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Zenith seemed like they were going to depart after the fishing tournament but after reading the night sky they declared "One last journey, I have not yet found the key!"
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Approaching the bounty board, Zenith is sure that this is the one that will led them to the key. "We must help!" they say with enthusiasm.
A nearby tengu offers to bring his healing powers if he can split some of the bounty money with the team.
The woodpecker leads the team west, then south, then between two large boulders to a large clearing in a wooded valley. A haggard Kellid woman in a patterned cloak of several colors.
She ignores the sticks tangled in her hair and the dirt on her face as she chases a juvenile stegosaurus through the mud. All around her, nearly twenty young stegosauruses romp across the clearing, play in pools of mud, and trample the ropes and stakes of a ruined animal pen. For each stegosaurus the woman successfully herds toward the enclosure, another storms out, excited to roam and play.
"My name is Xila, of the Green Faith" she pants when she sees the woodpecker. "When I heard rumors circulating around Hillcross that this clutch was to be sold into captivity, I knew I needed to return them to the wild.
I need to round them up and calm them down. There are far too many, and I’m exhausted. Please gather them up and bring them to me, without hurting them. While you’re at it, see if you can find out how they broke free—I don’t want to head into the wilderness only to be set upon by some dangerous creature.”
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"I guess, the best way would be to fix that enclosure and catch them. Korakai are you good with constructions?"
Rawiri makes a pirouette and tries to mimick the way how those animals are walking.
"Who and why is holding this stegosaurus, and how on earth that woodpecker knew what to do?" asks the dwarf
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"Who and why is holding this stegosaurus, and how on earth that woodpecker knew what to do?" asks the dwarf
"Oh, this bird? That's Vik, my companion. We live quite the nomadic lifestyle; he keeps me company and helps in any small way he can, like with the job posting."
"I'm holding the dinosaurs, but just temporarily. I heard rumors circulating around Hillcross that this clutch was to be sold into captivity, I knew I needed to return them to the wild. As young as many of them are, I believed their herd must be in the nearby lowlands. I paid the trapper’s fee, and kept them here while I searched the valleys. I found a herd nearby, with many young missing—it might even be their family."
"We will help you round them up. What's the best way to do it?"
"Well, you could make some cooing noises to calm them down , or help pull them from the mud , or untangle these ropes , or just try and repair the enclosure . There are plenty of other things to do, too, so if you see anything else that needs to be done, you can just do it."
"One question though-- Has this ever happened before? The stegosauruses getting out?"
"They've been spooked before, but not this bad. They are usually quite calm, but something might have spooked them. Apart from taking a moment to send for help, I haven’t had the opportunity to investigate. If you see anything, it would help prevent this in the future.”
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Rawiri laughs looking at the woodpecker "An unusual companion you have here." He grabs a pot and a wooden spoon
He hit the pot once and says to the stegosauruses
"Dear dinos, since we will be preparing a meal to you may I ask your attention" says in a voice of a performer. And only then he realizes that this performance needs to be more about movement than actually talking
He runs towards where the food is and falls on his face. Pot flies in one direction while the spoon breaks into two...
But Rawiri gets up, his eyes blazing with fire and red hair looking like flames. He begins to whirl around him to grab the attention of the small ones. He begins to run and slide on his knees to grab the pot from the mud and keep on running for the food. He stops near the food and raises the first threat that he can find and brings it close to the noses of the cubs.
He continues to run around and whirl, and lure the animals with food.
Between Zenith, Rawiri, and Jraal, about half of the stegosauruses are rounded up and put back in the pen.
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With the rest of the group doing so well, Korakai elects to start investigating the pen.
Korakai discovers the footprints of a clawed creature and signs that part of the enclosure was chopped or torn apart.
The heroes find themselves extremely adept at corraling the dinosaurs. Rawiri and Zenith untangle the ropes, while Jraal fixes the enclosure. Soon, all the dinosaurs that can be found are enclosed.
Xila thanks the heroes profusely, and gets around to introductions. As she pets each dinosaur, she calls out their names. "This is Cheer, this is Bedtime, this is Funshine, this is Goodluck ..." She begins wading into the sea of stegosauri, lost in her own thoughts.
Suddenly, an ear piercing scream shatters the tranquility, causing the dinosaurs to snort and stomp.
"WHERE'S BABS?!"
She begins furiously counting dinosaurs, tapping at sticks in her hair the way one might count on their fingers. She counts all the dinosaurs multiple times, with more urgency and desperation each time.
Jraal, Korakai, and Zenith notice the clawed tracks lead west, deeper into the wooded valley. Broken branches and a set of flatter footsteps suggest that a baby stegosaurus was led away rather unwillingly.
Xila looks distraught. "I need to stay here and do a health check on all the steggos here. Would you be willing to track down Babs and also make sure whoever stole her doesn't do it again?"
Xila offers two minor healing potions and two lesser eagle eye elixirs for helping.
Still No:
Zenith leads the way, tracking the creature who kidnapped the baby steggo. Babs gave the bugbear no small amount of trouble, leaving plenty of broken
branches, trampled undergrowth, and churned mud.
The tracks lead up a small hill - the ground is drier as they ascend, but there's no need for tracking when there are obvious signs of what's happened. When the party is within sight of the top of the hill, they find gruesome decorations framing the lair’s entrance. 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.
Babs is here, tightly lashed to a massive wooden stake a short distance from the summit. The hatchling is unharmed, but frightened. They strains against their restraints and begins letting out throaty cries.
Korakai delays, waiting for someone else to go first.
Round 1
Zenith
Jraal
Korakai (NPC)
GM
Rawiri
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I knew the stars would guide me! Now to find this key... Zenith thinks while following the obvious tracks. After hearing the cry, Zenith, seeming to have temporarily misplaced their spiked chain, draws their rusty shortsword and runs towards Babs. "Babs!" is all they take time to say while running up the hill
Jraal and Zenith draw their weapons, and are shocked - SHOCKED - when they are ambushed. A bugbear and an attack dinosaur, hiding in the rocks, jump up and attack.
The bugbear jabs at Zenith twice. "Leave him alone, fetchling. I'm using him as bait."
The tiny dinosaur sneaks up on Zenith.
vs DC 16
The first thing Zenith notices is a pair of sharp jaws biting his boot.
plus venom
Its tiny jaws cannot pierce the leather, though.
Korakai moves up ◆◆ and casts guidance ◆ on Zenith.
Round 1/2
Zenith
Jraal
Bugbear
Dinosaur
Korakai (NPC)
Rawiri
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"The stars have something in store for me!" Zenith gasps after trying to dodge out of the way of the bugear but meets the bastard sword instead.
Zenith then tries to tumble with flair but is still too covered in mud to be effective. They then instead try to grab the bugbear with their freehand and knock the bugbear on the ground. Having completed their manuever, Zenith raises their rusty sword and slice down at their foe.
Jraal runs up and puts a pickaxe into the bugbear's shoulder.
Zenith looks up at the stars, and tries to Tumble Through, but runs smack into the bugbear. Their spiked chain gets tangled up in the bugbear's legs, and they yank it to trip the bugbear. Then they confidently try to finish the enemy, but can't quite connect.
Rawiri does some kind of dance, which doesn't distract the bugbear or the dinosaur a t all.
The bugbear Steps to block Zenith's path to Babs. "MY BAIT!" He Strikes twice to emphasize his point.
The small dinosaur moves into Jraal's square and bites Jraal's feet.
plus venom
plus venom
Korakai casts heal on Zenith, and guidance on Jraal.
Round 2/3
Zenith (-0 hp)
Jraal (-6 hp, guidance, 2x DC 16 Fort save)
Bugbear (-16 hp)
Dinosaur
Korakai (NPC)
Rawiri
Jraal shrugs off the poison, but still a little woozy, can't hit the bugbear.
Rawiri tries to mesmerize the bugbear, but fails, and the bugbear easily dodges the dart.
Zenith tries to trip the bugbear, unsuccessfully, then goes for the more direct approach and slashes it with his sword, this time successfully.
The bugbear grips the bastardsword with both hands. "Now you've made me mad!" It whacks Zenith.
Then the bugbear steps back.
The dinosaur, sensing an opportunity, moves to attack Zenith.
plus venom
plus venom
Korakai casts heal on Zenith again.
And then casts guidance on Rawiri.
Round 3/4
Zenith (-0 hp, Fort save)
Jraal (-6 hp)
Bugbear (-24 hp)
Dinosaur
Korakai (NPC)
Rawiri
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"No! Stop it now Bugbear man!" Jraal screams.
Seeing the bugbear attack, Jraal roars at him. "Apsu does not approve.". His eyes light up as he brings his pick down on the bugbear.
◆ Strike
"This is for Babs!"
◆◆ Use Kobold Breath (bronze)
Jraal drives his greatpick into the bugbear, and the bugbear crumples to the ground.
"I ... regret ... nothing ..." he says as the light goes out from his eyes.
The tiny dinosaur, seeing its master fall, immediately flees, running for a rocky crevice.
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The young stegosaurus is afraid, stomping and straining on the leash.
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Jraal calms down the stegosaurus and coaxes the compsognathus out of its hiding spot.
The heroes return Babs to Xila, who rewards them with 4 gp each.
Due to the heroes’ quick thinking and bravery, she is able to reunite the wayward clutch with their family in the rest of the valley. She invites everyone, to tag along when she returns the clutch. Anyone who accepts gets to witness a heartwarming reunion.
As they part ways, Xila assures them that while finding the compsognathus's pack may take longer, she’s certain she’ll be able to. Xila bids them farewell and wishes them luck on their future adventures.
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Zenith looks to the clear sky and clutches their moon-shaped medallion. This was supposed to be the key...! Frustrated at their seemingly inability to read the stars the nights prior, Zenith decides this isn't working for them at all-- the travelling in a group. They announce matter-of-factly, "It has been a pleasure to travel with all of you, but I must go my separate way." With that, Zenith takes their little possessions and parts ways.
Later that night, on the road to nowhere, Zenith looks up to the night sky and tries to interpret the stars once more. But, nothing comes to them. Zenith drifts asleep gazing at the night sky as they often do.
In the morning they awake to a starknife sticking straight out of the dirt beside where they lay their head. The starknife has an ornate central grip, with the handle polished to a mirrorlike shine, and blades that are black and entirely unreflective. Zenith looks around to determine where it could've come from, but sees no obvious tracks and surely no one snuck up on them! It appears to have fallen from the stars!
Zenith does not need any further guidance, the stars has never been so clear! They retrieve the starknife from the dirt, vow themself to the Cosmic Caravan, and carry on their travels with no particular destination in mind. After some point in time they will join the Pathfinder Society. Having taken time to deepen their understanding of Desna's teachings Zenith decides the Pathfinder Society will, currently, be the best way to aid fellow travelers, explore new places, and find what life has to offer---So long as the Society doesn't make them spend the night in the same place twice in a row!