Raknar sighs to himself and slips back to the others. "Three more bees up ahead."
While Baldrek isn't happy to kill these usually peaceful insects, they are being used as weapons, so he readies his ranseur. "Let's just block the second secret door, before we face the bees..."
"Did we find anything we could use to make a smoldering, smokey fire? That might drive the bees away."
”Or we rush and kill. No noise. Stay quiet. Bees can’t talk, so as long as we don’t make a racket ourselves should be able to take them out without letting too much know we are here,” Raknar points out.
Baldrek nods to Raknar. "I agree. We do not have the time to look something to scare them, and the smoke could betray our presence here."
"Alright then. Let's be as quiet as we can be, and hit them quickly."
A course of action decided, Patizamo begins preparing to sneak up on the bees.
You do your best to sneak up on the bees, but only Baldrek is able to get the drop on them!
Baldrek moves ahead and strikes the closest bee with his ranseur.
Baldrek’s attack misses. The three bees converge on the fighter, stinging him repeatedly!
Raknar studies the closest bee he can get to before lunging onto it to stab it with his claw blades
___________
Wounded, Baldrek takes advantage of the summoned kangaroo to stab the giant mining bee before retreating.
Patizamo flows forward into the area Baldrek just vacated, weaving his magic into his blade as he struck with fire.
Baldrek punishes the first bee to close with him, scoring a critical hit with his ranseur! Mokhasi conjures a kangaroo to kick at the third bee, landing a hit. Raknar and Patizamo move in to attack the bee that Baldrek hit, their combined attacks dealing enough damage to bring it down. Baldrek stabs the bee that the kangaroo kicked before stepping back.
The uninjured bee scuttles forward to attack Patizamo, stinging him twice while the wounded one turns to try to sting the kangaroo. The kangaroo avoids its attacks!
Baldrek attacks the bee that Patizamo is fighting and then sends a jolt of electricity at both bees.
Patizamo sees an opening with which he could get into a flank, but looking back at the wounded Baldrek and considering his own wounds, he instead took some of the power from his previous spell and channeled into himself, then struck out with his sword before conjuring a shield of force before him.
Raknar advances on the next bee, studying it as usual before lunging forward in a pounce-like-attack.
The kangaroo scores a critical hit on the wounded bee, taking it out! Mokhasi batters the remaining insect with scree, then Patizamo and Raknar slice and stab it. Baldrek impales it with his ranseur, then finishes it off with a blast of lightning!
The moment the last one falls, Raknar holds up a hand to the others to signal them to be quiet as he listens for evidence they were heard…
Patizamo looks to Baldrek and motions to their wounds, then raises an eyebrow, silently asking, Can we take time to bandage these up?
Baldrek takes a look at his wounds and Patizamo's and tries to bandage them...
...but his hands are shaking a bit. "Grandfather would be ashamed."
Deciding to fall back and tend to your wounds, you leave the tunnels and emerge back into the Magaambya's campus. Several healers are tending to Ignaci, and they are happy to spare a few minutes and some magic to get you all back up to full health once more!
Healed up, Patizamo says, "Let's get back in there - should we go to the planning room now, or continue exploring?"
Raknar is pacing back and forth as the wounded get patched up. He growls quietly to Mokhasi and Patizamo ”We need to get back down there. Deal with those gremlins before they stop arguing.”
"Then lets go deal with the gremlins. We'll need to keep them from running."
Right before they go in, Mokhasi will take the time to cast magic weapon on his short sword.
You move in on the gremlins' war room on opposite ends, emerging to find them still arguing over the maps! Caught up in their shouting match, they don't notice your approach until it's too late!
Patizamo's sword already glowing with arcane energy, he stepped into reach of one of the mitflits and cast a fiery spell, infusing his blade with fire as he struck.
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Mokhasi nods at the others, indicating he’s ready to go, and when they spot the gremlins, he presses his hand together then slides them in opposite directions, separating them as the air shimmers. Adjacent to a nearby gremlin the rock itself shimmers similarly, and flitting out of the rip in the fabric of space and time is a small horned creature with a grey ish countenance and a morose demeanor. It nods glumly at Mokhasi, who waves cheerfully as he steadies his breathing from the exertion.
The little gargoyle-like creature breathed in a good amount of pebbles suddenly, and then exhaled them!
Baldrek moves quickly to stab the closest mitflit and tries to control the room with his long ranseur.
Raknar steps into the room and targets the nearest one he can, studying before heaving a spear at it!
He then draws his claw blades and begins to advance.
Baldrek impales a mitflit on the end of his ranseur, killing it with one blow! Mokhasi conjures an earth mephit, which breathes forth a blast of pebbles at two of the gremlins. Both manage to avoid the worst of it. Patizamo steps up and evokes fire along his blade's length, plunging the burning weapon into another mitflit's throat and dropping that gremlin as well! Raknar's hurled spear falls short of his target, the toothy gnagrif.
The gnagrif swings its hammer at Raknar. It then steps away from the amurrun before huffing and stomps its feet, churning the ground around it.
The jinkin lunges at Baldrek, taking a nasty hit for its trouble! It swings its sword at him but doesn't hit.
The last mitflit standing angrily attacks the earth mephit, badly damaging it!
The sixth gremlin, the opossum-like grimple, cowers in the corner of the room, staying away from the fighting!
Raknar steps back up to the gremlin and unleashes a series of strikes to try and bring it down.
____________
Baldrek spins his ranseur against the jinkin before sending an electric arc to hit both the jinkin and the gnagrif.
Patizamo captures some of the spell energy from his produce flame and absorbs it into himself before turning and striking at the remaining mitflit. He then focuses and recharges his spellstrike.
Baldrek stabs the jinkin, then conjures lightning! Even though the jinkin avoids the worst of it, the damage is still enough to finish it off! The gnagrif takes the full blast.
The earth mephit punches the mitflit, then Patizamo cuts it down with his empowered blade!
As Raknar steps up to the gnagrif, it reacts by giving the broken ground a hearty pound, causing to shift beneath the ranger's feet.
The catfolk keeps his footing and attacks, landing a hit.
The gnagrif bellows angrily as it strikes back at Raknar, smashing him with its hammer in a critical blow!
Raknar lets out a yowl as he is struck hard by the hammer, and retaliates with slashes of his own!
Baldrek jumps onto the table, avoiding the broken ground and then thrusts his ranseur against the remaining gremlin.
Patizamo steps through the broken ground to strike at the back of the gremlin before focusing a moment to regain his spellstrike ability.
Patizamo and Baldrek slash and stab the gnagrif, then Raknar finishes it off with a slice of his claw blade!
One of the paperweights on the map is a lump of amber worth 35 gp. Secured beneath the map table are three lesser healing potions.
The opossum-like gremlin that had been cowering in the corner of the room nervously wrings her hands on the hem of her burlap tunic. "Please, don't hurt me! I've had enough mistreatment at the hands of those other gremlins. I will lend you my aid if you protect me from them, and take me away with you when you leave!"
Patizamo looks over at the other goblin, then cleans his sword and puts it away, letting the fire die. This other gremlin looked rather dirty compared to the others, and she hadn't fought them.
"I won't hurt you. Can you tell me your name?"
The gremlin scratches at her head, which crawls with lice. "Binji. My name is Binji," she says.
"It's nice to meet you, Binji. Do you know why these other gremlins want to attack the school aboveground?"
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"It's because the Stone Ghost tells them to do it!" Binji whimpers. "He is not alive, but he is not properly dead! He is so scary!"
Themap on the table is covered with scribblings, partially completed schemes, and notes in a mishmash of Common, Undercommon, and Terran. Even though the plans are indecipherable, they plainly depict targeted attacks on the Magaambya. Anyone examining the map can see that the storage room and outdoor Introduction Ceremony site are circled, as are the Tree-Stump Library and Tireless Hall—all locations where you have been attacked by gremlins or insects. Many of the abandoned tunnels beneath the school are marked on the map, too, with a hatch leading to the Spire Dormitory circled with a note in Undercommon reading, “They Live Here. Send Urbel to kill them.”
If asked about Urbel, Binji tells you that he is a nuglub bully that serves as the gremlins' leader now that the pugwampi Kurshkin has been defeated. Kurshkin was the gremlin that attacked you during your Introduction Ceremony.
Patizamo frowns. "What can you tell us about the Stone Ghost? What does he look like?"
"He looks like a human, but made of stone," Binji says. "He can walk in and out of the walls. And he's super scary!"