grow in size, gain the fiendish template, or both. Additionally, demon’s bile that covers a 10-foot-by-10-foot area or greater may spew forth fiendish vermin every few days. Any good-aligned damage, damage from cold iron weapons, or positive energy damage destroys a section of demon's bile.
Additionally, anyone who ingests demon’s bile may become ill with Demon's Bile, causing progressively more erratic and evil behaviors, and succumbing to madness and delusions.
Lalia indicates to Fyrra to relax and then walks forward to search for the sling bullet that missed to avoid leaving lead around contaminating the environment.
"Dra'hir," she says as she searches, "you mentioned that you were familiar with what has happened to these insects? If you could share what you know, I would be much obliged. This blight on nature must be addressed. Fyrra and I can attempt to track the people who fought here in a moment."
Lalia will wait for information on the corrupted insects before trying to follow the trail.
Demon bile... It corrupts everything it touches. We need to purge it with good energy or cold iron or else it will grow and contaminate more and more until it corrupts everything.
Malochia gives a small chuckle "Heh, maybe we should let it corrupt a few things so we can have more pets" he says with a smirk and pokes Tiki with his tail who seems displeased.
Lalia glances up at the sky and shakes her head as if asking for the gods to grant her patience. "Does any one else have access to good energy or cold iron? I can access good energy but I will need to rest first as I have already used what I have prepared today for healing the wounded in the town."
Lalia then leans down next to Fyrra's head and whispers to her. "Don't you dare go wandering off right now and poking your nose in these things. If you go flicking around demon's bile so help me" Fyrra turns her face towards Lalia and gives the prissiest, most aloof look a snake can muster. "Noope don't give me that look missy,' Lalia hisses. "We both know what you do when you're bored. Just because nature didn't see fit to give you hands doesn't mean you should stick your snoot in everything." Fyrra lazily flicks her tongue, hitting Lalia's face with the ends.
Lalia shakes her head and sighs. "Just remember, ok Fyr? I don't want you getting hurt.' With that, she pets the python's head and straightens up.
"Right, sorry. So if any one else has the tools to destroy this demon's bile, I'd like to do so immediately. If not, we may have to rest and preferably guard the location to prevent further corruption. We also need to follow the tracks in this location in the hopes that we can find the apprentices...since this may be time sensitive, particularly seeing that one of the people who has gone here seems to be injured, we might of necessity need to look into this before I can recover the spell necessary to purge the bile. Hopefully someone else has the ability to address this so we do not have to choose."
Del pipes up, "Uh-uh-I'm s-sorry, but I can't h-help with good energ-gy. I can t-try to help with the tracking though."
Earll is quite pleased with his actions in the recent scuffle.
He listens raptly to the description the mages give of the corruption and looks askance at Malochia for his comment of letting this vile bilge remain one moment longer than necessary does not meet with his approval, even in jest.
He looks about for a way to clean his blade of the noxious residue of the beetles. If need be, he’ll cut a rag from his shirt.
Watching Del finding sign to follow the trail impresses him.
He ponders the need to purchase cold iron weapons and mentally reviews his wherewithal and coming up short in his calculations.
Lalia pulls out the last of her gold- four coins. “I don’t have much, but I should have enough for this at least. Would someone please purchase me a cold iron dagger in town? I would be greatly appreciative. It is perhaps best not to be tied to my spells alone- this may not be the only patch of it. I would like to stay here to keep watch over the area- I don’t want to leave the demon’s bile unguarded.”
Lalia shrugged to herself. She and Fyrra were experienced in living off nature’s gifts and there was little better use for her gold than its protection.
Flicking the gore from his blade Dra'Hir stares at it.I still have some coin. Perhaps it's time for an upgrade? He turns back to the group and exclaims, I know where I can procure a more favorable weapon. I shall return. He once again rushes off without waiting for his compatriots. He goes to the nearest smith and exchanges his trusty Kukri for a cold iron equivalent.
He rushes back to the Orchard post haste. There he starts hacking away at the corruption.
Lalia shrugs again and puts her gold away. “Well that’ll work. As long as the problem is addressed.”
Dra'Hir looks at Lalia. I feel as though I have offended you my dear druidic friend. I apologize for my fervor, but I share your sentiment of purging this scourge from this plane. I have seen this ruin enough in the past and refuse to let this plague exist here any longer than necessary. Glaring at Malochia. Demons have rarely brought good with them...Dra'Hir goes back to clearing the vile bile from this land.
Dra'hir knows that the best place to try to find a cold iron (or silver) weapon in town is Saringallow Sundries. This general store is a cooperative venture owned by several influential townspeople and operated by the mayor’s office. A rotating staff of clerks, inventory managers, and guards crowd the place during daylight hours. They keep accurate records of every item bought and sold.
Though it is a general store, a variety of simple weapons are available for sale in addition to items to fight and ward off evil creatures, including silver and cold iron weapons. Because the group is cooperating with the mayor, the store has been instructed to extend a 10% discount.
Dra'hir bursts in the door, eliciting stares from the clerks and townsfolk in the store. It takes them a bit to find where they had stored a cold iron kukri, but they do eventually dig one up. As they're checking their inventory, the two clerks are bantering back and forth. "Two cold iron weapons in a week? When's the last time that happened? Wonder if it's just coincidence."
The eldritch man, however, is in too big of a rush to consider a conversation, and runs back to the Orchard post-haste. The demon's bile melts away under his blade, cleansing the tree of its taint.
“Not at all,” Lalia responds to Dra’hir. “I’m happy the issue is solved, I have no need to address it personally. Expedient solutions are always welcome.”
Lalia briefly considers Malochia. “I find it’s often best to take things on an individual basis, demon or no. Nature is a complex thing and it is difficult to understand at a glance.”
Pleased to hear Dra'Hir support him in his assessment of Malochia’s comment and impressed by his swift actions to stem the spread of the bile, Earll’s opinion of Dra’Hir rises a notch.
"Did you say that there was another purchase of a cold iron weapon? I would think that will need further investigation!"
Finishing up his cleansing of the area, Dra'Hir rejoins the group. Yes, I agree. I think perhaps your more diplomatic demeanor Master Fynn or the gentle approach of Miss Silverstrom would be beneficial in the inquiry. I fear the townspeople still feel the need to avoid me, whether by choice or subconscious aversion. Or it's because I have the patience of a man on fire... He pauses on that thought for a moment as though it was a revelation. Then as though possessed he rounds up his party and leads his companions back to the shop. There he bounds into the shop and declares, My fine folk! I was just in here and in a bit of a hurry to solve a little... infestation we seem to have had in the Orchard. Now that it seems to be resolved I have returned with some friends to ask a few minor questions in regards to your comments about cold iron purchases this week. He gestures to the 2 clerks that he had overheard earlier. I assure you we mean no trouble, but could you elaborate on that?
Malochia now supports a full on grin "Maybe you need a bit of abyssal blood in you to appreciate how cute these little buggers are" pointing directly at Dra'Hir with his tail "Don't worry, maybe we'll find some undead pets for you too" he says as his grin widens.
Malochia carefully pokes at the dead beetles with a random stick he found, using his tail to keep Tiki away from them. He then tags along for the trip to the shop.
Lalia covers her face with a hand at Malochia’s needling. “Great eld lend me strength”, she mutters as she trails along behind.
Malochia, He raises and eyebrow as he looks over the Teifling, What would give you impression that I would want to associate with undead? I just expounded on the necessity of purging corruption from this place and you think I would allow a corrupted body to exist?
He shakes his head as he states, I thought you were a student of the planes? I am Kayal, or Fetchling if you must be crude. I am of the shadow plane, a duskwalker, NOT a vile vampire or a lecherous lich! Visibly insulted he rounds up the others to head back to the store.
Lalia mutters to herself again rhythmically as if a chant. "Patience of the hunting jaguar", she breathes. "Stillness of the bromeliad's roots. Life death and violence all in their time. May the cycle be my guide."
"I believe our...interesting...companion is rather fond of jokes of the less than tactful kind." She says, primarily to Dra'Hir. "I would ask that for the sake of expedience, if nothing else, you attempt to judge him on his actions and not his penchant for unsettling others. Rest assured that if he were to take any actions to harm the undeserving or to allow corruption to spread, I will assist you against it as best as I am able."
"Oh I am, I have read extensively about the planes. Last I remember Shadow Plane is full of undead" responds Malochia, still with a playful grin "Not much of a shock considering that the negative energy plane sits right at the center. With that much negative energy to go around, I'm fairly sure there are plenty fetchlings with undead pets." with that his face turns more serious and looks deep in thought, not really looking at any of his party members anymore "Exactly how much negative energy seeps into the shadow plane I wonder... surely it gets stronger as you approach the center..."
He keeps walking with his party towards the shop, looking down and still deep in thought "Oh yeah, I wouldn't take my jokes very seriously if I were you to be honest, there are apprentices to save and things to do right? Let's focus on that" he says, without looking up, petting Tiki with his tail as he walks.
You make your way from the Orchard to the Sanringallow Sundries, and on coming into it, find a well-stocked and meticulously kept general store, which looks like it could provide most items that you need. Dra'hir begins his impromptu interrogation of the clerks, and they startle at seeing him again so soon.
"What was that? Cold iron weapon purchases? I remember selling a cold iron morningstar earlier this week, but I need to see some more credentials before I start digging through our records to show who we sold it to."
On showing the clerk the mayor's letter, he responds, "Okay, let me go and take a look. It'll be just a minute while I check," and heads off to the back of the store.
There is another clerk on duty, and several townspeople are perusing the store's wares as well.
The clerk returns after a bit, ledger in hand. "I knew I remembered that sale!" he exclaims, pointing at the ledger. "We sold a cold iron morning star to Nolaria Wintren just a couple of days ago. She came in asking for the biggest cold iron weapon we had, talking about needing to meet a friend at the Old Graveyard."
He crosses his arms in front of his chest and seems to be trying to recall something. "Come to think of it, she looked a little out of sorts when she came in. I hope everything's alright. She's a good girl."
"Thank you very much for your help." Lalia pulls out a dagger and a few coins from her belt. "If you don't mind, I'd like to exchange this for a cold iron one. It seems I may need it."
"Well," Lalia says, tightening the leather tie holding back her hair and giving a pat to Fyrra, whom she's allowed to stay at her side due to the tensions, "It looks like we have a graveyard we need to visit." Fyrra shifts slightly and curls her tail in front of the druid's other side. Lalia then unstrapped her quarterstaff from her backpack and held it in one hand, attempting to still look relaxed to not startle the townspeople.
The trip to the graveyard is uneventful, and you are able to reach it after only a few minutes of walking from the general store. The Temple of Erastil sits to the east of the graveyard, and you can see its over the low graveyard wall.
Survival
Perception
Initiative
Hundreds of small grave markers stand between a few mausoleums in this graveyard. Crows leer from the gravestones, scattering when the group draws near, only to resettle some distance away. The sun hangs high overhead, beating down on the group. The graveyard is silent, other than a deep, throat KRAA the from one of the more distant mausoleums, to the northwest. It sounds like a bird, perhaps a raven, is calling out.
On entering the graveyard, Lalia finds a pair of footprints in the soft ground that leads towards the northwest section of the graveyard (), as far as possible in the graveyard from the Temple of Erastil. With her keen senses, she alone notices that all of the crows in the graveyard are avoiding the mausoleum that the tracks approach (). A single large, noisy raven sits atop the mausoleum, cawing loudly.
As you approach the abandoned mausoleum, two giant ants, exoskeletons cracked and glowing with a wicked light (one with a red color, and one with a faint blue color), round the corner of the mausoleum from the west, looking for an easy meal.
Round 1! Fight! (no surprise round, normal actions can be taken)
Del 22
Malochia 20
Blue ant 20
Lalia 14
Dra'hir 13
Earll 11
Red ant 7
Upon hearing the raven Malochia looks at the bird "Well, somebody is watching us" he mumbles "That's a spellcaster's familiar"
Upon seeing the ants "More cute little fiendish creatures to kill it seems" Malochia yells, he almost sounds excited "These are worker ants, at least they don't have poison". He uses his tail to pull a stick of butter out of his component pouch as he walks up 10' next to Earl. He starts making gestures with one of his hands, chanting out a word with every gesture which releases a slight smell of brimstone. A ring of runes form in the air in from of him as he casts the spell, he holds out his free hand and drops the stick of butter onto it with his tail. He releases the butter in the middle of the ring which disappears and reappears in the middle of the ants, exploding into a mess of slimy substance over both creatures, covering the ground around them in what appears to be grease.
Malochia then snaps his fingers, disappearing in flames and then reappearing behind Earl.
"Wh-what are these? Fiendish worker ants you say?" the halfling stammers, unsure what to do. His hands trace arcane marks in the air as he presents his holy symbol, a blue scarab carved from wood. "Xwedayê Scarab dê te bikuje!" () Power flows from his into the surrounding area, but the ants seem unaffected. He draws his sling and prepares for battle.
As the unexpected grease appears under the fiendish worker ants, both slip and fall prone. The blue-hued ant is quicker to react and regains its feet with some effort.
However, it slips and falls prone again as it tries to move out of the greased area towards the party.
Round 1! Fight! (no surprise round, normal actions can be taken)
Del 22
Malochia 20
Blue ant 20
Lalia 14
Dra'hir 13
Earll 11
Red ant 7
"Something has clearly gone rather wrong here." Lalia says, taking a step back, then casting off her backpack and placing her quarterstaff next to her. "The Father stated that Nolaria had a raven as a pet, but whether it was a familiar I am unsure." She draws her sling. "Fyr, attack the closest ant please. Be careful of our allies and do try not to get completely covered in grease." The snake at her side eyes her briefly. Lalia sighs and mutters to herself, "Eighty pounds of flailing greasy snake to wash it is I guess."
At Lalia's request, all eighty pounds of Fyrra charges towards the giant red ant, coiling and striking at the last second.
Her jaws strike home, crush through a small portion of the ant's shell; she quickly coils her body around the prone ant, restricting its movement. ().
Round 1!
Del
Malochia
Blue ant
Lalia
Dra'hir
Earll
Red ant -4 HP
Dra'Hir moves 30ft to the space SE of Fyrra and draws his Kukri. His eyes begin to glow yellow and a surge of energy flows though his arms and imbue his blade with power.
If you convince our scaly friend to drag that foul creature from the grease we can end it's fiendish torment, Lalia! His Kukri raised ready to strike!
He readies a strike for when the ant is in melee range.
Drawing his rapier as he moves to join the fracas, Earll positions himself to the west side of Fyr and attacks the Red Ant.
Prone on the ground, wrapped up in 80 pounds of reticulated python, the giant red-hued ant is unable to avoid Earll's blow. The swashbuckler thrusts between the Fyrra's constricting coils, piercing the ant's hard shell and wounding it.
The fiendishly glowing red ant, mad with rage, attempts to bite at its grappler, and barely manages to score Fyrra's side deeply with its mandibles ().
Round 2!
Del
Malochia
Blue ant
Lalia
Fyrra -5 HP
Dra'hir
Earll
Red ant -11 HP
Del moves forward, having seen his bane's ineffectiveness against these creatures, and launches an attack with his sling at the red-hued ant; however, the interposing bodies and the effort of trying not to hit Fyrra or Earll causes him to miss. His bullet bounces harmlessly off of the wall of the mausoleum.
Malochia smirks at the ants struggling with the grease and rushes 10ft behind Earl and pulls out his crossbow , thankfully still loaded from last battle.
The other giant ant, a fell blue light glowing through cracks in its shell, hisses in frustration as it attempts to work its way out of the grease, jaws snapping fiercely as it stares hungrily at Earll. It comes to its feet, and moves to close the gap between it and its prey.
The grease, however, gets the best of it once again, as its feet slide out from under it and it lands on its chest with a sickening crunch.
Round 2!
Del
Malochia
Blue ant
Lalia
Fyrra -5 HP
Dra'hir
Earll
Red ant -11 HP
Continuing his attack on the Red Ant and doing his best to not hit Fyr Earll thrusts again!
Earll's rapier stabs deep into the thorax of the red-hued ant, skillfully avoiding Fyr. The now heavily injured ant chitters angrily at this new injury, writhing in Fyrra's constricting coils and snapping its jaws at Earll as fluid leaks from its injured body.
Round 2!
Del
Malochia
Blue ant
Lalia
Fyrra -5 HP
Dra'hir
Earll
Red ant -15 HP
Sticking with what I committed to:
Dra'Hir 5ft steps up to the East side of Fyr.
Attack,Kukri: 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (16) + 4 = 20
Damage: 1d4 + 1 ⇒ (1) + 1 = 2
Despite having to avoid the wall of the mausoleum with his strike, Dra'hir's kukri strikes true, severing one of the red-hued ant's antennae.
Fyrra easily maintains her grapple on the trapped ant. Sensing a kill, she clamps her jaws around its head, biting down as her coils crush the ant's thorax and abdomen. Its chitinous shell collapses inwards, as its life is extinguished and the evil red glow fades from its corpse.
Ignoring her instincts, she unwinds herself from her shattered prey, and prepares to attack the next ant. Lalia's admonition about the grease sticks in her mind though, and she holds her position for now.
Round 2 (end) & 3 (beginning)! BOLD is up.
Del
Malochia
Blue ant
Lalia
Fyrra -5 HP
Dra'hir
Earll
Red ant -23 HP
The halfling runs forward, trying to get a better angle to make a ranged attack with his sling. "O-o-one down!" he cries. "Keep w-watch over us, oh Hum-Humble Hand!" he continues, reverently touching the holy symbol of the blue beetle.