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This large room is lit by an enormous glowing sun symbol on the floor. The symbol is a loose spiral with eight triangles arranged around it like rays. The ceiling bears two holes, each about a foot in diameter. One is positioned directly above the center of the sun symbol on the floor, while the other is offset from it by about ten feet. Two large stone fonts in the southwest and southeast corners of the room bear clear, clean water. Double doors lead out to the south, east, and west.
Upon seeing the sun symbol, Torra moves forward to see if she can tell anything about its use.
Mita wiggles a bit, attempting to pick up any magical signatures. "Finding anything buddy?". Utek follows behind his ooze friend chanting in Orcish. Both the orc and the slime avoid approaching too close to the sun.
If nothing is magical in the room, Utek will see if he recalls anything about the sun symbol, in particular if there are any non-religious symbolism here.
Scratch steps up into the doorway and points his crossbow towards the center of the room as he scans it for anything out of the ordinary. "Lemme know if you think its gonna blow us up or sear out our eyeballs, I'll watch fer rampagin' toads."
Once the magic types give the group the 'all clear' signal, Scratch moves through the room, giving it a quick once over for anything else interesting. "Left r right? Guess we gotta find some stairs going up at some point right?"
Urdda slowly makes her way around the edge of the room to stand near the eastern doors.
Torra follows Urdda to see if these doors lead to a way to the second floor.
Renthiel gives the symbol a skeptical glance before moving and preparing the door to be opened as well.
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Steering clear of the symbol the group heads to the eastern door to find a library. The east and west walls of this long room are covered with cubbies and shelves. A few scraps of leather and parchment remain, but most materials in this room have been heaped on the floor and slathered with mud to create a sodden nest. The south end of the room has collapsed and seems impassible. A large pool of blood and the remains of a messily-butchered carcass, both crawling with fat flies, rest near this collapse.
Two boggards argue in this room about a lack of deliveries as a frilled lizard picks at a pile of mulched paper in the corner. They spot you and exclaim, "Look! We can kill them and take their stuff! Or at least their food!"
Renthiel (46/46)
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Boggards
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Torra
Utek
Urdda** (85/85)
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Lizard
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Scratch (70/70)
Bangy Piper** (81/81; Leather armor 16/16)
Renthiel looks at the large lizard knowingly. He quickly rushes to it and thrusts his sword cane.
Scratch looks up from itching himself to see Renthiel run off into the room and stab a very large, and hungry looking lizard. What could go wrong here...
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Renthiel rushes in against all logic and jabs his sword cane into the lizard's neck. The giant reptile hisses in pain as it's frill snaps out like an umbrella.
One of the Boggards leaps over the rubble pile, letting out a terrifying croak that fills the room. As it does so it's tongue slips free and wraps around Renthiel's arm.
Renthiel pulls his arm free from the slimy tongue before it could wrap around too tightly.
The second boggard spits a glob of acid at Renthiel's face.
+ 1d6 Persistent Acid
Renthiel (35/46; 1d6 Persistent Acid)
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Boggards
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Torra
Utek
Urdda** (85/85)
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Lizard (-32)
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Scratch (70/70)
Bangy Piper** (81/81; Leather armor 16/16)
Utek looks at Urrda. "What's in the next room? I hear croaking. Is it more frog people?"
◆ Stride
◆ Cast Nudge Fate on Urdda.
◆ Cast Guidance on Torra.
Hearing the commotion from where Renthiel went, Torra moves to the doorway and sees the two boggards and the lizard. She sends out a spark of electricity toward the lizard and it arcs to the closest boggard, .
Urdda starts to say something, then shakes her head and silently marches into the room after the foolish elf. Best to not let his luck go to waste though. Placing herself between the boggart and Renthiel, she punches at the oversized lizard in an attempt to draw its ire.
Scratch looks at Bangy and Utek and puckers his lips towards the doorway "Could be frogs. Maybe toads. Maybe three headed space people from a dog planet we don't even know about!" He goes back to itching, wondering if he's got another round worm issue coming on...
I knew I shouldda smoked that skunk rump a couple more hours!
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The creature resist the majority of the spark in the cramped library as Torra tries to electrocute the large lizard. Utek nudges the fates once more while Urdda thumps the lizard right on its snout.
The lizard shuffles to the side in pain as it's frilled neck shakes flaps about in a very frightening display as such close quarters.
It then snaps its jaws at Urdda's hands as they come in to strike once more.
Renthiel (35/46; 1d6 Persistent Acid)
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Boggards (Green -7)
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Torra
Utek
Urdda** (66/85)
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Lizard (-56)
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Scratch (70/70)
Bangy Piper** (81/81; Leather armor 16/16)
The acid sizzles on Renthiel's skin as his enemies shake him with their mihgt. Renthiel takes a moment. We...have not...lost yet he thinks to himself and wheels around to find another vulnerable spot in the lizard.
Urdda stubbornly refuses to be intimidated by a flouncing lizard - even one with such large teeth.
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"Persnickety Wickets!"
Bangy Piper races into the room, his bow still hot from the last fight.
"Let's come together now - we've been sanctioned!"
Freerat dashes into an open pocket - dropping a bit of cheese in it's scurry!
◆) Stride
◆) Martial Stance
◆) Strike
"No good" he curses as his arrow probably goes wide "Sorry Urrda!" he apologizes as he sees she is about to take the brunt.
Scratch follows right behind Bangy into the doorway, gets a good look at the oversized lizard then fires at a soft spot near the frills. "Oh there's a lot of good eatin' on a lizard that size. Urrda, don't bruise up the meat too bad with those iron fists of yours!"
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Urdda isn't frightened in the slightest as Bangy and Scratch sling projectiles across the room. While Bangy misses Scratch's bolt sticks into the lizard's frill, pinning it down to its shoulder.
The lizard slumps over in defeat as the bolt seemingly strikes a vital internal organ. Renthiel slips over the body and stabs the boggard through it's chest. It looks near to collapsing as the acid continues to burn across Renthiel's body.
The wounded boggard leaps right over Urdda's head as it spits more acid at Torra, standing in the doorway.
+ 1d6 Persistent Acid
The acid glops across Torra's face as it begins to burn and peel. The southern boggard also leaps over Urdda and concentrates it's destructive croak at everything within a 15 foot radius. The air itself begins to hum and pulsate as your ears feel like they are going to explode.
Renthiel (30/46; 1d6 Persistent Acid)
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Boggards (Green 23)
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Torra (56/63; 1d6 Persistent Acid)
Utek
Urdda** (66/85)
Scratch (70/70)
Bangy Piper** (81/81; Leather armor 16/16)
”Get back here.” Urdda marches to the middle of the boggarts and pummels them mercilessly. When Bangy yells about taking them alive, she relaxes her fists slightly - though the blows seem no less painful.
◆ Sustain Nudge Fate on Urrda.
◆ Stride
◆ Cast Guidance on Scratch.
"Hey. Scratch. I agree. That lizard does look mighty tasty. Why don't you go in and grab me a piece."
The acid sizzles on Renthiel's skin even more. He quickly turns around, takes a step, and stabs at the frog humanoid.
Scratch is already cranking to reload his crossbow when the loudest belch he's ever heard hits him square in the chest, knocking some of the wind right out of him. "Damn!" He squints a bit as Bangy asks for mercy, shrugs and fires off a tactical round.
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Utek manipulates the fates while Urdda grabs ahold of the leaping boggard from the air and slams him back down into the ground where she punches it into submission.
Scratch glances a bolt off of the remaining boggards chest as Bangy does the same with his arrows.
Renthiel's body quits burning as most of the acid seems to have diminished during the fighting. Already having one alive he stabs the remaining one in the back, killing it on the spot.
A small nest in the back of the room contains five onyx insect figurines worth 50 gp each, a pouch containing 99 gp, an oily button, and a slippery ribbon.
Renthiel (19/46)
Torra (56/63; 1d6 Persistent Acid)
Utek
Urdda** (60/85)
Scratch (57/70)
Bangy Piper** (75/81; Leather armor 16/16)
Torra shudders as she takes the acid to her face and then is smashed by the sonic attack.
Wiping frantically at the acidic goop to make sure she sees everyone, Torra concentrates momentarily and a wave of opalescent energy flows out from her position across the whole party.
HP for everyone.
Torra is again burned, and she tries to recover.
And she tries again a few seconds later to recover from the corrosive attack.
And again.
Finally rid of the burning acid, Torra examines her friends to tend to any leftover wounds.
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One is alive.
"You have some explaining to do" he prepares the Boggard for the interrogation - really just a rapid fire succession of short questions.
"Who's Tomli?"
"What is the sludge in the other room?"
"How did you turn that poor human into stone?"
"And why are you pitting rats against eachother to fight?"
Freerat pokes it's head out of a pocket here, as if wanting to know the answer to the 4th question as well...
Utek stands behind Bangy in support.
"We just want to know why you are here."
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The boggard croaks weakly "The Serpents gifted Croakchief Globblit Skink-Eater and his tribe the Archive of the Sun...in exchange to kill any who entered. We stay here and food is delivered to us." It's eyes begin to roll back into unconsciousness once more as the boggard goes in and out.
Renthiel (46/46)
Torra (63/63)
Utek
Urdda** (76/85)
Scratch (70/70)
Bangy Piper** (81/81; Leather armor 16/16)
Scratch quickly reloads and stows his weapon, drawing out his clan dagger to start hacking up oversized lizard "So he meanin' Aspis or is there some other kinda smart lizardfolk around here?" He starts expertly disemboweling the carcass, hunting down the best cuts of meat: the loins.
Sure enough, Scratch knows his way around a dead carcass, deftly unzipping the abdomen without puncturing the inner compartment holding the organs. A giant sack of enclosed intestines, stomach, and oversized liver roll out onto the floor. He quickly heads in past it to start harvesting those amazing inner loins. "So, should we take a lunch break or?" He pokes his head out with a 5' long muscle cradled in his arms.
"Maybe we can trade some of these off cuts to the rest of the frogs to GTFO of this place eh? Since they keep croakin' about bein' hungry and all." He pokes at the hind quarter.
Torra bustles over to Urdda. "Now how did I miss the rest of these bites? I'm so sorry. I'll take care of them right away."
And Torra looks again at the wounds. "Hmmm . . . these are quite resistant."
"And just who are these 'Serpents' who supposedly gave the building to them and are they an official city group? More questions to be answered." Torra muses on the name. She thinks that she should know it, but can't quite recall anything about it.
"Maybe we already met Tomli but after having already transformed? What do you think?"
"I think he doesn't listen very well," Urdda grumbles under her breath to Torra as the healer finishes applying ointments and bandages to her arm. "It's like we've already had this conversation, but he wasn't paying attention. Or maybe he just wants to think he came up with the idea by himself." Testing her mobility, she helps Torra back to her feet. "You truly have hands blessed by Sarenrae - I am once more in your debt."
Utek stands by and examines the sun sigil while Torra heals. With Mita by his side, Utek talks to himself. "This sun... what do you know about suns? Yes, it provides life and nourishment. Feel the rays on your body, Mita." Utek stands in the middle of the sun and holds out his hands, feeling the sun shine down on him.
Once the healing is complete, "We should move on. There might be other boggards here. They're bound to know we're here."
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"It's like we've already had this conversation, but he wasn't paying attention. Or maybe he just wants to think he came up with the idea by himself."
Bangy's left ear rotates towards Gramma. Freerat pops out of a pocket and looks at her.
"Have we been able to positively ID every booger that's attacked us?" and "How can you be so sure!" the last question is rhetorical.
He stresses a bit here. More dead these past few days than the ysoki'd seen nearly his entire life. At least being so up close.
To Utek "Ok - but what do we do with him?" indicating the knocked out Boggard "Just leave him?"
"Ongoing"
8) Ancient "Archive of the Sun" (in the southern end of the Mozimba Camp neighborhood) tended to by Pillar-Watchers contain Cursebreaker which we might be able activate using Golden Token
Let me know if I missed anything!
9) Boggards (w/ Lizard) had sludge in troughs and a statue that looks petrified and were waiting for Tomli
"Solved"
0) Central Market around Adayenki Pavilion, Kendi Laughs-Long spontaneously transforms into Black Pudding - Abayone Munme who lives in the "rhino house" hires party to investigate on behalf of Kibwe
1) Mafzat A’Haddin - an Expert on Nex, distrustful of Kibwe government - mentions an unknown shipment from Nex, but became angry at our snooping
2) A brute in the Bekyar Block named Grisshuk - friend of Matala (see below) - keeps turning people who cross him into oozes, and is seeking redemption from Grandmother Grace
3) Elven healer named Numu in the Bwamandu Camp has been treating people suffering from a strange slime sickness - including a woman named Matala
4) Matala - Numu's patient zero! - works for someone in the city named Khalibi. Her dying words were "Crimson Asp" the name of a street in Brass Block
5) A mystic named Baats’ulan preaches in the Adayenki Pavilion every sundown. Several have apparently been afflicted with this transformation.
6) In the warehouse on Brass Block, there is evidence of a crime - stolen valuables of Chelaxian Nobles "Altiers" (who dies of plage ~2 months ago) locked in garage
7) A box shipped from Oenopion in Nex to Tomil Jabrin at the Khalibi Caravan House in Kibwe has 10 "steeped" gemstones and a note describing Curse getting worse
"Bop it on the head? Toss it in the street maybe." Scratch says after his meat salvage mission completes. "Help me look around here for anything useful, must be something right?" He makes the rounds, sifting through the trash dumps and corpses.
"If you guys want, I can leave a trap at the entrance, let us know if anything comes in to the place behind us."
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Torra puts more than enough bandages on Urdda's wound as Bangy tries to make sense of the information. Having not seen many serpent folk around the area Scratch can only assume that the serpent refers to the Aspis Consortium.
Tomil doesn't sound like a boggard at all and likely a leader within the Aspis Consortium that cut a deal with the boggards.
"Who delivers food to you?" Renthiel asks. "And follow-up, when was the last time that they did so?"
Renthiel pinches the bridge of his nose if annoyance, "So...when was the last time food was delivered? And who delivered it?"