Zoosh tries to get a good look at the critter in Black, but Jayma's zombie friend bashes him silly, knocking the smurf out.
Zabu steels himself against Gwibble's dread and tears into him, landing three solid hits.
Jayma (3 damage, Zombie)
Finn (Flute 1 damage, Drained 1)
Zabu (16 damage)
Grimm
Gwibble (24 damage, Bane 10 ft)
RIP Smurfs
Zoosh
Felika (Bane when near Gwibble)
Finn's first arrow flies over Gwibble's head. "Haha! You couldn't hit me even if I stuck out my -urk!" But Finn's second arrow hits Gwibble's center of mass and stays there.
”No, I’m melting…” Gwibble collapses and drops his weapons before losing consciousness.
As the sounds of combat die down, you hear other sounds, deeper within the cavern. You hear murmuring, panicked footsteps, and whimpering.
Still cautious, you keep weapons and teeth drawn as you move deeper into the cavern. Jayma and her Buddy lag behind a bit.
You explore the chamber and find old clothing, molding crates, and small mosquitoes lining the caverns. You also find 11 more of these blue critters, terrified of you. None of them seem to have any weapons or armor of sorts. ”No! The Witch has sent her agents to kill us!” One of the creatures squeaks. The others huddle behind her.
”You aren’t with the Witch? Oh no! This even worse!” The smurf falls to her knees, cups her hands together and pleads. ”We thought if we control the mosquitoes, the Witch would stop looking at us with her burning eyes. Her buzzing wings - you can hear them throughout the entire night!”
”Pl-please! You can take everything here.” She nervously points to the piles of worn clothing and loose change. ”We’ll be good! Just let us go, please!” She pleads, and the ten others finally get the message and bow in supplication.
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Buddy's time was about up and Jayma didn't think he'd be needed against these remaining blue creatures anyway. She lets her spell lapse and Buddy the elf gets sucked back into the ground from whence he came.
Jayma turns her wrath on the blue creatures. In a voice full of fury, she says, "You lot are not going anywhere until we get the full story, and maybe not even then."
She glares at them for few seconds, letting the silence increase their terror. "So you people are the ones controlling these mosquitoes and suckers, then? I suppose you're also the ones that have been pretending to be the witch to scare people away; the ones that have been stealing all the shovels, picks, and hammers; the ones that killed the lady elf in the gold armor? What did you do with Lasarte Mourguy and Quintus, anyway? Did you kill them and bury them somewhere?"
Jayma waits for an answer. She toys with zapping a couple of them pour encourager les autres (as they say in Galt) and few electrical sparks snap, crackle and pop about her head in preparation. "This better be good," she thinks, " or else."
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When his mistress puts on her angry voice to confront the blue creatures, Twyl thinks, "Uh, oh." He didn't know what these creatures had done, but he was very happy not to be one of them at that moment. Knowing how things usually went in these situations, Twyl slinks back into the backpack to avoid all the screaming and blood splattering that was to come.
"Ah, she's gonna smurf us!" The critters cower even harder than you ever thought possible. "Who is... what? Who are they? Don't make angry face! We don't know?" they continue to shudder.
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"Where is that witch you speak of? The one who claimed to be a witch to us was small and blue, without wings or burning eyes. In fact, they looked a little like you. So tell us, what's been going on here? Just tell us what you know." Felika tries her best not to look threatening while also trying to appear confident and commanding, something she is not very used to doing.
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"Ah, she's gonna snurf us!" The critters cower even harder than you ever thought possible. "Who is... what? Who are they? Don't make angry face! We don't know?" they continue to shudder.
Jayma is not satisfied; not. at. all. "You are going to have to do a whole lot better than that if you want to get out of here alive you little blue rats. What happened to Lasarte Mourguy? The lady half-elf with the gold armor? The one you killed nearby? Shyka help you if you don't come clean about everything you've done since you arrived here."
The cowering turns into full blown panic as the smurfs begin screaming trying to flee deeper into the cavern and away from Jayma... until they realize she is blocking the only entrance. Then, more hiding.
The apparent leader holds her ground, although she's still sweating bullets. "I-we-uh- lady. Master? Uh, Beautiful Lady Whe Won't Hurt Us. We moved in here about a year ago. Plenty of iron, lots of insects to talk to, and nobody to bother us- not that you're bothering us, of course!"
"But people snoop around here, looking for a Mosquito Witch. And Gwibble had an idea: Why not ask the insects to scare people away from us? They're not so bad, we even got a bloodsucker as a mascot. I'd like to offer him as a sacrifice to you, your majesty!"
Jayma, not fully satisfied, threatens the will of the Many upon them, and she buckles her knees. "I-I don't know. Half Elf in Gold Armor? We don't have any gold armor in here. If I could I would offer it as a gift. We don't know... we don't... uh... don't make that face... I'm so sorry, we don't know!" She begins cowering again.
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Zabu just crosses his arms and watches Jayma work, highly impressed by that work, but stone faced while the little blue guys are watching.
"Call off the bugs and stop stealing stuff. Just buy it like everyone else. If no one else has a claim to this mine, nobody cares if you stay."
He turns to the rest of the group. "What do we think? Is that it? Was it just these guys? There seem to be some missing bodies but maybe it was just overzealous bugs?"
"Wait..." he turns back to the blue guys. "Were you just attracting bugs or controlling them? Is it possible you drew in a big, dangerous bug and didn't know it?"
"Um, we can talk to them and ask requests. They are pretty nice, too. Just give them water and they'll do the rest. I can call them to perform some tricks for you, my Lord!" Some of the smrufs gather enough courage to return and begin vying for your attention. Maybe they can be your royal advisers!
"We... can stay? You'll sp-sp-spare us?" The head smurf's eyes grow to the size of melons, giving an amazingly cute puppy-eyed face.
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Jayma is on the verge of letting loose with some fireworks when she realizes that killing a few of these blue creatures won't change the fact that they don't know anything. It appears that these remnants are merely low-level underlings and that they'd killed off all the ones in the know. "Oh well then, mission accomplished."
Jayma stands down and lets Zabu do the talking; maybe a good gnome, bad gnome approach will work instead.
He turns to the rest of the group. "What do we think? Is that it? Was it just these guys? There seem to be some missing bodies but maybe it was just overzealous bugs?"
Jayma shrugs. "It looks to me like these creatures are the ones responsible for all the recent goings-on around here. The bugs; the missing tools; the small sword; the magnetic anomaly; the attacks on the witch hunters; I'm pretty sure we can put all this mischief at their door. The only questions left are what happened to Lasarte and Quintus, and these..." she swings her hand menacingly to indicate the quavering survivors, "... are apparently of no help there."
"We... can stay? You'll sp-sp-spare us?" The head snurf's eyes grow to the size of melons, giving an amazingly cute puppy-eyed face.
Jayma narrows her eyes, bends forward slightly to get closer to their level, and in a low menacing tone, says, "We'll let you live for the time being, but you better be on your very best behavior, and I mean, your very very best behavior. That means getting rid of all the bugs; returning all the tools; and leaving all the locals alone. Do. you. understand?"
Jayma stands up straight. "Very well. Just you make sure you do, because you really do not want us coming back here anytime soon."
Her thoughts flash to Quintus at the inn. He claimed the witch was talking to him, and he did accurately predict the runaway carriage with its horses and occupants, so maybe there was something to it. Jayma also remembers another of Quintus's predictions, namely: The iron cave will fall!
She looks up at the ceiling and the cave walls about her and has a sudden urge to be outside. "I think our work here is done. If you need me I'll be outside." She turns and briskly heads for the cave entrance, then remembering something, stops for a moment and calls back, "Oh, and don't forget to collect anything they have of value."
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Felika stops paying attention to the blue creatures and tries to peek into the last tunnel they didn't reach, unable to see much due to the pitch black surroundings just outside the halo of her torch. "Should we take a quick look around the rest of the caves to make sure there is nothing that these little blue ones didn't get to see? Just to be sure. I get it's been a long time since the first disappearances and they may have just been eaten by scavengers, but I'd rather not tell Haru her friend is gone for good without being sure."
Felika and Zabu check the rest of the iron cave and fend lots of trash and cloth. Some of the smurfs point out some of the shinier items in the stash and offer it in exchange for their lives.
The stash consists of 17 copper pieces, a wolf fang talisman, and a variety of nearly worthless scraps of metal and cloth.
Satisfied with their profits and a solution to the mystery, the Pathfinders leave the cave and return to the surface, where Haru has been administering various medicinal herbs to Andor. Patches barks loudly and runs up to you, tail happily wagging.
"Andor should be good for a few days, but he needs to get some real medical attention. Did you find out what's going on out there?"
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Jayma steps out of the cave and into the sunlight. She sighs with relief and heads over to where Andor, Haru and Peaches are sitting.
"Andor should be good for a few days, but he needs to get some real medical attention. Did you find out what's going on out there?"
Jayma replies, "Yes. We came across a colony of small blue creatures with the ability to control insects. They're the ones behind all the shenanigans that have been plaguing Shimmerford. We killed off the leaders and left the innocents behind to clean up. Things should slowly get back to normal around here now."
She softens a little, and says, "I know you're worried about your friend Lasarte. We searched the cave and interrogated the survivors. We found no trace of her, and the surviving blue creatures don't know anything. In a way that's good news; it means that she may still be out there somewhere."
Turning to look into the woods, Jayma adds, "I have no idea where Quintus got to; perhaps he just left town and didn't go into the woods; perhaps his patron, the witch, took him somewhere; we'll probably never know for sure."
She turns back to Andor, "As for our mighty witch hunter here, I suppose we'll take him back to Tymon with us. No doubt the venture-captain will know of someone that can take care of him."
Jayma lifts her arms straight up and stretches prettily with a yawn. Was it her imagination or did the mosquitoes already seem less heavy than when they went into the cave. "Well, I don't know about the rest of you, but I could use a drink after all that. Is there anything else we need to do before heading back to Shimmerford?"
Peaches is glad to get scratches that are not from mosquitoes, and barks happily.
With your business concluded here, it's time to head back to Shimmerford. There is less buzzing and you can see the sun starting to set over the horizon. You could swear you heard some kind of laughter in the air, or maybe it was your imagination...
Back in town, Doctor Haru Kwon stretches. ”I’m glad to be alive. I need to get some rest. But the first thing tomorrow morning: I need to find my friend. Thank you, Pathfinders. All of you.” She waves goodbye and calls Peaches over.
Andor’s condition stabilizes and he asks you to take him to Tymon. He’s had enough monster hunting for his lifetime, and he knows a cleric who can help him fully recover there. His cousin, Vinny.
"So, what did you find out?" Galia offers you all a tall glass of beet juice and a lifetime supply of haircuts.
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Beet juice is not what Jayma had in mind when she'd earlier mentioned she could use a drink. Nevertheless, she takes some time to fill Galia in on all the excitement that they'd experienced since they last spoke.
"So, the bottom line is that things should get back to normal around here. You may come across the occasional small blue creature, but the ones that are left seem rather harmless. If for some reason they become a problem again, then let venture captain Smine know about it."
Jayma thanks Galia for the juice and heads over to the inn for something a little stronger.
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Zoosh glugs down the beet juice thirstily. Since he doesn’t know when he’ll be back, he takes Galia up on her offer for a new haircut now.
When she is done, Zoosh’s hair looks...different. Instead of multiple puffballs, it’s now one big puffball, with a bunch of smaller ones around that. And it’s now pink.
He makes a number of faces in the mirror, trying to decide whether he prefers it...
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Felika gladly accepts the beet juice. She gives it a first taste and smiles. "It's just like Pa' made it!"
Once Jayma is done explaining what happened and Zoosh has had his haircut, Felika asks, "Is there any chance you could dye my hair without cutting it? I like being able to braid my hair as I want every morning, but a change of color could be fun. Maybe pink, just like Zoosh?"
"Really? You don't want a cut? I could give you a big poofy one like Zoosh here!" Galia blinks expectantly at Felika. When it's clear the human won't bite, she shrugs and gets her dyes ready. "Okay, just a touch up."
"Pink it is! The gods have spoken, and they command you to look fabulous!" Felika's head is dunked in a bucket of dye, but her hair is a vibrant pink. "Looking better already!"
Pathfinders.
Thank you for your efforts. Galia from Shimmerford says the mosquito population has dropped significantly since you investigated. Some Shimmerford residents are planning to return and rebuild. Maybe Shimmerford will survive after all. They also have some newcomer Mitflits, town dubbed them "The local Smurfs." They're good at minor tasks and don't ask for much in return.
I heard some interesting news. A few days after you left Shimmerford, the iron cave collapsed. Residents went to investigate the cave in and found another mosquito witch doll. An accident, maybe? Residents swore they heard someone cackling long into the night.
-Venture-Captain Simine
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Jayma plans to wend her way back to Absalom where she will once again attempt to convince one of the faculty at the Arcanamirium to sponsor her entry. She would happily take the annual open entrance exam, but she cannot afford the rather steep tuition. Until she can make some real money, being sponsored is the only way she'll be able attend.
If that doesn't work, then she'll continue with her training at the Grand Lodge while doing piecemeal work as a genealogist and architect to pay the bills. She will also rejoin one of the local theater groups and perform in their productions. With her natural ability and penchant for drama, this is something that she really enjoys.
She pines for adventure though and will drop everything when called to join another Society mission.