Tybekk doesn't recognize this creature, but moves to protect Kesstraka, while Thulgrun drops into his stance and takes the attack to the eight-legged lizard! Only his first blow hits, though that with astonishing efficacy!
The beast turns to Thulgrun and locks eyes, then lashes out!
As Kesstraka begins to retreat, it glances her way — and her movements slow noticeably!
Theragond gets a pair of shots off in rapid succession, but despite Kvass' support both bounce harmlessly off its hide!
Round 1
Tybekk — recall, interact, stride
Thulgren — stride, stance, strike
lizard — glare, bite
Cilik — GO
Brynn Bear-Talker — GO
Sun Fire Boom Boom — GO
Theragond — hunted shot
Round 2
Tybekk — GO
Thulgren — GO
lizard — TBD
Cilik — TBD
Brynn Bear-Talker — TBD
Sun Fire Boom Boom — TBD
Theragond — TBD
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Sun Fire Boom Boom sings
"Those lizards are really quite terrifying,
But our power I shall be amplifying
Now lets kill them quick
For our attacks are now sick
And so our enemies all will be dying."
Sun Fire Boom Boom follows up with a fear spell on the lizard.
Thulgrun heroically shakes off the creature's effect!
The lizard is only shaken a little by the goblin's song! Meanwhile, Tybekk takes advantage of positioning to deal a pair of heavy blows!
Round 1
Tybekk — recall, interact, stride
Thulgren — stride, stance, strike
lizard — glare, bite
Cilik — GO (may need a bot)
Brynn Bear-Talker — GO
Sun Fire Boom Boom — goblin songz
Theragond — hunted shot
Round 2
Tybekk — stabbity
Thulgren — GO
lizard — TBD
Cilik — TBD
Brynn Bear-Talker — TBD
Sun Fire Boom Boom — TBD
Theragond — TBD
Thulgrun steps up and tries to bring the beast down, but only one of his blows lands, and the creature remains on its feet!
Round 1
Tybekk — recall, interact, stride
Thulgren — stride, stance, strike
lizard — glare, bite
Cilik — GO (may need a bot)
Brynn Bear-Talker — GO
Sun Fire Boom Boom — goblin songz
Theragond — hunted shot
Round 2
Tybekk — stabbity
Thulgren — stones falling
lizard — TBD
Cilik — TBD
Brynn Bear-Talker — TBD
Sun Fire Boom Boom — TBD
Theragond — TBD
Cilik recognizes this creature as a basilisk! They have the ability to turn creatures to stone with their gaze. He is distracted by the horror of being turned into stone, however, and his own stone projectile sails harmlessly over its head!
Sprig does with Brynn luck, but to no avail!
Savagely, the basilisk bites at the monk who has been harrying it!
With a bit of the dwarf in its mouth, it turns its gaze back on Kesstraka!
Who suddenly stops moving entirely! Oh no!
Round 2
Tybekk — stabbity
Thulgren — stones falling
lizard — glare, bite
Cilik — GO
Brynn Bear-Talker — GO
Sun Fire Boom Boom — GO
Theragond — GO
Round 3
Tybekk — GO
Thulgren — GO
lizard — TBD
Cilik — TBD
Brynn Bear-Talker — TBD
Sun Fire Boom Boom — TBD
Theragond — TBD
|
”You’ll have to do better than that, Laddie, to take down a dwarf!” exclaims Thulgrun after being hit.
He takes advantage of the flank and attacks!
Finding a good angle, Thulgrun swings at the beast, but is distracted by the news of what it was, and the strength of its bite..for a moment he took his eye of the basilisk, but quickly remembers his training and recovers, striking twice.
He considers healing himself, but decides to press the attack, no matter how foolhardy.
Hen, just in case it has the slightest chance of helping, he raises his shield.
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Sun Fire Boom Boom tries to sing again.
" Kesstraka was made into a statue
While their allies searched for a breakthrough
The lizard they fought
would soon be a forethought
for their victory was now overdue."
Sunfire Boom Boom follows up with a telekinetic projectile, flinging a fine set of cutlery at the lizard.
The onslaught of the Pathfinders is just too much, and the basilisk succumbs to it!
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"Aye, Ahh cannae believe that some daft folk would let their pet lizard run aboot in this place. Clearly, they dannae have ana appreciation fer good conversation. Anaway, Ahh hope yer alricht, mae lady? Lady? . . . Yoo hoo, Kestraka? Ahh dannae ken what happened tae her. She was talkin up a storm b'fore the reptile interrupted oor conversation."
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Brynn sets about the grisly task of cutting up the basilisk, slicing off large chunks of flesh. She smears the petrified form of Kesstraka with the blood of the beast. Unless pressed she doesn't offer any explanation.
.
Once Kesstraka is completely covered in basilisk blood she says, "And now we wait. If you're wounded, you should tend to those. If you need, I can help. But allow me to wash my hands first."
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”Aye, She-Elf. Ahh dannae pretend tae understand yer sort, but this ritual is a bit much. Ahh mean, it’s grisly enough tae just hack doon the nasty reptile and noo yae want tae tak the blood and rub it all o’er the lady who is rather stoned at the moment. Ahh hope yae dannae plan tae bathe in the blood of every beast we slay.”
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"Tybekk, if I ever start bathing in the blood of every beast, you have bigger problems on your hands than you probably realize," Brynn says, a wry smile on her face. "But so you know, the blood of a freshly slain basilisk can be used to undo Kesstraka's stony disposition. It's because of their blood that the beasts aren't born as statues. But the magic fades quickly after their death, so I needed to move quickly."
Almost as soon as Brynn completes the macabre process, Kesstraka resumes her normal state. The party shares water skins to clean the grateful diplomat up. As she offers her thanks to the party, a half dozen iruxi wearing gleaming brass breastplates over dark blue robes arrive.
We heard a ruckus, and came as quickly as we could, proclaims their leader, Captain Hazar of the Ekkeshikaar city guard. They spend a few moments looking over the scene and getting statements from the party and from Kesstraka, who is quick to point out your heroic defense. Nodding, Hazar advises they'll look into the matter, and they depart.
I cannot express my gratitude enough for your decision to come to my aid, Kesstraka remarks when they settle down to resume the discussion. I must confess, the question that lingered in my mind as we gained some knowledge of one another, Kesstraka says to the assembled Pathfinders, was to ask, why you would choose to undertake such a journey and negotiate a trade agreement for Vidrian — a nation of peoples you do not call your own. But this has given a testament to your character to aid another in such a circumstance. Is this why you have come all this way to speak on behalf of another?
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"Partially, yes," Brynn says, speaking honestly. "But the Pathfinder Society also hopes to benefit from trade and have the chance to explore the land with permission. It's a big part of what the organization does. Our motto is 'Explore, Report, Cooperate', which should hopefully give you a sense for how we work."
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"Tybekk, if I ever start bathing in the blood of every beast, you have bigger problems on your hands than you probably realize."
"Aye, yer tellin me. Ahh was already startin tae have seconds thoughts on the company Ahh'm keepin. Ahh'm glad yae set me straight. Ahh was startin tae wonder if Ahh'd need tae go find mae oon bird friend and go hang oot in the woods like yer wee talkin bush."
"But this has given a testament to your character to aid another in such a circumstance. Is this why you have come all this way to speak on behalf of another?"
"Mae lady, Ahh dannae use big words like mae friends and Ahh'm nae one tae speak fer everyone, but personally, Ahh want tae see things just. If Ahh see injustice, Ahh'm gonnae step in and set things richt! When Ahh see a lizard roamin aboot turnin people tae stone, Ahh step up, swing mae wee sword, and make sure that it daesnae turn anybody else tae stone. If Ahh see a wee region like Vidrian that could benefit from trade, then why the hells not let them be a part of the full agreement. Trade isnae just fer the big folk."
"Our motto is 'Explore, Report, Cooperate', which should hopefully give you a sense for how we work."
"Aye, Ahh'm good at the first one, but Ahh'm still workin on the other two parts."
Kesstraka ponders a moment in silence. If you believe the trade agreement to be just, I bow before your judgment. I am willing to speak in favor of Vidrian if I am consulted by the Ekkeshikaar council.
When the PCs return from their meeting, they find Eras and Calisro hunched over a table, reviewing the documents the PCs procured earlier. Eras looks up and smiles. Ah, you have returned! How did you fare with Kesstraka?
What? Turned her into stone? Calisro is so alarmed she almost spills her drink. How on earth are we going to fix that?
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Brynn shrugs. "It was a bit messy, but it worked. Kesstraka is fine now, and supportive. What do you have next for us?"
Sprig is unable to be quiet however, "It was really interesting! She cut off parts of the dead basilisk and wiped the blood all over Kesstraka! She was drenched, and I have to say there probably wouldn't have been enough blood to do it twice. But after an hour she started to move again! Amazing! It had magic blood!"
Eras relaxes as Brynn tells the tale. We'll have to keep tabs on that investigation ourselves, to find out what's what. But thank you for coming to her aid and turning her back from stone.
Indeed! Seems you're pretty fair diplomats yourselves, Calisro remarks by way of congratulations, raising her glass as though in salute. Having Kesstraka's support will go a long way towards getting this trade deal in the bag. But the day's not done just yet. We have one more lizardfolk for you to wrangle.
Eras rolls his eyes and sighs slightly at Calisro's comment, before resuming his previous pleasant demeanor. Other than the fact that they prefer the term "iruxi," and that we wouldn't want to imply any disrespect by comparing them to farm animals, my colleague here is correct: there is a local whose support we hope you can secure. It's one of the members of the Council of Stars, the ruling body of Ekkeshikaar that we'll be arguing our case to tomorrow. His name is Lashweather — apparently he gained it in his youth, when he served as a weather mage aboard an iruxi... he coughs meaningfully ...shall we say, "privateering vessel?"
This time it's Calisro who rolls her eyes, jabbing Eras playfully in the ribs. The word you want is "pirate," Eras. No need to dance around it here.
Eras frowns uncomfortably. If we're too loose with our words in private, it becomes all the easier to slip up and say it in person. And the last thing we need is to offend the man.
Calisro snorts. I've never known a pirate who couldn't handle being called a pirate. Hells, it'd probably be a good way to win him over.
With any luck, Eras retorts, we won't need to "win him over." Our sources indicate he's predisposed towards our cause. The problem is that he apparently hasn't been seen in days and isn't responding to messengers. We're worried he may not show. Apparently, it wouldn't be the first time. So, we want you to head to his observatory — it's a tower on the edge of the city, you can't miss it — and make sure he'll be there tomorrow.
And try not to do anything that'll make him change his mind about voting our way, yeah? Calisro adds playfully.
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"Isn't a privateer a pirate that is in the employ of a government, rather than being freelancers?
"However, we can go and find him, suggesting that he should make the meeting. Let's be off to the observatory!"
"Good job, sir, not referring to wanting to shepherd him to the meeting!" says Dethor the assistant.
We presume he's at his tower, yes, Eras says. He's had food sent over, so presumably he's doing so for himself.
Well, he does have that apprentice now, Calisro points out. You remember, the astrologer from Kihirat. The jungle. What's her name again? Loocy, Loony? No, no, it's Lumki.
It is late in the day as the party sets out for Lashweather's tower, a trip that takes only about 15 minutes but sees the sun sink below the horizon on the way.
The observatory takes the form of a spiraling white stone tower, worn smooth by age or craftsmanship, that rises some forty feet into the air before widening rapidly to create a circular platform, covered by a glass dome, creating the overall impression of a giant egg in a stone nest. A set of chimes made from hollowed bones hangs next to the only visible entrance, a round stone door at ground level.
Thulgrun looks all about but does not find a ringer.
Dethor nudges the frustrated dwarf and nods to the chimes. Perhaps Sir should try those...?