Song-of-Air inspires her companions with a witty limerick. Then she applies the lessons her familiar has been teaching her to summon lightning, which arcs between the two forward guards. They're too slow to get out of the way.
Clover makes her way off of the precarious steps and comes face-to-face with the wounded xulgath. As she turns her attention toward him, the other guard rushes forward and clubs her in the back of the head with a stone club. She turns her attention around to defend herself from his second swing, and then the one behind her hammers her twice in the back with his stone club.
The one who had been feeding the dinosaur lopes forward, draws a javelin, and--ignoring Clover for the moment--throws it at Nabi. However, despite her unsteady footing, it only grazes her leather shirt.
Encounter! Round 1. Bold may act.
Song-of-Air (Fortitude DC 16 vs. Sickened 1)
Nabi (Sickened 1)
Clover (31/58 hp)
>Snowy (immune)
Rulean (shield)
Red Square Guard (-9 hp)
Blue Square Guard (-17 hp; <50%)
Blue Circle Guard
Ephie (immune) (banked Acrobatics success for next move)
Leaf-on-Wind (immune) (banked Acrobatics success for next move)
Dinosaur
Red Circle Guard
Ephie cannot see the most damaged creature, nor can he move to get it in his line of sight. So he moves forward carefully and sends an arc at the two he can see.
The xulgath who brained Clover from behind explodes in a gory mess as Ephie's lightning strike . The other one is merely badly burned by the electricity.
Encounter! Round 1. Bold may act.
Song-of-Air (Fortitude DC 16 vs. Sickened 1)
Nabi (Sickened 1)
Clover (31/58 hp)
>Snowy (immune)
Rulean (shield)
Blue Square Guard (-17 hp; <50%)
Blue Circle Guard (-12 hp; <50%)
Ephie (immune)
Leaf-on-Wind (immune) (banked Acrobatics success for next move)
Dinosaur
Red Circle Guard
Song imagines the smell from the time all the kids in their family nest had diarrhea.
The pale, feathered raptor darts forward and slashes at Clover with its sickle-like toe claw. Wary now of foes coming from behind, she blocks the first slash. However, the second slash comes as the xulgath behind her feints, and the dinosaur cuts open a vein on her leg.
The last of the guards runs forward, drawing a javelin and throws it over the dinosaur. Despite the angle, the cover, and the shield, the bone head punches just through his armor.
Encounter! Round 2. Bold may act.
Song-of-Air (sickened 2)
Nabi (Sickened 1)
Clover (25/58 hp) (Fortitude DC 16 vs. Sickened 1) (persistent bleed 1d4 -> 1 at end of turn)
>Snowy (immune)
Rulean (43/48 hp) (Fortitude DC 16 vs. Sickened 1)
Blue Square Guard (-17 hp; <50%)
Blue Circle Guard (-16 hp; <50%)
Ephie (immune)
Leaf-on-Wind (immune)
Dinosaur
Red Circle Guard
Rulean blocks the javelin.
“You will not harm me with the favored weapon of Kurgess!”
It seems he has recovered from the smell of the xulgaths.
Seeing how injured Clover is, Rulean calls on the blessings of Kurgess to heal her. He then raises his shield again.
As more xulgaths advance, Clover once again finds herself overwhelmed by their stank - this time even worse than before!
This time when she retches, the feelings of sickness and nausea abate somewhat but don't completely go away.
"Gotta get some nose plugs or something..." she gasps as she brings up her fork and attempts to drive the points into Blue Square's face...
...before stepping back onto the stairs.
Rulean acclimates to the xulgath stench. He then prays for healing over Clover and mends her wounds.
She, however, is overtaken by the stench and vomits. Nauseated, she stabs at one of the guards and kills him before retreating up the stairs away from the dinosaur. He wounded leg eventually stops bleeding.
The dinosaur licks its reptilian lips.
Encounter! Round 2. Bold may act.
Effects:
Clover (44/58 hp) (sickened 1)
>Snowy (immune)
Rulean (immune) (shield)
Song-of-Air (sickened 2)
Nabi (Sickened 1)
Blue Circle Guard (-16 hp; <50%)
Ephie (immune)
Leaf-on-Wind (immune)
Dinosaur
Red Circle Guard
Nabi manages to keep her meal-and her wits
You know, Clover, if you didn't like my cooking, you could just have said so, politely.
She lets go her bow, and takes her sword, studying the big walking lezard-not Rulean: the other one-to find its eventual weakness
Nabi retches to dispel her nausea and then moves down the stairs, assessing the dinosaur.
Encounter! Round 2. Bold may act.
Clover (44/58 hp) (sickened 1)
>Snowy (immune)
Rulean (immune) (shield)
Song-of-Air (sickened 2)
Nabi
Blue Circle Guard (-16 hp; <50%)
Ephie (immune)
Leaf-on-Wind (immune)
Dinosaur
Red Circle Guard
Song-of-Air boosts your spirits with an inspiring rhyme and then summons more lightning, arcing it between the wounded xulgath and the predatory dinosaur.
However, when the afterimage fades from your eyes, her targets appear no worse off than they started
The faltering xulgath draws his stone club from his belt and steps after Clover in order to swing at her head. She tries to shift out of the way of the blow, but the rubble under her feet shifts and leaves her head in the same general location, earning a small goose egg from the club.
Encounter! Round 2. Bold may act.
Clover (38/58 hp) (sickened 1) (Reflex DC 14 or fall prone)
>Snowy (immune)
Rulean (immune) (shield)
Song-of-Air (sickened 2)
Nabi
Blue Circle Guard (-16 hp; <50%)
Ephie (immune)
Leaf-on-Wind (immune)
Dinosaur
Red Circle Guard
Ephie stays where his is and arcs the dinosaur and blue circle guard.
Zot!
Then he flings his axe at the guard!
Whoosh!
The wounded xulgath guard's luck has run out. He, too, explodes under Ephie's onslaught. The dinosaur fares better but its feathers are charred and skin blistered where the electricity struck.
Bending over backwards, the remaining xulgath avoids the magical, whirling greataxe, though it does shave off the keel of a scale or two.
Encounter! Round 2. Bold may act.
Clover (38/58 hp) (sickened 1) (Reflex DC 14 or fall prone)
>Snowy (immune)
Rulean (immune) (shield)
Song-of-Air (sickened 2)
Nabi
Ephie (immune)
Leaf-on-Wind (immune)
Dinosaur (-10 hp)
Red Circle Guard
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Clover weebles and wobbles, but thankfully she doesn't fall down!
Leaf-on-Wind plants a pair of arrows in the dinosaur's hide. That only seems to make it more frenzied as it slashes at Clover with its sickle-like hind talon. The claws tear open wicked, bleeding lacerations on her arms.
Seeing the tengu all alone, the remaining xulgath guard draws his club and chases after him. The stone club he swings is well short of Leaf-on-Wind.
Encounter! Round 3. Bold may act.
Clover (25/58 hp) (sickened 1; bleed 1d4 -> 2 at end of turn)
>Snowy (immune)
Rulean (immune) (shield)
Song-of-Air (sickened 2)
Nabi (Fortitude DC 16 vs. Sickened 1)
Ephie (immune)
Leaf-on-Wind (immune)
Dinosaur (-17 hp)
Red Circle Guard
Ephie triple moves around to provide a flank on the dino.
"Those claws are sharp," Clover manages through gritted teeth as she takes advantage of Ephie's positioning and jabs her fork at her attacker!
"Come on Snowy, time to finish them off!" she cries, wincing as her wounds continue to bleed.
______________
Snowy manages to clamber down the steps, ready to help Clover!
______________
Clover makes a skillful strike at the dinosaur and drives the fork into the creature's heart, ending its threat.
One last guard remains.
Encounter! Round 3. Bold may act.
Clover (23/58 hp) (sickened 1; bleed 1d4 -> 4 at end of 4th turn) (1 more action)
>Snowy (immune)
Rulean (immune) (shield)
Song-of-Air (sickened 2)
Nabi (Fortitude DC 16 vs. Sickened 1)
Ephie (immune)
Leaf-on-Wind (immune)
Red Circle Guard
Leaf-On-Wind moves back towards Clover to try and staunch the bleeding before she bleeds out, whipping out some bandages with practiced ease.
Rulean manages to get down the stairs without falling.
He then fires off a ray of frost at the remaining enemy.
120’ range
Crit Success double damage and -10’ speed for 1 round
Having felled the dinosaur Clover steps off the stairs towards Red. She shoots Leaf a thankful look as he hustles over and quickly staunches her bleeding.
Nabi descends the rest of the stairs easily, and tries to distract the last fighting for with a display of swordmanship, so it lets its guard down for her companions
Song shimmies up the stairs in an athletic dance to inspire her comrades and hopefully have the effect stick this time, and then she moves into flank with Clover.
◇Lingering Performance
◈ Inspire Defense
◈ Stride
◈
Song-of-Air inspires you to fight harder with her athletic performance as she moves down to flank the remaining xulgath warrior with Ephraim and pecks him from behind. After Leaf-on-Wind stops her wound from bleeding, Clover moves in while Nabi distracts him. Then Rulean rushes forward and strikes the warrior with a ray of frigid energy.
The xulgath still has some fight in him, and you take a few knocks from his stone club, but in the end, you prevail. Leaf-on-Wind uses a technique to subdue the warrior and knocks him unconscious. This gives you time to decide what to do with him and recover from the horrid stench.
Three stacks of heavy stones—each stack about four feet tall—stand in the southern opening.
Beyond the stacks of stone, those with the ability to see in pitch black see a vast chamber the walls of which are beyond their sight without crossing the stone barricade. However, the floors are spotlessly clean.
The hall to the north flickers faintly with torchlight. One wan torch is mounted near the end of the short hall and another is mounted across the room on the other side of a long barricade of stacked stones. You can make out from your current position several straw pallets, likely makeshift beds, on both sides of the barricade.
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Ephie helps tie the xulgath up.
He refocuses by practicing his act with Mr. Splinters.
Mr. Splinters, where do xulgaths make their bad smells?
I DO NOT WANT TO KNOW.
In an olfactory.
WOW THAT JOKE IS A REAL STINKER.
Rulean keeps watch at the northern corridor, in case any more xulgaths are there.
He does chuckle at Ephraim's terrible pun.
Nabi rolls her eyes exageratly
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“Nabi, could you help Ephraim bind the xulgath? I fear that granny knots may not be the most effective way to do it.”
When he is awake Ephie will try to intimidate the xulgath!
Help us… or else!?
As before, his voice cracks. He turns to the circus troupe. Erm… ahh… we may be forced to leave this xulgath bound and gagged for now…
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“That or just let him leave and tell him which direction the other one went. The other one wanted help with carrying the remains of the ox.”
"Yeah, let him leave if he wants," Clover agrees. "That, uh, hunting party we ran into was probably - hopefully - the only bunch that were out of the tower today. So it shouldn't be like he'd be able to run and get help to come at us from behind."
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Song takes a moment to discreetly vomit -- whether that is an attempt to rid herself of her sickened condition, or as a reaction to Ephie's joke, is anyone's guess.
The xulgath struggles in his bonds and mumbles behind the gag. Ephie tries to sound intimidating but he fails to convey the gravity of the 'else.' The xulgath growls back something that is probably a curse around the gag.
The puppet master translates Rulean's suggestion. The warrior stares Ephie for a long moment and then finally nods. It seems the obvious disadvantage of numbers sparks at least some sense of discretion for the xulgath scrambles up the stairs as quickly as he can manage over the crumbling rubble once he is released.
Leaf-on-Wind tends to Clover's wounds with an expert hand and soon she feels as good as new.
We should push forward to the torchlight after clover’s patched up.
Rulean nods his agreement. Shield and pick at the ready, he moves forward.
Once the group is ready to get rolling again Clover gives Leaf another appreciative thumbs up and then falls into position, keeping her eyes and ears peeled for signs of trouble - or anything of interest.
This odd-shaped room is divided by several piles of stacked stones, each stack about four feet tall. Large nests made of sticks and mud are spread around the room on both sides of the stone stacks. The northwestern corner of the room contains a large hut made of poorly tanned hides and topped with the skull of some enormous fanged beast. The eye-watering smell of xulgaths, animal dung, and unwashed reptiles fills this room.
Two massive, armor-shelled reptiles lumber out of the shadows on the side of the room opposite the sacks of stones as soon as you enter the room. Clover and Leaf-on-Wind recognize them as pinacosaurs--a herbivorous dinosaur capable of defending itself with a club-like tail and trampling shorter folk. However, Nabi is fairly certain that they're baby dragon turtles. They stop at the boundary and simply stare at you. Those of you with sharper vision can see a pair of eggs in one of the nests.
The acrobatic physician gives Clover a nod of acknowledgment before the party moves forwards.
"They're guarding a nest. Maybe if we hug the wall we won't upset them?" Leaf-On-Wind offers thoughtfully with a quiet tone.
“That or go around. The map indicates there are two ways around.”
The two dinosaurs stare impassively at you and make no effort to push past the barricade of stone stacks. Clover figures that as long as you do not climb into the make-shift pen, they likely will not give you any trouble.
I say we let them be, and simply walk by.
You edge your way slowly and carefully through the room and on to the next hall. Clover's suspicions prove true as the beasts on the other side of the stones simply move to be as close to you as the boundary will permit, but they make no move to push through the stones though their size and strength would allow them to do so easily. Onward you walk down the hall until you approach another branch.
Harlock's map indicates that there are chambers to the north. However, someone has hung a thick, dirty blanket across the entrance to the north hall. Torchlight flickers faintly underneath it.
Stacks of stones block the path forward and around to the south. If you squeeze through, climb over, or push over and continue onwards, you should reach the hidden door that Harlock told you about and across the hall from that door, the stairs to the upper level.
However, both Clover and Song-of-Air spy a series of snares woven through the base of the stones. Nabi suspects that she could disarm them given a few moments.
Clover also hears the occasional sound of a guttural voice to the north.
Clover stops and makes a 'sshh' motion with her finger to her lips and then points at the curtained doorway to the north.
______________
Rulean stops and waits, trying to figure out what Clover is warning them about.
"There's someone in there," Clover whispers. "I can't tell if it's just one someone or multiple someones, but I definitely heard at least one voice. Repetitive, kinda like...huh. Kinda like when I'm teaching Snowy a new trick."
Let's disable those traps first, then see what's behind the curtain?