"You eat *^*& for breakfast? That explains the smell. I can have one of my less-injured hunters guide you to the caves, if you need it. When the ogre's dead and we can go back to our homes, then I'll be happy to talk details about this caravan route you are pathfinding for."
The woman made a gesture, and one of the orcs hovering nearby moved in. She gave him instructions, and he gestured for you to follow him. The orc wasn't willing to chat much, and didn't seem to know a lot of common, anyways. He led you at a fast pace through the woods.
After a few hours, he held up a fist and crouched behind a bush. Looking ahead, you can see a low hill in a small clearing, with an obvious cave opening in the side. The clearing was well-trodden, and these were obviously the former home of this band of the Broken Tusk tribe. A stench hung in the air, that of rotting meat and carnivore dung. Swarms of black flies hovered over the cave entrance and piles of what must be rotting carcasses near the cave mouth. The orc hunter waved his hand before his nose, pointed, and said "Ogre" completely unnecessarily.
|
Getting a smell of what is up ahead, Nali replies "Ya know what? I think I changed my mind. Ugh, I mean I knew they stank, but this? Oy. Alright fine, I'll help, but I will need a spa day when this is over."
Nali lets out a brief sigh, while holding her nose tight while breathing back in. Sounding a bit nazily, she asks the group "Any takers for a scouting mission? My powers have grown and I can make one of you invisible, which should greatly help us learn more of what is up ahead, without hopefully getting caught doing it"
The smell was almost too much for Ava. He eyes streaming tear and trying not to gag, she didn't make the best scout. She can see, though, that the cave goes back quite a distance, branching out into several chambers. The entry chamber is a horrid mess of carrion, smashed furniture, and the remnants of the tribe's storage racks.
Wending her way back into the caverns, Ava finally comes across a large-ish room with several exits. A massive refuse pit lies in the center of the room. Animal parts and partially eaten fruits and vegetables make up most of the pile, with flies buzzing lazily around it. A great snore caught Ava's attention. Sprawled on the floor on the far side of the pile is the ogre. Movement in the pile attracts Ava's attention, and she sees a couple of giant shrews rummaging through the trash and foodstuffs. One of them seems to twitch its ears as Ava scuffs her foot against a loose stone. It sits up and starts squeaking. Another pair of shrew heads look in her direction, seemingly perplexed at seeing nothing, but definitely looking territorial. The squeaking grew louder as the rodents prepared to attack!
Ava's warning of the shrews was timely, and as you prepared yourselves for the vermin threat, three of them burst from the caves. They were the size of small dogs - which to be fair, was pretty big compared to a halfling - but didn't look that dangerous. Of course, the enormous ogre that followed them out of the cave was another matter. Nearly 9 feet tall, this creature's gut looked well-stocked, and its jaws looked large enough to swallow Ava whole. The greataxe it carried wasn't in the best of condition, but it certainly looked like it could deal out some damage. Thellira was the only one not caught off guard at the sudden rush.
Thellira crushed one shrew, sending it tumbling. Weakly, it got up and bit at the dwarf's foot, sinking its teeth into her ankle. Immediately the bite felt hot and painful. The others converged on her and Dahros without harming either.
Nali managed to hit a shrew in the head with a mentally-thrown rock, concussing it, but not putting it out of the fight. Rolo carved into another, but Dahros was unable to perform without Ava's guiding hand.
The ogre stepped forward and lashed out at Rolo with its axe, aiming for the shiniest target. Two blows rained in on Rolo One blow hit the shield a glancing blow, but the other one came in like an avalanche. It cracked into Rolo's shield and then smashed into his breastplate.
Ava set up a rousing performance on her kazoo, one that seemed to echo from the cave walls. Then, the stabbed Dahros' target through the eye with a sharp stick. Another shrew died as the weight on the end of Thellira's chain pulped it, though her follow up strike missed the last shrew. It gnawed at her boots for a bit without any kind of damage, but as she overextended from her failed attack, the shrew leaped and bit her in the back of the calf. The bite was quite deep, and the spurt of blood showed it connected with the artery there. The sudden pain came with the same burning sensation as earlier.
The shrew shrugged off Nali's spell as if it was a figment of her imagination.
d
r
d
Rolo managed to kill the shrew, cutting it in two. That left Dahros free to charge the ogre, bringing his hammer around in a brutal swing that connected with the creature's leg. The leg almost buckled, but held, and the ogre shouted in pain.
The monster brought his own weapon down on Dahros, sweeping across to strike Rolo as well. The one that hit the fighter faltered a bit, before driving through...though a little
|
|
Nali steps up next to Thellira, and instead of reaching out to the ogre, instead she attempts to distract him with a blast of swirling colors.
{A} Step
{AA} Color Spray (DC 19 will)
Critical Success The creature is unaffected.
Success The creature is dazzled for 1 round.
Failure The creature is stunned 1, blinded for 1 round, and dazzled for 1 minute.
Critical Failure The creature is stunned for 1 round and blinded for 1 minute.
pa
pa reroll
warhammer
Nali's colorful spell caught the ogre right in the eyes, and it bellowed and staggered a bit. It was obvious that the creature was blinded and stunned, but the way it was blinking its eyes, it looked like that wouldn't last long! Everyone piled on attacks, and while most seemed to be ineffective, Thellira, Dahros, and Ava managed to land decent hits.
Blinded, the ogre swung its greataxe, but it went well over Dahros' head.
|
|
Nali continues to support her allies by attempting to weaken the great beast. She blasts a ray of negative energy towards the ogre, attempting to sap its strength.
{AA} Ray of Enfeeblement (DC 19 Fort)
If you critically succeed at your attack roll, the target treats the result of its Fortitude save as one degree worse.
Target's Saving Throw Result:
Critical Success The target is unaffected.
Success The target becomes enfeebled 1.
Failure The target becomes enfeebled 2.
Critical Failure The target becomes enfeebled 3.
Duration: 1 minute
Your combined attacks finally kill the enraged ogre. As it falls, Dahros deftly steps off to the side. The ogre's bulk half-fills the cave entrance, but it is still accessible if you want to go exploring in that stinky morass of darkness.
The caves are thick with the stench of refuse and excrement. The entire place is a mess of destroyed shelves, rancid food, and trashed furniture. The ogre apparently had little concept of civilized living, and had acted more like a diseased animal fouling its own nest than an intelligent creature nurturing a new home.
In one cave chamber you found what was obviously its bedroom, with furs and the remnants of orc-sized beds piled in the middle, along with a smaller pile of treasures the ogre had collected. The bedding is foul and rife with fleas, but poking through it yields some coins minted in Cheliax and the surrounding countries. The ogre apparently used two adjacent caves as a latrine and a refuse pit. No one wanted to go near the latrine, and it was unclear if anyone could actually stand the stench in there without some kind of air purification magic. The refuse pit held mostly the bodies of orcs that had died defending their home, but there were two corpses on top of the pile that looked to be human. One had a pair of red-gold earrings inset with bright sapphires, and another wore silver bracelets.
The search of the orc caves didn't take long, and within an hour you were back outside, gasping in fresh air. You headed back to the orc encampment, guided by a now-awestruck orc hunter. Grakcha was very happy when you reported the death of the ogre, though not when you told her of the cave's condition. She sighed heavily.
"Well, that sounds like many days of work to clean up. Still, you have followed through on your word, and now the Broken Tusk clan will follow through on ours. We will aid in setting up the caravan route on this side of the mountains, and act as a trading post and guides for any merchants that come through here. But for now, let us celebrate the ogre's death and the help of our new Pathfinder friends!"
There was much cheering and shouting at this, and all of you were assaulted by heavy pats to the back and congratulatory fist bumps. The orcs scrounged up some potent alcohol, and the celebrations went on late into the night.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The remainder of your trip to Molthune and its capital, Canorate, is uneventful. Your charts and notes were submitted to the Chelaxian officials who told you that you were the first group to bring well-documented evidence of a safe route through the mountains. It might take a few weeks for your claim to be processed and verified, but as of right now, it seems that the Pathfinder Society had succeeded. While you waited the confirmation, the Chelaxan nobles you met on the first part of your trip found you celebrating in a local tavern. They bought you a round of drinks, and Amyas admitted - while drunk - that you likely saved their lives.
In all, it was a successful few weeks.
You have received a request from Valais Durant of the Radiant Oath faction to meet her aboard the Merry Mayfly, a ship headed for Xin-Edasseril. En route, the ship rendezvoused with another vessel, the Lightbringer. There you met with Valais and her unlikely associate, Guaril Karela.
Valais Durant begins. "I need your help for a task that requires both great risk and discretion." The aasimar woman gestures to a green-eyed Varisian man, who flashes a sly grin framed by a thin mustache.
"This is Guaril Karela, a prominent figure among the Sczarni," she continues. "The Sczarni maintain a smuggling ring, providing freedom to those chafing under the oppression of Belimarius, the Runelord of Envy and ruler of Edasseril. Demand for such services is high," she pauses and casts a somewhat disdainful glare toward Guaril, "allowing the Sczarni to extract hefty sums from desperate patrons.
[b]"I find the practice rather distasteful," Valais sighs. "However, collaboration with his operations grants the Radiant Oath some measure of oversight in ensuring proper treatment of the refugees. Further, I have Guaril’s personal assurance that the Sczarni will not demand more in payment than their clients can afford."
"Transportation’s expensive," Guaril chimes in. "Not to mention paying off border guards and harbormasters. It’s dangerous work. Certainly, you wouldn’t expect my people to take such risk and not be properly compensated, would you? Or have you forgotten that Belimarius has placed a price on my head?"
"Not the first to do so, I’m sure." Valais notes, before continuing, "Belimarius and her minions began to suspect Guaril’s intentions the last time he was in Edasseril. Now, they seek not only his head, but those of his known associates, including those among the Pathfinder Society. It is not presently safe for them or Guaril to venture within Edasseril’s borders."
"I had a number of clients ready to go, before leaving Xin-Edasseril," explains Guaril. "Most of the arrangements are already made. All you need to do is make contact with the clients. Give them the time and place for departure, then escort them out of the city—with their payment." The Sczarni stresses. "You’ll get a hefty cut of the payment you secure as compensation for your hard work."
"I prepared a client list," Guaril says, handing over a sheet of scrawled paper. "Memorize it. Then, tear it up, burn it, chew it, swallow it—whatever you do, get rid of it! If Belimarius gets a hold of it, it’s a death sentence for anyone named on it."
|
|
Nali's eyes go wide as the thoughts of extracting payment from refugees seeking asylum.
"My thoughts are with you Valais. I would never force those in need to pay for aid in a situation such as this. But if this is your request, I will do my best to assure their safe passage."
She turns to Guaril, ready to give him a right thrashing, but she bridles her mouth and tries to calm down.
"If Belimarius suspects you, and your Pathfinder Society associates, does that not put all of us at risk going in there? Am I understanding that you are perfectly capable of risking our lives over your own, so you can pocket more gold from our effort? One wonders how someone in your position sleeps at night. "
Nali storms off to the side, again trying to calm herself from being too frustrated at the thoughts of what is happening here.
|
"One wonders how someone in your position sleeps at night. "
"I would assume on a large pile of money," Ava muses, then shrugs, seemingly unbothered by the whole prospect.
"Don't worry, Nali! We'll go incognito, so nobody know we're Pathfinders." The gnome concentrates for a few moments, her hair and eyes turning a brilliant shade of emerald green. "See? Green is the color of envy! I'll fit right in!"
Valais interrupted Guaril's sputtered response with calm words. "I said his known Pathfinder associates. I do not believe you are on that list, though I would hope you wouldn't be so foolish as to simply walk in waving your wayfinders about and claiming Society membership. This mission calls for a more subtle touch. As for being paid, well, we all do things for money. Some people farm, others travel the world killing everything they see and looting the corpses, and some work hard to safely smuggle people out of dangerous situations."
"And before you claim to not wish to accept payment for saving people from these situations, let me remind you that according to my records, you have spent the last year earning quite a bit of gold - far less than these people are paying Guaril - exploring for the nation of Cheliax, setting up a new king in the Riverlands, and running various escort and exploration missions. None of which involved smuggling people out of an authoritarian regime. Just keep that in mind. As Society agents, you go where the VCs send you, and right now, I am asking you to do this. Now, can we continue with the mission briefing? Or do you want us to set you off at the nearest port that isn't Edasseril?"
Valais Durant's expression was hard, and her arms were crossed as she awaited your answer.
"Here is the list"
Valais handed the list to Ava.
"You’ll be entering Xin-Edasseril disguised as merchants," explains Valais. "These papers will allow you passage in and out of the city for five days before they expire."
"At dawn on the fourth day after your arrival in Xin-Edasseril, the ship Rolanna’s Prayer will arrive in a bay just outside the city: Shard Cove. The boat can accommodate five clients, providing an excellent opportunity to escape undetected. One of the clients, Flitch, knows a secret tunnel to Shard Cove.
[b]"Once the clients are aboard ship, return to the city. Any remaining clients that you weren’t able to smuggle out by sea will have to be smuggled out of the city with you, which means you’ll have to get them past the guards at the docks. Your ship, the Merry Mayfly, must depart the docks once your papers have expired."
"The clients are expecting to deal with me," cautions Guaril. "But as that’s not possible, and as it’s now a few days past the window when I was to make contact, the clients might need some reassurance to go through with the job."
Giving the Pathfinders a stern look, Guaril then warns, "While you’re in Belimarius’s back yard, be careful. You are foreigners in Xin-Edasseril, and Belimarius has eyes everywhere. Don’t do anything that would draw unnecessary attention to yourselves. The last thing you want to do is tangle with the authorities. The runelord’s forces are well trained and quite capable. Keep your wits about you at all times and your blades sheathed."
"We cannot afford one of you being arrested or interrogated. Pay any bribe required to remain free. I don’t want to further expose any part of the operation," says Valais. "Our goal here is to bring hope and freedom to as many souls as we are able. It is risky, but hope and freedom are worth the price."
"Now, we have had no new information out of the city for a week or so, but if you have any questions, we'll try and answer them as completely as we can."