Freyja shakes her head. "There can be no accord. These are evil, fanatical creatures. It said we don't belong here. It said that they were going to take one of our bodies back to their caves for some sort of religious ritual. Those aren't the type of creatures you can come to an accord with." Her gaze is distant and hard. Her brow furrows for a split second, but she shakes her head as if that could rid her of doubt. "No. It is us or them." She begins dragging one of them behind a copse of trees. "I will do it."
|
Katia feels the pit of her stomach drop out, but she doesn't stop Freyja. She reminds herself of the hobgoblin patrol. These troglodytes are no better. They want her dead simply for existing here. They cannot be allowed to have their way.
Once the deed is done, she says, "Let's take what we can from their bodies and move on. I want to be away from this place."
Oona searches the bodies, then does her best to obscure their tracks into and out of the area.
All you find on the bodies (besides clubs and some javelins) is another one of those bird tokens.
Oona puts the token into the loot.
It is early afternoon when you begin heading northeast. The terrain grows rockier here, but trails are actually more frequent, suggesting higher amounts of foot traffic in this region. One of these trails ends at a tree-covered ridge, in an apparent dead end. Searching a little more closely, you discover a low but wide cave entrance screened by hanging roots. It seems likely this is the troglodyte cave.
Oona nods enthusiastically. "That's an excellent idea. You can slip into the cave--not too far, I think the potion only lasts for a couple minutes--and see what the setup is. Katia and I can wait out here, out of sight. If they vastly outnumber us, we'll retreat. If there seems like a manageable number, it may be a good idea to take them out before they find the camp. Bad enough that the Ironfang are after us; we don't need a bunch of savage lizard-men trying to kill us, too."
Freyja nods. "I do still have it, but there is one problem with me going in there. If it is dark, I won't be able to see. Oona, you can see in the dark, right? Maybe it's better if you go?"
Oona considers, then nods. "You are right. I will go in then. You and Katia stay here, out of sight."
She kneels down and rubs Mac's chin. "Sorry fur-face, you can't come. You stay out here. Defend Katia."
Mac whines plaintively, but plants his butt firmly next to the witch, looking at Oona with reproachful eyes.
Oona snorts at the wolf. "Don't give me that look, you whiner. I'll be fine." She takes the potion of invisibility from Freyja and quaffs it, blanching at the taste. She immediately gets the strange but not unpleasant sensation of warm water trickling over every inch of her exposed skin. When she looks down, she can no longer see her body. It takes her a moment to orient herself and ready her scythe, then she mutters, "Now get out of sight, you two," and creeps into the cavern.
You cross the threshold to the cave. Just beyond the spot where the light from outside stops and the darkness begins, there are some very tall mushrooms. You begin to creep by the mushrooms, which suddenly release an ear-piercing shriek lasting for several seconds. You stop in your tracks, suddenly sure that whoever is inside the cave now knows that someone tried to enter the cave.
Mac lets out a whimper at the unbearable noise, then hurries after Katia, eager to continue his companion's command.
"S+~$," Freyja mumbles under her breath as she hears the shrieking sound. She pulls her ioun torch out of her belt pouch and sends it spinning around her head. They know we're here now, no sense in trying to be sneaky. Then she readies her bow and follows Katia and Mac.
Katia (30/30 hp)
Freyja (42/42 hp)
Oona (38/38 hp)
Mac (36/36 hp)
??? (???)
Bold may act.
Oona moves further in, looking around for enemies, but stops at the mouth of a large cave.
Mac pads alongside the witch, alert for danger.
Freyja follows. She doesn't know exactly where Oona is, but she stops short of a turn in the cave, expecting that the oread is somewhere on the other side.
Beyond the tangle of roots shading the cave entrance, a narrow tunnel slopes sharply down. The tips of tree roots protrude from the ceiling like stained teeth. Faint light from outside catches on a streak of cloudy teal crystal running along the length of one wall. Bulbous brown and purple fungal growths sprout from the ground, and an unpleasant, faintly sulfurous odor hangs in the air.
A cylindrical mass of roots hangs from the exact center of this room. The roots have been braided together to form a cradle holding a giant violet crystal as big as a human head. Sparkling veins of crystal line the walls. The whole cavern smells terrible, like an amalgamated version of the individual stench of the troglodytes you fought in the forest.
Oona sees a single troglodyte, club at the ready, frantically looking down a corridor to the southeast. She has appraoched close enough that the smell is starting to get to her.
It is certainly terrible, but she's endured worse. She thinks she can handle it, for now.
As Katia, Mac, and Freyja enter, the mushrooms emit their ear-piercing shrieks again.
Katia (30/30 hp)
Freyja (42/42 hp)
Oona (38/38 hp, immune to stench)
Mac (36/36 hp)
??? (???)
Bold may act.
Mac moves forward to keep pace with the witch. Even among the stench of the trogs, he can smell Oona's familiar, comforting odor, and he knows where she is as soon as he steps up to the side of the witch, feeling comforted.
Seeing Katia's position, Oona steps up a little and readies her scythe to swing at the troglodyte if it gets within range of her.
Freyja steps behind Mac and Katia. She can barely see the trog in the distance. It's a tough shot but she takes it anyway.
As Katia and Mac get close to the trog, the smell threatens to sicken them.
Mac is fine, but Katia feels a gorge in her throat.
The trog looks back and forth from you to the corridor, hesitating to approach. A moment later, you understand why: two more troglodytes and a large lizard emerge from the corridor and head towards you.
Trog #2 charges Katia and swings its club. Katia dodges the strike despite her sickness. Trog #3 double moves into melee range with Katia. #1 charges Mac, not knowing that Oona lurks, ready to strike. It also swings and misses.
Katia (30/30 hp, sickened [10 rounds])
Freyja (42/42 hp, immune to stench)
Oona (38/38 hp, immune to stench)
Mac (36/36 hp, immune to stench)
Trog 1 (0 damage, -2 attack [7 rounds], -2 AC from charge [1 round])
Trog 2 (0 damage, -2 AC from charge [1 round])
Trog 3 (0 damage)
Lizard (0 damage)
Bold may act.
Mac steps up to the other two trogs and bites down on the leg of #3.
Oona steps into the space Mac was previously occupying and touches Freyja's shoulder, gracing the ranger with some of Magdh's power.
Freyja sees an open shot at #3 and fires two arrows through the gap.
Mac bites #3 and pulls it to the ground. A moment later, Freyja's arrow pierces its eye socket, killing it instantly.
#2 decides that Freyja is the biggest threat and steps forward to attack her with its club, but she sidesteps the blow easily. The lizard steps forward and clamps onto Mac's leg with its disgusting jaws .
There is definitely something nasty in this lizard's saliva. Mac feels off.
Katia (30/30 hp, sickened [9 rounds])
Freyja (42/42 hp, immune to stench)
Oona (38/38 hp, immune to stench)
Mac (25/36 hp, immune to stench, poisoned)
Trog 1 (21 damage, -2 attack [6 rounds], unconscious and dying)
Trog 2 (0 damage)
Trog 3 (27 damage, dead)
Lizard (0 damage)
Bold may act.
Already in place, Oona points to the trog and commands Mac to attack it. They can gang up on the gecko afterward; their perfect flanking position cannot be passed up.
Mac ignores the painful wound from the gecko for the moment and goes after the trog, on Oona's command.
Freyja sees Mac pull another trog to the ground and takes advantage of the confusion to move into a better firing position against the lizard.
Oona and Mac combine to utterly destroy poor trog #2. He had a family!
The lizard resists the worst of Katia's evil eye, but still misses Mac with a bite.
Katia (30/30 hp, sickened [8 rounds])
Freyja (42/42 hp, immune to stench)
Oona (38/38 hp, immune to stench)
Mac (25/36 hp, immune to stench, poisoned)
Trog 1 (21 damage, -2 attack [5 rounds], unconscious and stable)
Trog 2 (31 damage, so so so dead)
Trog 3 (27 damage, dead)
Lizard (0 damage, -2 attack [1 round])
Bold may act.
Oona steps forward. While Mac snaps at the lizard's heels to distract it, she sweeps down with her scythe.
Oona's attack causes the lizard to flinch back, right into Mac's waiting fangs.
Freyja fires two arrows.