"If this is the Black Pudding's lair, how come that clumsy acidy ooze didn't dissolve or set off the trap on its way out?" Song shakes her head. "It's almost like the universe wants us to stay on our toes and keep getting challenged. Whomever set this, it's a safe bet they don't want us clearing their land."
Chani gets more and more tense as he works on the trap, nearly setting it off at least once. He breathes a sigh of relief as he unhooks a string and the tripwire goes slack - and nothing happens.
When they go up the stairs a bit farther and see the nets with thunderstones, Chani is more interested in the stones themselves. "Do you think we could collect those without causing problems? They may be useful."
"I think they could be very useful. We should be able to pack them with us if we do so carefully." Song stretches. "After we collect them, do we want to keep exploring, or should we check back with the circus to see how the land-clearing is going? I wouldn't mind if we explored a bit more before going back."
Turning to Song, Rulean says “I think the pudding’s lair was that old log that broke as I tried to go across it. Doubt it has anything to do with this trap.”
Thinking on Chani’s question for a moment, Rulean admits “It would be difficult. Cut the net, everything might break. It was supposed to be set off by a trip wire, so I would expect even stretching the net could cause the trap to go off.”
“Setting it off intentionally would cause all the thunderstones to go off. Also not ideal and certainly would prevent you from getting any intact stones.”
“Maybe we are better off scouting the area and finding out who is waiting to hear this trap go off.”
"I wouldn't mind if we explored a bit more before going back."
Chani gives a last look at the thunderstones, then nods at Song. "Exploring more seems like a good idea. Someone is certainly in the area."
He asks Rulean, "Xulgaths?"
“Subterranean creatures that give off a truly horrendous stench. We encountered some recently.”
There is nothing around to identify what sort of person or creature set the trap, but the netting is of standard quality and the thunderstones appear professionally made.
Opting to not risk the thunderstone trap anymore (for now), you finish the climb up the stone steps.
An ancient keep stands atop the hill, its crumbled stones blending with the natural granite. The south side of the keep bears a weathered wooden door beneath a squat tower of gray stone. You do not spy any traps around the entrance. The door's lock rusted away long ago. In it's place is a knotted leather strip to serve as a door pull.
The keep is a squat twenty foot square with ruined towers on the southwest and northeast corner. The roof is ruined and mostly collapsed. The keep offers a commanding view of the land opposite the hill from your valley. Your valley is not visible from the position of the keep.
Rulean can hear a conversational chatter between at least two individuals past the door, though he cannot make out what they're saying.
Chani takes a good look at the ruins of the keep. "Hrrrm," he mumbles, "should we just knock and introduce ourselves as the new downstairs neighbors? We are probably an improvement over the previous residents."
Rulean thinks a moment, then shakes his head no.
He mimes someone putting their ear to the door in order to listen closely.
Chani shrugs and obligingly walks up to the door. He finds a suitable gap in the doorframe and listens with his sharp ears.
Chani can make out three distinct voices--two to the left and one to the right. They are rather high-pitched and reedy. They are not speaking a language that the amurrun recognizes, but the cadence is conversational and familiar like old friends or a family having a chat.
Chani holds up three fingers. He steps away from the door a bit and talks quietly with the others. "They sound friendly enough - at least with each other. It might still be worth inviting them to a picnic."
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Rulean isn’t sure what to do.
“The location is suspicious, but there might be an innocent reason they are here. Thoughts?”
"I'm willing to try diplomacy - plus free tickets to the circus. And if it doesn't work, we can always fight."
Song comes forward. "I'm with the circus, and we're greeting all our neighbors. My name is Song. Would you like to join us for a picnic, or get free tickets to our show?"
Chani nods and moves back to the door, listening for the reaction of those inside and trying to keep track of their movement.
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Chani hears--or fails to hear--the voices fall silent for many heartbeats before a muffled and rushed conversation between the voices resumes in that same unfamiliar language. A high-pitched voice calls out in Taldane, "No thank you! Do not want. Thank you. Good day."
Chani looks puzzled and turns back to the others. "What type of people wouldn't want to go on a picnic?"
He looks around the building to see if there are any other entrances, or at least a window to get a view of these strange creatures from.
The only vantage into the keep is over the ruined roof, which is roughly ten feet above the ground. There is also a relatively intact tower with windows fifteen feet above the ground, but that does not look into the main keep.
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EPHRIAM DO NOT DARE I WILL KNIFE YOU IN YOUR —
Ephie chucks Mr. Splinters up the roof. What do you see?
Mr. Splinters clatters onto the ruined keep's roof with much chagrin. As he scrambles for a hand hold, he is able to catch sight of three ysoki trying to hide behind rubble.
OF COURSE.
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Poor Mr. Splinters tumbles down the collapsed roof into the keep. Dozens of old campfires have left scorched stones as evidence of decades worth of squatters. As the marionette lands with a clatter, an ysoki peeks over the rubble he is hiding behind.
Chani hears chattering that sounds bewildered or incredulous.
"Did they just throw a doll at us?"
"Over the wall, technically."
"It's not a bomb."
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Chani watches Ephie throw his familiar up onto the roof, despite its protests, where it fails to find any purchase or landing spot and falls into the keep. "Hrrmmm. Well, that does explain a couple of things."
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"Your doll is REALLY strange, Ephie, but that...that was kind of mean," Clover blinks as Mr. Splinters goes sailing up towards the roof and clatters out of sight. She looks around at her friends, at a bit of a loss on how to proceed.
"What now? I'd love to know who's in there but I'd also hate to just kick the door down since they're not really doing anything bad...that we know of, I mean. Maybe squatting but whoever owns or used to own this place doesn't seem like they'll be coming back to reclaim it anytime soon..."
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Rulean watches as Ephraim throws Mr. Splinters over the wall.
He takes a few moments to ponder the situation.
Turning to Ephraim, he says “You should never be trusted with a pet.”
Then turning towards the door, he shouts “Sorry to trouble you. Could we please have that mannequin back?”
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Ephie blushes. I was hoping he could spy on them and then drop down on this side!
Ephie listens carefully to the empathetic connection to Mr. Splinters. Is his knife-happy doll friend in danger? Fearful? Angry?
Oolong flies up to the roof, just to show off. "Okay, so we threw a doll over the wall. Big deal. But we really do want to have the picnic with you, and get a chance to meet you. What do you say?"
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Mr. Splinters lies on the ground, very still, grinning and making plans.
"Yeah, our friend just got a little too excited about the idea of making new friends and wanted to share," Clover chimes in, reasoning that there's not much to lose by adding her voice to Song's and Oolong's.
One of the ysoki comes out from hiding, glancing at the raven talking to them from the roof as he creeps towards Mr. Splinters.
"They don't sound like the thieves," says one of the other ysoki.
"Didn't have puppets," the third one says in a quiet voice.
Assuming the gothic marionette refrains from murderizing anyone, the ysoki picks Mr. Splinter up and walks to the door, which he cracks. He thrusts the marionette through the gap and shakes him gently. "Here you go. No thank you."
"Are they really from the circus!?" another voice shouts through the door.
Mr. Splinters and Oolong can observe that the three ysoki all have similar white and brown mottled fur. Their fur and clothes are marred by scorch marks.
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"Are we really from the circus? Well, since you ask..."
Song pulls out her feather fan and launches into a song and dance.
♫ We're the Circus of Wayward Wonders
And we have a show for you
A clear day with lightning and thunder
And a truly diverse crew
We have the learned cat, Chani Loasa,
Who can read your fate in cards
We have ventriloquist Ephraim Critchlow
Whose doll offered you regards
We have Rulean, our bar-bending friend,
He was once a baby dragon egg
But that ruse came to an end
Come to our show, don't make me beg!
Lest you think our show over
I have a surprise for you
There's Snowy and Clover
A well-trained animal duo!
We sing tumble and dance,
We never fail to amaze
So take a ticket and a chance
We'll wow you so many different ways! ♫
Throughout the dance, she sways her hips, does acrobatic leaps, and flirts with the audience as she peeks out from her fluttering feather fan.
"They are from the circus!" the voice cries from behind the door. With a great deal of scrambling and grunting, a feminine looking ysoki with white and brown mottled fur scrambles over the one in the door way and tumbles outside to watch Song-of-Air with wide, glistening eyes. "I wish I could be in the circus."
A third voice speaks up softly next to the ysoki in the doorway. "Definitely not the thieves."
"Oh! You want to be in the circus? We're always hiring. What can you folks do?" Song asks gently. "Maybe we can talk about it over our picnic."
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"Not the thieves?" Clover repeats, peering at the ysoki with curiosity. "What thieves? Did someone rob you folks?"
Chani, feeling a bit relieved that he didn't take the thunderstones, looks over the Ysoki and notices the scorch marks in her fur. "And are you injured? It looks like you were a bit too close to a fire."
"We're noble bandits," the female ysoki says conspiratorially in a stage whisper.
"Fidget!" the ysoki in the door hisses.
"We stole from the wrong thieves," the softer spoken ysoki behind him says.
Turning her attention back to Song and answering Chani's question in the process, Fidget says, "We're alchemists! Pyrotechnicians!"
Ephie gingerly picks up the still-still, still-grinning Mr, Splinters, and nervously deposits him into his backpack. The doll stares over Ephie's shoulder.
More craftspeople would be a welcome addition to the circus. Myself, I've crafted a few remote detonators in my day.
Not immediately recognizing the word 'pyrotechnicians', Chani looks to his deck. The drawn card shows a pair of interlocking gears made out of wax with lit wicks sticking out of each tooth of both gears. "Ah, that would explain the singed fur."
He looks back to the Ysoki at the door. "So which thieves are the right ones to steal from?" he asks in complete sincerity.
“Perhaps it would be better if you started this tale from something resembling the beginning. We mean you no harm, and depending on the circumstances may be willing to help.”
"Yeah, we've got the time if you don't care to tell it," Clover nods. "The city said we could use some of the land out here to set up if we clear it and take care of any dangerous critters lurking around, so that's why we're out here."
To show her sincerity, she stows her weapon and gives the ysoki a smile before gesturing first to herself and then to her badger friend. "I'm Clover and this is my friend and performance partner, Snowy."
"I'm Fidget!" the younger, female ysoki says. "These are my brothers, Calim and Lish. They're shy and don't talk as much." That much is obvious. The two brothers groan and slink out of the keep, giving up any pretense of security. "So we found a bunch of alchemical components and supplies that would really help with my pyrotechnic experimentations. What were they going to do with it? Not nice things, that's what! So we took it. Unfortunately, they caught us as the last moment and chased us out of town. We were hiding in this place until the heat cooled down. You know?"
Yes! Pyrotechnics! I myself craft a variety of objects, including copper arcade machines that often use special effects. Let’s exchange notes, Fidget.
Ephie takes out his spellbook which is also full of mechanical drawings. Mr. Splinters leans over his shoulder, staring at Ephie and grinning.
"Welcome to the Circus! Now... Perhaps you should tell us more about these wrong thieves, so that we know what to watch out for?"
Clover and Snowy keep a respectable distance as Ephie and Fidget have a jam session. She can't help but smile.
"It's nice to see your faces light up like that."
"Oh yay! We're in the circus now, brothers!" Fidget squeals with delight.
"Yay," the brothers say in a unison deadpan.
"They're not really any sort of established gang or guild," Calim answers. "Just a bunch of mean humans who enjoy hurting other people. I'd stay out of the back alleys. Especially if you're not good at being sneaky like us." He seems to be glossing over the fact that they were not sneaky enough to escape notice, either.
With the ratfolk family joining your circus, they are more than happy to share their alchemical supplies with you . The ruins themselves are rather uninteresting and hide nothing of value.
When you return to camp, you find Song-of-Air's brother is finally out and about.
On the way back to the circus camp, Chani talks to Rulean. "So tell me more about the Xulgaths. I am always interested in tales and stories. What other people and things did you find?"
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Leaf-On-Wind has been busy while the party was securing more territory, working traditional circus hygiene practices into additional means of protecting against slime, molds, and other environmental concerns.
The tengu looks up as the ysoki parade behind the rest of the returning troupe and perks up slightly, doing a handspring before bowing to the new arrivals.
"New guests? New family? New performers?" he inquires with a tone that's a bit strained, much like someone that's put on the spot for a sudden improvisation.
He bows with a flourish to the three.
"I would be known as Leaf-On-Wind. It seems you've already met my sister, Song-Of-Air -- who might you be and do you need a tent or wagon to stay in?"
On the way back to the circus camp, Chani talks to Rulean. "So tell me more about the Xulgaths. I am always interested in tales and stories. What other people and things did you find?"
“They are a subterranean reptilian race. They are able to produce a musk that is sickening to others, I’ve no idea how they do it and never want to experience the smell again. Their leader got manipulated by demons to help wreck a magical tower.”
He pauses, saying “You do know the others are better tale spinners than I, right?” He gestures towards Song.
“Anyways, we got involved because a succubus disguised as a human woman manipulated people and caused us problems. With demons involved, we couldn’t ignore it.”
“If you are really interested, we could probably take you to see the tower some time. It would take a few days travel there and back.”