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After Mr. Pitch misses, the other two troglodytes overcome their fear and attack; one attacks Mr. Pitch and the other moves up to take a swing at Lorelei...
...one narrowly misses the raven while the other wildly misses the wolf and its axe slams into the floor...
COMBAT! Round 4 - The bold may post!
Mr. Pitch
Spirit
Lorelei (sickened, 7 rounds)
Mheenah
Troglodytes (#1 dead, #2 -6, #3)
Spirit keeps up the assault.
Mr. Pitch continues to harass the lizardmen.
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Mr. Pitch continues to peck away on the reptilian head…while it wouldn’t appear to cause much damage, the troglodyte’s eyes glaze a bit and it appears to be staggered…
COMBAT! Round 4 - The bold may post!
Mr. Pitch
Spirit
Lorelei (sickened, 7 rounds)
Mheenah
Troglodytes (#1 dead, #2 -9 (-1 nonlethal) and staggered, #3 -2)
Lorelei shifts slightly to attack
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It takes Mheenah a little while to realize the fight is over, she's having such a lovely time gnawing on the trog's neck. But once she does, she hops down off her quarry and looks around.
"Ok, now let's find out why these stink-snakes was hidin' out down here. Prob'ly guardin' somethin'."
She starts nosing around the basement, beginning by opening the other door.
"Hey wolfie, maybe you should get some fresh air, huh? You still look kinda barfy."
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After a thorough search, Mheenah finds…
…a small sack hidden in an empty tool crate behind the door. It contains 7 pp, 80 gp, 120 ep, 130 sp, and 5 100 gp gems…and a hammer, nails, a saw, and some timber lying around the room. However, she doesn’t think the troglodytes presence in a town with reptilian god cultists is a coincidence…
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"Huh. Well, this place *is* a fixer-upper." says Mheenah as she picks up the hammer and some nails. "And it looks like the carpenters got paid in advance. Good on them."
She settles next to one of the trog corpses and begins to hammer nails into its skull (because that's what hammers and nails are for) wielding the hammer with two hands like it was a heavy maul.
"But I'm guessin' these turkeys was workin' on some project for the Snake Lady. whack! Maybe they're the ones buildin' the tunnels whack! under the town? And maybe they was hidin' out here during the day, whack! then come out to work at night. They'd be hiding at the Temple with the other rats, but they stunk whack! so bad, they got shoved down here. Hahaha, womp womp! Suckers!"whack!
"Ugh, why are you doing that Mheenah? That's kind of yucky. But yeah, we probably messed up the evil cult! Let's keep looking around at other places and see what else we find!"
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"Ugh, why are you doing that Mheenah? That's kind of yucky. "
"Thank you. I was goin' for yucky." says Mheenah as she grins ear to ear.
"But yeah, we probably messed up the evil cult! Let's keep looking around at other places and see what else we find!"
Mheenah shrugs. "Ok. Where haven't we checked yet?"
"Ummm..." Spirit pauses for a bit in thought. "I don't think we've looked around on the north side of the lake yet, have we? Us small ones can go scout while Lorelei stays out of sight!"
"Sound idea, Spirit", Mr. Pitch said surprised. "Let's go."
That works, i believe what we need is in the temple. i will be in the forest behind it
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"I think I'll stay here and watch things." says Mheenah. "This crew must be workin' for the cult, so I'm guessin' at some point today, someone's gonna bring 'em food and water, or check up on 'em, or somethin'. And once they see 'em all dead, a lotta wheels might start turnin' in this rancid little town. Might be good to watch for who the rotten gears are."
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Spirit runs about, peeking at all of the houses on the north side of the lake while trying to stay fairly inconspicuous.
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#22: This residence gives the impression that it has seen much use and that its owners have had little time for improving its appearance. A small infant is playing next to the house, and several chickens and a huge rooster poke about the yard.
#23: Two small children play in the yard, but at the sight of the party they immediately run for the house. This building looks solidly constructed and has been recently whitewashed. The barn is a clean structure, though not painted, and several goats wander in a small corral. A pen housing an immense pig can be seen just south of the barn.
#24: This is a fairly well-built house that has had all of its windows and doors boarded over securely. The barn doors swing freely in any passing breeze.
#25: A large, colorful sign pictures a red dragon with its head resting contentedly on its paws naming this establish as The Inn of the Slumbering Serpent. A plume of smoke rises from the serpent's nose and its eyes are closed. This inn is smaller and older than the Golden Grain. Several beds of flowers brighten the front, however, and the large middle-aged woman sweeping the porch looks cheerful.
#26: Around this large mill is scattered much in the way of children's toys, tools, and farm implements. The most imposing part of the structure is the tall millhouse, but it is obvious that a family lives in another wing of the building. Two children play in the yard.
Upon first glance, nothing looks amiss among these buildings…
But his tone changes when he sees the corpses of the reptilians. ”Bloody hell! The lady won’t be happy to hear this…I better let the others know. Had to be those bloody damn Elves!”
You see Deric leave hastily heading in the direction of the Golden Grain Inn.
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He looks around for a bit. "Maybe we should go say hi to the forest guy!" he declares, then immediately starts running off towards the grove and the hermit.
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"Troglodytes! In a basement! They had a buncha carpentry tools, so I'm guessin' they was a work crew of some kind being used by the cult. And it's a good thing that we found 'em! Cause that Deric guy from the inn came lookin' for 'em -- when he found out they was dead, he scuttled back to the Golden Grain, and of course I followed. And it sounds like they was gonna use the trogs ta move against you and your brother tonight, but now they're gonna meet up with the constable tomorrow morning and make new plans instead."
"They're blaming everything we do on you two. We're running out of time. We gotta get into that temple tonight and pick up the trail of our masters!"
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Sounding cantankerous but with a humorous glint in his eyes, the hermit, says,”So me laddies, ye interrupt an old man fixin’ to hit the hay…it must be important, sez Eh. Whet ye be a finding out?”
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"The second Deric saw those dead troglodytes, he was like 'Those darned bloody elves did this!'" says Mheenah, doing her overly gruff 'Deric' voice. "But listen, the main point is that the hit was ON for tonight against you and your brother, and now they have to delay until tomorrow. Up until now they'd been holding off because you was friends with the mayor, but it don't sound like that's gonna stop 'em anymore!"
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Llywillan nods to Mheenah. ”Thank you, good to know…
“Dorian had seen signs of troglodytes around but we had not seen them nor knew of where they stayed…makes sense they would be used as enforcers to a reptilian cult. I doubt Deric and three trogs could have overtaken my brother and I unawares, but I will report this to the mayor in the morning…
“Now where are the ferret and the raven? And are your plans still to sneak into the temple tonight?”
Any idea that keeping some of this secret from a man of uncertain loyalties might be wise is completely absent from the little ferret's mind.
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He ponders a moment before continuing. "So, ye be a goin' to the temple, eh? Eh wish ye luck with yer masters but don't ye go bein' surprised if they not be there. Eh be a thinkin' the headquarters of this cult mebbe somewhere outta this village...
"If ye be a findin' anythin' at the temple on the whereabouts of their stronghold, ye be a comin' back and tellin' ole Ramne. Mayhaps Eh kin help ye there..."
"I guess so." says Mheenah. Then she scratches her horn. "What's a ferret?"
Llywillan laughs out loud at Mheenah's query. "Ah, my horny little friend, you are quite the card. A ferret is a weasel-like animal; your companion Spirit is such a creature. Now I wonder if he knows what a quasit is...
"Hmm, speaking of which, I met a girl by the name of Quasit once, in a Greyhawk pub...she was quite the fireball; she could outdrink most of the men, had a flavor for half-orc lads, and she kept going on about some goddess's breasts...I always wonder what ever happened to her...
"Ah well, back to business...if you're still planning on entering the temple, my brother and I can help distract the guards and wolves to give you a better chance on getting through the door but, sadly, that is all we can do at present. When your other companions get here, I'll summon my brother and we'll get to it..."
perhaps i can speak to my kin? if i can get into the kennel
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"Hmm, speaking of which, I met a girl by the name of Quasit once, in a Greyhawk pub...she was quite the fireball; she could outdrink most of the men, had a flavor for half-orc lads, and she kept going on about some goddess's breasts...I always wonder what ever happened to her...
Mheenah is not impressed. "She sounds like a cheap floozy." she says primly, turning up her nose. "Elly probably has more class in her little finger. Whoever named her obviously didn't know nothin' about quasits."
Unless Mr. Pitch stops him, Spirit then turns and bounds eastward towards where Lorelei was supposed to be.
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Spirit and Mr. Pitch arrive just about the time Llywillan answers Lorelei…
”Speak of the devil, here comes the prodigal sons now…”
perhaps i can speak to my kin? if i can get into the kennel
”I don’t think I’d try that; I doubt these wolves can speak as you do. From my observations, they are trained to guard and kill and they listen to their handlers…and you might lose the element of surprise if you try. Besides, they’re not in the kennel now; the gates were closed not long after sunset and they’re patrolling even now…”
Looking to all of you, the Elf asks, ”Are you ready to try and get into the temple? Let me know and I’ll summon my brother…we might be able to create a distraction to help you get to the entrance without being discovered…”
"Yeah! And I can use my magic to speed us up!" Spirit declares. He runs to Lorelei and climbs up on her back. "Let's go!"
Mr. Pitch flies behind the others toward the temple.
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Llywillan summons his brother via message and Dorian arrives within 10 minutes...
Llywillan explains his plan to you. "There are two patrols, each with one wolf and a handler, that watches the courtyard. Dorian will scale the wall and make a ruckus, drawing their attention while I unlock the gate; once he lets me know he's got the attentions of both patrols, I'll open the gate and let you in. You need only do two things; bar the gate after I close it and then make your way to the temple entrance without alerting the patrols. Once you're inside, you're on your own. Any questions before we continue?"
"Nope! Let's gooooo!" Spirit enthusiastically replies.
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Llywillan nods to Dorian who heads around the temple wall to the east…
…few minutes later, you hear the wolves howl from inside the gate. The remaining Elf waves you to the gate and he quickly gets to work on working to get the gate open…
”Got it,” followed a few seconds later by, ”Dorian has their attention, now’s your time! Remember to put the bar I was able to unlatch back in place so as to reveal your entry. Good luck…now move!”
He opens the gate and you hear the wolves and deduce that the patrols are on the NE part of the courtyard…the temple looms large in front of you and the doors lie due north…once inside the gate, Llywillan shuts it behind you…the bar to the gate lies beside you…
Perched on Lorelei's back, Spirit gestures with his tail and makes an odd little chirruping noise. The air between the group and the temple seems to waver for a moment before settling, and when it does the temple seems closer than before.