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Bask and Salim both fall asleep after breathing in a lungful of the pink pollen. Guy knocks the last xtabay down with a perfect shot. Sinaryn singes the leafy dragon with her shot, but the creature remains standing. It barely looks like a dragon at this point though, with most of its leaves gone and its branches broken and chopped.
Apparently the dragon decides that the Pathfinders are not a snack worth dying for and it sinks into the foilage under its feet. There is a loud pop, following by a much fainter pop that can be heard in the jungle, nearly half a mile away.
The woman lying among the flowers is injured but appears to be alive. Among the bones and flowers are a few pieces of adventuring gear that appear to be serviceable. There is a masterwork scimitar, a belt pouch with two potions in brass vials inside and amazingly, one of the skeletons is dressed in a full suit of studded leather armor, dyed a blue so deep and dark that it is almost black.
There are also some rare looking plants that could be harvested and sold as reagents.
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"That got a little...stormy there. Bask, you going to be okay? I can heal a bit of your wounds but...my methods can be a little unnerving to some." Sinaryn asks before she casts her spell.
She heads over kicking the plants away as she surveys the corpses, she holds up the potion, waving over Bask.
"This potion will make you feel better as well."
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When roused from his sleep Bask declines Sinaryn's spell.
"Thank you but no. I am no scholar to interpret scripture, so I try to do what I think Sarenrae would want. Thank you for the potion though"
"You are safe now. We are trying to rescue the other miners, do you know which way you were headed? We'd also like to find out why the kobolds are so upset, did they say anything to you?"
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Laafdahni is momentarily confused as she is awakened. She quickly surveys the battlefield, prepared to blast ice at any plant-thing that moves! "Oh! ... I...slept right through it, didn't I?" Her shoulders fall. If a dark blue person could blush, she would be crimson. She had been so focused on getting into position to freeze two of the xtabays at once that she completely forgot about the sleep-inducing pollen that had been pointed out just a few minutes earlier! If I keep making a fool of myself, I'll never make my parents' memory proud.
With a final huffing sigh of self-indulgent pity, she shakes herself, brushes aside her emotions, and gets down to business. Moping won't fix anything! If I want to be worthy, I have to work to earn it. Placing a humble, encouraging smile on her face, she offers her waterskin to the woman and sits beside her in a posture that communicates safety and ease. "We spoke with three of the miners back at the camp. They're not badly injured, and are making their way back to Fort Bandu. We did our best to put the others to rest before they left."
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"I don't know why they took us or where they were bringing us. They only talked in that jibber jabbery language they speak. They probably wanted us for slaves, would be my guess. I don't know why else they would attack us. We've stayed away from their valley."
"Dijet's alive? I swore I saw him get his brains knocked out with a rock during the fight. That guy has to have nine lives."
The woman looks exhausted and dehydrated. "I don't think I could make the walk back on my own, but I think I'd just slow you down. Are you going after the rest of us? I can wait on the top of the ridge and watch for you to come back."
Bask thinks he could easily keep tracking the path the Kobolds and their prisoners went.
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"I don't like to leave someone vulnerable to whatever ridiculous monster we run into next is but as long as you make sure to hide. There are flying beasts here that could get you up on the ridge as well. You sure?" Sinaryn says putting a hand on the miners shoulder.
"Time is likely against us with how dangerous this jungle is, time to keep following their trail?"
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"There were about a dozen of us when they captured us. They attacked at night and it was dark when they started marching us into this jungle so I'm not sure about the exact number. I think they were trying to keep as many of us alive as possible, but they must have thought I was too heavy to drag."
In response to Sinaryn, the miner says "I'll lay low. I prefer my chances up there than following you deeper into the jungle. Could I get some water though? I'm dying of thirst here."
Once the party decides to leave the surviving miner behind, they continue following the tracks through the jungle. Shortly afterwards, they reach a deep ravine dividing the valley here, bridged only by an ancient and crumbling span of stone reinforced by haphazard wooden reinforcements. A pair of ancient dwarven statues flanks either side of the bridge, each in considerable disrepair. An ancient stone building partly consumed by the jungle is visible across the ravine. The ravine looks like it is several hundred feet deep.
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"Do you need any food?" Guy asks the woman. He provides her with some rations if she wants them.
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When the ravine and bridge come into view, Guy shakes his head. "This just screams trap and ambush to me. Anyone here really good at finding or disabling traps? I have some experience, but many are much better at it."
Looking towards Laafdahni, he adds "Likely to get dangerous soon. Anyone with long term protective spells may want to consider using them."
He carefully moves up to one of the statues, looking for anything suspicious.
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Guy offers the miner some food and Sinaryn gives her a spare canteen. The survivor heads up the switchback trail to the top of ridge, waving to the party and wishing them good luck.
The statues are clearly Dwarven in style and quite old. The statue in the SW corner has a steel spear in its hand, which looks functional and could be removed with a little elbow grease.
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"Hmm... I have some rope and a grappling hook. That ought to make crossing a little less dangerous." As Laafdahni is removing the items from her chain belt, the steel spear in the statue catches her eye. "Steel that hasn't rusted away after all this time? Hmmm..." She takes a moment to cast Detect Magic on the spear, then inspects the bridge as best she can from solid ground, just in case.
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"You aren't kidding. No way I am stepping on the bridge just yet, what are you looking at Laafdahni?" Sinaryn asks as she walks up behind the other Undine, she begins detecting magic herself and trying to survey the statue.
"Hmmm, wonder what we have here. Hopefully, these things do not start swinging on us."
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Purely professional on the outside, and thankfully only a little petulant on the inside about needing help figuring this out, Laafdahni shares her findings thus far with Sinaryn. "The spear is magical, but I can't quite tell exactly what its magical properties are. And that northwest statue across the bridge is magical too, but again I haven't pinpointed exactly how yet. Best not to throw the grappling hook onto that one, anyway. Once we're ready, who would like to do the honors?" She holds up the rope and grappling hook, glancing at Bocke and Bask first, since they seem like the ones with the strongest arms.
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The statues themselves are not magic but what they are holding is. The statue nearby is holding a +1 longspear. The aura from the other statue is most likely coming from something it is holding or wearing, but it's back is facing away from the party.
It appears like a wooden scaffolding with a railing to hold onto has been added to the bridge to make it safer to cross and perhaps to delay the crumbling of the stone that has begun to take place.
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“I am confident I could get across as is, but we need the whole group.”
“Let’s try to get the rope snagged on the opposite statue and then one of us attempts to use the bridge while holding the rope. Hopefully if we go one at a time the bridge may hold.” Frowning, he admits “Still worried about traps or ambushes, but no signs of either yet.”
Looking a little more carefully at the spear, he comments “This could prove useful. Anyone see a way to get it out other than brute force?”
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"Why would someone put a magical spear on a statue? It seems like such a waste. ... Perhaps it is to prove how powerful they were, claiming that such a weapon was so insignificant compared to everything else they had. Hmm. Interesting. Well, if no one wants to yank it out, then I guess the honor of moving us forward is yours, Bask." Guy's concern seems wise to Laafdahni, so she glances around at the surrounding area, checking for any sign of an ambush or trap.
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Bask tosses a grapple hook over to the other side until it latches onto a section of rubble. The burly hunter gives it severral strong pulls until he is confident that it is secure.
The spear looks like it could be pulled out of the statue's hand with some effort, but Guy hesitates, afraid of damaging the statue. The statue appears ancient, its features worn smooth by centuries of rain and there is moss growing out of its numerous pockmarks.
Laafdahni inspects the area for any signs of danger, but the coast seems to be clear. The air is hot and the only noise is the sound of the mosquitoes buzzing.
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Bask makes sure that Sinaryn is OK grabbing the spear, then prepares to cross. He wraps the rope around his wrist and proceeds cautiously.
"I will go first to test out the bridge. If it is safe I'll throw the rope back across for the next person. If one of you wouldn't mind tying it to Salim when it's his turn, I would appreciate it"
Bask then carefully and slowly proceeds over the bridge while holding onto the rope. If he makes it across he'll throw his end back over to the other side.
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Bask senses that something is off and he carefully scans the brush up ahead. His sense of danger is confirmed as he notices two pairs of eyes staring at his from behind the foliage on the other side of the bridge. The creatures have bodies similar to a big leopard, but their eyes shine with a humanoid intelligence. Noticing that they were spotting, the creatures begin to move.
Round 1
Bocke
Magical Beast Black
Laafdahni
Magical Beast White
Guy
Sinaryn
Bask
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Bocke knows exactly what these things are. They are krenshar, dangerous, cunning predators that have a unique trick up their sleeves. They can pull back the flesh of their faces, revealing the bones, sinew and muscle below while simultaneously unleashing a terrible shriek. Scholars debate the level of intelligence that these creatures have, as while they can execute complex ambushes and engage in sophisticated planning, they lack the ability to use any known languages. They are stealthy ambush predators with sharp teeth and claws, but no real magical properties beyond their skullface ability.
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Bocke fires an arrow into the bushes where one of the creatures is hiding. He hears an unearthly cry of pain indicating that his arrow found its mark.
The wounded creature slinks off into the bushes, disappearing from view.
Round 1
Bocke
Magical Beast Black -8 Total concealment
Laafdahni
Magical Beast White - concealment
Guy
Sinaryn
Bask
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There is a standoff as the party readies their ranged weapons on the bushes and the krenshar wait hidden in the brush to ambush any Pathfinders who come close. After a tense half minute that feels much longer Bask sees the brush up ahead moving. It seems that the krenshar had a taste of the Pathfinder's fire power and decided to seek out easier prey.
Bask is able to get a good look at the bridge and even though the scaffolding is made with wooden beams lashed together with vine ropes the structure appears to be very well made and quite sturdy. Although this bridge will eventually collapse without the skills of a professional mason to make real repairs, the scaffolding does look like it is doing a good job of delaying the bridges inevitable collapse and keeping it safe to use. It even has handholds, although these are kind of low for most of the party to reach, indicating that this structure was most likely made by shorter creatures.