Trig successfully rounds up three of the adorable little critters thanks to a timely prayer and some delicious herbs, which gives the woman some time to explain the situation.
“Thank you! My name is Xila, devotee of the Green Faith. This clutch is the result of a trapper being a little too ambitious. I paid him a meager fee for the whole lot, and a promise not to skin his hide, and now I just need to return them to their herd in the lowlands. But I had to keep them here while I searched the valley. I intended to reunite them today, but this morning I discovered them like this. And they’re quite the handful!”
Chupko wrestles a couple more, and Xila begins to look much more hopeful.
“Such an odd thing to happen, really. I was returning from Hillcross with fresh supplies and discovered them running around like this. They're usually quite calm, but something must've spooked them. Apart from taking a moment to send for help, I haven’t had the opportunity to investigate the area.”
Quetzhal rounds up a couple more, leaving only a few remaining.
"That's almost all of them! While we’re at it, let's see if we can find out how they broke free—I don’t want to head into the wilderness if there's another trapper on my heels looking for an easy catch, or worse, some stealthy predator that might wipe them out without the protection of their herd.”
|
Winded by the journey to the clearing, Mutaq spends a minute leaning on his sword cane and breathing heavily before hurrying to corral the last few dinosaurs. He starts by bracing the walls of their enclosure, does his best to untangle a knot in the ropes, and finally attempts to heave a hatchling free and use it to lure the remaining stegosauruses back to their pen.
Mutaq then joins the others in investigating the escape. He focuses mostly on the enclosure itself, looking for signs of tampering.
After about twenty minutes in total Mutaq grabs the last juvenile by the tail to finish herding the clutch into Xila's enclosure. She begins to thank you, but her woodpecker friend Vik caws out an alarm. Xila hastily begins counting the juveniles, tapping an assortment of sticks in her hair as she does so (the way one might count on their fingers), and then gasps!
"Babs is still missing! She's the youngest and smallest of the bunch. She couldn't have gone far!"
As Vik circles overhead and Xila checks the nearby foliage, Mutaq clearly sees the footprints of a clawed humanoid around the perimeter of the enclosure, as well as signs that many ropes were chopped or torn apart. Furthermore, even with the mess from wrangling the juveniles, Mutaq can make out the creature's trail leading west with the footprints of a stegosaur in tow.
Xila is noticeably upset, but relieved at the skills you've displayed thus far. "Alright. I know I promised a reward to help me out, but I want to return all of the hatchlings, if possible. So how about a deal? I'll stay here and reinforce the enclosure, and you find out who kidnapped Babs? I'll even send Vik with you, and you can take these, if you think they'll be of any help."
She hands over two minor healing potions two lesser eagle-eye elixirs.
"Return with Babs, and the Bounty is yours in full. And if this dinosaur thief has captured any other creatures, see if you can bring them back here and I'll do my best to reunite them with their herds, too."
|
Trig hands one of the minor healing potions and elixirs to Mutaq, "Better drink this elixir to help us find our targets." He looks at the druid and the swashbuckler and shrugs, handing the other elixir to the druid and the potion to the swashbuckler, "That seems... right?"
Turning towards the forest he points after the tracks, "That way!"
|
|
Mutaq nods to Trig and downs the elixir. He tells Xila, ”Rest assured that we will do our utmost to return Babs and any other dinosaurs we find. We have successfully completed tasks much like this one before.”
While Trig and Quetzhal track the clawed footprints Mutaq keeps watch ahead, hoping to get the drop on their source.
Do you know something more? Or do you suspect somebody?
"Judging by the claws, I doubt it's the trapper I paid off. Maybe... Lycanthropes? Trolls? Yetis? I'm curious to find out! Obviously if it's too much for you to handle, don't go getting yourselves killed."
The trail actually proves fairly easy to follow, with a plethora of broken branches, trampled undergrowth, and churned mud revealing that the dino-napped hatchling was tough to handle. You don't travel through the wilderness for long before the tracks lead you up an escarpment towards the top of a hill, where you find gruesome decorations framing the entrance to a lair. Bones and body parts of various animals hang from ropes and sinew in front of crude paintings of dried blood depicting the skeletons of mammoths and dinosaurs.
When you ascend to the top of the slope you see the kidnapped stegosaurus, Babs, tightly lashed to a massive wooden stake. She appears unharmed, but frightened, and strains against tightly-knotted restraints while letting out throaty cries. As you approach, a shaggy, female bugbear and a small, predatory theropod reveal themselves. "I was just telling this prickly critter that I LOVE the sound of a sword cutting through flesh," the bugbear chuckles. "Maybe Glorzia demonstrate on you lot, first, eh?"
Mutaq
Trig
Chupko
Compsognathus
Glorzia
Quetzhal
Babs
|
|
Trig taps Mutaq's primary weapon, blessing it with the usual magical enhancement.
He moves up a bit, but not that much, "Okay, so now that doesn't even make sense. When you stab or slash or bash someone alive they scream so much you can't hear anything. So if you were to try to get enjoyment out of it you'd have to be doing it after they were dead. Now, I get that you wish us dead, that's cool. I'm pretty sure we are wishing you all are going to be dead soon too. But anyway, my main point is that offering to demonstrate the sound of a sword through flesh just doesn't make sense in the middle of an actual combat. Maybe you should retire from your job and go be butcher? That would make a lot more sense."
|
|
Mutaq draws his now-enchanted blade from its cane sheath and advances around the escarpment. As he moves, he nods along sagely with Trig's explanation. "He's right, I'm afraid. I for one promise to scream as loud as necessary to drown out your slashes, assuming you manage to land any. And I must warn you that I'm wearing leather armor under this coat, which may well muffle the fleshy sound you're after. Might be better not to try, honestly."
Seeing the flighty tengu approach Babs elicits a cruel smile from the bugbear, "Prepare to get bushwhacked!"
She grabs the swashbuckler by the neck and hoists him high, but just barely misses with her follow-through . She then whistles for the skinny dinosaur to attack!
Quetzhal
Mutaq
Trig
Chupko
Compsognathus
Glorzia
Babs
|
|
Mutaq quickly runs through option for engaging the the bugbear, hoping to distract her from attacking Chupko.
Sensing that her attention is mostly taken by the tengu in her grip, Mutaq tries to catch her off guard by circling around Babs and approaching from behind. Once in position he attempts to stab the bugbear with his faintly glowing blade.
The tiny dinosaur is badly singed and nearly falls over, while the bugbear endures a solid stab and a headache.
Quetzhal
Mutaq
Trig
Chupko
Compsognathus
Glorzia
Babs
The tiny dinosaur cries out in pain and runs to the nearest bush, where it takes cover. Glorzia whistles for it to come back, but it ignores her.
"Stupid creature! I knew you were too weak to serve me! But I will deal with you later!" she moves to gut the Tengu she has held, then throws him aside and steps out of the flank.
Quetzhal
Mutaq
Trig
Chupko
Compsognathus
Glorzia
Babs
(whoops.. meant to say "Round 2-3")
"BAH! The bird is too bony! But this orc should do.."
Quetzhal
Mutaq
Trig
Chupko
Compsognathus
Glorzia
Babs
Glorzia is not as agile the little dinosaur, and she takes the full brunt of Quetzhal's assault, but still manages to dodge Chupko's strike.
Quetzhal
Mutaq
Trig
Chupko
Compsognathus
Glorzia
Babs
Mutaq's finesse proves to be the perfect counter to Glorzia's brutality, and she slumps down with a thud on the soft grass.
Quetzhal
Mutaq
Trig
Chupko
Compsognathus
Babs
Almost immediately, Vik lands on the pole that Babs is tied to and begins pecking at the ropes, but the terrified dinosaur looks like she'll bolt as soon as she's free.
The compsognathus continues cowering in its bush, uncomfortably trying to keep its burns from being touched by the leaves.
Trig indeed calms the little creature, and the bush itself proves to have medicinal qualities to its leaves that help soothe the dinosaur's injuries. It hops out of hiding and moves around the group, sniffing around for scraps to eat.
It chirps in delight and begins to follow Chupko around, completely forgetting that it was just trying to eat him merely ten minutes ago.
The spikier dinosaur affectionately warms up to Trig with the offering of food, and eagerly follows you all down the slope to meet up with Xila, who rewards you with a sum of 4 gp each.
"Due to your quick thinking and bravery, I can reunite the wayward clutch with their family in the crest of the valley tonight! Want to come with me?"
Assuming you take her up on the offer, you witness a heartwarming reunion as the hatchlings chirp and patter around a herd of adult stegosaurs who rumble softly in their presence.
"And I see you have another little friend with you," she smiles at the compsognathus. "Finding where it came from might take a little longer, but it certainly seems to like you. I'll leave its fate in your hands."
The tumultuous nation of Galt has been trapped in a cycle of political uprisings and revolution for decades. While disastrous for its citizens and economy, it's often a veritable gold mine for bounties, as each "generation" of government officials requests to track down former bureaucrats for reprisal. But it also breeds competition, and today, the bounty board of the Travelers Inn in Isarn, Galt's capital, is empty:
Just as you're about to turn around you see a young, nonbinary halfling with frazzled hair standing outside the entrance, desperately trying to hand some sort of envelope to people entering or exiting the inn. They leap in your way next with a look of desperation,
“You, there! A minute of your time? I need help... Or rather, my uncle does. I’m Shance! Shance Hattenpock! And my uncle is the famous sculptor, Trinsky Hattenpock! But... he's fallen victim to this endless scheming that plagues Galt. Someone framed him for art forgery! Of all things! And it's cast him into disgrace, no doubt to advance someone else's station. But, you see, there’s a salon tonight, at an art gallery! My uncle used to present there. The hostess is Asrennia Vaville, but she's uninvited my whole family out of shame! I’m certain one of the artists there framed my uncle, but I can't even get in the front door to determine whom. Could you attend the gala in my stead, and help expose the truth to restore my uncle’s name?”
Mutaq knows that the socialites who typically attend these events are experts at gossiping in order to gain social capital and need little goading to start spilling what they know, but rarely are any hard facts discovered. Furthermore, it’s a well-known secret that Asrennia Vaville has terrible taste in art, but no one dares tell her, given her influence.
|
|
Mutaq is practically glowing at the prospect of being paid to solve a politically charged mystery at an elegant event, his fingers fiddling with the release mechanism of his sword cane and a smile dancing at the corners of his mouth.
"Most certainly, Mx. Hattenpock! We will do our best to restore your uncle's honor, but unraveling a scheme such as you describe will require more information. What reasons might the framer have for targeting Trinsky, and from whence does this Asrennia Vaville derive her influence? I imagine this city is rather short on aristocrats these days."
|
|
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
Trig is too busy admiring his new image in a nearby mirror while his allies check out the bounty board.
Pauldron's modeled after triceratops horns and ridge, leathery dinosaur looking skin covering the rest of his body and to top it off, a faux tyrannosaurus head covering his own, the jaws opening above and below his face, framing it beautifully.
He wanders over as he sees his allies striking up a lovely conversation with a nice looking young halfling. He catches the end of Mutaq's question and wonders if this is another wet work mission, "Yes yes, down with nobility and all that."
He can’t distinguish a Smock from a Smokh’s picture.
"That's actually quite fine! You don't need to know art. Asrennia sure doesn't! She's an elitist who believes in having guests from a variety of professions and backgrounds to show off her own sophistication, so simply be you!"
"from whence does this Asrennia Vaville derive her influence?"
“She's just a wealthy, influential bureaucrat here in Isarn. Word on the street is her art gallery used to be a run-down asylum, which was an abandoned manor before that. I don't know much about real estate, but a fresh coat of paint can go a long ways around here! She invites other rising citizens from all corners of Galt to attend her events.”
"What reasons might the framer have for targeting Trinsky?"
“My uncle has weathered the storm of Galtan politics for decades; his opinion and criticisms once carried great weight, so he probably made a few enemies over the years. Maybe he pushed someone too far, but I don’t pay enough attention to all of that drama—I have my own social circles to worry about! Now I’m wishing I kept track of all their names better!”
Do you still have something to say that we should know?
"Just this!"
Shance hands you an envelope containing a general invitation to the salon, which starts in less than an hour, at a manor house just fifteen minutes walk from the Traveler's Inn.
“The people at these events are mostly bureaucrats, artists, and other people with money and time on their hands. Most of them think Asrennia is a talented art critic, so just about everyone wants her approval these days.”