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Kenta moves into flanking with Juzo, eyeing the slaver with an intense hatred. He swings his sword with even more force behind it than the last time, though likely less accuracy.
for
After the swing his nostrils catch the scent of his own burning flesh and he simply takes a hand off his sword and touches the injury. With a flash of light the wound is seared closed and his hand closes back upon the hilt of his sword. The young fox seems to be acting upon instinct.
Juzo stabs the aspis spellcaster, finding the true enemy; Kenta's wild swing catches an illusory image
Round 3 - 4
Kenta (acid)
Waolu (2 images) (blue)
Takabe
Toshiko
Juzo
Hiiragi
Onna (2 CON damage, 11/11hp)
active effects: flagbearer, inspire courage
The bold may act!
Takabe and Toshiko's ranged attacks dispel the last false image and drop the aspis slaver.
The wound that the aspis' wand caused Kenta continues to burn.
With the threat ended you conduct a search of the clearing. You find 3 sacks of exotic mulue fruit. The warrior carried a composite longbow (+1 STR) with 20 arrows, rapier and sap, and was armoured in studded leather with a buckler. The gear is of ordinary quality. Waolu, the spellcaster, carried a potion, two wands (including the one he used against Kenta), two flasks of alchemists' fire, a light crossbow with 20 bolts, a light mace and a few gold pieces.
More importantly than the minor treasures perhaps, you find hidden amongst the undergrowth two mwangi elves. They are bound and gagged, and badly beaten.
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Hiiragi looks over Kenta’s acid wound. ”That looks a bit nasty,” she says, until someone brings the bound captives to the collective attention.
”Kenta, with me.” As she reaches them, she raises her hand to her nine-tailed mark.
”By the blessing of Daikitsu, may our wounds be healed!”
With that, a wave of healing light bathes the group—and, hopefully, the captives.
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Kenta's shoulders collapse a brief bit as the slaver in front of him falls to his allies. "I really thought I had him there, stupid magic."
He turns to look around for additional threats and then begins cleaning the blood and gore off his sword before re-sheathing it. Pulling out a wand he is about to whip up a quick heal of his acid burns when Hiiragi calls him over and shares her healing between the found elves and himself. He crouches down beside them, doing his best to appear non-threatening as they stir. His voice quivers with excitement, MY FIRST SLAVES FREED!!!
"It's okay, we are here to help. You are FREE!"
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Later, when the loot is shared he will request use of the bow and arrows. He leaves the identification of the magic items to the more inclined members of the group, unless they need someone to try to figure out the potion, dabbing a tiny bit onto his tongue. "Tangerine? That's all I can taste."
Takabe contacts the vestiges of the souls of the dead aspis..
"The Pobble who has no toes
Had once as many as we;
When they said "Some day you may lose them all;"
He replied "Fish, fiddle-de-dee!" says Waolu.
"They went to sea in a Sieve, they did,
In a Sieve they went to sea:
In spite of all their friends could say,
On a winter's morn, on a stormy day,
In a Sieve they went to sea!" says Manu.
The two mwangi elves struggle against their bindings as Hiiragi's efforts mend their wounds. Kenta cuts them free. "Thank you, strangers. We killed many aspis before they overcame us. We must go back to our homes. What are you doing in the expanse?"
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"I don't want my silver tongue falling off on some random vial but Kenta isn't dead. I will give it a sniff." he says popping the cork and wafting some fumes towards him.
"Grapefruit? Are they carrying around perfume? Maybe they should have used some more...it reeks with the one over there cut in two." he says looking back at the carnage.
---
"Ultimately we are investigating the death and debts of one Neiford Sharrowsmith but killing Apsis is a wonderful consolation, it seems. Would you happen to know anything about this?" he asks politely to the two.
”SHARROWSMITH?!”
”You are pathfinders then?”
”Come with us. You must speak with our elders”.
The two Ekujae insist that you come with them to their village. They prove themselves to be expert at navigating the jungle and they often have to slow down for you. Birds, monkeys, insects, and the even the occasional hunting cat produce a constant stream of calls, chirps, and roars around the clock. Even with the Ekujae's help, it is still two days before you reach the settlement.
Those two days prove to be hard going for some of you.
Takabe has contracted a fever and is suffering severe joint and muscle pain:
Onna has a similar affliction:
Juzo also became sick, but fought off the disease. He is still recovering:
The jungle becomes even more dense, and you realise that without your Ekujae guides it would take you much longer to find a path through.
Eventually, you reach a broad, shallow stream cutting across the jungle path, flowing around the edge of a 10-foot-tall boulder. The air is slightly cooler and there are fewer insects flying about. Standing atop the boulder, an Ekujae half-elf holds her hands empty and relaxed at her sides as she addresses you in Common. She begins, “I am Fola Barun, speaker for the Ekujae. Why are you here?”
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As they go deeper into the woods, Hiiragi does what she can for her companions, but primarily this just involves making sure they have clean water. When they come down with diseases, Hiiragi prepares Resistance the next mornings, hoping to aid them in throwing it off.
"Friends, I believe we are here," she says, looking around. "I've seen none of the scratches and large half-eaten animals of late that marked the beasts' presence, and if you look up-- see? Buildings, in the trees! The trees do not grow nearly large enough in Minkai for us to do this..." she says in awe.
When they finally reach Fola, she settles her bow back over her shoulders and offers a respectful bow...
...but leaves the speaking to the others, for now.
Unless...
"I am Hiiragi, shrine maiden of Daikitsu. Have you any offerings for our Lady of Foxes?" Her tone is kind and noninsistent; she clearly does not mean to take offense if the answer is "no."
"You come seeking offerings from us, Hiiragi? What would you give in return?" Fola Barun replies.
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Hiiragi offers a kind smile. ”My Lady Daikitsu is a goddess of the harvest and of craftsmanship. Her worshippers find that their tools are more sturdy and their crops more bountiful. Offer that which you have to spare, and you will find your famines less deep and your bounties pile higher.” She offers a respectful bow.
”Of course, as Her emissary, I am happy to aid with these things more physically, heal the injured, and the like, as an extension of Her goodwill.”
"We have no want of missionaries here, Hiiragi." Fola Barun answers.
"Ah, Pathfinders? We have been looking for you. Come with me."
Your guides inform Barun of your actions in freeing them from their Aspis captors and healing their injuries, and Barun's attitude towards you softens a little.
Fola Barun smirks at Juzo's words. "Come. I will take you to our village to see the elders." She hops down off her rock and turns. As you follow, you become aware of a half dozen Ekujae warriors rappelling down vines from the canopy. These warriors escort you for around 4 hours...
...The appearance of the jungle shifts subtly here over the course of a few hundred yards, moving from thick undergrowth among towering trees to more controlled vegetation. Several small buildings formed of woven branches and grasses rise out of the ground.
In the surrounding trees above are many other buildings that match the style of those on the ground, although they seem to flow even more gracefully from the vegetation even than those below. A series of vines hang from branches throughout the area. Some are short enough only to swing from one treetop building to another, while others reach all the way to the ground. Colourful birds and noisy monkeys call out from all around, yet their calls are fainter here than those in much of the surrounding jungle.
More Ekujae warriors descend from the treetops via the long vines, and they demand to know your business; Fola Barun answers them, and they allow you to pass.
Within the Ekujae village, you witness elven children playing a game where the goal is to hit a target with a blunt arrow, but they move only by swinging on vines. Most startlingly, each team has a player with a knife who tries to cut the vines of the opponents.
Both on the ground and above, Ekujae work to shape and change their homes through a combination of magical and mundane effort. As you move about the village, it becomes clear that the Ekujae are continually reinventing its appearance and function. There is a sense of action, motion, and life, and permanence and the past don’t seem to be valued much.
"You look sick. You want anti-plague? Healing magic?" a tattooed elf asks Takabe.
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Kenta, finally realizing his allies are not doing well, steps over and pulls out a small box. "I might be able to help your symptoms, how do you feel?"
Fola Barun leads you onwards. Near the center of the village is a 60-foot-wide area where the canopy does not block the sunlight. This space has been cleared of underbrush, and a single, 20-foot-tall tree with a straight bole, smooth gray bark, and a wide crown of emerald leaves stands alone. Arranged in a seemingly haphazard way around the tree are a series of smooth river stones, each two to four feet in diameter. Nearby elves offer you places to sit on the stones, then take seats themselves. Fola Barun disappears into the jungle, and within a few minutes she returns with two elves, a male and a female, who move to the tree and pat it gently. The paints that decorate their bodies are so intricate that their faces are almost entirely covered. They sit close to you on the stones.
"I am Elder Kalwe" says the female.
"And I am Elder Nolanu" says the male.
"You are Pathfinders. You say you have come to pay Sharrowsmith's debt to us." says Kalwe.
"There is an evil whose source is at a place east called Dehu Inu, where we are forbidden to go. Sharrowsmith promised to investigate but never did, so we require his debt to be fulfilled. If you wish to settle this account, stop whatever it is that has arisen there. Since our stories tied to this place tell us of great battles in the past fought by heroes wielding yellowheart weapons, you may wish to take these.” Nolanu explains.
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"Hard to tell how I feel, being not entirely connected to my body and all, but it feels sluggish." Takabe replies to Kenta.
Takabe looks over the assortment of weapons, but realizes he doesn't really know how to use any of them, "Janira, do you know how to use any of these?" he asks to himself. Janira then looks over the weapons, "What, no wooden whip? Darn, I can't really help out there, Takabe."
"What exactly is it made of?"
"Trees, mostly," says Hiiragi with a slow grin.
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Kenta frowns a bit as he thinks, I'm not sure why they are all so casual and joking around. This doesn't seem to be the place, several of us have gotten very sick already and we have no clue what we face at the Dahoo Inn. Shouldn't everyone be a bit more serious?
His wheels continue to turn, But yet, they have all done quite a bit more with their lives than I, maybe this is how they cope with the stress?
He takes a deep breath and rolls his shoulders, stretching them. "All right, let's not wait around to give evil a chance to thrive. What does this Inn look like so we don't walk past it?"
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"Ooooooh, I see."
He definitely does not look like he understands but starts heading east anyway. Maybe someday I'll try to learn another language, but that day is not today.
His mind mulls over more thoughts, he'll have a headache tonight for sure with all the thinking done. But it would be good to know that one language if we go to those weird nations again. That one guy speaking in riddles, maybe it would make more sense if it wasn't being translated. 'The dancing swan flies at dawn?' I still don't get it.