"Not a personal offense to your hospitality" - Hedrak adds to Garavel, well aware of what an invitation to stay out of the Sun means in these parts - "But we will wait outside. Giving up one's weapon to enter the demesne of those unknown to you, is too high a risk" - he bows - "Hopefully you will allow us in later?"
"Yes, thank your for your offer Garavel, but we will wait outside for now. I assume Ohrmzid is expected to return today?"
He observes Garavel carefully to assess his motivations:
2 ranks +3 trained +2 wis
***
After Garavel's reply, Omari will picket his mule outside where it can forage, and settle down in the shade with Roryx.
***
Still later, Omari is leaning on one of the trees in the shade of the monastery, looking out over the sands. Father Garavel had told the pair (Roryx and Omari) that Ohrmzid had gone on a short mission and was expected back later today...
In the distance, he sees three figures trudging towards him. He gives Roryx a nudge and asks: "Hey Roryx, is that Ohrmzid coming with those other 2 guys over there?"
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While walking through the pesh fields towards the monastery Manuun is drinking aften from his water bottle to get rid of the bile in his mouth. As soon as they are out of earshot of Kelmarane he starts a discussion with Ohrmizd.
"What was that about? I thought we were going to get rid of these gnolls, not knock them unconcious. You want to fight them tomorrow again only much more angry?"
Ignorant of the events at the Monastery, Ohrmizd walks by, watering his front below the abrasive Sun. At first he does not answer to Manuun, it takes him a few seconds of walking and looking at the sky.
"You were a slave once, isn't it Man?" the Keleshite's tone is much more assertive than his usually cocky tone, he talks seriously for once "Gnolls most probably. I was one once. The gnolls took me. They did not kill me. I would not be now here if they had acted like you suggest. Where would killing the gnolls put me in regards to their own way of acting?"
Heshan seemed more interested in listening to the debate going on between the two. He eventually popped up with his own opinion.
"Well there's not we can do at this point. The most we can do is plan what to do next. Next time, we can focus on capturing. At the very least, my magic is highly capable of doing that."
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"Well the Gnolls might have let you live, but they sold you into slavery and we can discuss whats worse."
" But whats more important, what do we do with a bunch of captured gnolls in the middle of Kelmarane? We are never going to get them out there. No if we are going to continue to attack patrols we are going to have to kill them. Or you come up with another idea how we conquer the city."
Ohrmizd nods understanding "I know... but it feels wrong anyway" he pats on the new shields the group got and smiles "Still, we have their weapons, remember? And they will get tired of getting pounded at some point"
"I hope..." he murmurs while raising the eyes looking for the Monastery.
In the distance, he sees three figures trudging towards him. He gives Roryx a nudge and asks: "Hey Roryx, is that Ohrmzid coming with those other 2 guys over there?"
"I think..." - Roryx squints, using one hand to block out the sun.
"Ohrmzid?" - he shouts out.
"Rombard?" he squinted his eyes as he tried to make out the figures ahead. "Could you help a relative newcomer understand who that is?"
Ohrmizd smiles "Hehe, Rombard. I wonder what is doing right now the little goat. We saved him from pugwampis Heshan"
Then he looks intently where Manuun is pointing "Can that be...?!"
The Keleshite rushes his walk to reach the strangers at the front of the monastery. "Blessed are my eyes!" the man starts to laugh opening his arms "Omari? Is that you below the dark clothes Roryx? You won't believe what I have gone through in this place... Have you already met Garavel and the Princess?"
But suddenly his mood changes to a less joyful one "But wait... what are you doing in here?"
Omari is not concealing a significant level of annoyance as he replies :"We've met Garavel, but not the princess. As to what we're doing here, we're following you... You found something about where Haleen disappeared too, and then disappeared yourself, without so much as telling us what's up! We owe her just as much as you do! So out with it: what have you found out?"
"Haleen..." Ohrmizd breathes deeply and slowly "It seems like a whole life has past since the time we four would walk the Nightstalls together... so much has changed" the Keleshite brings his hand to the chest and touches a crude symbol of Sarenrae, the thing seems old and wore down by the past of time, almost as if he has picked it up from an abandoned graveyard.
"I will explain you, but let's make it into the Monastery, the Sun here is abrasive at this time of the day" using the hand to cover from the light he eyes to the entrance where the mercenary stands "Oh, yes, you have met with my friendly mercenary coworkers... isn't it?"
Sighing he continues talking while he walks towards the entrance "Well, good thing is Haleen is at Kalmerane, I have seen her, and she seems ok. Bad thing is she refused to tell me what she is doing in a gnoll infested village... and I do not know how I can bring her out of there, or if she is there just by her own will"
"It HAS been a whole lifetime ago indeed Ohrzmid" - Roryx steps out from the shade with a greeting - "But it is good to see you Brother"
"I will explain you, but let's make it into the Monastery, the Sun here is abrasive at this time of the day" using the hand to cover from the light he eyes to the entrance where the mercenary stands "Oh, yes, you have met with my friendly mercenary coworkers... isn't it?"
"We have - they wanted us to deliver the weapons at the gate, so we decided to wait outside" - the half-orc grunts.
Sighing he continues talking while he walks towards the entrance "Well, good thing is Haleen is at Kalmerane, I have seen her, and she seems ok. Bad thing is she refused to tell me what she is doing in a gnoll infested village... and I do not know how I can bring her out of there, or if she is there just by her own will"
"Haleen is in that place? You found her... But she refuses to leave..? Something is off" - he snarls - "And what is this monastery? Some sort of waypoint where you come to and fro?"
Manuun looks confused at the newcomers: " You know these people Ohrmizd? who are they. And what do they care about this Haleen women you keep talking about?"
"He does. My name is Roryx" - the hooded one bows - you can see the hint of fangs under the fabric that covers his face - "One of 'these people'. Well met"
"This people was my family when I wast lost at Katapesh streets Man" responds Ohrmizd, then he presents them to his old friends "These are Manuun and Heshan, we know each other only from a few days, but it has been so intense I kind of consider them already my friends in addition to my current work mates"
The man nods to Roryx "Garavel has hired us to explore Kalmerane and end force the gnoll tribe out of there. Haleen is there, but she does not seem a prisoner. I can't think in what kind of problem she has put her head this time..."
"But come into the monastery, as you say this is our base camp, some kind of waypoint" he makes some signs for them to come in, and he steps into the monastery smiling the mercenary guards "It is an old Sanctuary of Sarenrae which was abandoned and plagued by pugwampis, but we are making it our home now. We should talk with Garavel. If you are looking to find out about Haleen, I would be happy to count with your hands to help us against the gnolls. Whatever she is on, I am pretty confident it can be fixed by expelling the gnolls"
"Are you hungry? Hadrah prepares an exceptional cabbage soup"
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"Pleased to meet you Manuun, Heshan; I am Omari the Landless. Haleen is very dear to all our hearts, having saved each of us from the streets of Katapesh. She has a habit of picking up strays. I assume you think she is not in any immediate danger, otherwise we will go to Kelmarane directly, now."
"It does sound however, like we have a common objective with this Garavel. It would be a fine deed in the eyes of Erastil to break these slavers; they prey on many communities. So tell us the whole story Ohrmzid, do not omit any details. Your planning tends to be of the jump in head first variety... "
"I see Ohrmizd can confirm your backstory." Garavel tells as he emerges from his quarters again. In fron tof which stand the more formally dressed and more impressive guards that care for the princess and Garavel.
"As your goal seem to match mine, how about you join Ohrmizd's employment with me? As two of the original members of the group continue to be indisposed due to illness. Ohrmizd can fill you in on the details."
"Take you time to consider. Until then, take a seat in the mess hall and Ohrmizd - please see to it, that our guests get a warm meal."
Ohrmizd smiles when Garavel proposes his friends to join the team "This is starting to become interesting" he does lead them to their chambers "This is where we sleep. You can leave your heavy stuff here and bring your carrying animals to the cloisters garden with the goats. Garavel and the Princess sleep in the library . And after breakfast we can present you to Father Zastoran, who works in the laboratory in the crypt below"
During the soup break Ohrmizd relates all the tale of the group misfortunes, laughing specially at the part where he fell from the chapel rafters and when Heshan got locked behind a statue "Right now at Kalmerane, we have defeated a giant snake and made flee from town a peryton at the mill . There is a harpy, Undrella, whom Man... Manuun, is in love by the river she charmed us once and made us to jail. That's when we met with Haleen, as she came and saved us, but decided to remain in Kalmerane without more explanation"
"We still have to handle the gnolls at the watchtower , and we have discovered there is some strange dangerous creature below Sarenrae's old temple . The other two areas we have to explore are a set of buildings where lives a goat man feared by the gnolls and the slave market "
"I do not know about you, but I think I would go after the watchtower or Undrella next"
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Omari spends much of storytime taking notes...
"So there are 2 creatures in the ruins that the gnolls are pacifying with offering of meat, the Peryton in the mill and an unknown at "most southern building, the one without the southern wall"
pulling at the tip of his nose, he continues "Did I ever tell you how my folk hunt crocodiles? Nobody wants to eat a crocodile, of course, I am told they taste horrible - it's the leather we are after, that and safe access to the river. But a crocodile is deadly - armored, prefers to stay in the water where it's much more difficult for us landbound types, very strong, nasty teeth, smashing tail... so they just feed it poisoned meat. Can the expedition spare a goat or two? Can this Father Zastoran put together a poison?"
Furthermore, many of the dangers - the peryton, the huecuva, even the Harpy, seem like they might be susceptible to ambushes... Still, I think more patient scouting is the order of the day.
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"This people was my family when I wast lost at Katapesh streets Man" responds Ohrmizd, then he presents them to his old friends "These are Manuun and Heshan, we know each other only from a few days, but it has been so intense I kind of consider them already my friends in addition to my current work mates"
"Well met to you Manuum and Heshan" - Roryx greets Ohrmizd's companions.
"But come into the monastery, as you say this is our base camp, some kind of waypoint" he makes some signs for them to come in, and he steps into the monastery smiling the mercenary guards "It is an old Sanctuary of Sarenrae which was abandoned and plagued by pugwampis, but we are making it our home now. We should talk with Garavel. If you are looking to find out about Haleen, I would be happy to count with your hands to help us against the gnolls. Whatever she is on, I am pretty confident it can be fixed by expelling the gnolls"
"Are you hungry? Hadrah prepares an exceptional cabbage soup"
"I think you already know the answer to those two questions" - Roryx grunts - "Do count on me to assault the gnolls, and of course I would like some cabbage soup!"
"As your goal seem to match mine, how about you join Ohrmizd's employment with me? As two of the original members of the group continue to be indisposed due to illness. Ohrmizd can fill you in on the details."
"Take you time to consider. Until then, take a seat in the mess hall and Ohrmizd - please see to it, that our guests get a warm meal."
"Thank you again for your hospitality master Garavel, one we have now decided to accept. Indeed your request does seem to align with our intents, so the portents seem optimistic"
Tour of the Monastery + Battle Plans
After setting down his belongings, Roryx seems to be truly enjoying the cabbage soup - "Ohrmizd, do these 'unusual' creatures seem to be aligned with the gnolls, or simply other occupants in the area - they are not allies would you say?"
"And by the way, where is the cook? I need to offer my compliments for the food"
"We ruined out chances of parlay with the harpy woman," he admitted. "Unless either of you could talk to her and do the deed."
But he went on to smile again. "But with more faces, we should have the manpower to handle the patrols. Especially since they do not know about either of you two."
"Thank you." Hadrah calls over from the kitchen as she hears her food complimented.
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"Well Garavel wanted to decide if he is willing to make an offer to Undrella. After all she was offering us an secret way to reach the chieftain of the gnolls."
"But until then its either fighting patrols or searching the last few buildings. But I would beware the gnolls seem to be very afraid of that goatmen living there."
Ohrmizd smiles seeing the enthusiasm to join from part of his friends "Yes, Hadrah, great soup like always"
"The poisoned goat plan is just brilliant Omari. You were always the strategic kind. We can ask Hadrah and Hadrod if there is any old goat we can sacrifice, as they are the herders" the Keleshite completes the soup drinking it from his bowl "I do not know Roryx, they kind of seem having a loose type of alliance. But it is difficult to tell. Maybe only mutual interests"
"Man is right about Undrella. We could win easy access to the gnolls backdoor if we strike a deal with her Garavel. But she insists to request permission to remain in the village once we take over" he stares at the cold man looking for a direct answer.
"I am not a specialist on harpies but... Aren't most of their powers stemming from their singing or along those lines? If negotiations fail, magical silence may work?" - he suggested - "But if she seemed open to negotiate and offer intel, that would be better - what did she ask in return?" - then got up to head back at the kitchen
"I am looking for Hadrah?" - he asked, peering inside.
"That's out of the window. With her throwing you in jail, it's time to end that mionster."
He only needed confirmation from Garavel before answering. "She wanted to keep her place in the area... which is not happening now," he shrugged. "A scroll of silence spell will help out against her if we can afford it."
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"Well she asked for a place to stay in Kelmarane after the Gnolls have been driven out. We offered to help her find a new place somewhere more suitable than in a city full of people. But the discussion turned ugly very quickly and a fight broke out. As Garavel just said, she had us bested by her song and handed us over to the gnolls, who threw us in jail."
"But whats more interesting, she is the lover of the gnoll chieftain, a Genie named Kardswann. Which is surprisingly the name of one of the templars of the wind, who played an important and positive role in founding this places, including the monastery. Vadishar, the genie this monastery is named after was also one of them."
"Anyway this Kardswann might be the same or he might be not, but apparently he went underground somewhere and according to Undrella he came back possesed by a evil spirit. Since then he turned against Undrella, which is why she wanted to sell a secret way inside his hideout to us to kill him. As you see not the nicest of persons, but a useful one."
"With your help I think she would be an easy one to get rid of, before continuing our fight against the Gnolls."
He only needed confirmation from Garavel before answering. "She wanted to keep her place in the area... which is not happening now," he shrugged. "A scroll of silence spell will help out against her if we can afford it."
Heshan gets an ironic look from Omari "... How about a wax candle that we make into ear plugs?"
After a pregnant pause, he continues, "But let's take a look at the map. Coming in from the north on the far side of the river there's the old mill, where the peryton was and maybe still, and the harpy's place... You guys were able to sneak up on both places without the gnolls reacting before."
"How about this, we go for a 2 day excursion. Circle the town to north-east of the river for the first day, find some cover and just watch. We can figure out if the peryton is back, by seeing if the gnolls are dropping off a goat for it. We can also see if the Harpy is home. If the peryton's back, next day, we come up from the east and drop our poison goat off before the gnolls do... We come back several hours later, after the poison has taken effect, buff up and finish the thing. Depending on how the engagement goes, we set ourselves up - earplugs - and hit the harpy's place. Then we go back to the Mill and rest up - we can ambush the next goat drop off... Then we come back here, circling off to the east of town. Although that last ambush probably makes it a 3 day excursion. "
"The plan is good, but I think you are overestimating the distances involved. Its easy to do all this and still spend the night inside the camp, as it is only one hour away."
"To add some relevant information for your planning: All this scouting is nice and good, but this has been going on for several days. Sometime in the future they might get suspicious and come for us instead. So the time for just looking is over."
"The group is back to full strength, and now we need results. You get two more days until we take the battle market. Everything you haven't dealt with until then, you'd have to fight then at once."
Ohrmizd turns surprised when Manuun gives the detail about the gnoll boss and the genie sharing the same name "Is that true?! Can her lover and the genie be the same Kardswann?"
"The wax shall work, she will not take us by surprise this time. She will learn the lesson" the Keleshite smiles looking Omari at the eyes recognizing his old friend's quick wits "I like the plan Omari, but if we only have two days, let's take risks... let's assume the peryton is not there to speed up things as Garavel requests. We take the wax and ambush Undrella doing the north-eastern circle Omari proposes and remove any patrols we find out. Without further ado we follow up with the other side of town as you proposed but just immediately. We wait for the next patrol bringing food to the goatman and intercept it. We remove those gnolls and take the food, putting on it the poison. As Man says we could be to the Monastery that same day and next day we can just finish the watchtower and any other incoming patrols"
"I am looking for Hadrah?" - he asked, peering inside.
”Is she around?
"To add some relevant information for your planning: All this scouting is nice and good, but this has been going on for several days. Sometime in the future they might get suspicious and come for us instead. So the time for just looking is over."
"The group is back to full strength, and now we need results. You get two more days until we take the battle market. Everything you haven't dealt with until then, you'd have to fight then at once."
"We take the battle market" - could you expand a bit on who else is coming along and what they're doing in this assault?
"Hi, I'm here." Hadrah tells with a broad smile, as Raryx looks into the kitchen.
"The assault will be all of us, but Hadrod, Hadrah and the goats. We have no intel about the inside of the Battle Market yet, but within two days you should be able to reduce their numbers significantly." Garavel tells.
The people around here are the mercenaries, which seem to be four, the guards of Princess Almah which are also four, some stinking guy who's job is not clear and Father Zastoran, whose name you have heard several times, but whom you have not seen yet.
Ohrmizd nods, he whispers to Manuun "Happy to see the mercenaries will do some real work finally."
Then he leads Roryx and Omari to the crypt below "Hello Father Zastoran. I want you to know Roryx and Omari, a couple of old friends from the times at the Nightstalls that are going to help us liberate Kalmerane. Father Zastoran is a faithful of Nethys and our healer"
"Won't you happen to have a potent poison or a scroll of silence?" Ohrmizd gives a glimpse to the sorted out flasks of the lab "Perhaps you collected some of that mold that nearly suffocated me to death?"
Father Zastoran looks up and almost greets the two newcomers, as he is thrown off the thought by Ohrmizd's requests. "I don't do poisons. But if oyu have the gold, I can write you a scroll."
"You ought to be kidding" Ohrmizd shows off his crumbling armor and rusty scimitar "Remember we just begged you for scrap equipment?"
"Perhaps we can prepare some beverage with the dangerous molds in this basement, and the bones in the crypt sure have a few diseases"
"Could you do ground glass particles? I'm sure you've been kept up to date on the exploration of Kelmarane; the gnolls are feeding several monsters therein goats to keep them pacified. We propose to hijack a feeding, and set the goat up such that the monster will be poisoned... A leather pouch full of ground glass force fed to the goat, immediately prior to becoming monster bait, will rupture inside the monster, perforating it's intestines. This should kill via internal bleeding..."
Ohrmizd turns surprised when Manuun gives the detail about the gnoll boss and the genie sharing the same name "Is that true?! Can her lover and the genie be the same Kardswann?"
"The wax shall work, she will not take us by surprise this time. She will learn the lesson" the Keleshite smiles looking Omari at the eyes recognizing his old friend's quick wits "I like the plan Omari, but if we only have two days, let's take risks... let's assume the peryton is not there to speed up things as Garavel requests. We take the wax and ambush Undrella doing the north-eastern circle Omari proposes and remove any patrols we find out. Without further ado we follow up with the other side of town as you proposed but just immediately. We wait for the next patrol bringing food to the goatman and intercept it. We remove those gnolls and take the food, putting on it the poison. As Man says we could be to the Monastery that same day and next day we can just finish the watchtower and any other incoming patrols"
[dice=K. arcana]1d20+6
[dice=K. nature]1d20+6
"Ok, if we assume the peryton is gone, let's hit the harpy tonight - she might be asleep... Provided we stay away from the western end of town, we should be safe from the Hecueva, I hope. If we find a late patrol, we hit it. Then we lie in wait for tomorrow's monster feeding."
"I don't ask you to pay the market price. But someone has to cough up the materials for that. If you can't do without, ask garavel if he's willing to pay the 75 gold to make your job easier."
"I dropped the broken stuff from the laboratory here outside in the bushes where the rest of the garbage ended up. ´Feel free to collect the glass that's contained in that." Zastoran suggests, mumbling "poor goat." as he turns to his studies again.
Heshan smiled at the reinforcements. As for the gold, he nodded. "We will do so... oh. If the scroll does not work, do we happen to have wax?"
An annoied Zastoran grabs a candle from a box and throws it to Heshan. "Here, take it. Now get out of my lab."
"Can you also heal Heshan? That gnoll cut him badly. I know we only ask but we need it if we want to push tonight" Ohrmizd attempts a charming smile knowing they do not have much else to pay him for their efforts for now "Thanks Father, you are saving our mission"
"Ok, let's rush tonight" the Keleshite puts a hand on Heshan's shoulder "I hope you have enough for another fight friend"
Picking up the candle to make the wax earplugs, Ohrmizd heads towards the place were Zastoran threw the lab materials and starts to search for whatever is of use.
Also trying to determine if tonight there is full moon or no moon at all.
Without a word, Zastoran holds up the silver mask and holy energy floods those around.