Carrufikus goes back to his room where he collects his gear. While packing his gear, he gets lost in thought as he day dreams of the people he's met and the adventures to come. When he finally does get out of the house, he starts on his way to the agreed meeting spot. However, he passes by a grove of four ash trees. Struck by the symmetry of the trees, Carrufikus whimsically begins dancing around them in intricate knot patterns similar to the shape of a butterfly. Naturally, he loses track of time.
The newly grouped sextet collect their gear, their wits, their aspirations, and their courage to look into Wrin's worries about the lighthouse. After a light lunch, they take the 20 minute hike to the ruins...
Book I: Ruins of Gauntlight
The sound of frogs and mosquitos mixes with water sloshing against muddy shores, all muffled by the ever-present mists that linger in the aptly named Fogfen. As the afternoon mists clear, a shadow looms from the cloying swamp vapors—a sprawling ruin of stone and wood squats atop an island in the soggy marsh. The upper floors have largely collapsed, leaving only the stone walls of the ground floor intact. Above these ruins towers an out-of-place monument—a colossal lighthouse whose painted walls and iron-cased crown have resisted the corrosive effects of the surrounding swamp.
"Interesting. This structure is remarkably resilient," Elena marvels at the state of the lighthouse. "It seems almost unnatural. I wonder if there is magic that bolsters it."
She then looks at the building before the group. "I wouldn't be surprised if something has taken up residence. Vermin, maybe. Or something more clever? I admit my study has not extended to mechanical traps, though I understand that there's a group of kobolds in Absalom who are quite savvy. Did you ever meet them Noroc?"
Noroc is quiet a bit, then responds, Yeah, I had to go meet them in the sewers below the city once. Not, ah, not a fond memory, I'm afraid.
He moves up to the left side of the doors, peering intently at them, but not really knowing what he's looking for.
”This is the place I dreamed about. First I saw children dancing around a Desnus pole. But over time the dream changed and they danced around this lighthouse. They were all chanting a nursery rhyme that sounded like this.
When the fog is creeping,
And the moon is low;
When the town is sleeping,
Gauntlight starts to glow!
That’s when she arises
For her midnight lunch.
Naughty kids are prizes
For her teeth to crunch.
But if you obey me,
And obey the rules;
You’re safe from Belcorra;
She just eats the fools!
I don’t say it to frighten any of you, but to warn you that this place has teeth.”
Bibi is positively jaunty when the group convenes at the bridge.
You guys have no iDEA how long I've been wanting to get into that lighthouse!! I'll tell you what...it's pretty crazy that we're just, you know, GOING like this after just meeting, innit?!?! I sure hope you all will protect me if something big & ugly comes to eat my face. Hey, once we get back to town and report to Wrin, we should come up with a name, like those awesome adventurers in the Roseguard!! You know about them--the ones who founded Otari? The TOWN is NAMED after the THIEF!!!
She chatters on a bit, clearly very excited, but she begins to sober quickly as the terrain changes. She starts looking about with more intent, trying to keep her eyes everywhere. As the tower clearly enters sight, she stops briefly to look at it, eyes wide with wonder...and maybe some fear...
Bibi recalls one of the many times Uncle Bofus recounted his tales of heroism against the Red Hand of Doom. This particular time, he was telling her about facing down the Lich. Bibi's eyes were so big they threatened to fall out of her skull.
"Uncle Bofus, weren't you SCARED?? I mean...a LICH?!?!"
He smiled broadly at her. "Scared? SCARED?!?!?! HA!! I wasn't scared." After a beat, he continued "I was TERRIFIED!! He could have swatted us like flies, little one! I'd be an idiot not to be scared! But I was prepared. That's the best you can be: know what you're getting into, prepare as best you can, and trust to your wits, your skills, and your friends once you're there. And remember, little one: being brave doesn't mean "not being scared." It means being scared and DOING IT ANWAY!!"
The halfling takes a deep breath. doing it anyway She gives her companions a quick glance, and heads toward the door, trying to see if there's anything dangerous.
Elena smiles at Bibi's enthusiasm. "You're not all strangers to me, but honestly that's neither here nor there. If you're a friend to Wrin, that's good enough for me," she lowers her voice so that only those near her can hear. "Though I admit that our elven companion here, who has yet to say a word, is starting to make me uncomfortable with their silence."
Speaking up again, she adds, "And yes, I admit I'm very curious about this place. But give me one moment." She stops the thief from going forward, whispering an incantation and tracing arcane sigils in the air. concentrating, Elena extends her arcane senses to detect the presence of magic. When none is found, she lets Bibi do her thing.
Elena detects no magic, and Bibi no traps. The pair step back as Talborel opens the cracked and rotten door.
Swaths of mildew and mold cover the damp surfaces of this watchtower, appearing as green and black smears on the dull stone walls. The doorframes in the walls to the north and south rotted long ago, while a few collapsed chairs lie on the floor amid small heaps of foul-smelling gray lumps. Thick sheets of dusty cobwebs hang from above, obscuring any view of the ceiling. Indeed, the webs are thick enough that they essentially form a ceiling 7' up.
You can see a slipshod network of planks and tightropes in the three feet between the webs and the proper ceiling.
Initiative assumes Talborel is Scouting
Avoid Notice (T)
Detect Magic (A: +1 (U), N: +7 (T), O: +1 (U) , R: +7 (T))
Investigate (A: +7 (T), C: +7 (T) M: +1 (U) N: +4 (T), O: +7 (T) , R: +4 (T), S: +7 (T))
Search (E)
Avoid Notice (E)
Scout
Noroc pauses, peering up into the gloom. Can't tell if that's trying to hold back the rain up there...or if it's something to fall on our heads. He points to an array of wooden planks and ropes crisscrossing the space near the ceiling.
Unable to relinquish his pessimism, Peldur can't bring himself to join in on the enthusiasm Bibi and others have shown for their assemblage. There's no telling if Wrin will require their services once the matter of the lighthouse is resolved. No one can guarantee that these new companions will survive their endeavor or simply scatter to the wind once their task is complete. Someone might dream they're a fish and take sail to somewhere new.
Let's not count our coin before the job is done, Bibi. Let's become friends first, before you start thinking about a band name.
Peldur hangs back from the group as they advance on the lighthouse. As they breach the interior, Peldur gives a shudder at the sea of spider silk blanketing the room's heights and what they could be hiding.
By the look of things, those webs could be load bearing. Let's be careful going in, yeah?
"Hey, once we get back to town and report to Wrin, we should come up with a name, like those awesome adventurers in the Roseguard!!"
"Roseguard, is a nice name. I mean, a rose is a beautiful flower and if we could find a name equally good, we could use it. However, we should think of a name that is related to butterflies. I think it would help us keep a lot of luck."
Elena moves up to stand just outside of the gatehouse. She renews her spell, once more looking for a magical aura. "Webbing means spiders. Now it could be the garden variety, with that amount it might not be. So... one second."
She rummages around in her backpack, pulling out a torch. Eschewing a flint and tinder, Elena whispers another incantation. Weaving her spell, glowing red sigils appear before her as a small ball of fire grows in her hand. She drops the flame she produced onto the end of the torch, lighting it.
Satisfied, she holds the torch out to Noroc who is in front of her. "Here. Use this to burn away the webbing. I'm curious about what might be above those boards, but I read a tome called Rathen's Guide to Dungeoneering and... well let's just say that I expect vermin."
Noroc takes torch and begins to move inside, but stops a moment Uh... he looks at the flame with some worry. Hope it doesn't burn the ropes and those planks all come tumbling down...
He gingerly steps inside and holds the torch to the nearest patch of webs.
Let's not count our coin before the job is done, Bibi. Let's become friends first, before you start thinking about a band name.
Bibi stops at that, and looks directly at Peldur. THAT...is actually very wise! Here's to prospective friendship! She pulls out her flask of beer, takes a swig and holds it up to the man with a beaming smile.
Uh... Hope it doesn't burn the ropes and those planks all come tumbling down...
Hmm...as long as they just burn away, and not actually LIGHT, we'll probably be OK. Probably. Right? I mean, if you just kinda wave the flame around a little...
Bibi stops at that, and looks directly at Peldur. THAT...is actually very wise! Here's to prospective friendship! She pulls out her flask of beer, takes a swig and holds it up to the man with a beaming smile.
Naive about its contents, Peldur takes the offered flask, then follows Bibi's example and takes a swig. His face contorts in disgust at the surprisingly bitter liquid.
Ewww... Yuck. What is that? Dirty water?
The new companions banter as Noroc gingerly holds up the torch. As soon as the webs start to burn they yelp in pain....
Or so it seems! Before the flames take, a falsetto voice from the space above calls out in a rolling consonant laden language,
"Do not burn our parlor! We are powerful pixies who can help you, but only if you do not burn down our home!"
Understanding the language, Elena shouts, "Wait, stop Noroc! There are pixies!"
When her friend retracts the torch, she says a few words in their language.
There's a ...giggle before the reply.
"Excellent! We will tell you about the big mean bugs in the buildings! Ummm..... give us a minute to come down. Please partake of the magic pixie water! The puddle only looks icky."
They're clearly not pixies...
Peldur leans down to Carrufikus.
Do you know what's going on?
Elena pauses and thinks a bit. She speaks again in their language.
To the others she says, in Taldane, "I was wrong, these aren't pixies. But they are tricky. Also, stay away from the water."
Wanting to know what's going on, and who they're facing, Talborel pulls his hood over his head and starts to make his way into the room, keeping to the shadows.
Sneak. Stealth is +8, Game Master. Book says you make that Sneak Check.
The falsetto voices give way to to a more sinister snicker. A pair of squat humanoids seeming to be nearly all head—an unfortunate circumstance, considering how ugly its puffy blue face is - drop down to the ground!
There's clearly a third still in the crawl space.
(E, +1 v. Traps)
(T)
(T)
(E)
(T)
(E)
The two creatures each draw darts and hurl them at Noroc's face:
MISS
MISS
The third appears on the roof of the building, trying to traverse via rope to another part of the complex.
Round 1:
???: ATK and flee
Talborel: Go
Elena: Go
Peldur: Go
Bibi: Go
Carrufikus: Go
Noroc: Go
Talborel narrows his eyes and focuses on one of the creatures before him.
Action: Hunt Prey... Blue.
Action: Interact, draw bow and nock arrow
Action: Fire
Shortbow:, Damage on Hit:
Is Recall Lore an action? Can I identify these creatures?
Action 1: Recall Knowledge
Action 2-3: Electric Arc
"What the-" Elena starts, surprised by the appearance of the nasty-looking creatures. She thinks through what she knows of creatures like this, remembering a book called The Blue Bestiary: Every Shade and What They'll Do to You.
Elena then begins tracing arcane sigils in the air and whispering a spell. When she finishes, she gestures at one of the creatures and electricity arcs from her hand. It strikes one of the foes, then bounces to the other beside it!
Talborel focuses his attention on the small and ugly threat. his arrow is just a bit too high, over estimating its height.
Elena wracks her brain...
Mitflits! a small type of gremlin (Fey). They are full of self loathing and hatred for all life. Elena knows they're weak to weapons of iron forged without heat. They have some limited control of vermin, but she's not sure what. They're also pretty quick.
Either way, she tries to shock them both:
Round 1:
???: ATK and flee
Talborel: Miss
Elena: Magic
Peldur: Go
Bibi: Go
Carrufikus: Go
Noroc: Go
Black: 7
Blue: 3
Seeing the creatures aggressively drop to the floor, Peldur jumps into action. He rushes forward, hopping up onto the entryway wall and flipping over Noroc. He lands crouching in front the the gremlins and slashes out at them with clawed hands.
"If you have a weapon made of cold iron, now is a great time to use it! And they can control vermin, so if you see any rats appear, expect bad things!"
Peldur strides into the room and drops into a tiger stance. With rapid swipes he strikes the two creatures. He kills one with the left hand and one with the right!
While the immediate threat is handled, there's a third mitflit walking a tightrope over head....
Round 1:
???: ATK and flee
Talborel: Miss
Elena: Magic
Peldur: Double Kill shot!
Bibi: Go
Carrufikus: Go
Noroc: Go
Elena gets an idea. "Noroc! Use the torch! That should flush any others out."
Noroc, taking Elena's idea to heart, raises the torch to the nearest tightrope above, hoping to catch it alight.
As his final action (if he has one left), he will drop the torch and draw his "walking stick".
Noroc sets the web aflame, though it'll take a bit to burn through the entire thing, and the escaping mitflit is moving at quite the clip. He then drops the torch and grabs his weapon.
Round 1:
???: ATK and flee
Talborel: Miss
Elena: Magic
Peldur: Double Kill shot!
Bibi: Go
Carrufikus: Go
Noroc: Burn and draw
Peldur leans down to Carrufikus. "Do you know what's going on?"
"I'm not sure, but it sounds like something nasty. I think they need our help."
Carrufikus moves forward into the doorway to get a glimpse of the foe and casts an electric arc at the Red Mitflit.
◈ Stride
◈◈ Electric Arc
Immediately with a flash of light a small bolt of electricity strikes at the ugly mitflit.
A second electric arc cracks in the area. Carrufikus moves outside to catch the fleeing mitflit.
. It dodges some of the spark, but not all. It's clearly intent on escape now!
Round 1:
???: ATK and flee
Talborel: Miss
Elena: Zip
Peldur: Double Kill shot!
Bibi: Go
Carrufikus: Zap
Noroc: Burn and draw
Mitflit: 4
Bibi moves in, draws her bow, and shoots!
Stride, draw, and fire
Bibi takes aim at the mitflit. The creature proves to be a tricky target as it climbs as easily as walking.
Still, she makes a solid hit, and nearly knocks the creature from the rope. It stays on though. The mitflit reaches into a pouch and withdraws something vaguely meat-like and tosses it into the water below. It then scrambles along the rope.
Round 2:
Mitflit: Chum and flee
Talborel: Go
Elena: Go
Peldur: Go
Bibi: Go
Carrufikus: Go
Noroc: Go
Mitflit: 7
Carrufikus quickly races back outside, moves his hands in quick somatic gestrues to shoot off a ray of frost at the escaping mitflit.
"Fizzlefrost!" he declares as he casts his spell.
◈ Stride
◈◈ Ray of Frost
"Did anyone catch what it threw in the water?"
Oh, are we killing? Is that what we're doing here? Noroc says as Peldur leaps over him, the question as much to the mitflits as to his friends.
It occurs to him after the fact that saying something in the language they used would be prudent, but then he sees the one trying to escape, and he isn't keen on that. Rationalizing that yes, killing is what they're doing here, he hurries out the far door, raises his left palm at the fleeing creature, and a shaft of light the color of the pale moon emits from it toward the fleeing blue critter.
Hearing the kerfluffel from outside and above, Talborel strides through the doors in front, out onto the bridge. He pulls an arrow and shoots at the creature.
Shortbow:, Damage on Hit:
IF the creature lives, I mark it as my prey. If he dies, I look at the water and check for animals or monsters.
Stride, Attack, Mark or Seek
"Oh, are we killing? Is that what we're doing here?"
"You bring up a good question, my friend. I think I just panicked and wanted to stop him before he inflicts harm on us. I know I shouldn't judge creatures by their appearance, but did you see how wretched that creature looks? It looks like it wants to kill us. I just hope that whatever it threw in the moat doesn't wake up some monster to come and eat us."
Action 1: Stride
Action 2-3: Produce Flame
Elena sighs. "They did try to hit you, Noroc. They are not friendly."
She moves east with Bibi, spots the remaining mitflit, and begins a spell. As her hand gestures, red sigils appear in the air before her. Elena finishes her spellcasting, a ball of fire appearing in her hand. She gauges the distance, then throws it!
The party moves quickly to get the mitflit. Talborel tries to break through the northern door, and it slows him down just a bit, but he still finds an angle. With a quick arrow, the mitflit falls with a loud splash!
The body in the water doesn't last long, as a saber-toothed toad quickly gobbles it down as a meal!
Recall Lore: Saber Toothed Toad?
"Look at that?! Did I not say that there was likely a monster down in that moat to eat us up? Did any of you pack some toad biscuits?"
"Oh my," Elena says when the mitflit is eaten by the toad. "I suspect tossing that chum into the water did not help it. At least the toad won't be hungry anymore."
She walks back into the gatehouse to examine the dead mitflits. She checks to see what they carry, looking for clues that might tell a story.
Talborel and Elena both stare at the toad as it gobbles up the body:
They both know a slurk when they see one. These man-sized toads have those wicked tusks, but they also can cover their bodies in a thick coat of slippery mucus. It'd be considerably harder to kill the slurk than the mitflits, but possible.
Elena looks in the gate house and finds a peridot bead worth 2 gp. It's next to a chipped tooth.
Talborel shares his knowledge of Slurks.
"I suspect tossing that chum into the water did not help it. At least the toad won't be hungry anymore."
"It won't be hungry for the next few hours, but what happens when we decide it is time to leave after we've been here a full day? What if this slurk decides that gnome might be a tasty treat after eating those gross mitflits? Is this something we need to deal with now?"