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The young kellid scholar settles for a solid, stable and unadventurous beast of burden. With solid, padded, and unadventurous saddle. The stirrups are strong, well made, and perhaps a little on the "new" side, but overall give an impression of workmanship without being flashy. Especially without being flashy.
"Okay... Penelope..." says Teja, naming her own pony.
"Time to see how we are going to get along together."
Gritting her teeth, she carefully mounts up. Carefully.
"Well, that went well. Okay, Penelope, we have a plan. Provided by the wonderful planner... Zabu. Lets hope we are not all about to die."
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Heading the opposite direction of the stables, Fumbus looks for a run down building on the edge of the encampment. Glancing about, he finds what he is looking for- a lone goblin on lookout duty.
Greenskin always watch longshanks. I know one is here!
He calls out to Goblin "I have shiny. Need goblin dog. You bring dog, I give shiny. Hurry, else I make you burn!" The creature disappears into the woods and returns about 10 minutes later- a giant flaky, dandruff laden, rat . He tosses 4 coins to the creature, who quickly disappears back into the woods.
Hoping on the creature, he rides back into the encampment to join his fellow pathfinders.
Meet Licemaster. Finest dog in all of Findar! Ready to go now"
And he rides off, signing to himself.
"Licemaster comes and treks beside
Pathfinders near and wide
Better than stupid pony or horse
Cause it would eat them, of course of course!"
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Foraging
4 S, 2 CF
Forest Scouting
S
Foraging
3 CS, 2 S, 1 F
Forest Scouting
S
Foraging
Day 1: move, move (forage +4)
Day 2: reconnoiter (trails), move (forage +8)
Day 3: move, reconnoiter (trails) (forage +3)
The group is able to move southeast. Three days elapse; the group has foraged enough food to supply themselves for 2.5 days.
Days elapsed: 3
Food remaining: 39.5
As the group walks by the river, Dr. Lazarus notices some deep gouges on several nearby trees. Zabu immediately identifies them as owlbear claws.
Gnaw [one-action] Requirements The owlbear has a creature grabbed
with its talons. Effect The owlbear attempts to disembowel
the creature with a beak Strike. If the Strike hits, the target
must attempt a DC 22 Will save.
Critical Success The target is unaffected.
Success The target is sickened 1.
Failure The target is sickened 1 and slowed 1 as long as it
remains sickened.
Bloodcurdling Screech [one-action] (auditory, emotion, fear, mental)
The owlbear unleashes a loud screech that terrifies its
prey. Each creature in an 80-foot emanation must attempt
a DC 20 Will save. Regardless of the result, creatures are
temporarily immune for 1 minute.
Critical Success The creature is unaffected.
Success The creature is frightened 1.
Failure The creature is frightened 2.
Critical Failure The creature is fleeing for 1 round and
frightened 3.
Screeching Advance [two-actions] (auditory, emotion, fear, mental)
The owlbear makes a Bloodcurdling Screech and Strides
twice. All creatures within 80 feet of the owlbear at any
point during this movement are subjected to the effects
of Bloodcurdling Screech.
As the Pathfinders make their way up to a river crossing, Dr. Lazarus spots the owlbears.
Round 1!
Dr. Lazarus
Red Owlbear
Blue Owlbear
Hopper
Zabu
Fumbus
Jayma
Teja
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Just a reminder Hopper has Dubious Knowledge feat
Hopper on wolfie go around the tree and Hopper looks at the marks.
"Owlbear can grab you and try to rip your guts out with their beak. Both slowing and sickening you. This is one of the things that I read in the books that I hope to not experience myself."
Hopper looks around still not seeing the foe yet...
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Dr. Lazarus is enjoying the ride through the forest. Until he sees the claw marks on the trees. He is pleasantly surprised at Zabu's knowledge, but concerned that they belong to Owlbears. "Most impressive, my dear boy. I do believe you're right."
He calls out, "I suggest we all have weapons drawn as they are quite dangerous." He readies his throwing hammer.
When he approaches the edge of the river, the Doctor spots two of the beasts in the distance. He immediately hops down off his cart. He surveys the situation and quickly devises an attack strategy with Devise a Stratagem.
With Known Weaknesses, the Doctor studies the beast to gain any further information.
The investigator deduces that he has a clean shot at the large owlbear, even from this range. Gripping his throwing hammer, he hurls it twice at the nearest enemy.
+1 Striking Returning Grabthar's Hammer (w/ Stratagem): (19) + 14 -2 = 31
With his hammer safely returned from the second attempt, Lazarus readies himself as best he can.
Melee [one-action] talon +14 (agile), Damage 1d10+6 piercing plus Grab
Melee [one-action] beak +14, Damage 1d12+6 piercing
Dr. Lazarus sends a devastating hammer at the first owlbear - and then a second less devastating strike.
The owlbear with blue eyes screeches with terror and charges, as does the owlbear with red eyes.
Round 1!
Dr. Lazarus (Will save, Will save)
Red Owlbear
Blue Owlbear (-35 hp)
Hopper (Will save, Will save)
Zabu (Will save, Will save)
Fumbus (Will save, Will save)
Jayma (Will save, Will save)
Teja (Will save, Will save)
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Expecting danger Hopper would have Quicksilver Mutagen in his hand
Hopper is terrified by the creatures, they look big and ugly. Finally he wakes to action hearing the growl of the Wolfie.
Hopper drinks the mutagen, black and silver liquid flows down his throat. He drops the bottle and leans forwards on the saddle. Soon he begins to yell in pain as his hands and feet grow longer. His fingers are stretching at odd angles.
His eyes look at the problem at hand
"I think I have a bottle to solve that problem"
He takes out a bomb that he made earlier and throws it at the Owlbear
Then Hopper urges Wolfie to run towards the river and make a jump
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"Oh good! I was beginning to think this trip was going to be boring. Watch out for their scr..." Zabu's warning is interrupted by the very thing he was going to warn everyone about.
He has to admit, the sound even gets to him...oh no, wait...no he doesn't. He just has to cut up the things that made the sounds.
Zabu's face and hands transform, the former becoming a muzzle featuring canine teeth that protrude from his lips and extend to below his jaw, the latter growing fierce claws.
He starts with a swipe at the nearest beast's stubby little legs to knock it down then follows up with a swipe of his claws.
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Before Jayma really knows what's going on, two of the most bloodcurdling screeches she's ever heard make her jump in her saddle in fright.
"What in the name of The Many was that?" But despite a momentary feeling of panic, the frisson of the scare excites her and she cranes her neck to see what made the awful sound. She places a calming hand on the shivering Princess. "There there, Princess. Everything's fine. I won't let them hurt you." She's come to appreciate the extra height that riding Princess provides her and finally manages to spot the creatures at the river. "Ah, so that's what an owlbear looks like. I see now why it's named that."
She watches as the others fly into action and prepares her own response to the attack. Standing up in her stirrups, Jayma tightens her grip on the reins; points to the nearest owlbear to get its attention; and gives it the kind of stare that would freeze a river of molten lava in its tracks. "These two messed with the wrong gnome."
She then proceeds to move her arms in a complicated swirling motion, increasing the tempo until her hands are practically blurring. A section of the river rises slowly into the air and forms into a large wave. She then shouts out, "outburst ousts owlbear," and thrusts her hands in the direction of the creature.
Instantaneously, the wave travels along the river and smashes into the owlbear.
Seeing the wave knock the owlbear off the bridge and into the water, Jayma's fear seems to subside slightly. "They're not all that tough after all."
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Twyl had draped himself across his mistress's shoulders and was snoozing pleasantly when suddenly an unholy screech from the depths of hell causes him to practically jump out of his skin.
He feels his mistress jump too, which terrifies him even more. Normally nothing scared his mistress, so this must be something truly horrific. Without thinking twice, Twyl dives into her backpack and finds a nice dark corner to hide in. He was sure that his mistress would take care of everything in her usual noisy way.
Fresh air. The great outdoors. A good saddle. A beautiful mistress; and light too; she's oh so light. It's like she's not even there sometimes. Lots of yummy grass and trees and berries to eat. None of that stale straw the feeding man used to give me. I'm so happy. Soooo happy.
Oh my. What was that sound? That's not a good sound. I don't like that sound at all. I think I'll leave now to avoid the sound; to avoid whatever made the sound.
My mistress is ok. She says everything's fine. She's patting me. I like it when she pats me. I won't run. Everything will be ok. My mistress will take care of me. I hope. I mean, of course. Of course she will.
"Neigh!"
The screams pierce Fumbus' ears, and his hands instinctually reach up to cover them. "Bad sound! Go away. Out of my head. La de da de da". However, despite his best efforts, the eery sound embeds itself in his mind.
From the back of his Goblin dog mount, Fumbus pulls two small vials of a swirling red liquid. "Eat this! Fire on fur! Fire on Fur! HAHAHA"
He lobs each at the back corner of the red owlbear.
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Hearing the piercing shriek, Dr. Lazarus covers his ears and calls out to the barbarian, "Zabu, my dear boy, you warned us, but you didn't do it justice." The Doctor thinks he covered his ears just quick enough to avoid the worst of it.
As before, Lazarus studies the battlefield and, specifically, his nearest opponent to determine the best attack strategy.
Not seeing any opening in its defenses, Dr. Lazarus concludes he'd be best served by backing away and preparing a new plan. He moves back, out of the beasts' immediate range, stows his hammer, and draws his elven curve blade.
Teja doesn't Recall anything about the owlbears. She ties up her horse.
Hopper drinks some silvery liquid. He tosses a bomb at Red, which explodes with a green goo all over Red and a little bit on Blue. Then Wolfie and Hopper jump across the river.
Zabu trips the owlbear, but can't claw it.
Jayma tries to threaten the owlbear with a scowl, but it is unimpressed. It was merely a diversion, though, as a wall of water smashes it from its blind side.
Fumbus tries to throw at Red, but Jayma's blast throws off his timing. A few dribbles hit Red, though.
Dr. Lazarus thinks for a bit, and then switches weapons.
---
The red owlbear stands up in the river, and then lashes out at Hopper with a talon.
plus Grab
Unable to grab the alchemist, it pecks.
It gouges Hopper good. But it continues burning from the poison.
Blue hops across the river and lands next to Zabu.
It sticks the landing and attacks.
plus Grab
Round 2/3!
Dr. Lazarus
Red Owlbear (-53 hp, 2d4 persistent poison)
Blue Owlbear (-37 hp)
Hopper (-21 hp, -8 max hp, Frightened 1)
Zabu (Frightened 1)
Fumbus (Frightened 1)
Jayma (Frightened 1) / Twyl (Frightened 1)
Teja
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"You think you scare me?! You should be the ones who are scared! I'm going to turn you into rugs!" Zabu shouts.
He glares and, by sheer force of will, forces himself to stop being scared.
Then, he gives the blue eyed one some of what the first one got, going for the legs to unbalance it then swiping with his claws.
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The battlefield is chaotic, but Dr. Lazarus is thankful that the screeching has stopped and he's able to survey the situation strategically. When he hears Zabu shouting about a rug, the Doctor calls over, "An excellent idea, my boy. I could use a small throw rug back in my office at the University." With the nearest owlbear focused on grabbing the barbarian, Lazarus looks for an opening with his blade.
Seeing a way through the owlbear's defenses, Lazarus steps forward and slices into the beast, twice in graceful succession, with his elven curve blade.
+1 Striking Elven Curve Blade (w/ Stratagem): (13) + 14 = 27
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Jayma was usually a fire and explosions sort of girl, but as they'd been warned against igniting any of the local conifers, she'd sadly decided to stick to using the less flammable elements if at all possible. The success of her river wave had been very exciting stuff to watch; seeing the owlbear get battered and pushed around like that was most satisfying; she saw no reason to let up.
Jayma was a little irritated that the first owlbear had totally ignored her patented Stare-of-Death™. So turning to the other owlbear, she yips to get its attention and once again tries the stare; this time she simultaneously lifts her open hand where the creature can see it and snaps it closed it into a fist as if she were crushing an egg. "Try ignoring that, big boy!"
But her efforts seem to have no effect on the other owlbear either. Jayma pouts prettily at her failure. "Stupid owlbears!". Recovering quickly, she turns back to the first owlbear and says, "Fine! Let's see you ignore this!"
As before, she starts moving her arms and hands in a steadily quickening sequence of swirling motions. This time, a different section of the river slowly rises into the air and forms into a large wave. Shouting out, "birdy bear be bathed," she points her staff at the creature. Instantaneously, the wave races along the river and smashes into the owlbear.
Watching the owlbear once again get smacked and tossed about by her spell, the last of her fear vanishes. "That'll teach them not to frighten my Princess." She pats her pony again to keep it calm.
"Gah! Owlbear no burn! Why no burn Mr Bear? Try again! Try again!"
Staying put, the goblin finds and releases another of the red vials at the owlbear.
"Licemaster mess with throw! Cannot hit bear with Licemaster!" as he jumps off the sorry creature.
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Hopper would yell in pain after being hit by the owlbear. His face shows surprise
"What? How did you get here? Did you jumped after us?" clearly this goblin hasn't seen the beast being smacked by the water.
Hopper feints an attack hoping to grab some of the attention while with the other hand he reaches for alchemist fire and throws it at closer range.
Wolfie knows what to do, with ears lying on his head he shows his teeth and growls. Then when the goblin is done with his shenanigans Wolfie tries to bite the hideus Owlbear
And then Wolfie turns around and rides off south. Following the hit and run technique that Hopper was practicing so often.
Zabu trips the owlbear in front of him, and then brings down a claw.
Dr. Lazarus steps up and slashes the owlbear twice.
Jayma sends another wave into Red, plunging it beneath the waves. It does not resurface.
Fumbus throws a vial at Blue. It splashes nearby, singing its fur.
Teja slips through the woods and attacks, but misses.
Hopper tries to feint but can't grab its attention. It dodges the vial, but the splash catches it from behind, and the owlbear collapses.
Dr. Lazarus
Red Owlbear (-79 hp)
Blue Owlbear (-70 hp)
Hopper (-21 hp, -8 max hp)
Zabu
Fumbus
Jayma / Twyl
Teja
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Just as Dr. Lazarus is preparing to defend the owlbear's attack, the alchemist bombs finish off the beast. Lazarus cleans off his blade and sheathes it. He says, "Well done. Well done. Good show." Seeing Jayma back at the path, "And you, my dear lady ... your water attacks were most effective." He continues looking around for his halfling driver and calls out, "Chauncey? Where did you run off to? It's safe now. Oh do come out, won't you? And bring the cart. That's a good lad. Thank you."
He looks around, "Is everyone okay? Does anyone require healing?" When he sees Hopper, he raises an eyebrow, "My dear boy, allow me to have a look." As he's about to treat him, the Doctor says, "Wait ... you took one of those Quicksilver potions, didn't you? Yes, yes, I can tell from your elongated bones." When Hopper explains it was the Moderate version, Lazarus nods, "With your permission, I'll treat what I can now, and then in 10mins, I'll complete the process."
In 10 mins, with Hopper at full strength, Lazarus helps search the area, especially the bodies of the beasts. He turns to the barbarian, "Zabu, my boy, were you serious about those rugs?" Very much wanting an owlbear throw rug for his office, Lazarus will help Zabu cut out some pelts.
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Teja sighs, examining the dead beast in front of her.
"Sorry, never really liked face to face combat. Battle with books is another thing entirely."
She shakes her head as she works her way around the dead body. "Rumour tells of these being created by a mad wizard. But really, from that I have heard of the mystic arts, being made would not be helpful to ones studies."
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Hopper rides back to the party from around the corner. He feels the burn on his back
"Well one more experience that the books can describe vividly enough. Why did this monster jump after us into the river, I did not expect that."
His movement feels different, Hopper body and face look different. When doctor offers the aid he nods and stands on the ground.
He looks at Wolfie and nods
"You did well there Wolfie, come let me take out some of the fur from your teeth."
"Doctor, in thanks for your aid I have a poison that would work well with the elven blade that you carry."
Turning to the scholar
"Teja, can I spice up your weapon too?"
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Before he reverts back to his ordinary form, Zabu picks up the arm of one of the owlbears. He sticks it's toe into his mouth and there comes from within the sound of cracking and crunching while the gnome moves his head from side to side in a gnawing motion.
Finally, he drops the arm then spits out a shiny black object. He holds it up for all to see with a bloody grin. "Owlbear Claw," he says before tying it to the handwraps that he wears. Handwraps that are so covered in both old and new blood that it is hard to see the runes on them.
Only then does he nod to the doctor's question. "It'd be a waste to just leave them, wouldn't it?"
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Jayma is elated when her second wave washes the owlbear from the field of battle. She claps excitedly for a moment and yells, "Woo-hoo!" After the euphoria dies down, her mood turns a little sad. She was generally fond of animals and didn't enjoy seeing them getting hurt, but in the grand scheme of things, when it came down to a choice between them or her, it was they that had to make way.
She urges Princess on and after reaching the edge of the river, climbs down from her mount and joins the others. When Lazarus compliments her spells, Jayma replies, "Why thank you doctor, it was my pleasure. I noticed that you didn't do so badly there yourself. You have no idea the comfort I feel knowing that I have you and Zabu for my capable defenders." She glances at Zabu and noticing him chewing on the owlbear's foot, scrunches her nose in distaste. "Really, Mr Creed? Hasn't the poor creature suffered enough already?"
Now that the danger has passed, Princess seems far more relaxed. While Lazarus treats the wounded, Jayma takes a little time to commune with her more plant and animal learned ancestors. And though Princess seems to have a pretty good sense for such things already, they help her identify the safer and tastier plants for her pony to munch on. Twyl also comes out of hiding once all the noise has died down and returns to his post on Princess's back. On this excursion, he'd taken to riding on Princess's withers or rump and using his little hands to scratch itches and keep the flies off her; activities which she apparently appreciated.
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When he finishes patching up Hopper's wounds, Dr. Lazarus nods to the goblin. "Interesting. Cytillesh Oil, hmm? I've read about this..." He looks pointedly to Zabu, adding "...in a book." Turning back to Hopper, "Yes, yes, thank you, my boy. This will give us a much-needed edge. Shall we apply it in the morning then?"
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As absolutely amazing as this new plan is, perhaps it might be best to be a little more systematic about covering the hexes. If we are going to end up visiting every one of these hexes, then it would behoove us to do it in such a way that we are not forced to go through a particular hex more then once. The new plan it seems would likely put us in a situation where we will be forced to backtrack over one or more previously explored hexes, an unnecessary expenditure of a half-day for each such hex.
My inclination would be to stick with the original plan and work through the hexes in such a way that we end up back at base camp without going through a hex more than once. I've dropped a small version of the type of path I'm talking about on the map planning slide.
Please note that I am not married to such an approach and will happily go with whichever plan the majority decides upon.
The Pathfinders come across a clearing near the banks of the river that shows signs of recent habitation. A cold fire pit stands near the remnants of a lean-to, in the lee of a large boulder. A wide, flat stone, several meters across, stands knee-high in the center of the clearing. Scorch marks mar the stone, and a large circle circumscribed around a triangle with strange markings at each point cover its surface.
As soon as the Pathfinders approach ...
With a blinding flash and a crack like thunder, the stone bursts into flames. A single black point appears within the smoke, growing quickly into the form of a hooded figure. The figure silently screams, then breaks apart into two shadowy figures, fiercely attack each other before their forms once again merge, leaving only a single hooded figure, featureless but for a single glowing red eye. The burning red light cuts through the smoke, growing in intensity until it is unbearably bright before both the figure and the flames suddenly disappear.
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When the group reaches the clearing, Dr. Lazarus turns to his driver, "Chauncey, my lad, let's stop here. This could be the strange campsite that Gorm mentioned. " Lazarus hops down to investigate the odd-shaped stone. "I say ... isn't this curious?" Immediately after the fireworks, he rummages through his pack.
"Ah, yes, yes. Here it is!" Lazarus holds up a tome, Secrets of the Abyss: The Untold Story, and flips to find what he's looking for. He points to pictures of similar symbols and explains, "These markings represent an ancient demonic ritual to channel abyssal energy in this region." He continues reading and adds, "Yes, this is likely one of the ritual sites that we were sent to disable." After reading a bit more, he frowns, "Unfortunately, this has no information about disrupting such rituals." He offers the book to anyone who wishes to study it.
When Zabu grabs it, presumably to look at the pictures, Lazarus shakes his head and flips the book right-side-up for the barbarian.
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Teja eyes up the symbols
She nods to the doctor. "I agree. I'm sure I can still feel the foul energies from whatever happened here. Look..."
She points to the eastern symbol "That represents flowing water, and that one..." she points south "Flame" Finally pointing to the northern symbol she adds "Pyramid... stepped pyramid such as Min-Khadaim."
As the figures appear, split, fight, merge and vanish she looks on in ashtonishment.
"Now that you don't see every day."
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Hopper rides closer to Wolfie catching a glimpse from the book held by Lazarus. He remembers scanning through it, given the amount of information that Hopper had to learn in the short amount of time that he had, he could not allow himself to read every book.
He rides around the place
"Ok, I do remember hearing on the briefing that we were supposed to disable the sites. Anyone have any idea how to do it?"
As they observe the spectacle of shadowy figures Hopper looks at it saying nothing...
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Jayma sees the clearing and the signs of habitation and says, "Presumably this is the strange campsite that Eando mentioned in his mission preparative. Looks like someone was here not all that long ago."
After the interesting display from the stone, Jayma sits there a little stunned before saying, "Well, that was certainly um... I think interesting is the word I'm looking for here. I wonder what it all means."
When Lazarus gives his studied opinion of the situation, Jayma responds in a rather pompous voice that is uncannily similar to the way Lazarus speaks. "Indeed, doctor, I concur with your studied opinion on the matter. And Teja does indeed appear to have properly evaluated the meanings of these strange symbolic markings."
Finding it tiresome to continue her impression of Lazarus, she switches back to her usual voice. "My guess is that these three symbols may well represent three of the ritual sites that Gorm and Eando mentioned are powering the demonic ritual. Or maybe the stepped pyramid symbol refers to the pyramid at Min-Khadaim - the possible focal point of the ritual - and the other two refer to the abyssal batteries in the region. Doubtless time will tell."
She listens to the others discuss how to disable the sites, and emits a small tinkly laugh in response. "I suspect that disabling the ritual sites will require using the timeworn method of hitting them hard and repeatedly until they stop working. This approach has generally worked well for me in the past."
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"Well...THAT probably meant something. What it means to me is that I don't want to step into that circle. If those guys were flesh and blood, no problem, but ghosts are just annoying."
Zabu does not protest when the book is snatched away from him. There weren't even any good pictures in it.
"Aren't I the one whose supposed to just suggest we smash it?" he asks when that's the best solution the others can come up with in short time.
"So...maybe the symbols are the sites, right? We're at flowing water. If we go one way, we'll find something associated with flame. If we go another, we'll find a pyramid. And when we get to them, there'll be more sites like this that we can deal with.
"We'll have you home before you need a new manicure," he says to Jayma.
---
Three small pots of bruorsivi resin sit on the ground beside the stone in the center of the clearing along with some mostly decayed food preserves that include a rotted cabbage.
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When Zabu mentions her manicure, Jayma can't help but take a quick glance at her fingers just to make sure. Then, without any mirth whatsoever, she says, "Oh, ha ha. Very funny Mr Creed." Turning away from Zabu, she surreptitiously takes a closer look at her fingernails to make sure her manicure is indeed still intact. "Phew."
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Completely oblivious to the fact that Jayma is mocking him, Dr. Lazarus nods to the sorceress, quite impressed with her line of reasoning.
When he sees the bruorsivi resin, he's about to ignore it. But then he sees the goblins. He sighs, rolls his eyes, and reminds them, "Bruorsivi resin ... you recall from our briefing that it's highly flammable. Oh do be careful." He decides to stand a healthy distance away from the pots, just in case.
Lazarus approaches the flat stone and studies it further. He casts Detect Magic to make sure it's no longer radiating any magical auras. He suggests, "Since there's no magic radiating it from it now, perhaps we should leave it be." He rubs his chin and adds, "As our colleague Jayma surmised, this is likely a clue to find other ritual sites. Furthermore, if this is a map, perhaps a water-based ritual site is further east, while a fire-based site is to the south." The Doctor hops back into the cart next to Chauncey and is ready to continue with the original exploration plan.
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Teja nods at the words of the doctor. "No sense in courting trouble. I hear the capital of Taldor is the place for that..".
She looks around the camp sight. "If the energies are tied to the place, mere physical destruction might not be enough to disrupt them. We might need a ritual of some type. " She points at the marking.
"Or at the very least.. to disrupt that pattern."
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Zabu takes one of the pots. He gives it a toss, letting it flip a couple times in the air before catching it and slotting it away. "You never know when you're going to run into a swarm of something," he comments.
"So, maybe this isn't really part of the ritual. Maybe it's a map of the ritual. If someone was here checking it out, that means they've already seen the map and are probably following it. We need to hustle to keep up with them. We're on a river so that's probably the flowing water symbol. We can keep following it down until we find...whatever it is we're looking for then take care of it and use it as a starting point to figure out where the other sites are."
---
Day 4:
Foraging
Day 5:
Forest Scouting
Foraging
Day 6:
Forest Scouting
Foraging
Day 7:
Foraging
Day 8:
Forest Scouting
Foraging
Day 9:
Hills Scouting
Foraging
Day 10:
Foraging
Day 11:
Hills Scouting
Foraging
Day 12:
Hills Scouting
Foraging
Day 13:
Foraging
Day 1: move, move B1 (forage +4)
Day 2: reconnoiter (trails found), move (forage +8)
Day 3: move C1, reconnoiter (trails found, owlbear encounter) (forage +3)
Day 4: move, move D1 (forage +2)
Day 5: reconnoiter (demoniac camp, trails found), move (forage +3)
Day 6: move E1, reconnoiter (trails found) (forage +2)
Day 7: move, move F1 (forage +5)
Day 8: reconnoiter (trails found), move (forage +2)
Day 9: move G1, reconnoiter (vantage found) (forage +1)
Day 10: move, move H1 (forage +0)
Day 11: reconnoiter (vantage found), move (forage +1)
Day 12: move H2, reconnoiter (vantage found) (forage +2)
Day 13: move, move G2 (forage +3)
Day 14: reconnoiter (encounter)
The Pathfinders travel eastward for a few days, and the forest gives way to hills. Foraging becomes more difficult, but the Pathfinders are still reasonably successful in finding about half their food from foraging. Reaching the edge of their designated search territory, they turn south and then west.
Days elapsed: 13
Food remaining: 33
As the group begins exploring on Day 14, they find much of the terrain sodden and washed away where the water has overflowed its banks. The flooding already exacerbated by driving rain and gusts of wind, every few minutes the swollen river surges, the water suddenly rising and becoming more violent before retreating just as quickly. This behavior is clearly unnatural, suggesting the likely presence of a ritual site nearby.
The swollen river, overflowing its natural banks, rises several feet up an embankment. The swirling water rises and grows more violent with each surge before quickly subsiding. The source of this flooding is obvious, each pulse flowing out of a short monolith that rises from atop a stony plinth hewn from a large boulder. Wreathed in flames despite the driving rain and the water swirling around its base, glowing runes cover the monolith’s surface.