You think Snowball has probably been contacted by Tylia your wizard ally via a sending smell.
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"Skank, why don't you try Flerbelton? No, sorry, It hasn't been called that in millenia. Um, It's Little Winging now. It's just over the ridges, In the exact opposite direction from Trogsdale. Understood?"
----
Tina's tiny eyes go wide, and glow extra red. Snowball, who told you about the necro-police? Are they on their way? Are they already here? I have to hide some things, fast. She tosses a desiccated leather pouch to Goldslip. I can't be carrying this when they find me. If they catch you you'll be fine. Just a few hundred years in a soul gem, quick stretch for your first time, but if go down, I'm looking at big numbers.
She begins rushing around the cave, grabbing things off shelves, and chucking them into the zombie pit, lagoon, really anywhere else that barely out of sight. "Get to the front door! We've got paladins incoming! Brace for combat! They'll never take me unalive!
After a few moments watching the treeline, and seeing nothing move, she turns to Snowball, and asks, "Snowball, sweetie, did you mean Necropolis? Because if so, I just dumped the Grimoire of Granus Helthan into a lagoon, for no reason, which is very bad for a number of reasons."
"Yeah, necro-polis! Auntie Ta- Tu-... the other auntie T said... Um ... Shiny? Shiny's necro police! Let's go get shiny! Please auntie Tina please!" Snowball says while hopping back and forth, apparently not appreciative of the value and danger in the Grimoire of Granus Helthan.
Tina dashes out of the room, shouting "Maybe it's not too late! and returns a few moments later, covered in strange markings, possibly bite marks, but not from teeth that anybody has seen before. It's definitely too late. We should all avoid the lagoon, and any adjacent rooms for a week or two, and things will settle down on their own. Probably best to just clear out of the cave entirely, just to be safe. I'll send Skank and the goblins off on a raid, and we can go to the Necropolis. It'll be a nice little vacation, maybe see some family.
She pauses, realizing the implication of that statement. Snowball, you said that Tylia let you know about the Necropolis? That must mean she's found another shard, which means my brother is a step ahead of us. Did she tell you which Necropolis we're going to, or at least how to get there? Is she meeting us there?
She rubs her little chin. This could be bad. My brother is deviating from my plans, and heading to the Necropolis. I was always my parent's favorite, naturally. But if he shows up with a powerful artifact, they might see that he is finally getting serious about a plot (never mind that he stole it from me), and grant him use of their army of the undead to carry out his dastardly, stolen deeds. She takes a swig from her flask. Of course, I am competent, and capable of following through on my plans without running to my parents for help, which is why I didn't feel the need to use their undead army in the plan. I figured that by the time I needed it, I would have my own.
Tonelessly, Cindy replies "General Bob. Sounds interesting. Perhaps I can be morale officer? I would enjoy keeping people...obedient."
Goldslip leads Elarinal around Last Hill to meet each of her friends. She starts with Tina, in case the lich, being the most tenured resident, has any concerns about the visitor.
"Hi, Tina? We have a visitor from outside. This is Elarinal. She said she found Last Hill while exploring. I think she came in the same way I did when I first arrived, through that little tunnel that goes all the way to the river. She also mentioned that she's looking for a cure for her people, some of whom have gotten sick."
- - - - - - - - - - -
Another day, Goldslip goes searching in the second flooded chamber for the kelpie that Snowball told her was so grumpy.
"Hello? Is anyone home?"
As everyone else preps to leave, Cindy puts her lair in order.
All of the various trinkets that she has obtained are set on her new shelves, carefully labeled as to their origin and organized by the chronological order their previous owners had been slain.
Her doll making tools and materials are inventoried, put away in their boxes and holders, and also placed on the shelf.
The rest of the room remains bare stone, as she has not yet had the opportunity to obtain or build additional furnishings, but she carefully sweeps out the mess the goblins had made and scrubs the walls.
Ensuring that the lifesized doll made from the goblin guard's corpse is standing in the doorway and its "No Goblins Allowed" note is hanging from its neck, she leaves Mr. Snuggles in charge and heads deeper into the cave to see how the others are faring and to make sure that Skank knows that NO GOBLINS are to enter her lair upon pain of ... pain. Long, painful, enduring, everlasting pain. She delivers this ultimatum to him with a sparkle in her eye and with a childlike fidget, but her voice betrays a deeper, less innocent demeanor that emphasizes her promise.
"Yay! Let's go! We need a hun'red mules. And a southwest. And a south."
Snowball stops moving around and scratches her long neck with her hind claw. "What happens when we put the south by the southwest? They won't eat the mules, right? I want to eat 'em."
Hello, Elarinal, due to a misunderstanding, the cave is about to go through a... fumigation of sorts, so I'd suggest not sticking around too long. We're headed south, or southwest, apparently. What kind of sickness do your people have? If they're on the way, I'm sure we could stop in and investigate.
----
Tina tries to remember where the necropolis is. I really should visit my folks more often. It's good times. We laugh, we cry, we try to destroy each others' souls, to free us from the eternal torment of our hubris. I think you guys will enjoy them.
Tina pulls Skank, and a pair of his smarter lieutenants aside, and shows him a vicious longsword. Hey, we brought a few of these things back from our trip. They are dangerous. Every time one of you hits someone with this thing, it'll also hurt you. A lot. Possibly kill you little guys. If you want to use them on your raid, you can, just remember that I'm not responsible if your own sword kills you. Honestly, I'd suggest you stick to your own swords and bows.
She pulls from her flask. Either way, before we're back, I want you and only you three to take these down to Markus in Trogsdale and sell them. Tell him you want the receipt. Receipt. He'll take the swords, and give you some gold coins, and a piece of paper. When I get back, bring me the piece of paper, and the coins, and I'll let you keep some of them. Oh, and you guys should probably wear cloaks or something to hide yourselves when you go into town.
She floats around, making a mental note of where everything is, so she can properly chastise Skank if any of it is missing, fills up a number of flasks from her pool, and says to the group, I set the Grimoire out to dry, so we probably ought to leave sooner rather than later. It's going to get cranky.
You hear an angry snarl in aquan coming from an underwater cave "Go away!" then a pause and more quietly with a slight chuckle "Unless you brought snacks." Another chuckle. "Or ARE a snack."
Skank eyes the really big greatswords uncertainly and shakes his head "No use. Can barely lift. Sell good."
Tina doesn't know much about Charon's Necropolis but knows that she can expect water and undead. Probably traps, tricks, and puzzles as well. But Snowball said something pretty jumbled about south by southwest and a hundred mules so hopefully she can tell you a little more about that.
Elarinal looks sadder for the first time when the sickness is mentioned "It's some kind of disease that's in the water. When one of us gets sick, their body fills up with this terrible fungus or something and they die. When they die, the fungus spills back out into the water and can infect more of us." She sighs. "So far, it has only killed a few of us but it's been our most revered elders. We live down the river about twenty miles by the river."
"If we are going South, can we stop and see the water fungus? It sounds interesting."
"Water fungus give shiny? Snowball wants to go for shiny."
Sendi fluttered along happily, playing a merry tune as they went. They were going to a necropolis and were going to kill things! That sounded like fun. She didn’t really care who they were going to kill, so long as she didn’t know them. Well, so long as she didn’t like them. But regardless! She was glad to have found such wonderful friends.
"I'm not a snack, but I might be able to bring you some. What do you like to snack on?"
"What do you think, Tina, do we have time to go see Elarinal's people before we go to the Necropolis? I know your brother is working against you, but we've got a little time to spare, right? You don't seem to think he's very clever, after all."
I think we can take some time to investigate this threat to...
the Naiads. Let all those who are persecuted as monsters know that Last Hill is a place of refuge and peace, for those who are willing to obey our simple rules.
She pauses for a moment, And as you said, Goldslip, my brother is a fool. Perhaps a few days alone with my parents, and he'll dig yet another grave for himself.
The kelpie harrumphs. "Are you sure you're not a snack? Well I suppose I'd be happy with a nixie, naiad, or some fish if there's nothing else handy."
Elarinal is thrilled to hear that you are willing to help her people. "Oh really! Thank you so much! Come, I'll lead you there!" She swims back out to the river and begins heading downstream, keeping to the river herself but poking her head up from time to time to converse. "So, what are you all doing in Last Hill? Do you have parties? What are your individual five-year plans?" She seems quite the talkative sort.
"I have shinies. Don't need parties!"
Snowball says while gliding overhead. She has been growing noticably since coming back from the mountains...
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Goldslip huffs when the kelpie says she'd be happy with a nixie or naiad for a snack. "Well, listen--I don't mind bringing you some fish if it would help you feel better, because I'd like to be friends. But I have other friends here in Last Hill, and if you ever try to eat anyone we don't approve of being eaten, it won't just be my friendship you're losing. Snowball would freeze you and gnaw on you, Cindy would haunt your dreams, Sendi would run you through with her blade, Bob would crush you or dissolve you, and who knows what Piedmontina would come up with to deal with you. So...be nice, okay?"
- - - - - - - - - -
Goldslip was walking past one of the goblin junk piles when she noticed a slight gleam from something buried in it. Carefully she removes several pieces of junk to work her way down to it, and she uncovers a violin that somehow still has something of a finish on its beautiful wood, despite its surroundings. And nearby is a bow to go with it. Goldslip picks up both, and as she sets the bow to string and sounds her first note, she changes. Her arms thicken a little, her hips become a bit narrower while her shoulders become a bit broader. Goldslip's skin lightens from its green to more of a pale blue, and as Goldslip's hair changes to white, a white beard also grows suddenly from his chin. Goldslip looks down at his body in surprise and murmurs, "This is strange," in a voice several pitches lower than it had been before.
Having finished up her preparations early, Cindy and Mr. Snuggles head out of the cave to wait for the others. While standing quietly and reaching out mentally towards whatever it was in the forest or sky that had been providing her with the maternal comfort she craved, she began to feel a whisper. Disoriented by the sensation of feeling a voice instead of hearing it, she found herself unable to concentrate on either whatever was causing it or on her surroundings.
As the others began to gather outside the entrance to begin their journey, she realized that she could somehow see them coming even though they were still hidden by the cave entrance, and she snapped out of her trance.
Looking up at Mr. Snuggles, who seemed stranger than he had, but it was a comforting kind of strange, she moved towards the group.
"Goldslip? I know that's you, but you seem a little...different. I'm not sure I should call you big sister any more." It seems everyone is feeling a bit different today
Tina floats along with the rest of the group, resplendent in a new crown, which definitely confers an air of authority to her.
You doing okay there, Goldslip? You're looking a little, uh, hairier than usual.
Turning to the Naiad, she continues, I mean, five years is a pretty short timeline for any useful plans, but right now, we're pretty focused on preventing my brother from turning the world into a desolate wasteland by following through on what I can only assume is a deliberate misinterpretation of one of my plans. We've already thwarted one step, but he's stubborn, unlike me, so he's probably trying again.
She hovers over to the other bank of the river, and continues, But parties? We had a barbecue a little while ago when we killed Cinder, the dragon. And there's a few coming up. We'll have a royal wedding soon, and hopefully not too long after, some baptisms. You know, cover all the major gods. Can't afford to have any more of them angry at me. And I bet Skank will throw a party when he's back from the raid, though who knows what that will look like.
"I feel great!" Goldslip replies. "This beard is kind of strange...but here, listen!" He then begins to play a delightful jig on his fiddle as he walks. As he does, he's a little absent minded about the path he walks, and steps out onto the river. Amazingly, he doesn't drop into the water, but walks on its surface.
"I can't say I've thought too much about a 5 year plan," he replies to Elarinal's question. "I'm mostly concerned with doing what we need to do to defeat that awful creature that took Sevren's body. The poor boy didn't deserve a fate like that."
In order to not fall too far behind the group with her short legs, Cindy levitates herself up and grabs two fistfuls of Mr. Snuggles's fur so that he can drag her along at his speed.
"Five year plan ... how tall is a year again?"
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Bob just plods along. Bob is fast, Bob is good, Bob eats as he goes. He goos over grasses and shrubs and dissolves them leaving a 10 ft wide path behind him.
Not being able to see anything and also deaf, he follows as best as he can, but when everyone starts flying or walking on water, he loses all sense of direction as the vibrations in the ground disappear.
Umm.. Hmmm.
Bob is lost, Bob doesn't know where... wait...
Flicking out a pseudopod of goo and capturing some air and bringing it back in, Bob feels a sensation of burning sulfur and rot that he associates with Tina.
Ah! Okay, Bob is coming, Bob is fast, Bob tastes the air...
The naiad looks at you quizzically, considering your strange answers, and shrugs as she swims. "Ok! My five year plan is to learn alchemy and become our people's alchemists. I just have to convince the gnomes to teach me, which will be tricky. Maybe if I bring them fish and show how fast I can learn..." She swims along a little further then stops. "We need to go down there into a cave." She points under the water.
As Goldslip played the fiddle, so too did Sendi play her..legs. Overjoyed to have a friend who played music as well, she put her heart and soul into playing.
”You all are the best of friends! We should go kill that demon, or devil...child...thing. Whatever it is. That sounds like much more fun than hanging around a cave.” There wasn’t nearly enough death or blood as of late, and it was leaving the tainted grig feeling antsy.
"I can pull some of you through the water, though maybe only one at a time," Goldslip says. "I think Bob is too big for me, though. Have you ever been in water, Bob?"
Snowball glides down to land gently by the river bank.
"Yay! Snowball likes swimming. Except near that kelpie. She keeps trying to feed Snowball, but Snowball only eats meat. Stupid kelpie doesn't even have milk..."
Snowball rambles on, not realizing that the kelpie was hoping to turn Snowball into a snack.
Momentarily distracted, Snowball forgets to offer to help pull someone through into the underwater cave.
Oh, my hair always looks a mess when it gets wet.
Snowball, Goldslip, Mr. Snuggles, and Cindy make it into the cave with Elarinal without difficulty. They emerge from the water into a cavern lit by faintly orange-glowing mushrooms. Sick naiads lie on the ground tended by others. Elarinal leads you to a trio of older-looking naiads in the back of the cave. "These have come to help!" She gestures to you.
The elders turn to you and look your odd little group up and down. "Do you know of disease? This water mold is wreaking havoc among our people."
Snowball shakes herself off like a wet dog.
"Maybe they're too hot." she suggests. "Want ice?"
Cindy emerges from the water and walks slowly and silently towards the sick naiads and takes a good look at them.
Not really understanding the physiology of the creatures, she studies the mold itself, reaching out mentally towards her forest "mommy" to see if she can understand the cause.
Goldslip looks at the sick, but nothing comes to mind. "This is not something I have seen before," he says to the three elders. "But that doesn't mean we can't find out more. Where have you seen this mold?"
Goldslip also tries linking himself to one of the sick naiads to test whether there are wounds which can be healed.
Snowball, Cindy, and Goldslip aren't able to piece much together about the disease. Cindy is able to determine that the mold probably spreads int the water itself. The elders shake their head to Snowball "No thank you. They are not too hot. If anything, they are too cold." They turn to Goldslip as well. "It has infested much of our river, we know not how. I am sure the gnomes know more about it but they are unfriendly neighbors."
"Silly people. Everyone is MY friend!" Cindy looks up at Goldslip "I guess we go have Auntie Tina talk to the gnome people?"
As she heads towards the water to exit the cave, she turns back to the elders. "Do you have a sealable container I could have? I would like to collect some of the mold water"
Snowball shakes her head at the 'too cold' comment.
Tina crawls off Snowball's back prestidigitates the water off herself, and dips one of her flasks into the water, taking a sip. Ooh, not bad. A bit spicier than I was expecting. Good thinking, Cindy, we should get a bunch of this.
She turns to the Naiads, "I suppose we can go talk to the gnomes, but what makes you think they know more about it than you do? In the mean time, are you able to travel back to our cave? Be sure to wash yourselves thoroughly, so you don't carry the mold in, but we have some lagoons there." She thinks for a moment, "Hopefully the Grimoire of Granus Helthan is done with its... well that doesn't much matter. If it's not done by now, then we'll have bigger problems than some mold."
She hovers over to Snowball, and lands on her back, kicking her tiny heels into Snowball's flanks, "Hyaah!
Snowball, being too busy trying to puzzle out how someone might not always prefer more cold, barely notices the tiny kicking at the back of her kidneys.
Eventually, she cranes her long neck to look at her own backside and finds auntie Tina.
"Oh, hi auntie Tina. Let's play horsie!" She exclaims before hopping around in a poor imitation of a horse's prancing.