The worms writhe out of the way with great alacrity, only taking half damage.
The Worm that walks tosses aside a few wimpy leeches that succumb to evil eye, but is otherwise unaffected.
"Can I even affect him, Sendoski?" asks Oorgatch.
Just to be sure, Oorgatch moves in, stabs, and moves back again.
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Oorgatch stabs, barely doing any damage.
Volluk Azrinae naturally heals the damage delt to him so far and swarms out of his desk and all over Yan. "How dare you bring that portrait here. HOW DARE YOU!"
Initiative:
Wormy
Scarred One
Yan
Sendoski
Oorgatch
Everybody is up again!
I think we should regroup! Yan will run if his alleis agree.
"Yan, you think he won't follow us?" Oorgatch prepares to run. "Does anyone have area attack spells?"
"I have no such spells"
Scarred One runs past Yan and moves towards the exit.
Oorgatch follows the elder orc out.
Sendoski! Run! Yan follows his friend out.
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The party flees!
At some point not too long after they find themselves catching their breaths back in Otari perhaps at Crow’s Casks or maybe Crook's Nook.
”Ok, how do we fight him? ” asks the young orc. ”Buy bombs, and have Scarred One and Sendoski load up on area spells? Gonna be speedy. ”
”Ok, how do we fight him? ” asks the young orc. ”Buy bombs, and have Scarred One and Sendoski load up on area spells? Gonna be speedy. ”
Go somewhere else for now?
"This is the only safe home I've known for decades, but I understand it's time to go." From under his shirt he pulls out a bejeweled necklace featuring a porpoise. It's encrusted with his sour sweat and decades of grime.
He hands it to Yan, inscribed on the back is “Ayla, My Beloved”.
"Keeleno may find some solace from having this back I will think long on your words, I appreciate that you showed me mercy where Otari would not. Tell Keeleno I'm dead, maybe he'll feel better. I will find a home elsewhere far away and none of you will see me again."
Let's visit Keeleno. Yan asks Sendoski to Prestidigitate the necklace clean.
----
We found Jaul and defeated him. We acquired this necklace; it may give you a measure of comfort.
Keeleno nearly faints at the news, fortunately an assistant grabs him a chair.
"I... I never thought I'd see this again... Jaul... you killed him? Was he hiding out in the swamp near the lighthouse? The Stone Ring druids promised me they would keep looking for him, but they never did, I'm not sure they ever really looked..."
Scarred One stands behind Sendoski and Yan
"It was Worliwynn, gnome from the Stone Ring that told us about the werewolf. We did not forget, we did not forgive..."
He nods and wipes a tear from his eye. "Thank... thank you."
He gives Scarred One a bit of a side eye before continuing "Go see the mayor for the reward, I'm sure you've earned it, I need to go be alone."
Oorgatch just nods, not saying anything, sure that if he does he'll cause a volatile situation to go up in flames.
He walks away, leading the team towards the mayor.
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Yan chooses to remain silent. There is nothing wrong with a little white lie to make someone feel better. He unconsciously pats his backpack, where he says he has Sendoski's book.
Closure is its own reward. Off to the mayor's.
It's easy enough to head over to the Menhemes Manor (3).
Met by a servant at the door "Begging your pardon great heroes but Mr. Menhemes is tied up with lumber business for the rest of the day and he does his best to keep his politics and business separate. I'm certain he would be eager to meet with you after your success at getting justice for the Keelenos after 30 years."
Word seems to have traveled fast.
Scarred One scowl and turns to others "Maybe let us head to Morlibint, maybe in Odd Stories we will find some information about that odd creature?"
Agreed. And Wryn for an augury tonight.
Heading over to Odd Stories Morlibint seems excited to see you, adjusting his glasses he eagerly asks [b]"Did you find any more books down there for me?
Not this time, but soon I hope we have a treasure indeed. We found a powerful Worm that Walks down in the dungeon — Volluk Azrinae himself became this abomination! We're hoping to research this enemy before we delve again.
Not only is Volluk Azrinae horrifically evil, but we are sure his sanctum will provide historical value. In the stories, all the worst supervillains keep detailed diaries, so I am sure he kept one too.
"It could disperse and attack us using the worms as a swarm of creatures, yet behind its desk, it seemed like a single creature. It seemed to be agile but still recalled something about the past, was very disturbed seeing the painting of himself." adds Scarred One in the harsh voice as he finds a spot to sit and rest.
"It instantly healed most, if not all of the damage we caused it. Plus was mostly immune to physical attacks, it seems."
"Volluk Azrinae!" exclaims the old wizard "Surely he couldn't possibly be alive after all these years..." "And you say as a strange Worm that walks? Hmm.... I can recommend some books but you may to have to piece together bits and pieces on your own, and even then I'm not sure you'll learn anything, that certainty sounds like an unusual creature."
Yan ponders this news. [b]Shall we see Wrin, and regroup based on her augury?[/b[
"Are we overthinking this?" asks Oorgatch. "Maybe we just need to pack lots of attacks that work against swarms.
"Scarred One could memorize several burning hands, or the like, while I am sure there is something that Sendoski could learn that is also an area spell. Yan and I could get some alchemical bombs, and throw those. Biggest problem I can see is that we're likely to burn through most of our treasure that way."
Heading over to Wrin's she seems pleased to see you. "Glad to see you back in one piece, you seem worried though friends. Tell me, what bothers you?"
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Scarred One looks at Wrin "We came for your advice, the question is: 'Should we fight Vollruk now?'." the old one looks at the elf
Yan nods in agreement. We'd appreciate an augury, Wrin.
"Or, maybe you might know something about what he is now. Then, perhaps cast the spell?"
Wrin nods looking up to the setting sun, as a waxing gibbeous moon rises in the southeast.
She shakes her head "Not a creature I'm familiar with."
"Still a little early to read the stars, lets have tea first." she follows up.
As Otari settles down with the sun setting Wrin serves tea and listens to the stories you're willing to tell her about your expeditions below Gauntlight.
Eventually with enough stars visible in the sky she attempts to read your future.
"I see Volluk, he stands tall, a writhing mass of leeches. A series of mirrors surrounds him, and in each one he seems a bit smaller than the last. One of them is partially painted over with his likeness, another has a reflection of lock picks. I can't make out the details on the other mirrors and some are broken. I can also see that Volluk guards a small stone shark where eleswhere lies a larger version of the statuette, alike aside from a small tear welling up in one eye."
"If he seems top big, seek out another mirror to bring him down to size. I am less sure the meaning of the shark statue but perhaps that will be of value to you as well."
"Many mirrors? What does that mean..." wanders out loud the ancient one.
"Maybe the lock picks mean that we need to break into yet another place, to make the fight easier. Stone shark? Is the answer lies in the water where werewolf were?"
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"Breaking and entering?" asks Oorgatch. "Haven't done that in a while.
"Or, um, ever."
I believe the one "painted over with his likeness" we already have. There must be something else of value to his former life as a drow that we can acquire. A "mirror" of his former self may be anything.
I have no idea what a larger shark with a tear in its eye may mean, or the lockpicks, but I think we can keep these things in mind as we explore.
"Ok, so let's go and explore. Maybe we will understand the meaning when we meet that shark." says Scarred One
It's quite late and you've already had a long day, I might suggest at least resting the night before heading back down.
"Tomorrow." replies Oorgatch. "Maybe I should get some better lockpicks first?"
Yan nods.
Scarred One nods and heads to the druid grove to get some rest. He finds some rest sleeping under the stars...