The halfling's grease spell is enough to send the abomination's legs in different directions, and the beast struggles to get up and move towards the baron, clearly in a predatory sense.
It is able to scramble over to Bomande, but doesn't get to latch its jaws to the noble's flesh.
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Leucrotta
Ferrus
Iladora
Corgrim
Grigory
Baron
Corba
Khorast
Ferrus gets closer to the action to threaten the beast.
Iladora drops her bow, and advances, drawing her greatsword. She, too, gets to threaten the beast.
Corgrim almost shoots a throat-piercing shot, but it misses the vital arteries by a little! It ends up being just a scratch.
Grigory hits as well, landing a heavy blow in the beast, sticking to its back.
Baron Bomande takes a step back, and takes aim with his musket. "Fire!" he yells as he is just about to shoot, and the firearm produces a loud sound that might startle those unaccustomed to gunpowder.
"F@&%!" he shouts as the cartridge gets lodged up in the pipe. Rudyahm suspects the humid weather of the jungle hasn't been kind to his paper gunpowder cartridges.
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Leucrotta
Ferrus
Iladora
Corgrim
Grigory
Baron
Corba
Khorast
Corba summons more bacon to the jungle, the smell of grease becoming almost overwhelming!
And again the beast falls to the ground!
Khorast circles the tree on the other side of the beast, drawing his warhammer and smacking the beast while it's down!
And the blow is massive!
Aggravated, the beast stands up, and tries to bite the obnoxious half-orc who hurt him pretty bad.
But the shield is enough for Khorast to block the bony teeth!
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Leucrotta
Ferrus
Iladora
Corgrim
Grigory
Baron
Corba
Khorast
As the leucrotta gets up, Ferrus strikes it with his glaive. His blow makes the beast wobble in place, clearly bloodied by the numerous blows.
And no one gets another chance to do a thing, as Iladora strikes the creature back down with her greatsword!
Breathing heavily, catching his breath, the baron looks at the odd creature in the dim light. While baron Rudyahm is disappointed he did not get to shoot the killing blow to the beast, he realizes how close to death he was in the jaws of the leucrotta.
"I have no idea what came over me," Bomande says, prodding the dead beast with his musket, "I know for a fact the Count would never wander around the jungle in the night, not even in an emergency. But I felt being forced to go help him."
"Thank you for your help catch the beast. It appeared to be a lot more vicious than a regular tiger. It's good we caught it, this has no place in to be in nature."
"We better sleep the night, bag the tiger," he continues, using the term tiger rather sarcastically, "and head back to the hunting lodge. You've been exemplary help on this expedition. As I've understood it, you had hopes of seeking a lost temple in the Urapangi lowlands. I can help you navigate to it, if you need the help."
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"We did it! The threat is gone! Hooray!"
Corba dances around in the machan, really excited how effective the Pathfinders were, even when the plan did not exactly work out as... well, planned.
And I'm a part of this party! I helped... twice! I might even have saved the baron's life with my spells! Oooohhh, I can't wait to tell Merida about this!
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THat's quite the trophy you gained there. Way better than a mundane tiger, shall I say. We've been happy to help, and any assistance you can give us in finding the temple will be greatly appreciated. But we all earned a good night sleep first, I guess. I'm sure my colleagues will be able to patch some of your wounds.
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Seeing the slain beast, Ferrus turns to Iladora "A powerful final blow, you would make your people proud", turning back to face Corba "Yes, teh threat is gone, and. you played a big role in it, you should be proud of yourself"
Turning to the rest of the crew "The beast is slain and the Baron is safe, all thanks to your joint effort. I think that we can use what's left over of that Antelope to have a meal to celebrate, and receive a hard earned rest.
He reaches out to the Baron and healing energy leaves from his hands.
He leans on his Glaive, and a hum spreads out from him, healing the rest of the crew for the ailments they suffer.
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Annoyance briefly flashes across Iladora's face. "My people--" She cuts off the words mid-sentence. Remember your oath! "...would, ah, have appreciated a good trophy hunt." Mostly true, though she decides to leave out a few key details. "But that's all behind me now, I'm a Pathfinder like you."
She turns to the baron. "We do in fact have another mission to begin. I'd be happy to help finish this one however I can."
"It would have been a lot better if I would have done the last shot," Bomande bemoans, but switches it swiftly into a light-hearted chuckle, "but as I now realize, it never were an ordinary tiger. Surely I'll take this to my home for taxidermy, to remind where my hunting career ends. A suitable conclusion."
He proceeds to thank everyone for their hospitality and healing, and agree that they should not let the gaur go to waste, although there might not be a lot to make a dinner out of. Having the night out and exchanging pleasantries with the baron over a nightly bonfire surely is a nice change of pace for the Pathfinders and noble alike.
As morning dawns and the baron is tiptop condition thanks to their healing magic, after the necessary preparations, the Baron is ready to lead the team towards the Lost Temple. The leucrotta carcass is too heavy for them to carry, and he decided to preserve the corpse with his knowhow.
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"That's one strange lookin' creature," Grigory quips as he inspects the corpse. "It's like half tiger, half badger an' half deer."
I just hope there's no more of them things sneakin' around out here.
"Nicely done everyone, even if it didn't go accordin' ta plan."
He retrieves his errant arrow, aided by the lighted fishing line, and assists the baron with preserving his trophy.
With the combined efforts, the whole team gets to navigate through the Urapangi Lowlands towards the lost temple of Khiben-Sald. It takes most of the day to traipse to their desired destination in the large freshwater swamp that is the lowlands, air filled with buzzing mosquitos and the mushy ground having an abundance of snakes, leeches, and other endearing animals.
An ancient, abandoned building comes into view, almost completely overgrown by vegetation, and only bits and pieces of its brown sandstone exterior are visible. Part of the temple's massive roof has collapsed. Baron knows not to intrude in Pathfinder business, and decides to wait from a good distance away.
Pushing through the thick jungle for the last couple hundred yards, the group arrives at the entrance of the ancient temple. Columns line the walls of this small room, each decorated with a high-relief carving of a monkey in a different pose. Some of the monkey sculptures sit serenely in meditation or reach out with their hands as if to deliver blessings to the viewer, while others adopt more naturalistic poses. The floor is littered with decaying plant matter and mud, and the stench of rotting muck pervades the area. An open archway leads south out into the jungle, while a second leads north deeper into the temple.
A group of three humans is just running into the Pathfinder as they are entering the lost temple.
"Out of the way!" the bold female exclaims as she sees the Pathfinders, "I, Asvika, command you to let us pass!"
There's fear in her voice.
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"What's yer hurry anyway?" Grigory asks, holding his spot in the middle of the staircase and forcing the strangers to make their way around him if they want to leave.
They either found somethin' good in there and wanna make a quick getaway before we find out they got it, or they're runnin' from somethin' that we're gonna run right into.
"If you can give us any information 'bout what's in there, ya probably should do that before ya go runnin' off into the jungle," Grigory suggests, looming menacingly as the strangers near him on the stairs. "Just so we can give ya credit in the history books in case somethin' happens to ya out there."
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Ferrus, seeing the group exiting the temple, assumed either looters or explorers. The female with such an authorative tone must be the one in charge.
Hearing Grigory's heavy tone and his flexing as he speaks gives Ferrus the impression he might harm them if they don't provide information, so Feerus steps in with a soft tone.
Stroking his beard, he mouths Shelyn, guide me.
Ferrus shows his hands with open palms to his sides and smiles softly,
"Please relax, we mean you no harm, we are but explorers, not treasure hunters. You have come from inside the temple, yes? Is there anything inside that you would warn us about?"
"Yup, out of here," Asvika says as she leads her team out, "there's nothing good in there, creatures we dare not confront! A terrible evil lurks at the heart of the temple! Very small monstrocities, lots of horn, and shiny eyes like jewels!"
They don't dawdle by the Pathfinders, but swiftly slip past them into the thick jungle.
The creature is an Asura, a Tripurasura variety. They are tiny outsiders of the asura, evil, extraplanar, and lawful genuses.
Further down the hall, a mosaic of a monkey-faced figure decorates the floor of this room, though the tiles that would form its eyes are missing. The north end of the room is filled with rubble blocking an arched passageway. To the west, vines and foliage intrude into the temple through an open-air balcony, while a similar balcony to the east remains relatively clear of plant life. An open archway leads south.
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Small creatures, lots of horns, jewel-like eyes... That sounds so familiar... Ugh, why can I remember so little from before?
"Well," Iladora comments once the other group is out of earshot, "the plus side is that there's at least one area down there that has yet to be explored, from the sound of it."
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Khorast glances briefly back at the fleeing explorers. Then, warhammer at the ready, lets the more proficient trapspringers advance into the room first. He follows at their heels, ready to face any danger that's not about pressure plates or tripwires.
"Monkey statues are not something that were covered by my training."
Corgrim remembers reading something about these creatures.
With no other way to go, the team moves forth, turning right to the open-air balcony. There, a narrow path extends between the exterior wall of the temple and the thick web of vines and tree branches that cover the temple’s walls. At either end of the path, small open-air balconies lead back into the temple.
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Seeking inspiration, Corgrim turn his eyes to the blue skies, and something click
Azur.. Those are Asura, Tripurasura even, some small but evil creatures from the outer planes that loves making people suffer their iron rules! I'm afraid I don't know more about it, anyway, but I hope that will help.. They probably wont like spells or abilities that draw from the powers of good and chaos, but that's just my theory. Holy water should damage them, too, if you have some.
Corgrim looks around for potential traps
I doubt there are some traps around, because the fleeing persons we just met would have fall prey to them on their way out. Still it doesn't harm to check.
Corgrim doesn't find anything out of the ordinary from the surroundings. He's correct in assuming there are no traps, since the fleeting band would have sprung all them most likely.
The team keeps going forward, taking a detour through the cleared path to the back end of the temple. Behind the corner opens up an open space previously obscured by the heap of rubble. A 20-foot-tall, high-relief sculpture of a mountain dominates the north end of this large chamber. A statue of a figure now missing its head sits in the lotus position at the mountain’s peak, while smaller statues of monkey-faced pilgrims rest on ledges farther down the mountain. Shattered pieces of yet more monkey statues litter the floor.
The group moves a bit forward into the chamber. As they observe their surroundings, Corgrim notices some small creatures hiding behind the mountain sculpture! They are just about to attack, but the rogue is faster!
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Corgrim
Asura, blue
Corba
Khorast
Grigory
Iladora
Asura, red
Ferrus
The blue asura hisses at the intruders, and casts a spell.
It's spider climb
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Corgrim
Ferrus
Asura, blue
Corba
Khorast
Grigory
Iladora
Asura, red