Gellius frowns as he remembers some of his teachings.
"I've never seen them in the flesh, but I believe these are charau-ka," he says. "Though they live in the Mwangi Expanse. How they might have come to be here is baffling."
"Heh--I hope they didn't bring any 'dinosaurs' with them!" Darla scoffs nervously, sounding like she doesn't truly believe that thunder lizards are anything besides legend. "Let's end this now!"
Revka cheers even as her attack misses the intended target. She voices her elation once Gethric deals with the final foe. "Did you see that? I asked Desna for a lance of starlight, and it was right there!" She mimics the gesture again. "Bwwwwoosh..."
She's quickly nods as Gellius comes to her for healing. She takes a quick look down the corridor to the south. "Yes, of course. Of course. I'll heal your wounds with the Starsong's magic." She signs a very quick song and places her small hands in Gellius's wounds. "There. All better!"
Revka takes another look down the corridor, to the door where the strange creature fled to. "You know," she says in a suddenly hushes voice. "I got go down there really quietly and look around the corner. If he went to get help, maybe I could put them all to sleep." She hustles after Darla, hoping to keep up with her despite the woman's longshanks.
Darla gives chase after the charau-ka, emerging from the corridor back out into the vaultway with the dead birds. She sees the charau-ka in the shadows just at the edge of the dim light filtering in from the open door....
Seeing the escaping creature--but not quite brave enough to engage it in one-on-one combat--Darla casts a quick daze spell at it.
The creature spasms as Darla's mental intrusion jolts his mind. He throws himself down on his knees imploringly. "Kada ka kashe ni! Bana so in mutu! Wannan shine tunanin Malarunk! Ban damu da 'yantar da zaren rashin wutar ba!"
Revka heals Gellius, then takes off to help Darla.
Noticing Darla streak past him Gethric regains his feet, fork and balance and huffs on after her. With the prostate primate looming into view, he raises his buckler as he ascertains what the situation is.
Aronida chases after the others, keeping her bow at the ready. She doesn't fire a shot at the cowering creature, but she does loosely aim at it. Just in case.
Feeling much better, Gellius hurries off with the rest of the group. He moves up to the kneeling creature to place a restraining hand on its shoulder. Opening his mouth to speak before remembering how out of depth he was dealing with the graveshells.
“What should we do?” he asks, looking back at Darla. “I have no idea if they even understand Taldane.”
Darla closes on the beast to support Gellius, the business end of her rapier pointed at the charau-ka.
"It chattered something at me when I enspelled it," Darla reports. "I couldn't understand it, but maybe one of you might."
"Speak!" she demands of the captive.
Gellius completes the reunion of the party, hoping his very presence at the charau-ka's shoulder constitutes a warning. His arrival with the lighted shield reveals what seems to be a fourth corridor in the north wall, choked with rubble and broken stone, and three doors at the east end of the vaultway.
Blinking up at the humans in alarm, the charau-ka speaks again. "ቋንቋዬን አልገባህም ፡፡ ወታደር እንዳይናገር አስጠንቅቆኛል። እባክህን እጅ ሰጠሁ!"
"It speaks Draconic!" Revka utters in glee. She takes a step closer and drops to her haunches to be level with the kneeling creature. She doesn't mean it to be intimidating, but it seems natural to her when trying to have a conversation.
"አዎ ፣ አሳልፈው እንደሰጡ እናውቃለን ፡፡ እስካልጎዱን ድረስ መልካም ነው። አሁን ንገሩን ፣ ከየት ነህ? እና እዚህ ለምን አለህ?" She take a look behind her, and curiosity takes over. "እነዚህን ወፎች ለምን አመጣህ?"
"Oh, and why did you bring these birds with you?"
"ሚሎሎ ደረጃ ከሀዘን ምሽግ መራንን።," the charau-ka replies eagerly. "በከፍተኛው በር በኩል እንድንገባና ታላቁ ዘንዶን ነፃ ማውጣት እንዳለብን ተናግሯል ፡፡ ቦታውን ደህንነቱ ለመጠበቅ የንጉሠ ነገሥቱን ወፎች እና የአዞ እንሽላሊት አመጣን ፣ ግን የአዞ እንሽላሊት በጣም ትልቅ ነበር ፡፡ ደረጃዎቹን ሰበሩ ፡፡ እዚህ የምንነሳው ምን ማድረግ እንዳለበት ለማወቅ ሚሎን ደረጃን እየጠበቅን ነበር። እኔ ግን በዋልርት ትዕዛዞች እና ስድቦች በጣም ደክሞኛል ፡፡ እኔ እንደ ሚሎል ደረጃን እሾማለሁ ሰው አይደለም!"
As the others have the servile simian well in hand, Gethric doubles back to check on the fallen frog and other creature. A quick pat down for valuables and making sure no more threat lies in that direction before returning.
Revka looks puzzled as she listens. "ቆይ ፣ ጠብቅ ፍጥነት ቀንሽ. የሐዘን ግንብ ያ የት ነው? በአልፎቹ በር በኩልም መጡ? ዘንዶን ለማስለቀቅ? እዚህ ዘንዶ የለም ፣ አለ?"
She tries to translate for the benefit of the others, even though the words make little sense to her yet. "He says they came from a place called the 'Fortress of Sadness', to free a great dragon. Which is not our not-dragon, by the way. He calls them grauladons as well." She giggles. "They hadn't realized those would be waaay to big for a place like this, and that's what caused the stairs to collapse. Anyway, they follow someone named Malarunk, and there's something about an elf gate I didn't understand."
"ምሽጉ በወንዙ ዳርቻ ጫካ ውስጥ ይገኛል ፣ ልክ ከመቆፈሩ በፊት ፣ ከዕንቁ እና የዝሆን ሰዎች ይወርዳል," the charua-ka replies helpfully. "ዘንዶውን አላየሁም ፣ ነገር ግን ሜሎሎ ደረጃ በከፍታ በር ላይ መሆኑን ተናግሯል ፡፡ ደወል የእኔ ውሻ በሕልም ውስጥ በሹክሹክታ ሲጮህ ሰማው።" His voice takes on a tone of hushed reverence at this last revelation.
Seeing that the monkey...creature...whatever is talking to Revka, Aronida joins Gethric in searching the previous room. "Be back shortly, yell if you need us," she says succinctly, lighting a torch as she goes.
Aronida lights a torch, and she and Gethric retrace their steps to the room where the battle was fought. Both the bodies the party left behind appear to be safely dead. The other charau-ka wears hide armor and carries a sickle and a whip; the frog-person wears studded leather armor and has three javelins in addition to the club he wielded.
Besides the door from the kobolds' lair by which the group came in and the one the pair just came back in by, there are two other doors in the room: one in the eastern wall opposite the access to the kobolds' room and one to the north with debris and rubble piled in front of it.
Revka shakes her head. The charau-ka's explanation makes even less sense than his original words. She forgets to translate before asking more questions. "ጫካ? እኔ የማውቀው በኢይገር አካባቢ ጫካ የለም ፡፡ ይህ ጫካ የት አለ ፣ በትክክል? ኦህ ፣ እና እዚህ ስንት ሰው መጣህ? በከፍታ በር በኩል ፣ ማለቴ ነው? ሌሎቹ አሁንም እዚህ አሉ ፣ የሆነ ቦታ?"
"ጫካ? እኔ የማውቀው በኢይገር አካባቢ ጫካ የለም ፡፡ ይህ ጫካ የት አለ ፣ በትክክል?"
The charau-ka looks puzzled. "ጫካው በሁሉም ቦታ ነው ፡፡ መቼም አልተውኩም።."
"ኦህ ፣ እና እዚህ ስንት ሰው መጣህ? በከፍታ በር በኩል ፣ ማለቴ ነው? ሌሎቹ አሁንም እዚህ አሉ ፣ የሆነ ቦታ?"
The charau-ka nods furiously. "ብዙ ፣ ብዙ የሽፋን ጥፍሮች አሉ። ሚሎሎ ደረጃ አንድ አነስተኛ ኃይልን ብቻ ይመራል።"
There are many, many Cinderclaws. Malarunk leads only a small contingent.
Gellius maintains a watchful eye on the charau-ka as Revka interrogates it.
"I've heard of elfgates. Magical portals scattered around Golarion," he offers. "I've never met anyone whose used one, but it's said you can step through them and travel quickly halfway around the world in the blink of an eye. The elves of Kyonin maintain a network of them all over the world."
Revka nods as Gellius explains about the elf gates. "That makes some sense, I suppose. He's from a jungle somewhere, but he's never been anywhere else. So he doesn't know where it is. I figured it wasn't anywhere close to here... They came following someone named Malarunk. I'm not really sure how many Cinderclaws he took. And I'm a bit worried about the big dragon that they want to set free here. Sort of worried, I mean..." A flash of her nightmares suddenly returns and she shivers.
She hopes to get some more useful information from the charau-ka by keeping her questions simple. "አሁን ማላኪንክ የት አለ? ወይም ለመጨረሻ ጊዜ ያዩት የት ነው?"
Darla looks out of her depth. "Are these Cinderclaws his people or some other species?"
"አሁን ማላኪንክ የት አለ? ወይም ለመጨረሻ ጊዜ ያዩት የት ነው?"
"ፎቆች ዘንዶቹን ነፃ ባወጣበት ጊዜ ጣቢያውን ከእንቆቅልሾቹ ጋር ለማስጠበቅ አብዛኞቻችን ከግራራቆችን እና ወፎች ጋር ልከናል። ከዚያ በኋላ ደረጃዎቹ ወደቁ።"
When Revka translates Darla's question, he answers enthusiastically, "እንደ እኔ ያሉ ብዙ ደፋር ቻራ-ካ ተዋጊዎች! እንዲሁም እንደ ዋርት ያሉ አንዳንድ ቡጂዎች," he concludes grudgingly.
Many brave charau-ka warriors like me! And also some boggards like Werrt.
Gethric squints towards the rubble before musing a moment to Aronida "Best we check that door when we're all paying attention... should we go back to the others... see what they've been gabbing about?"
Revka stands and throws her hands up in frustration. "Ugh, he won't give me any straight answers." She immediately calms herself down, talking to herself with a lot of empathy for the poor creature. "I don't blame him. It must be really stressful for him."
She translates the latest for Darla and Gellius. "The Cinderclaws don't seem to be a people, but a group. People like him, and something called 'Boggards' like the frog-fellow back there. His name was Werrt, apparently. Anything else you want to to ask? Otherwise I'm alsmost out of questions..."
She asks for the Bumblebashers map and shows it to the Charau-ka. "እኛ እዚህ አለን ፣ የመጣነውም እዚህ ነው ፡፡ ከወረደችበት ካርታ ላይ ልታሳየኝ ትችያለሽ?"
When waiting for an answer, she turns her head to the others. "Have we thought about what to do with him when we're ready to move on? We can't just leave him here..."
The charau-ka squints with confusion at the map. It's unclear whether the concept of the representation of physical space in two dimensions is unfamiliar to him or if he's merely stymied by the Bumblebrashers' level of cartographic talent. "እዛ ጋር," he replies, pointing to the rubble-clogged doorway behind him. "እነዚያ ደረጃዎች ነበሩ ፡፡"
"I don't think we should go too far without them," Aronida agrees. "Sounds like Revka might be making some progress."
She starts heading back to the group.
Revka points further down the hall and to their left. "That way is downstairs, he says. And presumably where their leader Malarunk is." She scratches her head. "We still have to check on Big bumble first, I think. But we can't just leave him here. Do we send him out the door to the Bumblebashers, or tie him up for now?" Her eyes suddenly light up. "Maybe the kobolds could look after him, for now?"
"I'm not convinced the kobolds didn't set us up, hoping we'd be killed," Darla opines out loud, "but perhaps it would be best to find out now where their allegiance lies. It's better than leaving potential enemies at our back."
Aronida shrugs. "In my opinion the kobolds made it pretty clear they couldn't care less what happened to us, and I don't think they were inclined to open the door again. We can try, but I think tying him up while we check on Big Bumble is the best plan. Maybe even bring him along as a hostage of sorts."
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Gellius nods in agreement with Darla and Aronida when they express skepticism as to the kobolds' trustworthiness.
"It makes sense to me for the Bumblebrashers to decide what happens to the people who brought danger to their home," he offers. "I think we can trust the kobolds to leave us alone, but only since we outnumber them so handily. I'd be less comfortable if we started sending them potential allies in any ambush against us later. Who knows what they'll say to the charau-ka?"
"My vote is to take our prisoner back to Chief Helba, then proceed to Big Bumble and try and pacify him without injury....if we can."
Revka conveys to the charau-ka that he is going to have to come with them back to the goblins who inhabit the castle. The party escorts Skorp back out the secret door in the hillside, where he stares around in wonder at the stony hills, the lack of vegetation, and the dry summer heat.
They return to the broken wall over the puddle where they parted from the Bumblebrashers. A goblin guard alerts the tribe to the party's approach, and Warbal soon patters through the mud to meet them.
"That isn't Pib or Zarf or Big Bumble," she says decidedly, staring at the charua-ka in the group's custody. "What is it?"
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"Good question." Aronida prods Skorp forward. "He's apparently part of the group that brought the grauladons, the creatures that attacked you, here. The group is called the 'Cinderclaws.' Their leader is called Malarunk, and is up to no good down further in the ruins. This one surrendered, so we didn't want to kill him, but we couldn't leave him running around free while we looked for Big Bumble. So we thought we'd bring him back here and let you decide what to do with him."
She hopes they don't kill him either. She would feel bad about bringing a prisoner to an effective execution without at least talking about it first. But if this Malarunk is trying to summon an actual dragon, they need to stop him. Doing so while dragging along a hostile prisoner would be difficult at best. For now, this is the best solution she can think of.
Revka nods heavily as Aronida explains. Sensing the halfling's trepidation and agreeing with it, Revka adds "He's been really cooperative, telling us all kinds of things about their group. And I guess he's just stuck a really long way from home. Maybe he could be of use to the Bumblebashers?" She pauses, then adds Oh, he speaks Draconic by the way."
The goblin makes no attempt to disguise her curiosity. "అతను బిగ్ బంబుల్ లాగా బొచ్చుతో ఉన్నాడు," she murmurs, staring, "మరియు అతని బుగ్గలు నీలం." With an effort, she recalls her attention from the charau-ka and nods. "I'll explain it to Helba," she assures the group, waving some more of the Bumblebrashers out to escort the prisoner into the citadel.
Revka turns to the others. "I think that's going to be OK? I sort of feel sorry for the fellow, though. But it'll probably be all right. I think." That said, Revka suggests the group turns back to continue the search for Big Bumble. "We were almost there, right? Just left from where we fought those three."
Warbal seems more curious than angry, which Aronida takes as a good sign and makes her feel a bit better about the situation. "Thanks Warbal. That'll be a big help."
She nods at Revka. "I agree. Let's find Big Bumble." And then the Cinderclaws, so we can figure out what they're doing...this is turning out to be way more complicated than we thought!
The party leaves Skorp with the Bumblebrashers and returns to the hidden door in the side of the hill.
Gellius moves to the front again, preparing to take the brunt of attacks from a presumably ravenous bear.
"Does anyone have any good ideas on how to subdue Big Bumble?" he asks. "I'm afraid my combat training has been of the more lethal variety and I'd hate to do any long term damage to the tribe's mascot."
The door past the dead boggard is heavily barricaded with debris that looks as if it may have come from the collapsed staircase.
Darla begins looking around at the others. "Wasn't someone carrying a big hunk of tropical chicken to appease our furry friend?"
"I could try putting him to sleep?" Revka offers. She doesn't sound very confident that the spell could stick on a bear, but figures it's worth a shot.
She points at the rubble, then thinks about what she remembers from the Bumblebasher map. "There's no other entrance, is there. Should we get started on clearing the rocks?"