Obad’of claws at the corrupted forest creature before him, as Brynn disregards his advice to get Robb out of the way. Robb, in turn, disregards Brynn’s command to kill the thing. Brynn’s icy ray does the trick once again, however, causing another explosion of toxic energy!
Farzin stumbles around retching, while Darlinger moves closer to the fire! Flamel turns out to be quite a firefighter, nearly extinguishing the blaze with their efforts! As Jaldan rushes forward and uses her magic to put out the last of the fire, the rotten plum leshys fling gross fruit at Darlinger and Flamel!
Critical Success The target is unaffected and becomes temporarily immune to all plum leshys’ bitter harvest for 1 hour.
Success The target is unaffected.
Failure The target is sickened 1. Once it succeeds at its save to recover from the sickened condition, it is immune to all plum leshys’ bitter harvest for 1 hour.
Critical Failure As failure, plus the target also takes a –1 penalty on all saves to recover from the sickened condition for 1 hour.
Farzin feels a good deal better, but his aim is still off. Darlinger keeps up his singing, and sends a sling-stone flying off into the forest.
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Brynn and Robb both suffer from the poisonous cloud, but thankfully it dissipates.
Containing her fury at the abominations before them, she points at the leshy nearest their centaur friend. "Robb, bite! Seriously this time."
The bear does as it's told, moving and trying to sink teeth into the leshy.
Alas, the apathy is palpable.
Brynn once more calls upon the deepest depths of the elemental plane to send forth a ray of frost at the leshy.
Unfortunately her aim is off.
As Flamel falls, Obad’of’s micro-burst of wind and lightning destroys the leshy, releasing another blast of toxic energy! Shaken by this turn of events, and nervous about another explosion of such energy, Robb and Brynn don’t connect with their attacks! Jaldan, in pain from the most recent blast, grabs Flamel and pulls them away from the bursting leshys!
Obad’of hits the leshy with a slingstone, bruising its fruit! And Robb, his big brown eyes widening in understanding as Brynn points at the plant-thing, with its big, luscious fruits, and tells him to bite it, finally manages to harm the leshy! Sadly for the bear, the fruit tastes awful, and his bite causes the leshy to explode with toxic energy!
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Aside from the quiet crackling of scorched tree limbs cooling, the forest goes quiet - until Jaldan reacts to Flamel's condition, "Oh my! Oh no! Is Flamel dead?! What do we do? Can someone save them?" Flamel rather miraculously lets out a deep, sighing breath, and Jaldan exclaims, "Oh, thank the heavens! I thought those awful things had killed Flamel! We need to get to the camp and talk to the elders, and put a stop to these horrors!"
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Farzin is thankful for the healing.
"Were those the leshies you were talking about? Horrible." Papayo gives a rattling squawk in agreement.
Although curious about the plants, in the way that one interested in the occult might be, Farzin keeps his distance, eyeing them from afar.
"Let's get to this camp where we can hopefully recover and learn more."
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"Please let me attend to the wounded further, in case our travels have greater threats than this. We should always be ready."
Flamel:
Farzin:
Obad'of:
Brynn:
Robb looks on, still a battered bear. "Yes, yes, I haven't forgotten you. Hold still."
She then hands over a minor healing potion, one that she requisitioned for this trip, to Flamel. "Drink this. It'll help."
Flamel:
She suddenly looks annoyed when it becomes obvious that the stopper came undone in her backpack, and most of the liquid leaked out.
Once everyone is patched up, Jaldan thanks Brynn for healing her, then sets a hard pace for the camp, determined to get home before anything else goes wrong. The tired party shamble into the encampment just as the Redpines are setting up for the night.
The Redpine camp is located at a bend in a small forest stream. Hides stretch from branch to branch, making for a cluster of oddly shaped but surprisingly large dwellings. A few trenches have been dug to reroute part of the stream and form a kind of moat or firebreak around the camp, and several decorated banners hang from spears driven into the ground. The smell of roasting meat wafts over the camp, and the hungry adventurers are pleased to see several rabbits cooking over a fire. Jaldan hails a sentry at the edge of camp, and the Pathfinders are promptly welcomed into the camp, allotted a patch of ground, and given roast rabbit and wild greens. Jaldan snags a rabbit leg, then trots off to report to the camp’s leaders.
About an hour later, the party is approached by a golden-eyed lizardfolk with coppery scales. “Stars move more easily than minds.” The lizardfolk observes to no one in particular, sitting down on a log. “I am Urwal. Jaldan spoke to us. You have seen Finadar’s problem in flower and flesh. Tell me what you have seen.”
Urwal gives a toothy grin at Obad’of’s comment, before changing the subject abruptly. “Let me tell you a story,” he says. “North of here, there is a valley. Dragons died there, and their bones linger. For centuries, goblins dwelled among the bones. They made rituals of fire and worship. Such a life is not for me, but the goblins were happy.”
“Beneath the dragons’ graves lay a monolith. I have heard tale of it. Carven rock, six handspans tall, covered in the markings of the one-eyed shapers. For years past number, the stone slumbered, until even the stars changed above it.”
“Then, as the Sun blessed the Newlyweds, the goblins’ rituals awoke the stone. It remembered its shapers. It remembered its purpose. And it remembered its powers. It called living fire into the dragons’ bones. Finadar burned. Pathfinders came to help. The stone was found, broken. All seemed well. But now the spirits grow strange and furious. Cenenviel and Kaana seek to guard their peoples’ lives. This is well. But I think it wise that someone seek out that stone. The stars agree.”
Urwal is quiet for a long moment, and then nods briskly. “This is an auspicious night. The Dreamer is bright. Walk the camp, see where you may be of aid. Brighten the name of the Pathfinders.”
“You will leave in the morning. For the valley. For the stone.”
”The fire was a handful of moons ago,” Urwal says in response to Darlinger’s question. ”As to the northing, if you leave early in the morning, you will arrive at the stone while the sun still warms your left shoulder.”
Pondering this response, the party sets out to find Cenenviel, and are pointed to one of the tents, where the elven druid sits poring over a motley and rather fire-damaged collection of old books, scouts’ reports, and scribbled notes. He glances up at the Pathfinders, then returns to his work, speaking as he reads, ”Hello, I heard you had arrived. I am trying to see if the forest spirits’ current anger has any historical precedent - which would be simpler if my own records hadn’t been damaged in the fire. Perhaps you could lend a hand?”
As Cenenviel explains his research, a large wolverine enthusiastically plays with a leather cord in a corner of the tent, then grabs the cord in her teeth and ambles over to the party, ducking her head playfully, clearly hoping for a rousing game of tug-the-cord. ”Be careful of Berry-Eater there,” the elf says, before explaining himself, ”She’s not dangerous, but if you play with her she’ll follow you all over camp.”
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Brynn grins, then looks at Robb and says, "Go ahead, you can play." The bear gives the half-elf druid a blank stare, then ambles over to Berry-Eater and does... nothing. Brynn can only shrug,
To Cenenviel, she says a traditional greeting in the Druidic language, then adds, "If this corruption has precedent, then maybe there is knowledge on how to stop it. I will gladly help."
As Berry-Eater sits somewhat disconsolately with his bit of cord, the Pathfinders work with Cenenviel to search through the records. Fortunately, they turn out to be well-trained team of Pathfinders, and find some interesting information in spite of Obad’of’s distraction. There are multiple references to some ancient cyclopean ruins in the area, including the stone in the valley, and an old cyclops grave surrounded by standing cairns. Cenenviel considers this and offers a theory, ”It could be that the cyclopean relics were meant to gather evil energies and might be the cause of all the trouble. Perhaps disabling or destroying the relics might cause the leshys to return to normal.”
Armed with these insights, the party sets off to find Kaana Korag, chieftain of the Redpine tribe. Along the way, however, they pass by a small group of young centaurs, where they can hear Jaldan excitedly telling her friends about her trip with the Pathfinders, ”…there must have been twenty of them, each one more weird-looking than the one next to it! And then one leshy in a giant ball of fire and half the forest was burning! And I used my water spell to douse the fire and saved the forest!” As the Pathfinders come into view, she continues, ”And the Pathfinders were so brave! They slashed and zapped the weird leshys, even though each one they killed made a big burst that could have killed us all! And then they healed my injuries after I got caught in one of those bursts! Pathfinders, join me in telling the tale of our fight today!”
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Farzin, who has survived on charming lies, is no stranger to the tall tale.
”In all honesty is was Jaldan who saved me. I had to shelter behind her after I was hit by at least half a dozen poisonous fruit bombs.” Farzin gives a broad smile.
”She did mention the poisonous fruit bombs didn’t she? As if the forest fire and the explosions were not challenging enough, not to mention the sheer horrific appearance of these creatures; a terrible amalgam of plant and animal, ruthlessly pelting us with their toxic fruit. I shudder to even think of them. But Jaldan’s bravery held strong. With her help, I and the others were able to put out the fires, and put the leshys to rest.”.
Jaldan smiles happily as Farzin further embellishes her part in the fight, while also ensuring that the Society's role in the whole experience isn't left out.
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Darlinger cracks his knuckles behind his back.
"Jaldan was also instrumental in putting out the fires. In fact, I don't think we would have been able to get them all out if it were't for her. She was so brave and helpful. She saved not only Farzin, but me as well. I am not made to fight such things, and she protected me when I was attacked. She will surely do this tribe proud!"
While Brynn keeps quiet, the others play to their strengths. Flamel creates the scene exquisitely in miniature, even twisting some twigs, a pinecone and some sprays of red bruorsivi needles into a reasonable facsimile of the red-haired Jaldan. As Darlinger weaves a hyperbolic tale, Obad’of’s lights dance around to dramatic effect, flaring as the leshys explode and the fire rages, then winking out one by one as Jaldan saves the day!
The young centaur is so pleased and grateful, she gives Flamel a big hug, then dashes into her tent and brings back a deep blue feather, with a shaft of gold. ”I made this myself – no, I really did,” she says as she presents it to the party. ”And I give it to you in thanks for the great adventure we had together and for, um, backing me up just now?”
Jaldan’s friends ask her for more details about the journey, and she dives back into relating her tale as the party continues on their way to find Kaana Korag, the tribe’s chieftain. They find her overseeing the return of a patrol, and she greets the party in a politely skeptical tone, ”I hear you’re going to sort out the trouble with the leshys? No disrespect, but what makes you think you can solve a dangerous, mysterious problem in a wild place you don’t know?”
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"I can understand your skepticism. But most have not lived their entire lives attuned to nature. The Quah I and my mother are from have a deep reverence of nature, but docile and dangerous. When we reach adulthood, some of the tribe will spend a week out in the wilds, alone, with the goal of bonding with a bear. It is not servitude, but partnership. And even though Robb here can be a tad lazy, we are connected."
Robb looks to Brynn, then to Kaana, and stamps a paw on the ground.
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Obad'of does his best to accentuate the details of Brynn's recitation. He begins to fill in details, pointing out the esoteric and erudite details of ursine behavior, as well as explaining the details of his own training in understanding the intricate balance between various things in the world, "Like a spider web where the effects of one thing can be felt elsewhere on the web."
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Farzin nods along as his colleagues speak. He smiles broadly and strokes a hand down Papayo's back thoughtfully.
"You know, in Mwangi we have many dangerous and mysterious places. And all of them wild. In Nantambu, we have the Magaambya, the oldest magic academy in all of Golarion, founded by Old-mage Jatembe himself. There, arcane and primal magics are combined in ways no one has ever seen before, and academics work very closely with their animal allies, don't they Papayo? Monkeys, dinosaurs, even giant apes. I believe we know a thing a or two about such wild places."
He gives Papayo an affirmative nod, and the bird trills in response.