|
Zabu is too busy looking out for serious threats to notice the little things other spot. When they get inside, he eyes the tower but doesn't figure it needs to be climbed yet.
Though he grins as Shagrat starts to scramble up the tower. While he's doing that, the gnome goes to the edge and looks down, snorting and hawking then spitting over the side. He counts until he sees it hit.
"That's going to hurt if he falls," he comments before stepping back.
Shielding his eyes from the light with a hand, he looks up at the goblin.
Brekovi is able to identify the scat as belonging to the giant geckos. Lizards native to the area that grow as large as humans. He is further able to gauge that the creatures are immature. Still almost as large as a human and no less territorial, but an lesser threat to a trained adventurer.
As Shagrat clamors up the tower with other people watching the goblin surmount the precarious watchtower, Jayma examines the nearer watchtower and finds the entrance with metal ladder still in place leading upward. Overall the structure and design is the same as the nearly toppled watchtower. The survival of this tower compared to the other seems to been by chance. There are numerous holes and missing stones from this tower, but the majority of the key supporting stones are still in place.
Taking a closer look shows that there are small bits of polished agate in a bit of the stone work, but there are far more space where one can notice that more of these stone once was and clearly was stripped out by looters in the past.
As Jayma starts to proceed with a further inspection of the tower for more information, Shagrat has gotten up to the top of the remaining bit of tower 10 feet above the rest of the party. As Shagrat crests the top he hears the sound of droning bug wings inside pick up. It is quickly matched by a second set, a third, and yet more until it becomes a crescendo of beating insect wings filling the air as half a dozen cat sized mosquito-like creatures begin to swarm out of the tower, bursting out of each and every open hole within the leaning structure. Each have long long probosces and their skin colored a mixture of mottled browns and greens.
Meadow
Brekovi
Jayma
Zabu
Kornel
Mosquitos
Shagrat
|
|
| 2 people marked this as a favorite. |
When Twyl hears the buzzing and sees the large bugs take to the air, his first thought is, "Oh, no. Not big flying bugs... again." He then does what he always does when monsters appear; he dives head-first into his mistress's backpack and braces for the explosions and screaming that are bound to follow.
|
|
Jayma is about to enter the northwestern tower, when she feels Twyl's spike of fear through their shared empathic link. A moment later she too hears the buzzing and turns to see the giant mosquitoes flying out of the other tower. Her first thought is, "Oh, no. Not big flying bugs... again."
As Twyl dives into her backpack (just like she'd trained him to do when trouble brews), Jayma closes her eyes and slowly raises her arms until her hands are slightly above her head. She then makes several quick grabbing motions with each hand as if she's snatching bugs out of the air and crushing them in her fists. Bringing her fists to her chest, she opens her eyes, and focusing on her foes, she says, "many magical missiles massacre monstrous mosquitoes," and thrusting her hands straight out from her chest in the mosquitoes' direction, she snaps opens her fists. Three darts of force leap from her hands. They streak unerringly towards the giant bugs, splitting at the last instant to each plunge into a separate creature.
Jayma then feels a pulse of power as a surge of ancestral memories floods through her, she gathers these together and redirects them to Shagrat. "Looks like he might need them more than anyone."
|
|
When the insects burst out of the tower, Zabu glances quickly at Jayma, then barks out a single laugh.
"Just can't get away from them, can we?"
He then growls, his face elongating into a snout and his canines growing in length. His fingernails also grow longer and sharper, becoming talons.
His transformation complete, he launches himself at the nearest creature.
(Unarmed)
(Agile, unarmed)
While Brekovi's flame would likely reduce the insect to cinders, it darts back and forth avoiding the fiery attack.
Jayma's missiles precisely strike three of the flying vermin. None are enough to dispatch them outright, but the missiles have left them all significantly wounded.
The one nearest Zabu is immediately killed, crushed by Zabu's powerful attack and clearing the air around him.
Meadow
Brekovi
Jayma
Zabu (1 act left)
Kornel
Mosquito Creatures
. red (14 damage, dead)
. black (3 damage)
. green (5 damage)
. pink (4 damage)
Shagrat (10 feet up wall, +1 to skill checks for 1 round)
Their agility is exceptional and they instinctively attempt to avoid the surge of arcing electricity. Despite the effort though, the injured insect is unable to avoid the entirety of the arc and is overcome by its wounds.
. pink (7 damage, dead)
. blue (3 damage)
Silence flaps his wings menacingly and lashes out at the creature before him.
"Screech!"
Meadow's arrow lands, swatting the insect out of the sky while Silence immediately finishes off another of the vermin.
The remaining injured creature no longer has the support the swarm and retreats to the north. The last remaining one doesn't retreat, but instead, in the sudden abrupt confusion of the fight, launches itself at Shagrat.
Despite the price strike into Shagrat's chest, the pain isn't immediate, but the insect quickly swells as it drinks in goblin blood.
It refuses to let go as it holds strong to the goblin sticking with him no matter how he moves.
Shagrat (3 damage; 10 feet up wall, drained 1 (-1 to HP, Max HP, and Con-based checks))
Meadow
Brekovi
Jayma
Zabu
Kornel
Mosquito Creatures
. black (3 damage; retreating, 75 feet off of map)
. green (7 damage; dead)
. blue (10 damage; dead)
. white (10 feet up, attached to Shagrat, flatfooted)
Shagrat (3 damage; 10 feet up wall, drained 1 (-1 to HP, Max HP, and Con-based checks))
|
Meadow gasps as the mosquito attaches itself to Shagrat.
"Oh no! That's not good at all. Shagrat needs help but we can't let that other icky thing get away. It might hurt someone. I'll try to finish it. Silence! Get up there and help Shagrat"
She takes a deep breath, aims carefully and then looses two arrows in rapid succession.
extra damage on the first hit.
Silence launches himself into the air, flying around the tower to attack the creature attached to Shagrat.
|
|
As the swarm of insects initially explodes forward, Shagrat exclaims "I didn't do it!"
When one of them latches onto him, he shouts "Hey! Get off! Shagrat need own blood!"
Though attempting to escape from it may be a good idea, the goblin's first instinct is to draw his short sword with his free hand and attack the thing.
"Leave Shagrat blood alone!"
Meadow immediately dispatches the fleeing insect and Silence and Shagrat's blow do crippling damage to the remaining creature. It benefited from a great burst in vitality from drinking Shagrat's blood, but it only just allowed to barely survive. It has quickly gone from uninjured to severe wounded in a flash of beak and blade.
. black (9 damage, dead)
. white (7 damage)
|
|
Jayma is a bit disappointed by the results of her spell. She'd been hoping to see several of the giant mosquito things come tumbling out of the sky stone dead, but all three kept flying. These bugs were tougher than they seemed.
After all the bugs are taken care of except for one, Jayma steps forward to get into range.
As she advances, her eyes spot a rock of the appropriate size and shape. Turning to the side slightly, she brings her hands together on her chest; raises her left leg high in an exaggerated manner; steps out towards the bloodsucker; and flings the nonexistent object in her right hand at it, yelling, Instead of coming from her hand, the stone she selected earlier immediately hurls itself at the giant mosquito, striking the creature hard.
The insect is struck down by Kornel's magic, but although that successfully separated the vermin from Shagrat, the violent removal has left Shagrat with a small bleeding wound.
Shagrat is able to get at least another glance into the watchtower, there doesn't seem to be anything else left in there, but the hidden threat of this swarm has been removed very quickly.
Within the courtyard, you were to find the tracks of four of the creatures that come and go from the fortress. The freshest tracks lead into the keep.
You don't find any signs of any notable tracks heading into either of the watchtowers or the barracks.
|
|
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
"Well..."
Meadow bites her lip and glances at the keep.
"I guess that depends on how much you like lizards."
Jayma was about to follow Zabu back to the tower she wanted to climb up earlier, but stops in her tracks when Meadow makes her comment.
"Lizards, you say? In the keep? Are they big lizards we need to be concerned about, or regular sized lizards which Shagrat will no doubt enjoy to, um...," she glances quickly at Brekovi before continuing, "... play with?"
"If they fall into the concerned about category, then we might as well take care of them now before we accidently stomp all over their lair and get surprised." Jayma had turned in the general direction of Shagrat as she finished her sentence, but that might just have been a coincidence.
|
The Varisian mage hustles to Shagrat's side. "That was, ah, very brave of you, my goblin friend. I see you have some blood on you. Here, let me see..."
Kornel disinfects the swelling injury, and ties some bandages around it. Nothing fancy, nothing unusual.
Kornel joins the conversation: "Lizards do not sound very scary, ah hah. We will be fine."
|
|
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
"Giant Geckos. Their size is right in the name, certainly big enough to be a threat. Very territorial. We saw their droppings near the cliff."
|
|
| 4 people marked this as a favorite. |
Shagrat accepts Kornel's healing. When he takes the dirty moss out of the wound and bandages it, Shagrat thanks him. "These make good hat after it done keeping blood in," he says.
The goblin draws his rapier and shortsword as they discuss geckos. "Shagrat ready. He stab anything that he can eat later."
Kornel is able to tend to Shagrat's wounds and that aids with the blood loss suffered from the bite.
The tower to the northwest is barren. There are bits of more agate in the wall, but there are more pockmarks and holes than anything else. The top of the tower gives a clear view of the Glass River and Prophet's Rest. Xer is still just beyond the horizon and no other suburbs of the city are visible from this vantage point.
The tower itself is in a ill condition, but the damage looks repairable. You will need more materials, but those stones composing the crumbling tower would be more than enough to make repairs and here and elsewhere.
The southwestern tower is similar, it is in need of repairs, but the damage will be easily repairable. The path to it is broken and there are multiple holes that expose additional points of entry into the keep below in addition to the open doorways.
|
|
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
"It's funny, the places I live usually look like this after I've lived there a few years. They don't usually start out looking like this," Zabu says as the extent of the disrepair becomes apparent.
"Might as well and see just how bad it is...and get some supplies for new boots," he says. "Lizardskin can be pretty nice."
"Well..."Meadow bites her lip and glances at the keep.
"I guess that depends on how much you like lizards."
Silence ruffles his feathers at Meadow and hoots softly.
|
|
"Really? I didn't know you liked lizards. And I didn't know that they taste like chicken. These lizards are really big though. In fact they're probably big enough to gobble you right up! So be careful."
Meadow turns to the party.
"So anyway I saw some tracks in the courtyard that I may be from those gecko lizards. I didn't get a good chance to examine them before Shagrat started to climb the tower. I'll go and take a better look and see what I can figure out."
|
|
"If they fall into the concerned about category, then we might as well take care of them now before we accidently stomp all over their lair and get surprised." Jayma had turned in the general direction of Shagrat as she finished her sentence, but that might just have been a coincidence.
"Do we have to kill them though? I've heard of Iruxi using giant lizards as mounts. Maybe we could catch them and you know, train them?"
"Maybe we could use the corpses of these mosquito-bats to lure the lizards into some snares or something. Speaking of which...What are these mosquito thingies anyway?"
Meadow examines one of the corpses.
|
|
After Meadow suggests sparing the lizards, Shagrat asks"If we not kill them, how we eat them?"
"If we kill them and eat them how will we ride them? Plus, won't the new lodge need mounts?"
The southwestern tower is similar, it is in need of repairs, but the damage will be easily repairable. The path to it is broken and there are multiple holes that expose additional points of entry into the keep below in addition to the open doorways.
"Wait Shagrat! I bet we can peek down into the keep from the holes by the southwestern tower."
Shagrat doesn't notice anything moving within the keep itself, but it is in as poor a state as a rest of the Fort. There are holes within the walls and debris and refuse litter the floor of the area. There are bits of agate quartz in odd corners of the walls, but little other decoration or dressing remains.
There is an open aperture 10 feet wide on the roof that opens up to the grand hall of the keep below. There are fragments of a spiral stairway that connected the roof to the ground floor, but that is all that remains. The roof has fragments of wooden barricades that would have served during an attack, but now are just rotted remains.
There is a stairway in once corner that leads downward to a basement or cellar portion of the keep. Meadow is able to follow the tracks and confirm that all four of the giant geckos have fresh tracks leading down the stairs.
Heading down deeper into the darkness, with the party's light revealing the stone passageways downward. The walls here have pockmarks in places where decor was stolen, but the the walls around you seem to be solid and unlikely to collapse. Still there is the mold, debris, and refuse of years left behind. Some roots encroach through the walls around you.
Meadow is able to continue follow the trail of the giant geckos leading forward; signs of their passage are apparent on the stone floors and walls.
|
|
As Meadow examines the tracks in the courtyard:
"Yup I'mcertain these are a pack of immature giant geckos. They are territorial carnivores that will fight aggressively against creatures within their territory. They agility is exceptional especially in regards to their ability to climb virtually any surface with ease."
As she examines the mosquito bats:
"I think these are Glass River Midges, a type of exceptionally large vermin that drain the blood of larger creatures. They are native, and relatively common, to areas around the nearby Glass River and have adapted to be able to camouflage themselves within natural environments."
Meadow grasps a chain around her neck and draws a wayfinder from beneath her tunic. She speaks a single word and the wayfinder begins to glow with a warm cheerful light. She carefully chooses the source of one of the tracks to be her prey.
|
|
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
As they explore, Shagrat doesn't need the light like the others do.
Seeing the condition of the keep, he says "Shagrat not sure why they say needs repaired. Goblins say this place very nice! Pathfinders move in right away, Shagrat say!" he exclaims.
When Meadow mentions the geckos, he says "Sound like we fight them then, yes? Not be able to get Pathfinders in with giant lizards here. Plus, we not eat dinner yet."
As the party proceeds further down the ill-maintained ruins there is shifting noise from the broken stones ahead as a number of geckos rush out of the deeper chambers. One runs along the southern wall as it comes alongside the others. The lead one hisses at the party as readies to charge forward and the others quickly follow suit. With clearly no intent to give up the territory without a fight.
Meadow is able to identify the one at the lead as the prey she was tracking.
Meadow
Brekovi
Jayma
Giant Geckos
. Blue (Meadow's Prey)
Zabu
Shagrat
Kornel
|
|
Meadow carefully selects her target. One of the geckos has a distinctive crooked toe. It should be easy enough to follow even among the multiple tracks present.
"I wish we could have used the mosquito-bats as bait for some snares for these things but I guess they are too dangerous to let them run free while we set that sort of thing up. I still think we should try to capture them and domesticate them though. I'm going to see what I can do about that."
As they carefully move further into the keep Meadow hears the creatures up ahead.
"That must be them. Be careful everyone."
Meadow turns to Silence.
"Stay here for right now Silence. You get a little too mean when you fight. I'll call for you if I get into trouble."
Meadow moves into a corner of the room and checks the geckos against the tracks of the one she singled out with a crooked toe. Spotting that one she draws her bow and fires trying her best to incapacitate the beast.
extra damage on the first hit.
|
|
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
Brekovi stays alert for any hazards as they move into the ruins. He is relieved that at least this section is in better shape than the towers, he doesn't see anything that looks like it is near collapse.
When the lizards appear, he is a little vexed that Meadow is so quick to act. With a barely audible sigh, he follows her and then reaches out and envelopes her bow with arcane power. "That should help some."